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I have this boardgame that I've invented. I've tested it out with a number of people, all of whom loved it (and many of whom kicked my butt in it, which was just embarrassing).
I'm trying to get a bunch of units made, so that I can start selling them. But I can't afford to do a huge run just yet, so it's a little pricey.
Making things worse is the fact that the board is a little complicated. It's laid out like a chess board, but there are tiles that go on each square before the playing pieces are set up. You can see what the board looks like and a couple of blank tiles here.
The diamond shapes at the corner of each square aren't just there for decoration; they keep the tiles from moving around during play. And that's my problem. I've gone through a hundred different ideas (she hyperbolized) to keep the tiles from moving around, and this one seemed best. I can't afford to have an injection mold created, which would make things easy. There could be ridges on the board, like in Blokus. Failing that, I thought of interlocking tiles. I thought of trying to overlay the board with a second board that had cutout areas for the tiles. I've thought about having a square frame that would fit around the outer pieces that you could just lay on the board before placing the tiles.
Most of the options are next to prohibitive, price-wise. The square frame idea was one I just considered today, and I'm still thinking about it. About how I could make such a thing practically speaking.
Anyway, I'm running out of ideas, and I figured, "Hey, Jatraqueros are smart! I bet they could figure something out!" So here I am, asking for help.
To sweeten the pot, whoever comes up with something that I wind up using (first person for each idea) will get a free copy of the game.
posted
Can you make the tiles have a hole in them, and put pegs in the center of each square that fit into the holes?
Or is it possible that changing the materials could make one of your other options more attractive? I don't know what materials you were thinking of, but if it's something pricey like plastic, could it help to move to cardboard?
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posted
Or, holes in the center of each square and pegs on the bottom of the tiles. They only need to be 1/8" or so to work.
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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I'm using cardboard. Thin matboard. The problem is getting the pegs on the tiles. Or on the board. That doesn't seem like it'd be any easier than getting the little diamonds on the board.
I'm looking at possibly using those velcro dots, if I can find them for cheap enough. It'll be a pain sticking them on, but I can do it while I'm watching TV or something.
Ridges would be cool, too, but the same thing applies. How would I actually make them? I can get plain cardboard gameboards made for fairly cheap. I have a wholesaler in China who can get me the playing pieces also for cheap. The tiles... well, I actually had a cutting die made to punch them out of matboard that has prints glued to each side. And one place says they might be able to print directly on the board, making that cheaper again. But I don't know how I'd get ridges made. Corrugated board, maybe?
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posted
I was thinking they were wood for some reason...
Corrugated board would work, although I'd be a little worried about the durability, but if this is more of a prototype than a final though, it should be good enough. You could do it pretty easily though; just have the underside upside-down, and the tiles would go right on. You could do it a little more complicated and rotate each tile in the checker pattern. That would make them pretty secure.
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If you had a square piece of thick plywood, and used a radial arm saw to cut shallow grooves in it in both directions, you'd have a rigid stamp of sorts, with raised squares.
Then you'd just need a suitable material for the game board that would take an impression from the stamp piece, and a way to press your stamp into it. The pattern would be inverted and you'd have shallow square depressions in your game board that could hold the tiles in place.
I'm not sure what there is that would work...although I think a thin sheet of a styrofoam-like substance might collapse under pressure and yet hold its shape.
I can't find any stampable material that seems quite right, but I did find this company:
they do custom routing on foamboard. If you could get them to cut out your shapes from some foamboard, then glue that on top of your matboard, it might be effective. Unfortunately I don't know the cost, but automated routing of a few pieces of material seems like it would be cheaper than creating an injection mold.
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posted
You could try making your squares as a puzzle. When creating the tiles, have two sides that have a small square or piece protrude, with two grooves on the other sides, hence creating a puzzle piece.
Not that that is going to help you stick it to the board itself.
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posted
Is it clear from your playtesting that it's really necessary to have something to keep the tiles in place? Do they tend to get knocked about? Perhaps you could simply make them from something heavier.
