Tales from the Trade

Personalized Playing Cards for Games

by Shari Spiro

March 17, 2012, 2:45 am

So you invented a custom playing card game or a custom board game. Now what?

Maybe you have  been sitting on this idea for personalized playing cards for games for years and now it’s finally time to actually make the game. Let me make a suggestion. Figure out how you are going to market it. Start marketing it while you are getting the manufacturing quoted and the final designs made. The worst scenario would be to have 1000 or more  games and no plan how to sell them. At Ad Magic we can help and guide you with the process but you have to know something about our own demographic in order to be successful. Make researching successful custom playing card games a priority.

Custom playing card games
Personalized playing cards for games come in all sizes

One service that we offer is a small run prototyping service which allows you to make small runs of your card decks or games for testing, product photography and early marketing efforts.  Advance prototypes offer the inventor a chance to test run their idea without making a major financial commitment.

We also offer compete design and manufacturing services and can source  and package extras that may go in to your final game.   We provide you with custom box and design templates so that you can be sure that you are creating your art properly from the beginning.

Inventing a game can be a challenge , so working with a company that is geared to work with inventors, is definitely some thing you should consider when reviewing potential manufacturers for your game.

We can provide References of many successful clients who started with a idea that launched a business.  Let us be your source for creating custom playing card games or custom board games for you.


Shari Spiro founded Ad Magic in 1998, turning it into one of the largest independent tabletop game printers in the U.S. She has worked with renowned clients like Cards Against Humanity, Exploding Kittens, and household names such as HBO, Delta Airlines, National Geographic, and McDonald’s.

Shari’s expertise spans manufacturing, logistics, marketing, and long-range planning, making her a driving force behind Ad Magic’s success. Under Shari’s leadership, Ad Magic has become a trusted partner for global brands and independent creators.

Beyond work, she’s a musician and an award-winning entrepreneur—in 2016, she was recognized as Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year.