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Sterling Babcock: An Open Letter to Publishers
First, I want to express my heartfelt appreciation to all game publishers for making the extreme effort to publish all of our favorite games. Without their hard work, we would not be enjoying this hobby or the friendship that comes from gaming.
Having purchased and played many games, I find some things that game publishers do when they create a game amazingly great—and some things that I just do not understand. I’ve also noticed potential changes that could make games better from a physical standpoint.
Personally, I store my games on their sides for easy access and so that the boxes do not warp from stacking. Some people lay them flat; others put them in the trunk of their car or toss them around. I also frequently transport games to groups. Principally, once the game is punched, no matter what happens to the box, I feel the pieces should stay in their place and not get all mixed up.
Please remember that this list is not an attack on any publisher or game, merely features and details that I personally would like to see in published games. I know that many people will have other ideas, and I encourage comments and opinions. With all that being said, here are some things I would like to see in games:
The Box Cover and Box
- Use all four sides of the box
The four edges of the box should allow one to place the game vertically or horizontally in two different ways each. Look at the alea series: One side is set up for horizontal text. Check. One side is for vertical, but with the text sideways. Check. One side is vertical, but with the text so it reads normally left to right. Check. The last side also has text sideways. This way, you can store it flat long ways, flat short ways, vertical long ways, and vertical short ways.
One possible improvement: The alea games have numbers only on the long sides. Why not place numbers on the short side as well for when the boxes are presented that way?
- Put the suggested number and age of players and the playing time on the side of the box
Most games do this, but that one game that puts this information on the back of the box—or, heaven forbid, does not put it on the box—is irritating! And please use the standard symbols so we can find the block easily. (It would be wonderful if this info were standardized across publishers so that it always appears on the side of the box between 1” and 3” from the bottom so that we could just scan across a shelf of boxes.)
- Make square boxes square
Why does it matter if a box is 1⁄4” longer in one direction? I’ll tell you why. If I have to rotate a board one more time to make it fit in the slot, just because I happened to hit that 50% of the time in which it’s the wrong way, I think I am going to scream.
- Make the game pieces fit the box
Example: The Shadows Over Camelot holy grail board. Enough said. I had to cut off a bit of the board to make it fit in the slot. (Remember, these are just examples. I am not complaining about this wonderful game.)
- Make the insert fit the pieces
This should be obvious, but many games come with a completely wrong insert. Please at least use a generic insert with lots of deep wells. We don’t care whether there are too many wells; we can bag stuff so that it won’t fly around.
- Make a shelf for the board and a nice big space below it for bags of pieces
Zooloretto is a good example of this set-up.
- Make tile storage vertical
Do not make the insert so that tiles lie flat in the box, as with Elasund and Taluva. If the box lid opens even slightly during transport, the top tile or two flies around, then everything starts falling out. Make the tiles stand vertically. In Uptown, for example, those tiles fit perfectly and no matter how you move the box, they stay in place!
- Make a thumb tab for the tiles
This is another reason vertical tile slots are better. When tiles lie flat, it’s a pain to get that last one out. But whether tile storage is flat or vertical, you need finger-sized openings on the side to make it easier to remove them. I think Memoir’44 has this with the original box, but not in some of the expansions.
- Make card storage vertical as well
If you have enough depth in the box, make those little cards sit on their edge. Again, when you shake the box, if the cards are vertical, they will not escape; if they lie flat, then the top one or two cards shuffle around the box and can get bent out of shape. Interestingly, Goa expects you to lay the cards flat, but you can use the slots to store them vertically as well.
- Allow us to put the cards in Ziploc bags
Many inserts are just big enough for the cards when they are in shrinkwrap. Once you take them out of the shrinkwrap and lay them horizontally in the slot, they just fly all around the box! We don’t want to deal with cards flying around—but for 90% of the games out there, if we put the cards in a bag, the slot meant to hold them is so tight that they won’t fit there anymore, and we have to use other slots (if any) for the cards.
- Allow us to put card protectors on the cards
Think of the Citadels role cards. Some cards are used so frequently they need to have card protectors on them, but once they do, they no longer fit in the wells for the cards. Leave a little gap in the wells so that cards in sleeves will still fit.