Alternatively, how about little slots on the board, and cardboard tabs on the tiles? Insert tab A in slot B.
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I second King of Men's question...do the pieces necessarily HAVE to be held together? Carcassone pieces are heavy cardboard, and nothing keeps them together. In fact, re-positioning them all after a kid has knocked into the table is part of the fun. Especially listening to the invectives their siblings scream at them after doing it.
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I can't stand the tiles moving around in Scrabble, so this would be a much better game if they are stationary.
Posts: 1287 | Registered: Apr 2006
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What if the tiles don't go on the board? Each square on the board where you normally would have had a tile is marked individually, as by a color or a letter or a number. You then have a sheet which acts as a legend for the various squares of the board, and you put the tiles that originally would have gone on the board next to the corresponding square on the legend, thereby displaying the purpose or abilties or whatever, of each square.
Kind of like A B [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ]
A is the column where the colors (or what-have-you) represent the squares on the board, B is blank boxes, in which you will place the tiles before the game begins.
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It's an interesting idea. But I think it'd be too complicated to have to look back and forth from the board to the sheet.
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What about having rectangular spaces on the board and placing the tile on one side of the space and the leaving the other side of the space empty, for the game pieces?
Posts: 2267 | Registered: May 2005
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I was just cleaning out an old closet, and found a box of thin magnets. They are the size of a business card, and have a peel-of covered glue side. I bought them years ago when I was running for a local school board. (I finished just behind "printed in USA") They were made to turn a business card into a refigerator magnet. I don't think they were very expensive, or I wouldn't have bought them.
They are not the shape of your tiles. But you could cut them with sissors or look for a different size. And your board would have to be metallic. But they would stick tight and be easely and infinitely removable. With the glued side, you could print any design from your computer, and glue it on.
Posts: 1167 | Registered: Oct 2005
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Square push pins. Dip 'em in glue before you stick them in to keep them from rotating. You could probably even find some metalic or decorative ones that look like the diamonds in your picture.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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A mini ice cube tray as a mold (maybe with some kind of clay or putty) sounds like it might work. Spray with something non-stick, make your pieces, let them dry, then superglue them to the board.
Posts: 2907 | Registered: Nov 2005
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Square studs with little metal prongs on the back could push right into your cardboard. These were the first I found, for $5.50 per 100, you could probably find them cheaper.
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quote:Originally posted by dkw: Square studs with little metal prongs on the back could push right into your cardboard. These were the first I found, for $5.50 per 100, you could probably find them cheaper.
Those are nice. The silver ones, particularly. But since I'd need 81 of them per game... I'm not sure I'll be able to find anywhere to get them. In terms of putting the squares on myself, one thing I tried was printing them out, and cutting out strips of them. They're a half inch wide, so I got some half inch double sided mounting tape, peeled off one side and stuck the printed strip on. Then I cut the squares apart and stuck them to the board. It works, and it's not horrendously expensive in terms of materials. But sticking 81 of them on a single board, one at a time, is incredibly time consuming. Still, it's an option.
And those studs are exactly the right size, and even look like the graphic. That'd be really nice...
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Artemisia Tridentata: I was just cleaning out an old closet, and found a box of thin magnets. They are the size of a business card, and have a peel-of covered glue side. I bought them years ago when I was running for a local school board. (I finished just behind "printed in USA") They were made to turn a business card into a refigerator magnet. I don't think they were very expensive, or I wouldn't have bought them.
They are not the shape of your tiles. But you could cut them with sissors or look for a different size. And your board would have to be metallic. But they would stick tight and be easely and infinitely removable. With the glued side, you could print any design from your computer, and glue it on.
I like the idea. I'm starting with a cardboard gameboard, but if I ever find a way to produce metallic boards within my budget (and get sheets of that flexible magnetic stuff for a reasonable price), that'd work great. Thanks!
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Especially listening to the invectives their siblings scream at them after doing it.
