17 March 2016
 Categories: , Articles

Designing your own board game is a thrilling experience that can move beyond the concept stage by working with a number of industries. As you design the initial prototype game board, you can visually see how the board design and different game pieces work. By working with injection molding companies, you can create a prototype of your game board and help plan out all the features for the final design. When using injection molding services, there are a number of factors to consider for each design element of the game. Browse through the following three factors and see how injection molding can help you create an ideal prototype.

Game Pieces

Aside from the game board itself, the game pieces are one of the more important visual elements of a board game.  A game piece design can be as simple as a small pawn or a fully detailed character. The design of your piece will depend on how you want the finished product to look.

• Pawn Colors: If you're using general pawns for game pieces, an injection molding company can give you a palate of colors to choose from. This includes more standard colors like a bright blue or shades of blue like teal and navy. This allows you to select specific colors that match your game design and theme.
• Character Design: If the board game uses character designs like people, then you can work with injection molding companies to choose how the final design will work. The character pieces can come in a single solid color or use multiple colored pieces that are glued together to form the final game piece. The design can also be painted a basic color and get painted over in a separate process.
• Balance: The key to a successful board game piece is having the piece stand on its own. Through the prototype design, an injection molding process can showcase the piece and ensure that all of the elements have a proper balance and can easily stand on its own. If the piece falls over easily, some adjustments may be needed so make it stand.

Moving Around the Game Board

Different board games use different elements so players can move across the board. By using injection molding, you can customize these elements to make your board game unique and fit to the structure. One of the more common board game moving tools is a die. Injection molding companies can create standard dice, colored dice, or dice in larger or smaller sizes. They also have the ability to create a completely custom dice that fits your board game. For example, you could have a ten-sided dice made with additional numbers imprinted on it. You could also have dice created with symbols instead of numbers. A board game featuring different travel locations could have dice featuring symbols that represent various parts of the board like an island or cabin.

Injection molding is also a great way to make custom spinners. Spinners can be used to indicate moves around the board or other game options. For example, if a player reaches a bonus area, the spinner can be used to determine the bonus prize. Injection molding can create accurate spinner with multiple color options and design features.

Hot Stamping

Along with injection molding, many companies incorporate hot stamping into design elements. The hot stamping process uses foil and ink to imprint materials like plastic and make it a permanent part of the surface.  For example, an injection molding company can create plastic coins to be used in the game. A hot stamping process can be used to add a gold foil element to the coins and make them look more special. Characters could have hot stamping on specific areas to add extra texture and design. For example, the t-shirt on each character could be hot stamped with a logo of your game company or a graphic representing the game.

Building the perfect prototype is key to making your game a success. Work with an injection molding company, such as Accurate  Products Inc., to fix errors and get the perfect design for different game elements.