PROTOTYPING
general information - SOFTWARE TOOLS- FONTS/ICONS/IMAGES - SERVICES
Here are online resources for software tools that may assist you in streamlining your prototype process. Some are even capable of producing production-ready artwork.
Please make sure to check the licensing before using in a commercial project.
To submit additional resources to include on this page, please email resources@ttgda.org.
General art and layout tools
| Name | Cost | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe Creative Cloud | $$$ | Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign. Subscription based |
| Affinity Suite | $$ | Comparable tools to Adobe for one-time purchase price. Frequent sales. |
| Blender | Free | 3D modeling tool |
| Canva | Free Tier | Web-based tools for a variety of media |
| GIMP | Free | Bitmap drawing program (comparable to Photoshop) |
| Inkscape | Free | Vector drawing program (comparable to Illustrator) |
| Paint.Net | Free | Bitmap drawing program |
| Scribus | Free | Page layout program (comparable to InDesign |
| Sketchbook | Free Tier | Apple drawing app |
Card and Component Layout
| Name | Cost | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Card Editor | Free | Card layout tool |
| Card Maker | Free | Card layout tool |
| CIDEr | Free | Cards design and layout using HTML/Handlebars, CSS, and Tabular Data |
| Cocktail | $ | Card Design Software |
| Component Studio | $ | From GameCrafter, tool for creating various components via data merge |
| Deckato | Free Tier | Card and token data merge tool (in alpha) |
| Dextrous | Free | Card Design Tool |
| Forge of Cards | Free | Card layout tool |
| Multideck | $ | Card layout tool |
| NanDeck | Free | Script-based card merge tool |
| PNP Buddy | Free | Card layout tool |
| Reliquary | Free | Card layout tool based on Figma |
| Squib | Free | Ruby language for prototyping |
| Strange Eons | Free | Desktop client for card merge |
| Tabletop Creator | Free Tier | Desktop client for cards and tokens |
Digital Playtesting
| Name | Cost | Description |
|---|---|---|
| AnyDice | Free | Die rolling simulator to calculate probabilities |
| Boardzilla | Free | Digital board game framework |
| McDie | Free | Node-based die rolling simulator to calculate probabilities |
| Screentop | Free | 2D browser-based platform |
| Tabletop Playground | $ | Full 3D tabletop engine with physics |
| Tabletop Simulator | $ | Full 3D tabletop engine with physics. Currently the most popular digital prototyping tool. |
| Tabletopia | Free Tier | Full 3D tabletop engine with physics |
| Vassal | Free | 2D windows-based playtest tool |
| Virtual Tabletop | Free | 2D Browser based |
Modeling
Tools for building and analyzing game flow during design and development
| Name | Cost | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Machinations | Free Tier | Dynamic Economic Modeling |
| AGML | Free | Visual Modeling for Tabletop Game Design and Analysis |
Mapping
Tools for creating maps
| Name | Cost | Description |
|---|---|---|
| AutoREALM | Free | Fantasy mapping |
| Campaign Cartographer | $$$ | The gold standard in mapping software |
| Fractal Mapper | $ | World maps |
| Inkarnate | Free Tier | Fantasy mapping |
| Worldographer | Free Tier | World, City, Dungeon Mapping |
random generators
These tools generate random names, encounters, and other elements that may be useful for an RGP or Board Game
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Chaotic Shiny | Wide variety of generators, from alphabets to planets |
| Chartopia | Random charts |
| Donjon Generators | Random Generators |
| Fantasy Name Generators | Generates fantasy names (of course!) |
| Random NPC Generator | NPC Generator |
| RandRoll | Large collection of generators, random tables, and links |
| RPG Solo | RPG Generators |
| Solo Engine | RPG Generator |
| WebGM | Open Source Generator |
