Just wondering if a 26" square board is out of the question.
I ask because I'm wondering if this is prohibitive in some way; I need grid squares probably no smaller than 1", so my board really can't get too much smaller than this..
I'm hoping it's no big deal because I don't want to have to design to cater to a size!
thx
Andrew
Just wondering if a 26" square board is out of the question.
I ask because I'm wondering if this is prohibitive in some way; I need grid squares probably no smaller than 1", so my board really can't get too much smaller than this..
I'm hoping it's no big deal because I don't want to have to design to cater to a size!
thx
Andrew
Remember, with Quad-Fold technology ( :D ), that's really only 13" square, and I don't think that's unheard of. It just makes sort of a cumbersome square box (probably 13.5" square). I'm trying to think which games I have with similar dimensions and the only one I can think off of the top of my head is Usurppe. I personally like games with bigger boards, and to be perfectly honest, I would consider 26"x26" to be more along the lines of a medium sized board.
Just my thoughts.
-Darke
I don't think anything is really "out of the question", but your game should justify the large size and the associated higher costs a big board will bring. Why can't your grid squares be smaller than 1"? Could you make the pieces smaller? Could you get away with 0.75" squares (it would save you 6"!).
Personally, I don't think 26" is too big of a board -- there are much bigger boards out there. Of course, I am also working on a game with a 24" square board, so I'm a bit biased!
It depends what stage you're at. If you're just designing the game, think more about the mechanics and the gameplay, and make a fun game so that you have something to worry about! If, on the other hand, your game is almost done, these may be issues you will want to think about more.
Good luck!
Remember, with Quad-Fold technology ( :D ), that's really only 13" square, and I don't think that's unheard of. It just makes sort of a cumbersome square box (probably 13.5" square). I'm trying to think which games I have with similar dimensions and the only one I can think off of the top of my head is Usurppe.
Scanning my collection, I see that Evo, Can't Stop, Robo Rally, and Lord of the Rings (the Knizia co-op) all have square boxes at least 13" long. So there is a precedent.
As Darke said, as long as it can fold back into a realistically-sized box, you'll be fine.
Do the buildings actually signify valid places for the pieces to move? If not, you could make the buildings themselves smaller and still have your 1" spaces for the cars.
The board looks very nice! It looks like you may be close to having your design in the final stages. Is that accurate, or are you still hashing out the design?
Unless you're looking to self-publish, I just don't know how much I'd worry about this issue. I don't think your board is too big, but if a company does, they'll find a way to make it work if they like the game itself. Of course, you need to ask yourself whether you could live with a smaller board and smaller pieces...
Good luck!
Something I used for a tank game was printing tanks onto thick cardstock, cutting out, and gluing a bead of the player's color to the face of the tank. You could print out 6 yellow taxis, 6 green delivery trucks, 6 gray cars and glue one of each color bead to them. At a glance the players would know what type of vehicle it is and who's it is. Also the bead makes it very easy to move the pieces. Works great for prototyping and actually impresses those who walk by and see us playing. To accomodate color-blind issues you may also want to put a number on each vehicle to differentiate the pieces by player.
Hi there, the town map looks great and as a quick suggestion, have you tried cutting it up into 9 separate squares (a 3x3 grid) so that it will fit into a, say, 9"x9" box? Additionally, such a 'building block' map can create different town layouts depending on the position and rotation of each block (allowing for legal placements) :-)
Dave W.
Hi Andrew,
(I'll try looking over your other shoulder now)...One of the biggest concerns I'd have about a modular design is the athesics+sense from the completed town, e.g. would the roads match up across separate pieces to form nice long straight 'highways' :-) One of the great things about Carcassonne is the finished board, a shared jigsaw-puzzle if you like, displaying a very attractive and believable kingdom layout :-)
Also, examine "Le Metro"'s modular design (albeit a not so pretty end result).
Dave.
I think 26" is too big, but it depends on where you plan on selling this. I think for the specialty market, you can get a way with it. But, if you plan on selling to the big dogs, then I would strongly consider a 20" x 20" board.
I just think the 10.25" x 10.25" box is the safest bet for marketing your game to all of the retailers out ther.
Just curious, what is your basis behind this opinion? Are you saying retailers will refuse to carry a game that is 26" square? I'm not saying you're wrong, but I find this very hard to believe given that I can go to any game store and point out at least two or three game boxes with similar dimensions. How many retailers actually request the dimensions of a game when they are making their purchases from their supplier?
Again, I'm not saying your wrong, I just find this hard to believe. I mean, sure, in small game stores this might be a reality, but they would have to be VERY small. As in mall cart stores and such.
Please explain.
-Darke
Shelf Space is Real Estate. The more games they can cram on a shelf, the more profitable retailers are. There is a real science to what we see on the store shelves. The big retailers put a lot of thought into designing their planograms. If your game is too big, and they've already placed their orders with Hasbro and Mattel, your game isn't getting on that shelf if they've only got 10" left and your box is 13".
Who do you think decides what Hasbro's line is each year? Wal-Mart! They will tell Hasbro they have 'this much space', Hasbro then figures out what they can fit into it. The space gets smaller every year, and some games will be dropped if they don't fit into this space.
