Idea to Prototype in an Afternoon

Six steps. One afternoon. A playable card game with its own website, ready for printing.

1

Pick Your Theme

5 minutes

Think of an audience and a world. The Cards Wild engine needs five collectible items in a natural progression, common to rare, split into two groups. If your theme has that, it works.

Themes that work great:

  • Fishing: Bluegill → Crappie → Perch → Bass → Musky (panfish → sportfish)
  • Camping: Tent → Fire → S’mores → Sunrise → Summit (basics → epic moments)
  • Pirates: Doubloons → Maps → Cannons → Ships → Treasure (plunder → conquest)

The test: Can you name 5 things in your theme that feel like a progression? If yes, keep going.

2

Generate Your Game with AI

15 minutes

Copy our Game Design Prompt into Claude, ChatGPT, or any AI assistant. Describe your theme in one sentence. The AI generates a complete, balanced game design: all 20 card types, colors, AI names, and a ready-to-use configuration file.

You: "A freshwater fishing card game" AI: Generating Fish Wild... • Trophies: Bluegill (4) → Crappie (3) → Perch (2) → Bass (1) → Musky (1) • Trouble: Storm Warning, Tangled Line, Lost Lure, Out of Bait, Expired License • Fortune: Sunrise, Clear Skies, Fish Finder, Live Bait, Lures, Fishing License • Reflect callout: "Fish On!" • Complete theme config JSON ready...

The prompt produces a valid theme configuration file. This single JSON file is all the engine needs to become your game. No coding required.

3

Test Your Balance

10 minutes

Run our Monte Carlo simulation on your theme config. It plays 10,000+ automated games and reports whether your card ratios produce balanced, fun gameplay.

$ python theme_sim.py my_theme.json --games 10000 Fish Wild: Simulation Report Games simulated: 10,000 Avg turns per game: 32.4 Stalemate rate: 1.2% Fun factor: 62.3% (target: >55%) ✓ Win rates balanced across all seats ✓

Know your game works before you print a single card. If the numbers look off, tweak bag limits or card counts and re-run. The simulation tells you exactly what to adjust.

4

Create Your Card Art

1–2 hours

Use our card templates (poker-size, 2.5” × 3.5”) with proper bleed and safe area guides. Generate art with AI image tools (Midjourney, DALL-E, Canva AI) or commission an artist.

  • 20 unique card faces (5 trophies + 5 trouble + 6 fortune + 3 safe + 1 wild)
  • 1 card back with your branding and “Powered by Cards Wild” badge
  • 3 help cards + 1 QR code card (templates provided)
  • Print-ready export: 300 DPI, CMYK, with bleed

Templates available in Photoshop, Figma, and Canva format at /templates.

5

Launch Your Website

30 minutes

Choose your deployment path:

  • We host it: Upload your theme config and card art. Your game goes live on [theme]swild.com or your own domain pointed at our servers. Done in minutes.
  • You own it: Download the turn-key .zip package. Upload to Hostinger (or any PHP/MySQL host). Run setup.php. Enter your database credentials. Done in 30 minutes.

Both options give you a complete game website with user accounts, leaderboard, AI opponents, mobile support, and admin dashboard.

6

Print Your Game

1–3 weeks (production)

Upload your print-ready card files to a vetted print vendor:

  • The Game Crafter: 1 prototype copy for testing (~$15–20)
  • Shuffled Ink: 100+ copies, US-based, family-owned (~$8–12 per deck)
  • MakePlayingCards: 1,000+ copies for retail volume

Full specs, vendor contacts, and cost estimates in our Print Production Guide.

Total Time: One Afternoon

Steps 1–5 take about 3 hours. Your game website is live before dinner.
Physical cards arrive from the printer in 1–3 weeks.

Ready to Start?

Nominal setup fee. Simple per-game royalties. Drop us a line to discuss your concept.

Get Your License
Engine Overview • License Terms • Games Gallery

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