Category Archives: boardgame engineering
Tile Extractin’ Backing Action
One part of my Catan boards that doesn’t get enough attention is the backing. The backing is almost invisible during play, and it is obviously critical to keeping the frame together, but there’s one feature of the backing I haven’t … Continue reading
Posted in boardgame engineering, design
Tagged catan, catan board, leather backing, settlers of catan, tile
Leave a comment
Puerto Rico: Building on Buildings
One of my ideas for improving Puerto Rico is to change the component for the buildings. Currently the buildings look like this: Improvements I want to implement are as follows: separate the price and quarry effect information from the actual … Continue reading
Posted in boardgame engineering, design
2 Comments
Blair Nisley’s Custom 5-6 Player Catan Board
Blair got a Kit of my Boardcrafting tiles and did a pretty sweet paintjob (see closeup here). He reports there’s a technique to painting: I did do some experimeting and the best way to paint these is to leave the … Continue reading
Of Pressing Concern
Making a bunch of Total Completion rewards tonight. I’ve got a jig, of sorts, to help align the wood frame pieces on to the leather backing. Then gravity and the printed word take over.
Posted in boardgame engineering
4 Comments
The Shrinkage Problem
Canvas. It kinda sucks. First of all, it is a poor medium for laser cutting. The edges fray after the cut, definitely not something I want happening to a product with my name on it. Furthermore, before I cut it, … Continue reading
Posted in boardgame engineering
Leave a comment
Package Planning
I have been thinking about how to ship all my boards in the mail. The boards almost ship themselves, because they fold in a way that most components can be placed inside the frame, which folds closed and is protected … Continue reading
Posted in boardgame engineering
Leave a comment
In a Lather
The backing component, while having the simplest design, has proven one of the most difficult pieces to deal with. It is very important that when it is cut, it be laid out as flat as possible so that there is … Continue reading
Posted in boardgame engineering
1 Comment
Pip Fragility
One of the problems I kept facing with my design was pip fragility. The tiny images of dice at the bottom of the Catan pips would often break, and I would then have to throw the whole pip in the … Continue reading
Posted in boardgame engineering
Leave a comment
Miracle on 5th St
Pictured above is a Wood tile with tape peeled off around the borders and of half the treestump detail. You can see where one treestump looks more orange and the other more white. Notice I didn't say "and sanded". Over … Continue reading
Posted in boardgame engineering
Leave a comment
Stress Test
Any responsible manufacturer must test their products. An important test is that of temperature extremes. So while I was at a lab last week and had access to liquid nitrogen, I thought I’d give a pip a little bath in … Continue reading
Posted in boardgame engineering
Leave a comment
The Dominion Caddy
The Catan Board
The Pips
The Robber
The Frame
The Tiles
