I’m designing a game which will have four player boards upon which many different tokens need to be constantly placed and removed throughout the course of play. The player boards are square grids, dimensions 11 rows by 11 columns, about 16.5 cm^2 total area (like a condensed checker/chess board, but with more 3 more rows and columns).
For playtesting, the player boards are simply printed sheets upon which the player places 1cm cube tokens. Though this works without major issue, it would be better if the tokens could be placed within indentations that more firmly house the tokens. We have an old Chinese Checkers set with a nice wood board replete with indentations that prevent the marbles from rolling around. We also have a cribbage set where pegs are placed into the holes punched into a wood board. These are two examples that come to mind that use perforated wood to firmly house game tokens.
Is it at all practical to consider designing a game with perforated wood boards, or is it cost prohibitive for an initial run of about 500? About how much more costly per unit is it to have manufactures create wood boards than perforated cardboard? How would the costs of plastic boards compare to wood or cardboard? Are there other alternatives that might firmly house game tokens that would keep manufacturing costs down?
Yes, 16.5 cm is the length of a side, so I should have technically said (16.5cm)^2 = 272.25cm^2 for total area. Sorry for the confusion.
Ok, so now I want a cool wooden Sudoku board! (Just don't think my wife will let me order the 1,000 minimum.) Seriously though, great link, thanks! I'll contact Gameland and hit them with some specs to see what they suggest. I'd like to go with wood if at all practical. There's just something about polished wood that makes certain board games that much more appealing.