A gate and a monster appear -- on the wall!
October 20, 2010 7:51 AM Subscribe
I'm retooling my Arkham Horror game-board as a vertical, wall-mounted surface, so that I'll actually have room in my apartment for people to play without spending part of their turn sitting out in the hall. Help me figure out the best way to do this effectively, affordably, and awesomely.
Here are some of the options I've considered:
1. Fusing and mounting the actual board itself (and attendant expansion boards). Since the board's thickness would thwart magnetic game pieces, I could add tiny tabs of velcro to all of the locations, explorers, monsters, gate markers, clue tokens, elder signs, etc. etc. Though I'm afraid this will look like garbage and wreck the board for future flat gameplay.
2. Scanning the board and printing it out onto paper. PRO: Could slightly enlarge it for enhanced player visibility, could glue onto some sort of magnet-friendly metal backing. CON: Fitting board sections cleanly into a scanner without cutting it into pieces.
3. ??? Maybe something that rolls up? I dunno.
In any case, there would be a small table or surface under the board where all the cards and so forth would live, around which all the players would recline in relative luxury with their magnetic-slidered explorer sheets. I would love more ideas, or ways to improve upon the examples given, or ways to improve non-horizontally-oriented gameplay. How would you do it?
Here are some of the options I've considered:
1. Fusing and mounting the actual board itself (and attendant expansion boards). Since the board's thickness would thwart magnetic game pieces, I could add tiny tabs of velcro to all of the locations, explorers, monsters, gate markers, clue tokens, elder signs, etc. etc. Though I'm afraid this will look like garbage and wreck the board for future flat gameplay.
2. Scanning the board and printing it out onto paper. PRO: Could slightly enlarge it for enhanced player visibility, could glue onto some sort of magnet-friendly metal backing. CON: Fitting board sections cleanly into a scanner without cutting it into pieces.
3. ??? Maybe something that rolls up? I dunno.
In any case, there would be a small table or surface under the board where all the cards and so forth would live, around which all the players would recline in relative luxury with their magnetic-slidered explorer sheets. I would love more ideas, or ways to improve upon the examples given, or ways to improve non-horizontally-oriented gameplay. How would you do it?
Since the board's thickness would thwart magnetic game pieces,
I dunno. It may be worth experimenting with some small-but-potent rare earth magnets (obviously you'd just want the thin disc type for the pieces).
Scanning the board and printing it out onto paper....CON: Fitting board sections cleanly into a scanner without cutting it into pieces.
I think you could do pretty well with an overhead camera and good, even lighting. That would let you capture the board without cutting it. Do you have access to a dSLR and the patience to make some diffuser?
Also, once scanned you could use a projector and move virtual pieces around the project board.
posted by jedicus at 7:58 AM on October 20, 2010 [1 favorite]
I dunno. It may be worth experimenting with some small-but-potent rare earth magnets (obviously you'd just want the thin disc type for the pieces).
Scanning the board and printing it out onto paper....CON: Fitting board sections cleanly into a scanner without cutting it into pieces.
I think you could do pretty well with an overhead camera and good, even lighting. That would let you capture the board without cutting it. Do you have access to a dSLR and the patience to make some diffuser?
Also, once scanned you could use a projector and move virtual pieces around the project board.
posted by jedicus at 7:58 AM on October 20, 2010 [1 favorite]
How about buying a crap-ton of tiny rare earth magnets and supergluing some to each monster/location/etc. on the board? You could then give each player a handful of slightly LARGER rare earth magnets at the start of gameplay, and they could use them to affix their relevant pieces to the proper magnetized areas of the board.
If you wanted total smoothness, you could always use a tiny round paper punch and some superglue to chisel out tiny pieces of the board and embed the magnets therein... sort of like cracking an egg into a hole in a piece of toast?
posted by julthumbscrew at 8:00 AM on October 20, 2010
If you wanted total smoothness, you could always use a tiny round paper punch and some superglue to chisel out tiny pieces of the board and embed the magnets therein... sort of like cracking an egg into a hole in a piece of toast?
posted by julthumbscrew at 8:00 AM on October 20, 2010
Dang, jedicus... great minds think alike (and simultaneously!). :-)
posted by julthumbscrew at 8:01 AM on October 20, 2010
posted by julthumbscrew at 8:01 AM on October 20, 2010
Response by poster: One thing to consider about magnets -- any given location would have to be able to theoretically house several different pieces. Say, an explorer AND a gate, or multiple monsters. Or all of the above! I love the rare earth magnet idea, but I would probably have to use a freaking million of them to acommodate full gameplay.
posted by hermitosis at 8:06 AM on October 20, 2010
posted by hermitosis at 8:06 AM on October 20, 2010
Nah, you'd just get adhesive magnetic sheeting and put it behind the board everywhere pieces could go. You could slap magnetic sheet on the whole thing, but that would increase the cost and weight.