- Make the card wells as deep as the box
If the box is too shallow to store cards on end, fine, but if not, use the entire depth of the box for the card slot so that it’s deeper than the stack of cards! This way, if we do store cards horizontally, we can place a small bag of tokens on top of the cards to hold them in place. Make it deep!
- Don’t use too many custom wells
No, we are not going to fit all those little pieces back into specific little wells every time. We are going to use Ziploc bags, so leave space for them.
- Leave room for the expansion
If you expect the game to have a small expansion, make extra wells or leave space for the expansion in the main box.
- Don’t sell us air
We don’t want an overly huge box with just air. Make the box fit the game contents. We know you need to position your product on the shelf, but don’t go overkill. I love games that are efficiently packed and use all the box space as it will take up less space on the bookcase, so I can buy more games!
- Give us Ziploc bags with holes
Provide bags in the box for the parts. This is really cheap and works well.
Optionally, put a hole in the bag. Say what? When I put a game away, I just want to zip up the bag and stuff it in the box. I don’t want to squeeze out the air, and fold, and hold while I zip. Every bag in my collection has a small slit in the bottom. Now I just zip and put in the box because any excess air will escape. (Okay, some people do not like the holes. Fine. I can cut a hole myself.)
I am particular on this one because the first thing that I do with a game is scan the sprues for my personal use. (I mean scan on a scanner, not just eyeball the sprue for completeness.) This way, if I ever lose a piece, I can replace it. Here are some suggestions for the sprues:
- Plan for the sprues not to be in the box
Some publishers design their components so that you have to have the sprues in the box. If you remove the sprues, the insert no longer reaches the top and the pieces fall all over the place! If you have to do this, design the insert so that the sprues will fit underneath it to raise the insert to the upper edge of the box.
- Shrinkwrap the box with the cover extended
I am glad to see this being done sometimes, such as with Uptown and Genesis. If you look at the game while it’s in shrinkwrap, the cover does not go all the way down to the bottom, but once you punch the tiles out of the sprues, place the tiles in their nice little wells, and close the box without the sprues, the box fits perfectly! And the insert reaches the top of the box so that the pieces do not fly all around. Excellent!
- Label the sprues with the game name and sprue number
Yes, I often keep my sprues, but not always with the game. The side of the sprue has lots of space, so place the game name and the number of the sprue there. Roads and Boats is a good example. The sprues are labeled Ax3, Bx1, Cx3 and Dx1, which tells me which sprues are which and how many copies of that sprue I expect to have. It would have been nice if they had added “Roads and Boats” on the edge as well. Fantasy Flight’s Drakon labels the sprues as “Drakon Flat 1 of 13 Side B,” for example.
- Place tile tabs on the sides, not the corners
When I say tabs, I mean the pieces of material that connect the tile to the sprue before it is punched. Connect the tiles on the sides, not the corners. When they’re connected on the side, I can use a fingernail clipper or a file to get the tab off and leave a flat edge; on the corners, there is no good way to keep all the tiles the same if I cut off the tab.
- Make the sprues spaced out to fit a scanner
Okay, this is esoteric, but let me give it a shot. As I said, I scan my sprues before punching out a game, but most scanners have a space slightly larger than letter size for scanning. For almost every game, I have to scan the left half, then the right half, and then use Photoshop to stitch the images together.
Then I happened on Zooloretto. Yes, the game comes in a square box that does not fit on the scanner—yet the tiles were spaced on the sprue with a letter-sized left half, a space, and a half letter-sized right half on each sprue. I was able to scan them in two pieces and not have to stitch them back together. Plus, if I ever need to print out replacements, they will print on letter-sized paper. (I am sure it was not planned this way, but hey, it is an example!)
- Make the game work for color-blind people
I won’t go into this as I do not have this problem, but I’m sure others can point out resources to test colors for color-blind people.
- Include a list of box contents and game summary in the rules
Most companies do list the contents in the rules, and this is a must for anyone buying a game after it has been punched. We all want to know whether it is complete. Having this list in the rules is much easier than having it on the back of the box because you don’t have to dump everything out to see the list.
