Question About Prototyping Game Pieces

Good advice. By the same token, though, you don't want something that is too nice, because then those publishers who have their own artists or ideas about theme will think (probably correctly) that you will be hesitant or unwilling to make any changes they request.

I'd say that the general rule is that your game needs to look ready to show, but just short of ready to sell. Take a look at some of the free print-and-play games out there, or Cheapass's line of products (which goes for the same aesthetic).

At some point I would get rid of the coins, but only because when you ship it they will add excess weight (and because they are easily pocketable cash money). Little cardstock markers are fine; poker chips also work.

I disagree that publishers are less likely to look at you if your game looks polished. In fact, the better it is, the less work it is for them, and therefore the more likely they are to give it a try. They're going to want changes, and that's pretty much non-negotiable, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to make it perfect before you seek out a publisher.

Having published 8 games professionally myself, and worked with other designers to publish their games, I highly recommend making your prototype match your production version as closely as possible. Here's why:

1) The closer it matches the production version the better playtesting feedback you can get back from your testers. Testing isn't just about mechanics after all. It's also about usability and aesthetics. You can't really test the last two unless your game looks how it will look when it gets published.

2) The more times you have to remake the graphical elements of your game, the more refined it will look by the time you get to the final version. You'll find all kinds of neat tricks. Granted, if most of your graphics are illustrations, and you're paying someone else to do that, then it will get way too costly. But the graphic design and typography elements can be endlessly manipulated to achieve better results. People will play ugly games no problem, but will they pick them up in a store? Not as likely.

3) The more you playtest with your full system including graphics, the more chances you have to spot errors, artifacts, and alignment issues.

4) When you play with the actual parts needed to play the game, you may find something a bit too clunky. For example, in one of my recent games, we started out using dice for the randomization, but it slowed down game play. So over time we switched to a deck of cards for that mechanic, and it increased the play speed by a factor of 3. And more importantly, new players caught on to how the mechanic worked faster and easier once we switched to the cards.

That's my advice. Your mileage may vary.

I've rarely seen a board game with one 8.5" x 11" board, so I think you're safe if you get bigger than that.