So you'd only need rare earth magnets for the pieces. Or were you already taking that into consideration?
posted by jedicus at 8:24 AM on October 20, 2010
So you'd only need rare earth magnets for the pieces. Or were you already taking that into consideration?
posted by jedicus at 8:24 AM on October 20, 2010
I was going to suggest photographing the board as well. You wouldn't even need a DSLR, a decent point-and-shoot should do the job.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 8:24 AM on October 20, 2010
posted by EndsOfInvention at 8:24 AM on October 20, 2010
If you use sufficiently strong rare earth ones, I think it might still work... one magnet per location on the board, one magnet to hold down anywhere from one to ten cards to it. You could experiment by buying two of the lil' guys, sticking one to your fridge and seeing how many cards you can hold to it with one other magnet... I'll bet a surprising amount.
posted by julthumbscrew at 8:24 AM on October 20, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by julthumbscrew at 8:24 AM on October 20, 2010 [1 favorite]
(In other words: don't magnetize the pieces themselves, but affix them to the magnet-i-fied board using other, slightly larger magnets in a "pushpin" capacity.)
posted by julthumbscrew at 8:25 AM on October 20, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by julthumbscrew at 8:25 AM on October 20, 2010 [1 favorite]
I'd go with the scanning and printing, myself. You'll want to have it printed professionally, on a poster printer, and that will be expensive, but probably not more so than buying thousands of rare-earth magnets. As for scanning the boards, I wouldn't worry; there's software out there that makes it very easy to stitch images together. Just scan the board in sections and reassemble it.
And can I come over?
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:25 AM on October 20, 2010
And can I come over?
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:25 AM on October 20, 2010
BGG is blocked from work. But I would check their page for files. Someone may have beat you to it. You may just have to print them.
posted by TuxHeDoh at 8:28 AM on October 20, 2010
posted by TuxHeDoh at 8:28 AM on October 20, 2010
You don't need a million magnets. Here's how we play on a flat surface: Each explorer token has a plastic base. We also have enough extra plastic bases for the monster limit + 3 for the outskirts.
What you do is glue the magnets to the bottom of each plastic base. You will need, at most, 19 - 8 explorers, 11 monsters. If you never play with 8 people, then you can get away with fewer. When you pull a permanent monster out of the pile, you stick it on a magnetic base and stick it to the board. This also has the benefit of keeping track of your monster limit.
Heck, put the gates on plastic magnetic bases as well - there's a gate limit that causes instant death, right? So you only need 6 more.
The one drawback to this method is that the pieces will probably have a hard time staying in place - they might slowly slip down the board. Also, we usually don't play with expansions, so adding Dunwich horror will throw a wrench into this plan.
posted by muddgirl at 8:34 AM on October 20, 2010
What you do is glue the magnets to the bottom of each plastic base. You will need, at most, 19 - 8 explorers, 11 monsters. If you never play with 8 people, then you can get away with fewer. When you pull a permanent monster out of the pile, you stick it on a magnetic base and stick it to the board. This also has the benefit of keeping track of your monster limit.
Heck, put the gates on plastic magnetic bases as well - there's a gate limit that causes instant death, right? So you only need 6 more.
The one drawback to this method is that the pieces will probably have a hard time staying in place - they might slowly slip down the board. Also, we usually don't play with expansions, so adding Dunwich horror will throw a wrench into this plan.
posted by muddgirl at 8:34 AM on October 20, 2010
Oops, let's just pretend I remembered to make that a link: http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic422947.jpg
posted by jjb at 8:34 AM on October 20, 2010
posted by jjb at 8:34 AM on October 20, 2010
Response by poster: One question I have about magnets -- If all my game pieces have little rare earth magnets stuck on them, is unpacking the game going to become a crazy nightmare? I am imagining a crazy Katamari-esque snarl of game-pieces that takes forever to pick through.
posted by hermitosis at 8:35 AM on October 20, 2010
posted by hermitosis at 8:35 AM on October 20, 2010
http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic422947.jpg Large Scan
posted by jjb at 8:35 AM on October 20, 2010
posted by jjb at 8:35 AM on October 20, 2010
Velcro won't necessarily look as lousy as you expect. Since it comes in all colors now I think you could just buy a variety of blues and greens and black and maybe some lighter colors for the Other Worlds and it would look alright.
Another thought: I don't know what expansions you're playing with, but it seems like every game we play, we end up with a rumor out that stacks something like monsters or clue tokens. Whatever solution you choose, you may want to add in some kind of shelf piece that you can use to simply stack those things on when the need arises.
