If you were like me and played Yu-Gi-Oh while growing up, then you have probably wondered if they changed the size of Yu-Gi-Oh today to be smaller. Actually they are not smaller, we are just adults now and the cards appear to be much smaller than what they were years ago because we are now bigger.
However, this still doesn’t change the fact that Yu-Gi-Oh cards are particularly small. This may leave an unanswered question in your mind. Why are Yu-Gi-Oh cards so small?
The answer to this question is that Yu-Gi-Oh was a card game created for kids. Having smaller cards makes the cards easier to handle and shuffle which helps caters to their designated audience. The dimensions of a standard Yu-Gi-Oh card in inches is 3.25″ by 2.25″.
Why Doesn’t Konami Make Yu-Gi-Oh Cards Bigger?
Since Yu-Gi-Oh has been significantly growing over the years in popularity among kids, teens, and adults of all ages, why don’t they just make the cards a little bigger? Although this seems like an easy fix, there are a few things that you need to realize why this most likely will never happen.
There are literally thousands of Yu-Gi-Oh cards that exist to this current day. Konami would have to reprint every card into the bigger size. Along with printing all new cards, you also need to take into consideration tournaments. Yu-Gi-Oh tournaments have very strict rules and regulations that are enforced by Yu-Gi-Oh judges when it comes to the cards and even the sleeves that your cards are in.
Also, it can cost players a lot of money to have to recollect all of their favorite cards and decks with the new card sizes. Overall, this can be a costly mistake for Konami as doing a change as big as this can result in angry fans and a possible loss in business and wasted revenue.
What Is the Size of a YU-Gi-Oh Card? (Height and Width)
Everybody keeps talking about how small Yu-Gi-Oh cards are, but there are never actual numbers thrown in describing what small is. I did some research and found out exactly how small these cards actually are.
As stated earlier, the dimensions of a standard Yu-Gi-Oh card in inches is 3.25″ by 2.25″. When you take into account how big an inch is, no wonder there are tons of people asking why these playing cards are so small.
How Big Is a Yu-Gi-Oh Card in Pixels?
A Yu-Gi-Oh card is approximately 242 pixels tall by 164 pixels wide.
Are Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, and MTG Cards the Same Size?
The three most popular Trading Card Games are surely to have something in common right? Especially Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh since they both originated in Japan. Well, it is quite the opposite since Pokemon and Magic the Gathering are equal in sizes.
Yu-Gi-Oh cards are actually the outlier when comparing these three card games. Yu-Gi-Oh cards are substantially smaller than Pokemon and Magic the Gathering cards.
This can pose a few problems as every gamer knows that they should keep their cards in card sleeves in order to keep them in the best condition possible.
Can You Use Pokemon or MTG Sleeves for Your Yugioh Cards?
The first problem is that you can’t use your extra Pokemon or MTG sleeves on your Yu-Gi-Oh collection since they are too big. Using standard sized card sleeves on your much smaller Yu-Gi-Oh cards will cause a number of problems.
- Shuffling your deck will be much more difficult
- Game play experience will suffer and be much slower due ot the difficulty of gripping your cards
- You may even run the risk of damaging your cards
What Size Card Sleeves for Yu-Gi-Oh?
In order to solve the issue of small Yu-Gi-Oh cards, big brands like Ultra PRO actually created a new line of card sleeves tailored for the smaller sized Yu-Gi-Oh cards as well as many other popular brands in the TCG community.
The best card sleeve size for Yu-Gi-Oh cards is 62 x 89 mm / 2.44 x 3.5 in.
3 of the most popular card sleeve brands to use for Yu-Gi-Oh:
- Ultra PRO
- KMC Hyper Mat
- Dragon Shield
Final Thoughts
Yu-Gi-Oh cards have never gotten smaller. As kids, everything looks and feels much bigger than they really are. It’s nostalgic to say the least, to hold and look at the original Yu-Gi-Oh cards if you’re from my generation.
I also asked myself the same thing. Did Yu-Gi-Oh cards get smaller? It has intrigued me enough to research as to why they felt smaller, and I have come to the conclusion that this is just a normal part of growing up.