For years I printed all my prototypes on card stock. I would buy packs of 100 or more sheets at a time from office supply stores. Usually I just bought white stock and printed on it with my color inkjet printer. There are two possible problems with this:
- It can get expensive.
- Some printers don't print well on the thick stock. My own printer, after years of use, has a hard time printing a full sheet. The feed mechanism starts slipping and the graphics become distorted. Don't waste a lot of money on card stock until you're sure your printer can handle it.
- It's harder to cut out multiple copies of a game with the thicker stock. When I really needed a good copy, I'd use a rotary paper trimmer. For quick test copies I cut them with scissors.
- You can usually see through the cards and for some games that matters.
Eventually I started using this other method I learned from my game designer friends. Whether it's a first draft or a late stage prototype, this has worked very well.
- Buy some card protector sleeves like these, found on Amazon.
- Put an old playing card or some other game card in them that you won't need. This keeps them stiff enough to shuffle.
- Print your cards on paper and cut the cards out. (Or for first drafts, you might just write them by hand on slips of paper.)
- Slide those paper "cards" into the sleeves.
Here's a short video that shows how I use this process with early and late stage prototypes.
I reuse my card sleeves a lot and most hold up very well. Students should use care as they're pulling out cards and replacing them with updated versions. It is possible to tear the clear plastic cover off and make the sleeve unable.
