When it comes to gaming and the trading card genre, it’s not all fun and games. On second thought, it actually is all fun and games. But that’s not to say that you shouldn’t take your hobby seriously. When it comes to games like Magic the Gathering or Pokemon, you are talking about some big names and heavy hitters in the gaming community. For anyone involved in a TCG (Trading Card Game) community, you understand how much time and money you put into your hobby. So if you’ve invested all these energy and resources, you should also consider all the accessories you might want to get to not only protect your cards, but make your play experiences that much more enjoyable. In card-based games, you might want to invest in a playmat when playing long term or taking your game to the next level.
If you want to get a playmat, you most definitely want to customize your mat to your own liking and tailored to your preferences. You can either have your custom TCG mats done by a professional company, or you can create your own DIY mat yourself. The latter choice would require a lot more creativity, ingenuity, patience, and maybe a lot of trial and error to find out what you like and don’t like. So in most cases, if you have your own design, having that printed on a mat would save you a lot of time and effort while also ensuring that you have a quality surface to play on.
Order Custom With All Your Designs
Choosing to order a mat is a simple enough and straightforward process. You can either choose a design for your mat from a selection provided by a company or upload your own design to make your custom mat even more personal to you. If you are more creative, then you should definitely upload your own work. It is possible to use images found online, but many companies legally may have rules against using anything that is not originally made. Whether or not you create your own designs and submit the template to be printed, or choosing to go the do-it-yourself route, there are a few things to consider in terms of design factors for your playmat.
Games, Pieces and Players
These factors are all important to consider when creating your playmat because they will help you determine the size of your playmat. You need to consider the game itself, as different games have different moving pieces to them. Some games are only cards, while others might have counters, life trackers or even pieces to manage. You should consider how much table space or surface space you need for each game. Additionally, the number of players that may be playing can affect the surface area and then change the size of the playmat you need. Granted most trading card games usually will only pit one player against another player, especially in more serious settings like tournaments, you might want different mats for different occasions, whether it is serious or a more relaxed environment.
Placement
If you are looking at mats for more serious play such as tournaments, you might want to consider having outlines for card placement depending on the type of game you play. You can choose to have these areas outline, or engraved, or somewhere in between depending on the material and your preference. And although the lines are ideal for tournament play, they would also come in handy for teaching beginners the proper placements and where everything goes. As helpful as these guidelines are, they are more of an aesthetic choice, especially for more seasoned gamers.
Edges
Another piece of the mat you might want to customize is the outer edge or the border. Customizing this part of your mat can add more expenses you might be hesitant about initially, but it does come in handy when thinking long term, as it will help in keeping the sides of your mat and surface from fraying, curling, or sustaining damage in general.
Image Borders and Quality
Remember to always properly adjust your borders before submitting a design, to make sure that the pixels are a good resolution to make sure they don’t turn out blurry or unclear. Make sure to preview your mat before sending it out for final printing to make sure everything about your image, borders, guidelines, quality, are all to your liking.
At the end of the day, the mat you play on is yours. It is a reflection of your personality and is really up to you and your preference on how you customize it. Don’t worry about others, or how they feel. If you aren’t taking it seriously, you may not even consider some of the suggestions. But above all else, make sure you are happy with it, because what it comes to gaming, if you feel good, you play good.
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
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