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Poll: Favorite Types of Components

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Grall Ritnos
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Joined: 02/07/2011

As I've been doing some high level brainstorming this past week, I've gotten really hung up on the idea of rolling lots of dice as a key mechanic for my next design. As I've thought more about it, and about games that I enjoy, I've come to a conclusion: I'm a dice man. I'm just going to roll that out there, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I like big dice, little dice, fancy dice and plain dice. I especially like custom (non-numerical) dice, because the simplicity and repeatability of complex results fascinates some part of my brain.

This led me to wonder what types of components are well loved by this community. I'm not really thinking about mechanics here, but rather the visceral experience of playing games involving dice, cards, pawns, minis, boards, tokens, etc. So setting the design and mechanics of the game aside, what are your favorite types of components, why?

lewpuls
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Joined: 04/04/2009
Having grown up with only the

Having grown up with only the proverbial three black and white TV stations, no computers, no prime time movies on TV, etc., I'm not very visually oriented, nor tactilely for that matter. But I do like miniature plastic figures, especially ships. NOT meeple-like things that abstract the appearance, I like ones that look more "realistic".

Unfortunately such components are too expensive to require in a game design.

gabrielcohn
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Joined: 11/25/2010
dice!

i love dice too. if i had more money, i'd probably blow it all playing craps. good thing i have a little self control. but, above all, i like games where there is some level of randomness, but within set limits.

i recently made a first draft of a game with custom dice. it worked okay, but was imperfect. so many directions i can go to fix it, but trying to decide which feels the most interesting before i take the next step.

other games i've made use cards more for the random element--you know generally what the possibilities are, but have to react to the results...

TLEberle
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Joined: 08/10/2008
Poll: Components

When the Southcenter WotC retail location closed I was told that I could take a little pail and fill it with dice and it would be priced by weight.

After I was roused to my feet, I got all sorts of dice; mostly off-the-wall d6s, but my favorite die is by far the d20, and especially the 0-9 twice through d20. If I'm able to throw in a d10 into a game, I will do so, just because the icosahedron is so appealing to me.

Wood bits are great to a point, you don't want so many that you spend all your time fiddling with them. One of the challenges I like to take on is mitigating the luck aspect of dice so that there's still that uncertainty factor, but a player who has a sound strategy can work around it.

akanucho
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Joined: 11/10/2009
Big flat things!

I'm very much a visual person, so things that hold art or text are dear unto my 'eart. A well-crafted game board does a lot to win me over, and if you can fit in a clever application of cards in alongside, so much the better. One 'component' that I feel has unfairly gotten the short end of the stick in recent years is the Instruction Manual. I have several fond memories of opening a new game box and cracking open the manual, eager to find out all about the possibilities that the game had to offer. A good game poorly introduced is a terrible tragedy.

Orangebeard
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Joined: 10/13/2011
Dice - especially bright

Dice - especially bright colors.

OOOOOOOOOOHHH Shiny!

YamItheonly1
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Joined: 04/13/2012
DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICE

I adore dice of all kinds, though the simpler the better
I also like minis (LEGOs make good minis), especially space ships and boats and such
maps are good, but a pain to make

desperadonate
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Joined: 12/07/2011
I'm a tactile person

Nice, clean visuals are always a good thing. I'm big on things looking just right for the feel of the game (and I have a hard time getting into game that have cheesy "cheap CGI" looking graphics), but I think I get the greatest pleasure out of playing a game where the pieces feel solidly made. There's just something about pieces that have a little heft to them that somehow make the game more immersive to me. I like dice and playing pieces that feel substantial. My buddy's set of Settlers became warped, so he paid me to glue the tiles and edge pieces onto plywood. Funny as it sounds, I think that tactile experience (and the "clack" they make as we lay things out on the table" has added an extra bit of enjoyment for me.

I know that's not a specific game component, per say, but I do think it's always a treat to play a game where the pieces are made of something other than cardboard. Moving around three dimensional objects is just more fun (maybe it hearkens back to the hours of childhood spend playing with little green army men and action figures). And when those pieces are made of wood, a nice dense plastic, or painted pewter, it always adds a little something extra for me.

Despite all that, I actually would have to say my favorite specific component would have to be cards. I used to be a big dice person - and I still get a kick out of grabbing a fist full of dice and tossing them on the table - but most of the games I've been into recently have all had a card-driven element. With cards, you get (hopefully) a cool picture, you have the rules of that element printed on it right there in front of you, plus there's a nice sort of specificity to cards. With dice, you can use the same types of dice for a hundred different games - they're just sort of a stand in, while with cards, you get something that is specifically made for this game, in this moment, and the probability element is also customized and tailored to that specific game (though it goes without saying that each have their own advantages and disadvantages, and there are definitely times when dice fit the design of the game better than cards and vice-versa).

Dralius
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Joined: 07/26/2008
The Board

A board with good artwork sells the theme as well or better than any other component can. I would rather have a little wooden cube to represent my hero questing for the grail on a good looking map than a finely detailed plastic Knight on a crappy map.

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