PROTOTYPING

Index cards are the backbone of your development kit. They are incredibly versatile, as you can use them for cards, tokens, player mats, tiles, and even standees.

Sticking with the classic 3″ × 5″ index card (metric A7) is good for a number of reasons. First, they are the least expensive. A thousand blank index cards can be had for about $10 and will last quite a while. Unlined are also typically preferred, as the lines typically go unused for a normal game prototype. Second, half an index card (3″ × 2.5″) is very close to the size of a standard playing card, which is 3.5″ × 2.5″. You can use index cards as is, and don’t worry about cutting them in half. However, the option is there, and they will fit well into sleeves (see “Penny Sleeves” section).

Of course, index cards are designed to just be scribbled on, and not fed through your printer, so you won’t be getting high quality output. However, sitting with a stack of index cards and colored markers can be a terrific brainstorming tool. The physical act of scribbling card ideas on the index cards, even in the middle of a playtest, can be very useful for rapidly generating ideas.

Index cards also are a quick and easy way to make standees. If you cut a strip the short way and fold it in half, you’ll get a piece that is about 1.5″ tall, an excellent height for a standee. It can either be used as is on the table (like a tent) or finished with a binder clip (see the Standee section in Chapter 4 for [A2] [GE3] full details).

And, of course, don’t limit yourself to white. Having a variety of different colors will make it easy to prototype different card decks, tokens, or other objects.

Finally, index cards can easily be used to mock up a hex map by placing them in a brick pattern.

There are two broad categories of dice that you should have in your toolkit: with numbers and blank.

For any design that uses dice, traditional dice with pips or numbers should be your first stop, even if you envision custom symbols or sides. We’ll talk more about this in Chapter 4, but in general you might want to get into testing as quickly as possible. Determine if you’re even in the ballpark of a workable design before spending time stickering blank dice.

Bulk six-sided dice are relatively inexpensive. Get them in sets of various colors. This gives more design flexibility than just buying a ton of white dice. A set of 100 in various colors typically costs around $10–$15. Similarly, sets of polyhedral dice (D4–D20) typically cost around $10 for seven sets of different colors when bought in bulk. Do a search for “bulk dice” on online retailers or educational supply sites to locate these.

Blank dice can also be purchased in a variety of colors, although white is typically the least expensive. Fifty blank white dice cost about $10 versus $15 for a pack of 50 dice with a variety of colors. Depending on your application, you may be able to use white dice and put color on the sticker. Blank polyhedral dice are also available, but given the smaller triangular or pentagonal facets, it can be challenging to sticker them properly.

The above pricing for blank dice is for traditional smooth-surfaced dice. There is another variety of blank dice called indented dice. These have an indent on each face to place a sticker of your custom design. The advantage of indented dice is that the raised edges protect the stickers from wear. If you are rolling stickered dice frequently, you will notice significant wear. For early testing, this is not an issue, but some designers prefer better aesthetics once they get into beta prototypes and publisher presentations. If you don’t want to sticker a fresh set of dice for these occasions, you may consider indented dice. However, be aware that they are more expensive and larger than traditional dice (Figure 1.1).

It is always valuable to have a large supply of cubes on hand. They can act as markers, money, resources, workers, and a host of other functions. It’s great to have an assortment of different colors for different players or different representations.

The least expensive source for cubes is to purchase centimeter cubes (so-called because, not surprisingly, they measure 1 cm on each side – a shade under 1/2″). One thousand centimeter cubes in various colors cost around $20. These are readily available from traditional online retailers and educational supply stores.

Penny Sleeves are inexpensive card sleeves that are transparent on both sides. They get their name from their cost, which is usually around $0.01 each, but the price will vary widely based on the quantities purchased.

To complement your centimeter cubes, it may also be worthwhile investing in a bucket of plastic tiles. These tiles are 1″ × 1″ and have a nice chunky feel. The cost of 400 of these in various colors is around $15. Not as critical as having cubes around, but you may find yourself dipping into this bucket when working on a prototype very frequently.

In addition to index cards, it can be useful to have a ream of cardstock on hand if you have a home printer. This can be used to create cards and tiles that have a bit more polished look, and are easier if you have a lot of cards to generate.

Cardstock is typically sold by weight. The most common is 110 lb (200 g/m^2). A ream of 250 sheets runs $25, so $0.10 per sheet.

Having a pack of full-size labels is invaluable. These can be used for creating boards, tiles, dice, and more. A pack of 100 sheets costs about $10–$15. Although office stores typically carry many varieties of labels, the brick-and-mortar locations usually do not have full-page labels. I speak from experience after making a last-minute dash around town one evening before a game design conference. However, it is readily available online at office supply stores and with most major retailers.

To go with the full-size labels, you should have a supply of 8.5″ × 11″ chipboard sheets. With the application of a full-page label, these are the basis for your boards and tokens.

You will typically see these offered in two thicknesses: 0.022″ or 0.030″, sometimes referred to as “22 point” and “30 point.” The heavier material is stiffer and will withstand more abuse but is more expensive and a bit harder to cut.

Game prototype sources have blank white hexagons, squares, and circles of various sizes. If you are making a more polished prototype, you will typically use the full-sheet label/chipboard technique. But early on it can be helpful to be able to grab a bunch of blank tiles and just scribble on them to try out an idea. However, this can often be done with index cards as well, which is why these are in the “nice to have” category.

While cubes can substitute for meeples through much of a design cycle, if you wish to use actual meeples in your game, you can get a set of 100 in 10 different colors for about $10. So it’s not a huge investment if you like the visual appeal.

Small binder clips seem like an unlikely resource for the game designer, but there are two main use cases.

First, they can be invaluable for creating standees. Simply fold a piece of cardstock in half and use the binder clip as a base.

Second, if you print your board on paper or cardstock, you can use binder clips to attach it to an existing game board. This is quick, temporary, and much less messy than using spray adhesive or other glue.