The back of the rulebook is valuable space! Give me a summary of play: How many cards do I deal to players initially? What do those icons mean? What are the phases of a turn? What’s the win condition?
- Include extra pieces
An extra piece or two, such as the three supplemental trains in Ticket to Ride, are much appreciated for replacements when things get lost. You could even have extras on the sprue, perhaps marked on the front to indicate that they’re extra. (Splotter’s Roads and Boats had extra white bricks with a mark on them. Yes, I know the extras are because of the sprue distribution, but they were there and marked.) It would be helpful if you could mention in the rules how many of an item is used in the game and whether extra pieces are provided.
Okay, you knew I had to go there. My personal opinion is that manufacturers in China have not been able to make a decent game. If I see a game was made in China, I will think twice about purchasing it. Why?
- The printing ink smells really bad—almost toxic.
- I have to test the printing and pieces with a lead detector kit. Yes, I do.
- The boxes are overly thick and clunky. They just are not the quality of German boxes. The boxes from China are hard to open and scream low quality. There is no way a game from China has “good box fart” for those of you who know what I mean.
- The boxes are heavy. For some reason the paper of the box and the components are heavier, which puts an extra burden on you when transporting the game—and it’s a real surprise when you go to ship one of them!
- They shrinkwrap the cards super close, without pull tabs to open the shrink. Sometimes when I cut open the shrink with an X-ACTO knife, I have damaged the cards inside.
- They shrinkwrap the sprues, as with Prophecy. Say what? Same problem with pull tabs.
- They use some sort of thick crinkly shrinkwrap, as with Container. Perhaps being thicker is good, but something about it bothers me.
Want to get something off your chest? Want to tell the world what you think? Boardgame News welcomes your article submissions at contributions@boardgamenews.com
Posted by W. Eric Martin on Feb 4, 2008 at 02:00 AM in Special Features, Articles / 2161
Comments:
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Make the game pieces fit the box - One recent game that comes to mind is Colosseum. once punched, if you keep the insert, the bag of tiles makes it nearly impossible to close flush. It’s a GREAT insert, so I kept it, but in other cases like this I have pitched it. Make the insert fit the pieces - 377 games and counting, and I would have to bet that over half are missing the insert, mostly due to the fact that the insert just isn’t functional, or is so fiddly it’s frustrating. Allow us to put card protectors on the cards - I have to say this is a MAJOR pet peeve. There are two major form factors for cards these days: YuGiOh and more prominently, Magic the Gathering. While I understand the need to make the kids size cards to save room in the box or on the table, or even to cut costs, “regular” size cards should match a standard of cards that’s on the market. Those are the most important to me. Nice article! Posted by Dave Kudzma on Feb 4, 2008 at 02:40 AM | #
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If punched tokens/tiles are meant to be shuffled face down (or otherwise indistinguishable), make sure that there are no tabs or that all the tabs are in the same location, and that the pattern on the back is identical and aligned. Posted by Jim Cote on Feb 4, 2008 at 04:38 AM | #
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Wait, wait… use the standard symbols for the game information? But my favorite part of getting and opening a 2F-Spiele game is seeing how non-standard the game information icons are. As long as it’s there, why care what it looks like? Posted by R. N. Dominick on Feb 4, 2008 at 06:57 AM | #
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See, every once in awhile I think I’m over-doing my bagging, etc… for my pieces. Recently I’ve made a few game trades, and now reading this article, I see I have plenty far to go before I have to even begin to worry I’m going over the top. You make some good points for publishers to take into account when publishing for the hardcore gaming audience. If they’re trying to accommodate the general public I think several of your suggestions would be less useful. Posted by Matt J. Carlson on Feb 4, 2008 at 07:42 AM | #
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I would argue against holes in ziploc bags. I live in a humid environment (the beach) and need to bag as much as I can to prevent components from absorbing moisture. I would add to your list: Put icons in all four corners of cards. I am left-handed and can’t tell you how many times I fan the cards in my hand only to see blankness.
