How much do you spend on your prototypes?

Until recently I hadn't spent much at all on the All For One proto... but I got some pewter minis (about $3 or $3.50 apiece) and some paint to paint them.. then $6 for a brush that it turns out I didn't need. So now I've spent about $30 on the game, which is what I'd spend on a 'normal' game, and I really like All For One. I might have to get some more minis now for the guards, because mixing minis and wooden bits looks bad.

As far as my card game prototypes, almost nothing exccept paper to print on and the ink. As a CCG junkie with no pace to play, I have thousands of card sleeves and boxes of commons laying around, so I am set there. When it comes to board games, I've tried to spend as little as possible for now, I scrounge as much as I can (still using cardboard for game boards and such) But then again when it comes to my BG's I'm not anywhere near ready to try and submit one, so while I want the proto to look good I'm not pushing for chit board and full ink prints (using draft mode for printing) YET. When the time comes who knows, but I'll bet for the 3 BG's and 4 card games I've got ready in different stages, (5 are fully playable and in some sort of testing) I haven't spent more than 25-30 bucks. Cheers......

I've found my prototypes costing $20-30. Usually that means printing on business card stock, which is surprisingly expensive and certainly not as good as real cards. I bought the playing card sheets from protoparts, but I haven't used any yet. I'm waiting for something important. I have a supply of money, chips, dice, etcetera that I bought from the local game store.

I've only made a board for a game once. It was a roughly drawn sheet that I taped or glued to a cardboard. I just wanted to see how the game would work. (Still have a lot to do on it.) I've actually sold or given away some prototypes, but I'm confident I'm not putting the money and effort into the look and feel of them that some people are. I just want something that's functional in order to try out the game.

Steve

Average 40 hours and 20$ per prototype. If I don’t have a specific components I make them. Miniatures I always use the one I have and I have a lot of components that I can use (and I reuse some parts).

// Johan

Unless you have to justify your R&D to corporate (or your wife), I don't think it makes sense to put a price tag on your time. I've spent hundreds of hours over 10 years on one game, but I've enjoyed the process. If you ask me for a prototype for that game, it will cost me $20-30 to put it together. That will be a functional, modestly attractive game. It won't be anything that I could take to a store and ask them to carry. It won't trick anyone into thinking it was a mass-produced game. But it plays well enough that people will ask to play it when they come over, and it presents well enough that no one is put off by the look and feel.

Up above when I said I spend $20-30, I didn't take into account that I have invested in a couple pieces of equipment. I got a little thing for trimming card corners. I've never used it for a complete set of cards yet. It's a lot of trouble. I also bought a paper trimmer, which I have used.

Anyway, that's my take. Materials cost, time doesn't.

Steve