Playing cards of board games are probably the main part of every board game and card game. Cards are the most held part and therefore the most susceptible to damage. Moreover, cards come in a variety of sizes and options. And have their own unique tuckbox. In this page, we will cover everything about playing cards and board game cards.
Standard Sizes of Playing Cards
Generally speaking, there are 7 standard playing card sizes commonly used in most board games.
1.Poker Size cards – 63x88mm
2.Bridge size cards – 57x88mm
3.Mini size cards – 44x68mm
4.Large tarot size cards – 70x120mm
5.Small tarot size cards – 70x108mm
6.Large square cards – 70x70mm
7.Small square cards – 63x63mm
After this, when deciding which card size to use in the game or the number of cards to include in the game. There are two ways. First, by testing the game. You can get an idea of the optimal number of cards in the game and follow it blindly.
The second way is to work backwards from manufacturing. To understand how many cards can fit on a sheet. This way, you can maximize the number of cards while controlling manufacturing costs.
Custom deck and playing card sizes
If the standard deck sizes don’t suit your needs. You can also have your own custom playing card sizes. However, you do need to consider the available sheet sizes. To ensure that you maximize your use of materials.
There are three sizes of sheets we can use:
1.270*420mm – this is a small sheet suitable if you only need a few card. Such as reference cards.
2.420*570mm – this is a medium size sheet and can hold a nice amount of cards.
3.520*760mm – this is a large sheet already, the one that we use for most cards.
Please note that for custom size cards, the cutting, finishing and rounding are done manually. So the quality will not be as high as standard cards.
Materials of Playing Cards
There are three types of paper that can be used for any playing cards: white core, blue core, and black core. Some factories offer gray core paper, but we at Hero Time stay away from it due to poor quality.
The best and most refillable cards use high-quality German black core paper, however, this is mostly reserved for magicians and card houses. If you want slightly better durability and resilience, you can choose Chinese black core paper or blue core paper. However, there are three disadvantages to consider.
1. The quality varies greatly in black and blue core. The cheaper ones are worse than white core.
2. Since they have a black or blue core. So their surface is not white, which affects the printing quality.
3. They are slightly smaller than white core paper, and each sheet can only hold 54 cards.
For most game creators, we recommend using high-quality white core paper. 300gsm (0.32mm thick) or 350gsm (0.35mm thick). If you are looking for the lowest price, you can also find cheaper white core paper.
Playing cards Box Dimensions
We first check the total thickness of the cards in the game. 300gsm paper is approximately 0.32mm thick, while 350gsm paper is approximately 0.35mm thick. Once we know your total number of cards, we can calculate the required card game box size. For example, if you have 130 cards in your game, and want premium 350gsm cards. Then your total thickness is 130×0.35mm = 45mm. In this case, we prefer to separate your cards into two decks and place them side by side.
