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Have you ever paid to have cards printed by a local print service? Did you then find your game changed before you even cut them out? That's exactly what happened to me in the early development of Station Decimus. After happily sending off one of my first prototypes to get printed, I played the previous one and realised some major changes were needed - don't make the same mistake I did!
There are loads of ways to make prototypes out there, all with different time and cost commitment, as well as different quality of output. It's important to know where you are in your game journey and which methods best suit your situation. This article goes through 6 types of prototypes I use and when I think they're most useful, starting with the easiest and going through to the biggest investment.
If you'd rather watch there's a video below:
Prototype to Match Your Stage of Development
During early development of any game there will be a lot of changes. For me the key focus here is getting the game to the table as quickly as possible and trying out changes quickly too. This means you'll want to keep prototypes rough and ready. During later development the changes will start to slow down and you might be thinking of pitching or trying to build an audience, at which point your prototypes probably deserve a bit more time, especially if you're building towards a board game Kickstarter launch.
One of the most important board game design tips I can give is to match your prototype investment to where your game actually is. Knowing how to make a board game prototype at the right stage of development is just as important as the prototype itself, such as if you're taking it to playtest at a convention, something I've written about previously.
The core principle for me is to prove the game enough to move to the next level of prototype effort.
Method 1: Hand-Drawn Prototypes - The Fastest Way to Get a Board Game to the Table
By far the quickest way to get a game to the table is to manically scribble onto paper, cut it out and get playing. This is exactly what I did for the first iteration of Containment Failure, my 2 player survival game, and within 20 minutes I'd started playing the game for the first time and knew it was worth investing more effort into.
Pros: Fast, Easy to adapt, Cheap, You probably already have pens and paper
Cons: Fragile, Uneven cards can affect gameplay, Wear quickly
Method 2: Printed Board Game Cards - Home Printer, Print Shop, and Nandeck
This method involves printing out (probably A4) sheets of paper with your cards on, cutting them out, and getting playing. Sometimes this is a good place to start - Station Decimus had over 200 cards in the first version so being able to programmatically generate and print them was a huge time saver. It's worth a mention of nanDECK here which is a great free tool for doing this.
You can then sleeve them for durability if you want, colour coding the sleeves for different decks. But be careful stacking 200 sleeved cards, they have a tendency to spill in every direction over the floor...
If your game works well like this then it's usually a good sign it could work as a print and play board game.
Pros: Quick, Cheap, Scales well
Cons: Unsleeved is flimsy, Sleeves are slippy
Method 3: Blank Playing Cards - Sturdy Prototypes Without a Printer
It's quite easy to get hold of blank playing cards these days. Like with method 1 you can quickly scribble on them and get a game going pretty quickly. Unlike method 1 though they're much tougher and hold up better to play.
When developing a game where players move pieces over cards, the constant moving over the playing cards and shuffling back rows of cards meant I couldn't easily use paper. So I went straight to blank playing cards. It's important with all these methods to consider how the cards actually get used.
Pros: Quick, Sturdy, No Printer Pain
Cons: Expensive, Time-consuming, Restricted to standard card sizes
Method 4: Print and Spray Adhesive — The Best Board Game Prototype Method for Most Designers
This method takes method 2 a bit further. Once the cards are printed you can spray adhesive them to sheets of card (optionally coloured per deck). Then cut them and if you're feeling fancy corner punch.
For most indie board game designers I think this is the sweet spot of high quality while remaining affordable. It does however struggle with time scaling so I would avoid this when a lot of changes are happening or using it to make 15 copies for an indie market - my hand hurt afterwards...
This is the version I took to my board game publisher pitch at UKGE 2026.
Health and Safety note here - spray adhesive definitely needs a mask.
Pros: Cheap, Durable, Coloured decks, Easy to make small changes
Cons: Messy, Drying time, Tedious, Doesn't scale
If you want to try Station Decimus for yourself, and maybe give the spray adhesive method a go, sign up below:
Method 5: Professional Card Printing — When Your Board Game Design Is Ready
For this method you'll be sending files to a print service to print for you to cut out, or maybe even have them printed to size. This is where the story at the start came from and my over-eagerness to get some copies printed to a high quality.
This is best for settled designs as it's expensive for small changes and can be slow to get printed. It will however print to a much higher quality than a home printer and direct to card.
Pros: High Quality, Sturdy, Professional looking
Cons: Expensive, Slow, Hard to update
Method 6: Manufactured Board Game Prototypes — The Closest Thing to the Real Game
If you're planning on getting a game made professionally, at some point you'll want prototypes manufactured for you. Whether it's by a prototype creator or your end manufacturer - it'll be the closest thing you'll get to the finished product before it gets made properly. If you've held a prototype like this you can see why people are so keen to get one made - possibly before it's time.
Station Decimus will be here soon - I'm in the process of updating some art and getting more blind playtesting in so will shortly be getting copies for reviewers.
Pros: Highest quality, Feels like a real game!
Cons: Expensive, Slow, Hard to change
Don't Forget Digital: Tabletop Simulator, Board Game Arena and Online Playtesting
A quick note on what I haven't covered in this - digital prototypes. Board Game Arena, Tabletop Simulator and a host of other platforms let you create digital versions of your games for others to play. This can be a great tool for getting your game in front of people and getting access to a whole new audience of playtesters - but it's worth bearing in mind it will never pick up on all the things which can happen at a real table.
Even if you don't plan on playtesting online, having digital versions can be really helpful for publishers. I've had publishers ask to play a digital version of the game before and having files ready to send over was really helpful.
Conclusion: Board Game Prototyping Is About Progression, Not Perfection
Prototyping isn't about the best method - it's about finding the one which is going to best suit the needs of your game, wherever it is in its journey. Focus on the rules first and then later what it will feel like on the table, although it's worth bearing in mind that actual table feel is an important part of a game and needs playtesting.
If you'd like to follow along as Station Decimus reaches its next prototype milestone, manufactured copies, sign up below:
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