Print-and-Play Tabletop Gaming

Sometime in late 2019 i discovered the semi-underground phenomenon known as "print-and-play," a.k.a. PnP, tabletop games. In short, PnP games are distributed in electronic form, typically PDF, and are intended to be printed out and assembled oneself. Some require additional components which cannot be distributed electronically, e.g. dice and tokens with which to track things are common. As of late 2023 i've assembled well more than three dozen PnP games and have gotten reasonably proficient at it, though there are levels of professionalism i cannot possibly reach due to cost of the materials and my personal aversions to some materials (namely aerosol glues, which are excellent for homemade cards). (i exclusively use glue sticks and they work just fine.)

Rather than print at home, i almost invariably send PnP titles off to an online printing service, posting them in batches of 200-400 pages or so to reduce the cost significantly (10-13 cents per page, including shipping, is typical, though it can be as high as 15 cents for smaller batches). Though i prefer paper weights of around 220-230gsm, those are not always an option, and sometimes have to fall back to 170-200gsm. 250gsm is kinda nice, though i'm somewhat torn on whether its extra thickness is a blessing or a curse. Once the printouts arrive, the work of gluing together the fronts and backs of cards, and similar aspects of construction, begins.

Resources

Lamination Tips

Laminating PnP components, in particular cards, is an alternative to sleeving them, but it's not a panacea to the problem of making durable cards. Laminating so that the lamination sticks well, instead of peeling off around the corners, requires a bit of practice. My tips on this topic include...

The above method has worked out well for me on a number of PnP builds.

If the lamination of individual cards starts to peel around the edges of the cards, running them through the laminator again might help re-seal them. It's worked for me before but it may not be a general-purpose solution.

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