I would also like magazine publishers to print
Posted by Roger Ngim on Feb 4, 2008 at 11:04 AM | #
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Why is there no American printer that can come up to the standard of German printers? Rather than someone who loves boardgames starting yet another small game company, the largest service someone could provide would be starting a printing company able to compete both in quality and price with the German printers. Especially if they could specialize in small runs of 500-1000 copies with as fast turnover. Posted by Stanley Bourgeois on Feb 4, 2008 at 11:44 AM | #
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It’s about time someone did this, Sterling!
Posted by Marc Gilutin on Feb 4, 2008 at 11:51 AM | #
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One more request which I hold above nearly all others mentioned so far. USE A STANDARD SIZED BOX. It is a great advantage to be able to fit all my games in my library, lined up on the same shelf size, maximizing the use of my space. Odd size boxes (curse you Queen and Ravensburger!) require stacking off to the side, are messy, and waste space. Optimally, I’d see every “full” game possible fit in an Alea sized standard box (which I think is the same as the smaller Goldsieber “Web of Power” box. It is relatively small. The next best alternative is the box used for many HiG and Amigo games - seen in Amun Re, Union Pacific, and Power Grid. Given that my collection is limited by space, an odd sized box can “cost” me 2 spaces, and is a prime candidate for my trade pile (League of Six). The bulky Kosmos square boxes are a sort of standard, but they are typically oversized and wasteful. Posted by Jonathan Degann on Feb 4, 2008 at 12:08 PM | #
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Sterling, you are the Melvin Udall of gaming! :-) Posted by Larry Levy on Feb 4, 2008 at 12:22 PM | #
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Really enjoyed this article except the part about lead in game pieces. If I have a few wooden pieces with some lead paint on them what will happen to me? Will I live my normal life span or will I die slowly from lead or will it be quick? My guess is that you could scrape all the paint off a die with lead paint, then eat the paint and have no effect. I would not do that but just holding the a part with lead paint would have not effect on your health what so ever. Anyone over 50 years old most likely grew up in a home with lots of lead paint on the woodwork. Seems like we have really gone a bit bonkers over such things. Posted by William Anderson on Feb 4, 2008 at 02:32 PM | #
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Mike’s Note to the Publishers: Thank you for re-printing Neuland. I love you. Posted by Michael Chapel on Feb 4, 2008 at 03:34 PM | #
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The lead issue is hysteria run amok. Yes there is an underlying health hazard, and yes it’s worth paying attention to when the expected users are small children (who, as we all know, have a propensity to putting things in their mouth). But in general, I just don’t understand the fuss. I still remember when lead weights for fishing lines were sold loose and by the pound at the neighbourhood sporting goods shop - last I checked, there’s no epidemic of former sporting goods shop owners keeling over and dying thanks to lead poisoning. But the comments above about standard box sizing, making functional inserts and maintaining a consistent quality standard - those I agree with 100%. pk Posted by Patrick Korner on Feb 4, 2008 at 06:47 PM | #
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I stand and applaud you sir. Posted by Terry Bailey Sr. on Feb 4, 2008 at 07:30 PM | #
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I have put up a poll on Spielfrieks inviting participants to choose the request that are most important to them. Please drop by and participate! http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/spielfrieks/surveys?id=2652111 Posted by Jonathan Degann on Feb 4, 2008 at 09:08 PM | #
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My requests:
1) Minimise air in boxes.
The rest I really don’t care much about over the current state of publication. Posted by J C Lawrence on Feb 5, 2008 at 04:25 AM | #
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Sterling, fantastic article. Of course, your article does point out some significant OCD tendencies… Modern medicine can treat some of these, you know! Come find me at the Gathering and we can discuss some of your options <g>.
