Let’s briefly talk about some of the “big boys” products and what lasts and what does not hold up. Games like Monopoly and Scrabble have components that can stand up against the test of time. Wooden letter tiles, metal playing pieces, and even paper “funny” money that are handled constantly can last decades. Playing cards that are shuffled all the time in games like Uno and Phase 10 do get worn out after a period of time so then the game needs to be replaced.
The nice thing about the mass produced games from large companies is that when you are making hundreds of thousands copies of the game the price point of manufacturing them goes down so the cost of the game to the consumers are much lower than games from smaller companies who only product a few thousand copies in a single print run.
Would you want to pay $30 dollars for a single deck of the basic Uno cards? I know I wouldn’t. Speaking of games with cards, what do we do with the games from smaller publishers, such as the Dale of Merchants series by Snowdale Design who only does limited printing runs of their games? Two words… card sleeves.
Card Sleeves
Are card sleeves a component upgrade? To a lot of people, it is, that is why I discussed that first. Now let us discuss a few other component upgrades that can add more to the aesthetics of a game.
Custom Meeples & Tokens
Going back to the “days of old” in board gaming, playing pieces typically consisted of pawns, for a visual, they looked like upside down martini glasses without the base (think of the game Sorry) or similar plain pieces. Game pieces have evolved over time to become my “peoplish.” Hence the creation of the word and playing pieces called a Meeple (combination of my & people). The first game to use the pieces was of course the “classic” Carcassonne. The meeple itself was an upgrade in its’ own right but now, the basic meeple has been upgraded to different shapes and sizes a great example is Everdell which uses different forest figure meeples for their workers.
As for tokens, these pieces can already come in various shapes and sizes. Typically you will find wooden round discs to square cubes in games as well as a myriad of cardboard tokens. Having these pieces upgraded can add more to the looks of a game but you can always just use what comes with the game.
A wonderful example of having meeples and token upgraded from the basic retail version of a game to a special edition/Kickstarter edition is the Gardens of Babylon. As you can see in the following two pictures each edition the upgraded pieces do add a nice touch (each seed token is a different shape in the deluxe edition).
Coins
This category is short and sweet. Most games that use coins as a monetary or victory point system to keep costs down will just use cardboard pieces. This is completely acceptable for most of the games out there since you would just set these aside for final scoring.
There are a handful of games that metal pieces are a part of the game already. Dread Pirate is the best example of a game that comes with metal pieces. The coins sound nice when clanking together and the metal ships look great while sailing across the cloth map.
For other games, purchasing the metal coins upgrades are a nice touch because they seem to fit nicely with the looks and design of the game, especially pirate games. Tang Garden’s metal ancient Chinese coins add a nice touch to the design of the game. Unicorn Fever’s metal coins used for betting provides the game a “are you lucky or not” feel while you stack the coins on your bets, clink, clink.
Organizers
Have you ever had a game with many components be put into a box loosely that scatters every time you move it and when you open it up it is a complete disaster? Have you ever organized your games using zip lock bags? If you have said yes to either of these then you are in dire need of an organizer.
Most of our games that we support via Kickstarter that are heavier weight (complexity)and/or Euro style games are now coming with plastic tray organizers. These are designed to hold and organizer all cards, bits, and pieces for the game.
One game that I was impressed with that came with some plastic trays for just the cardboard tokens was Uwe Rosenberg’s A Feast for Odin. You can see them on the left side in this picture along with the rest of the game components that are just stored loosely in the game box.
However, there are companies that design and sell more complete organizers for many different games. Some are 3D printed plastics, some are laser cut wood, and some are foam core organizers. Many of the wooden and foam core ones you have to assemble and glue yourself. For me, these are great because it provides me a sense of ownership being a part of the process.
I have to give a shout out to my favorite company that makes wooden organizers, The Dicetroyers from Italy. They do have their own website and are also on Etsy. Their organizers are strong, sturdy, and their instructions are clear and concise. We own multiple of their products for our games. The following pictures are for A Feast for Odin.
Playmats & Cloth Boards
Another upgrade/add-on that my wife and I feel is worth it only some of the times are play mats and cloth boards. A few games come to mind in terms of these two items.
As mentioned before, Dread Pirate has a cloth map that you sail your wooden ships on. A traditional cardboard game board would get well abused playing this game with the glass gems, metal coins, and metal ships.
For Unicorn Fever, if you have the KS Ultimate edition, the game comes with jumbo unicorns that are played on a gigantic cloth game board. It also comes with the regular base game with the smaller unicorns that are played on a standard game board. The cloth board is a necessity for the jumbo unicorns and make the game totally worth it. (First picture.. retail version on a 4'x3' table, second picture.. jumbo cloth board on a 4'x6' [play area] table.)
A few other games that we enjoy playing using a playmat is Sovereign Skies, Solar Storm and Wingspan. A few of the Tiny Epic games have playmats, currently we only have one of them and have found it worthwhile to have. We are deciding which other ones we may want to pick up as well for the series.
Again, the bottom line is that playmats & cloth boards that help organizer a game and keep things together and organized on the table are good for some games but may not be worth it for others. Use your best judgement as to the value of this upgrade for your games.
Other Upgrades & Final Thoughts
I have seen, mainly on Etsy, people creating 3D parts and other upgrades to popular games that replaces the basic components to a game. Are these upgrades needed? For some people yes and some people no.
A popular game that people often upgrade parts to it is Everdell. From slotted leaves for event cards to acorn shell resource holders, and more, these upgrades are functional but are more for looks than anything else.
If the game is one that you will be playing over and over and it is not a mass produced game that you can go to your local store that has a toys and games section to replace it, then yes component upgrades are worth it. For us, card sleeves are always a must. We have a collection of the various sizes that most games use.
As always, us your own judgment when it comes to where you invest your funds in the board gaming world. If you want a game to last for a few generations of use, protect it well. I wish that I had taken better care of some games from my youth that I am now wishing I still had and not worn it out.
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