Either of those proposed solutions for attachment will make it impossible to lay down your character when they are delayed, but you could use something like those plastic Post-It flags to temporarily mark that.
posted by heatvision at 8:46 AM on October 20, 2010
Another thought: I don't know what expansions you're playing with, but it seems like every game we play, we end up with a rumor out that stacks something like monsters or clue tokens. Whatever solution you choose, you may want to add in some kind of shelf piece that you can use to simply stack those things on when the need arises.
Either of those proposed solutions for attachment will make it impossible to lay down your character when they are delayed, but you could use something like those plastic Post-It flags to temporarily mark that.
posted by heatvision at 8:46 AM on October 20, 2010
Re: Storage: If you use plastic bases, and leave the board wall-mounted, just leave the bases attached to the board.
As for the pieces that are interchangeable and highly numerous (clue tokens, elder signs), I would use re-stickable stickers - just throw them out when they lose their stick.
posted by muddgirl at 8:48 AM on October 20, 2010
As for the pieces that are interchangeable and highly numerous (clue tokens, elder signs), I would use re-stickable stickers - just throw them out when they lose their stick.
posted by muddgirl at 8:48 AM on October 20, 2010
I kind of wonder if there isn't a way to lift off the printed paper part of the board without tearing it then and attach it to a sheet of lightweight metal.
Potential Velcro problem I just thought of: If you have the Kingsport expansion, those locations are going to be partially covered and it's going to make the rift investigation tokens much harder to recognize.
posted by heatvision at 9:00 AM on October 20, 2010
Potential Velcro problem I just thought of: If you have the Kingsport expansion, those locations are going to be partially covered and it's going to make the rift investigation tokens much harder to recognize.
posted by heatvision at 9:00 AM on October 20, 2010
OOOooo... print out the map onto fullsheet avery label. Peel and stick to previously mentioned "lightweight metal" and then only magnetize the pieces as needed and described above... great solution.
posted by TuxHeDoh at 9:05 AM on October 20, 2010
posted by TuxHeDoh at 9:05 AM on October 20, 2010
One question I have about magnets -- If all my game pieces have little rare earth magnets stuck on them, is unpacking the game going to become a crazy nightmare? I am imagining a crazy Katamari-esque snarl of game-pieces that takes forever to pick through.
I hadn't thought of that, but it's a distinct possibility. If you orient all the magnets the same way you might get away with it, as they'd tend to repel rather than attract. If it looks like it might be a problem (experiment with 2 pieces and see if they tend to glom on to one another), then get a multi-compartment box, like a tackle box. Plano makes a bunch that are a favorite with board gamers.
posted by jedicus at 9:06 AM on October 20, 2010
I hadn't thought of that, but it's a distinct possibility. If you orient all the magnets the same way you might get away with it, as they'd tend to repel rather than attract. If it looks like it might be a problem (experiment with 2 pieces and see if they tend to glom on to one another), then get a multi-compartment box, like a tackle box. Plano makes a bunch that are a favorite with board gamers.
posted by jedicus at 9:06 AM on October 20, 2010
I would go with printing another copy, even from a good multi-section photograph - you can edit it in GIMP, Paint, iPhoto, whatever you prefer to make the edges line up - just to make sure that I could experiment without destroying my copy of the game board. And then I'd go for gluing to some sheet metal and try some regular refrigerator-magnet type backing for the flat pieces, maybe something stronger for character pieces, and store each type of thing in separate boxes or bags so that the characters and the monsters and the gates don't all have to be sorted out one at a time before the game.
posted by Lady Li at 9:42 AM on October 20, 2010
posted by Lady Li at 9:42 AM on October 20, 2010
Response by poster: This has been a truly valuable think tank. You guys came up with a lot of things I hadn't considered.
I think my first step will be to experiment with velcro. I am going to fuse the board panels with removable painter's tape, and cut tiny squares of variously colored velcro to stick things to it. It's the cheapest and least time-consuming option.
If that doesn't work (or maybe even if it does) I will photograph and print the board and start playing with magnets. The idea of affixing small metal plates behind each individual location is simple enough, and the rare earth magnets should be fun to experiment with. and might be a better long-term solution.
posted by hermitosis at 9:45 AM on October 20, 2010
I think my first step will be to experiment with velcro. I am going to fuse the board panels with removable painter's tape, and cut tiny squares of variously colored velcro to stick things to it. It's the cheapest and least time-consuming option.
If that doesn't work (or maybe even if it does) I will photograph and print the board and start playing with magnets. The idea of affixing small metal plates behind each individual location is simple enough, and the rare earth magnets should be fun to experiment with. and might be a better long-term solution.
posted by hermitosis at 9:45 AM on October 20, 2010
OOOooo... print out the map onto fullsheet avery label. Peel and stick to previously mentioned "lightweight metal" and then only magnetize the pieces as needed and described above... great solution.