And…
2) I’d prefer air and a standard sized box than a custom sized box for each game. Not to mention the cost benefit of standard boxes 3) I agree with the complaint that Chinese pieces may be inferior - but my relatives need work. We can’t all make shoes. Dale Posted by Dale Yu on Feb 5, 2008 at 08:37 AM | #
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No surprise, but let me point out some counterpoints. :) First, the most important point for me is the color blind part. Games will be stored somehow. But if the pieces aren’t usable by color blind people (including me), then they won’t get played if extensive accommodations have to be made unless the game is very, very good. Standardization is a good idea in many areas. I am unconvinced that it’s needed in boardgame packaging. Over the years, I’ve purchased several games becuase of the interesting shape of the box. Bang! the Bullet is the latest example. “Forcing” manufacturers to standardize size, shape and format of the box would limit creativity of presentation. Who knows there may be current non-gamers that will be attracted to gaming based on an interesting shape of a box or a particularly pleasing picture on the box. It’s quite possible that including the title on all four sides and slapping the time/number of players/age on the box could ruin the overall appearance that the (box) designer is trying to create. (Does anyone really pay attention to the age recommendations? And the time is often way off, as well.) This does make storage an issue, but I think the diversity is worth it. It almost seems that you are laying out contradictory wishes for the inserts. Do you want the cards to fit snugly or leave room for protectors. Personally, my games are to play, not necessarily preserve, so the former is my choice. I like detailed inserts. My pieces for Big City are stored in their packing beds and I know that all my pieces are there. I really like well designed box inserts. If it’s not practical, then I like the board support/valley approach. The planning for sprues to be discarded is a good idea. I am also with you all the way on the China issue. Thanks for a thought provoking article! Posted by Scott Russell on Feb 5, 2008 at 09:04 AM | #
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Thank you everyone for your kind comments! I appreciate it! I am sorry that I was offline yesterday (I took a day off for my birthday) and could not reply to comments. I do realize that not all of these suggestions may apply to every game. Mostly, I wanted to collect them all in one place for consideration. Not all of them may be appropriate! I also appreciate the additions! So far I have seen added: - Use standard size cards if possible so we can find card protectors that use them. - If punched tiles are meant to be identical face down, make sure that there are no tabs or that all the tabs are in the same location, and that the back is identical. - Put icons in all four corners of cards for left handed fanning of the cards. - Use standard size boxes so that they can all fit on the shelf together. - Minimise air in boxes. - Include spares - A few comments not to standardize too much to allow creativity in game design, which is very reasonable.
- A second call for consideration of color blindness. I tried to do a quick search for articles, and came up with these, though I have not had a chance to read them:
Thanks to Jonathan Degann for the Spielfrieks poll as well. Other comments: R. N. Dominick: “Wait, wait… use the standard symbols for the game information? But my favorite part of getting and opening a 2F-Spiele game is seeing how non-standard the game information icons are. As long as it’s there, why care what it looks like?” Oh, you are so right! One of the wonderful things about the games is the creativity. It is fine if they do something creative. My only request is that they make it so that it is easy to find, for example in a similar location. Matt Carlson: “You make some good points for publishers to take into account when publishing for the hardcore gaming audience. If they’re trying to accommodate the general public I think several of your suggestions would be less useful.” You make a good point. I think there can be a middle ground. For example, making sure the box is still organized when the sprues are gone, and having lots of storage wells. Even if the card slots are bigger for sleeves, the general public is unlikely to notice the space being a little bigger. Roger Ngim: “I would argue against holes in ziploc bags. I live in a humid environment (the beach) and need to bag as much as I can to prevent components from absorbing moisture.” You make good sense. I forget that I live in dry Colorado.
William Anderson: “Really enjoyed this article except the part about lead in game pieces.”
You may be right in that my lack of knowledge about lead is taking me over the top. I also understand that not all of the suggestions apply to all people. My thought was that people are handling all the game pieces, while eating food in between. Lead is something that collects in the body, so even if I am being irrational, I would prefer to error on the side of caution. I was also trying to think of how games are aimed at children. Thank you all for your comments and appreciative reception! Posted by Sterling Babcock on Feb 5, 2008 at 12:36 PM | #
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Sleeves. Yes, we need the cards sized to current sleeve sizes, or at least make sleeves available for the size of card you’re putting in the box. Posted by Scott Mellon on Feb 5, 2008 at 07:43 PM | #
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Excellent article :) Posted by Surya Van Lierde on Feb 6, 2008 at 04:35 AM | #
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Just erring on the unrealistic… Posted by Mike Siggins on Feb 7, 2008 at 11:28 PM | #
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