Stackable Playing Cards

Building a house of cards is a fun challenge that most of us have tried before. I wanted to capture the simplicity of that, with a little sprinkle of design and ease of use. What if I can make it just a little bit easier to build, while still keeping it challenging enough to make the game interesting? Check this video presenting the project :)

Designed in FreeCAD, the base card has features in the back that facilitate stacking a little "roof" with two other cards on top of it. This video shows how to build a castle with 18 cards!

Each card is printed in only 4 layers - they are minimal, they look nice, they feel nice in the hands (and are totally playable), and with a single change of color you can make them stand out (suggested:  orange and black Prusament PLA for a classic Prusa look).

A blank card is also included, so you can customize it to your heart's desires. Maybe make your own stack with a custom logo? That is also possible. 

If you want to generate a full custom deck, check the source files in my StlFactory project on GitHub. The README has instructions on how to use the scripts.

I also designed a parametric card box to hold the deck, but I shared it as a separate model since it can be used for different things. Check it out here: SlickBox Parametric Card Storage Box.

A note about card colors: to be able to play with the cards, printing them with the "right" red x black colors would give it away because of how printing layers and filament changes work. To make "hearts" red, you'd need to add a color change that would show up in the border of the card which color you have. So you can think of these more like monochromatic, decorative cards - diamonds and hearts and clubs and spades should all have the same color, this way nobody will know what you're holding if you were to use these cards for real, to play Poker for instance :)

Printing Advice

You can fill approximately 6 cards in a regular sized print bed at each time. Print them facing down on the printing plate (they are already oriented that way) for a better finish. The change of color makes a huge difference, they look much nicer in two colors! Here's what I used here on my MK4S:

• 0.20mm (speed)

• 5% infill

• no brim, no supports etc

• 1 change of color on layer 3

Commercial Usage

Members of the Heidi Makes Club in the "Partner" tier are allowed to use this model commercially for physical prints.