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How to STORE cards

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Thu, 06/27/2013 - 20:02
questccg
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Hi all,

This post is about the *headache* of STORING cards! My current game will include "plastic sleeves" and once the cards are put into those sleeves, custom boxes that work for exact card sizes NO LONGER WORK. :(

What I was wanting to know, does anyone have ideas how to STORE cards in plastic sleeves?

Any type of box size or configuration to examine or use???

All ideas are welcomed. Right now, I'm stuck trying to figure out what to do with the cards... (like what size box, what kind of inserts to use, how to divide the box so card stay in place while transporting, compact yet functional, etc.)

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Thu, 06/27/2013 - 20:49
#1
questccg
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Some ideas...

Here is a link to a crazy @ss solution (too big for my needs but has some merit):

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151399840937533&set=a.101513998...

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Thu, 06/27/2013 - 21:05
#2
Silverdreams
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I've seen something like this.

One of the guys in my gaming group has something like this he hand crafted out of wood. It's for his Dominion sets... he has all of them. Then he has several of the cardboard ones similar to the one pictured there as well for his MtG cards. Don't know how widely available they are but I assume most gaming/hobby shops would have something.

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Fri, 06/28/2013 - 07:58
#3
JackBurton
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I think that Dominion box

I think that Dominion box contains your answer... (search for "dominion box" in Google to have an idea)
Very similar to the solution provided, but with labels: probably you could use polystyrene or some other malleable matter.

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Fri, 07/12/2013 - 13:42
#4
questccg
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UPDATE: Designed a custom box

What I have done is get a price quote for 500 units (first print-run) with a custom box. The box is divided by dividers which give the possibility of having 8 compartments: 6 for decks of 15 cards and 2 for dice + wooden blocks.

The price was reasonable... 1,000 units is even more attractive as a price. But I doubt that I would get 1,000 contributors to a Kickstarter campaign! :P

NOTE: This would make the game's box the ideal way of transporting cards (in sleeves).

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Fri, 07/12/2013 - 20:41
#5
Itsdan
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You should realize that

You should realize that overall very few people will take the time to sleeve the cards. Maybe higher than a normal crosssection of gamers if you include the sleeves, but make sure your solution works for the unsleeved cards too.

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Fri, 07/12/2013 - 21:26
#6
questccg
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Still in the prototype stage

Itsdan wrote:
You should realize that overall very few people will take the time to sleeve the cards. Maybe higher than a normal crosssection of gamers if you include the sleeves, but make sure your solution works for the unsleeved cards too.

Well part of the reason for supporting sleeves by the packaging is that players use dry ink markers during starship battles. It would be wrong to use a marker DIRECTLY on the cards themselves. Typically a single player deck will have approximately 90 cards. So all it takes is one pack of 100 sleeves. And unlike the Premium sleeves which are near exact poker sized cards, there is enough space in the box for standard sleeves which tend to be a little bit bigger.

Including the sleeves would complicate the production of the game. I'm dealing with a game manufacturer not a card sleeve manufacturer. Adding sleeves to the product isn't so simple of a deal. But buying standard sleeves (63.5 x 88mm) is easy and cheap: $2.25 for 100 pack. So it's not an expensive investment and will also protect cards from shuffling also...

Same thing for the dry ink pens which can be bought at Staples for like $6.00 (for 4 pens). Adding those to the product itself would make it difficult to manufacture the product if a manufacturer needs to bundle such a product from another source...

The game is still in a *prototype* stage and I will be working on the mechanics (to improve them). I may explore other options (to be used in starship battles) that may remove this constraint. But for now the game requires these two articles for proper playability.

The game is divided into two (2) parts: trading and starship battles. Both use separate mechanics...

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Sun, 07/14/2013 - 02:35
#7
laperen
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if your game is still a

if your game is still a prototype, and your components are not confirmed yet, why are you worrying about production?

if you are considering your options, i do applaud your openess to ideas. writing directly on a card is quite unheard of. card sleeves packaged with a game is also quite unheard of. have you at least tested how streamlined this approach is

i am assuming that although you provide cardsleeves, you do have an empty space on your card to represent the writing space(s). my recommendation would be to print plastic cards instead of paper ones if you wish to continue with your action of writing on a card

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Sun, 07/14/2013 - 16:18
#8
questccg
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Production

laperen wrote:
if your game is still a prototype, and your components are not confirmed yet, why are you worrying about production?

Well for one thing I want to make sure the game can be MADE. And my first production run would be to satisfy the Kickstarter contributors. Those contributions will allow me to *design* the aesthetics (think artwork) of the game... I have an artist in mind and hope that he will be able to produce the artwork for the game. That being said, I need to PAY for his artwork. As such, I need to make sure the game can be produced in response to a successful Kickstarter campaign...

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Thu, 07/25/2013 - 23:17
#9
eviljohs
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Messy stuff....

How many stats are you tracking on your star ships. and how many of those can each player potentially have. Dry erase seems a dirty way to play a game. Im not sure a sleeve can be written and erased to many times before it just looks dingy. And then that powder gets everywhere. Messy stuff. Is it to late to rethink the way the stats are tracked for your ships. Look into GUN, as I mentioned in your other thread.

If its only a few, one to four perhaps, then perhaps an option like mutant chronicles: siege of the citadel. Each player has a card with holes. and some small pegs. They track their own stats that way. Then you can play with our messing up your clothes.

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Fri, 07/26/2013 - 21:37
#10
questccg
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No more dry ink

Although the dry ink concept is *interesting*, I have chosen to remove it from the game because designers feel most players will not go above and beyond to BUY sleeves for cards. And I regretfully have to agree with that. Perhaps if the sleeves were included people would use them... However such is not the case.

Note that it is not messy to use dry ink with a tissue. The problem is the scale, since things are small on cards it is tough to work with a tissue and a dry ink pen.

For example, I wanted to have *shield regeneration* - but this was not possible due to the size of the shield squares and the practical use of a tissue (you could rub off too many points, etc.)

BUT I will be producing a box that can hold both regular cards and cards in sleeves (for those who want the added protection). I just no longer REQUIRE the sleeves to play the game!

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