Peg inserts

The paperclip idea is a good one, but cards are being played around the edges of the playcard in specific places. My apologies for not saying that the outside edge of the playcard was off limits.

A grommet is something I've looked at, too, but I'm having trouble finding one small enough. I actually went to Lowe's last night and spent some time just strolling through their hardware aisle. I think I can use plastic wall anchors; just cut off the majority of their length and use the top "finished" and flat portion to push down into the card. In theory it should be fairly flat with the top of the card and should be able to hold pegs.

I'm still open to any other ideas you may have. I appreciate all of the help so far!

Bluesea, that cardboard is pretty much exactly what I'd like to go with. I've tried cardboard punching previously but it looks like i was using the non-pressed type, which appears to be much sturdier. The main problem I had was that after playing for a while, the hole got stretched out and became nearly unusable. I've looked around for a lot of differnt types of card stock, but I haven't been able to find that type of cardboard. Do you know where it is available (wouldn't be the first time I've searched for the right thing in all the wrong places. :) )? Also, do you know if there is a particular kind of tool for punching "neat"-looking holes? I just used a pick and exacto knife to create the others and while it can be neatened, it doesn't look very professional because consistency is tough to achieve.

Zzzzz, those are actually ideal, since it is possible for the range of numbers to only be one number. Where did you find them?

Thanks so much for all of your help!

Thanks so much, Zzzzz!

I'm still trying to track down some cardboard sheets, but the only thing I'm finding is the corrugated stuff and chipboard that is on par with the cardboard sheet on the back of a legal pad. Need something a little thicker and tougher than that. Anyone else have any ideas?

Then again, maybe grommets aren't a terrible way to go. I'd dismissed them because I couldn't find one small enough, but the pegs you showed me have 4mm wide peg portions so finding a grommet in that size might not be as bad.

Just wanted to let you know that I stumbled onto a small sale at Hobby Lobby and got some 8"x10" Artist Canvas Panels. They are almost 4mm thick and very sturdy. They ended up costing me about $1 each, but since this a prototype intended for submission, I figured now isn't a bad time to splurge on something that looks nice. I printed out my game card (65lb card stock) to the same size and glued it to the canvas surface, then used a pick to punch the appropriate holes. I just ordered the pegs Zzzzz recommended, so I'm quite excited to see this in operation.

Thanks again to everyone!

As I've gone through the playtesting process with my game, I ended up moving away from the individual player boards I described earlier to a single main board.

This is really just an FYI for anyone who plans to make a board that uses pegs. I got a piece of 5MM luaun that I used for the board itself. I glued the face of the board (just sturdy cardstock that I printed on) to the wood and did two experiments with creating the holes. I used an awl/pick to punch holes through the cardstock/wood layer and that worked pretty well. I also tried using a drill, but the results were not as good. The drill tended to tear the paper around the hole it created, causing it to be flared up. The awl-punched holes simply pushed the paper into the hole, making it look much nicer, I thought. The drill was obviously much faster, but the nice thing about the awl was that the holes were much more well-centered on my pre-printed hole marks. The drill tended to move ever so slightly when starting the hole, resulting in less perfect rows of holes.

Both methods messed up the back of the wood pretty well, causing a lot of splintering. I just pulled off the larger splinters with my fingers and then sanded it down as best I could but the back of the board was still not pretty. I glued some cheap black fabric to the back to make it smoother and less likely to scratch a tabletop. The fabric I used was pretty thin, so the roughness of the back is still obvious if you're looking for it but it won't scratch anything it sits on, at least. When I make another, I'll probably move to something thicker, like felt perhaps.

Wow, that does look really good. Unfortunately, I'm using a fair amount of color coding which sort of precludes me from using the blender maker transfer. I'll definitely see what I can do with extra pieces of wood, though. That was a really good idea that I never would of thought of.

When I make my next board for the game, I think I can use a combination of what you've suggested to make it better. I've already done a fair amount of playtesting with this one, so I think I'll start making a new one somewhere around the beginning of the year. I'll be sure to post pictures this time.

Thanks for all of the help!