Yes, there are exceptions to this rule, but companies like Hasbro and Mattel have a lot more pull then the guy who is just starting out. Smaller is safer
I agree smaller is safer in general. But are you speaking generally or is this specific game situation? To me, a 13" square box is perfectly within reasonable limits for a game. Of course, that all depends upon your target market. If you are indeed targeting walmart (Which btw, you probably would have a better chance of breaking into fort knox than getting your game on a walmart shelf). Most of the game stores I have been to, the games are stored vertically, like books in a book shelf. With that being the case, wouldn't the height be more of a factor? And the last time I checked, Mom and Pop game retailers don't usually bust out a copy of Prospace or some other planogram software to setup their shelves. They just rearrange by hand until it all fits rather nicely. If it doesn't fit, they simply reduce the quantity of games on the shelf until it does. I hate to make gross generalizations, but the majority of people who come to this site are working on games that target a niche, and that niche is your small to medium sized, usually independently owned game/hobby store. I just don't see box size making that big of a difference within these markets. If one of these retailers wants to sell a game, they make it work on their shelves.
As a retailer he's completely right about the space issue and it's true for many consumers as well. One of the selling points with Apples to Apples (and really any Out of the Box game) is that it's a small compact box that doesn't waste space. It feels heavy in your hand and you feel like you're getting your money's worth. Compare that with a Worst Case Survival Game or many other big box games. They take up a lot of space without much stuff. Cranium copied the design of Apples to Apples boxes last year when they released Hoopla. It's a good size.
Again, I think we are talking about different markets. The games you mentioned are party games and are usually targeted to coffee shops, bookstores, and huge retailer chains (with the obvious exceptions of cross over hits like OTB's Apples to Apples). You may disagree, but until you can show me that Walmart turned down Puerto Rico or New England or some other similar niche market game because of the size of the box, then I will have to disagree with you categorically.
I'm always aiming for the stars. Why would you want to lessen your possibilities?
You need to think in a Hasbro and Wal-Mart kinda way to make it big. That's all I am saying. When I am designing a game, I am designing it with the notion that it will get into Wal-Mart or Toys R Us. And, I have succeeded. Products that I have been part of have gotten into Wal-Mart, Toys R Us, Borders, etc. AND they've gotten into specialty stores and catalogs. Why just settle for the specialty?
The designers who are stubborn, and don't adapt, never make it. Some of them might, but the ones who play the game, go much farther, more often.
So, if you want to satisfy only the Ma and Pa stores that order 6 games at a time, then more power to you. It might take you 3 years to sell 5,000 games, but you can say you stood your ground. But, if you want to to satisfy all retailers, and sell that same amount of games in 6 months, you gotta adapt.
I'm not selling myself short, I look at it as not selling myself out. I already have a job, I'm not doing it for the money. If I was, it might be different. I know that anything I would want to design, would probably not be something that Walmart or other large retailers would be willing to sell. It's that simple.
-Darke
![Syndicate content](/misc/feed.png "Comments for \"Are "big" boards generally acceptable?\""){kind=small}
 | What “Should” Be in an RPG Design Book (1) by X3M |
 | The fine line between a game and a simulation (14) by X3M |
| Only 24 hours left to bid on games for the Extra Life Charity Auction (0) by The Game Crafter |
| Songs of Conquest is now 60% off plus an additional discount for... (5) by questccg |
| Returned the reMarkable 2 and purchased the BOOX Go 10.3 (3) by questccg |
| Happy Halloween 2024 (0) by questccg |
| Epic Metal Monster Coins - Now on Kickstarter - Created by The Game Crafter (0) by The Game Crafter |
| DuelBotz: Sample New Card (12) by questccg |
| 2 levels for an unit (wargames) (6) by X3M |
| Board Game Blueprint - New Episode Every Wednesday (17) by The Game Crafter |
| Dragon Spark Playthrough (0) by The Game Crafter |
| New Board Game Pieces - Premium Water Droplet & Premium Blood Droplet (0) by The Game Crafter |
| Designer with an 'almost' ready product (18) by questccg |
| Protospiel Madison - Only 17 Days Away! (0) by The Game Crafter |
| New Board Game Pieces - Premium Milk Bottle & Premium Beer Mug (0) by The Game Crafter |
| Testing chat GPT for mechanics searching (6) by larienna |
| Build your own [insert game genre here] (0) by larienna |
| Epic Metal Monster Coins - Coming soon to Kickstarter - Need your feedback! (2) by questccg |
| Version 1.28 of nanDECK is available for download (0) by nand |
| I bought a reMarkable 2 as my 50th B-Day Gift (4) by questccg |
| How do you know if a game idea/project is obsolete? (5) by larienna |
| TGC Testimonial at 2D Con 2024 (0) by The Game Crafter |
| Pam Walls unboxes mystery box from The Game Crafter! (0) by The Game Crafter |
| What are "Factions"??? Are they UNITS per Faction or something else??? (24) by X3M |
| Quest Adventure Cards(tm) v1.5 - Reboot now ON SALE! Save 26% off! (4) by questccg |
Well it can be a problem, but I think it all depends on the person. For example: A couple months ago I purchased Sid Meier’s Civilization board game and the board is extremely large, not to mention all the pieces :x. At first I was quite perturbed at how I had to play on the floor but I eventually got over it probably because it 4:00AM (The game is very long!). Overall I’m not the type to judge a board game by its size. If you plan to sell your game it might get expensive.
Regards,
Garret