You could also use printer-ready iron on sheets to attach the board images to cloth. The cloth then gets tacked up over a magnet-friendly markerboard and the rare earth magnetized pieces will work a champ.
Another idea would be to use a projector and your laptop to put an image of the board up on your wall. You could then just use a bit of blue tac on your existing pieces to keep them up.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 9:53 AM on October 20, 2010
You could also use printer-ready iron on sheets to attach the board images to cloth. The cloth then gets tacked up over a magnet-friendly markerboard and the rare earth magnetized pieces will work a champ.
Another idea would be to use a projector and your laptop to put an image of the board up on your wall. You could then just use a bit of blue tac on your existing pieces to keep them up.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 9:53 AM on October 20, 2010
Taking another look at the board, here is what I'd do:
1) Get a large piece of cloth, probably felt, from a fabric store. This will be your hanging backing.
2) Find a copy of the Arkham map background image. Print this map out in sections on iron on transfer paper.
3) Isolate the locations in photoshop. Print out each location onto Avery Magnet Sheets. You could use thin sheets of metal and normal Avery labels too, but that means you'd be committing to rare earth magnets for your game pieces.
4) Sew the locations into place on your large cloth. You can use ribbon to simulate the connecting lines (or colored strips of iron on paper)
5) Avery magnetic sheets are not the strongest in the universe. You can either affix rare earth magnets to each game piece, or if you get the polarity consistent across all locations, use bits of magnet sheet instead. I would consider re-doing the game pieces anyways to suit a vertical play area.
6) Do the same thing with the border locations (Dreamlands, etc), but re-orient them for vertical life.
Voila! You now have an Arkham Tapestry that can be loosely rolled or folded up for storage!
posted by robocop is bleeding at 10:12 AM on October 20, 2010
1) Get a large piece of cloth, probably felt, from a fabric store. This will be your hanging backing.
2) Find a copy of the Arkham map background image. Print this map out in sections on iron on transfer paper.
3) Isolate the locations in photoshop. Print out each location onto Avery Magnet Sheets. You could use thin sheets of metal and normal Avery labels too, but that means you'd be committing to rare earth magnets for your game pieces.
4) Sew the locations into place on your large cloth. You can use ribbon to simulate the connecting lines (or colored strips of iron on paper)
5) Avery magnetic sheets are not the strongest in the universe. You can either affix rare earth magnets to each game piece, or if you get the polarity consistent across all locations, use bits of magnet sheet instead. I would consider re-doing the game pieces anyways to suit a vertical play area.
6) Do the same thing with the border locations (Dreamlands, etc), but re-orient them for vertical life.
Voila! You now have an Arkham Tapestry that can be loosely rolled or folded up for storage!
posted by robocop is bleeding at 10:12 AM on October 20, 2010
hermitosis writes "One question I have about magnets -- If all my game pieces have little rare earth magnets stuck on them, is unpacking the game going to become a crazy nightmare? I am imagining a crazy Katamari-esque snarl of game-pieces that takes forever to pick through."
All you need is a sheet or two of sheet metal to stick the pieces to. Making sure the magnets are all oriented the same way will make things easier. I've done similiar things for Warhammer40K and it works fine. If you end up individually mounting magnets to the factory boards a forstner bit in a drill press will make a nice neat hole for round magnets and the depth control allows you to drill from the back without worry of cutting right through.
TuxHeDoh writes "print out the map onto fullsheet avery label. Peel and stick to previously mentioned 'lightweight metal' and then only magnetize the pieces as needed and described above... great solution."
HP and I'd imagine most other plotter manufacturers make self adhesive (vinyl or polyester) material for their plotters up to at least 54" wide and pretty well as long as you want (300'?). Pretty expensive though. What I did when I was printing out custom RoboRally boards was to use a spray adhesive to mount regular heavy clay coated plotter paper to double corrugated cardboard. No reason it wouldn't work to stick paper to sheet metal.
posted by Mitheral at 12:54 PM on October 20, 2010
All you need is a sheet or two of sheet metal to stick the pieces to. Making sure the magnets are all oriented the same way will make things easier. I've done similiar things for Warhammer40K and it works fine. If you end up individually mounting magnets to the factory boards a forstner bit in a drill press will make a nice neat hole for round magnets and the depth control allows you to drill from the back without worry of cutting right through.
TuxHeDoh writes "print out the map onto fullsheet avery label. Peel and stick to previously mentioned 'lightweight metal' and then only magnetize the pieces as needed and described above... great solution."
HP and I'd imagine most other plotter manufacturers make self adhesive (vinyl or polyester) material for their plotters up to at least 54" wide and pretty well as long as you want (300'?). Pretty expensive though. What I did when I was printing out custom RoboRally boards was to use a spray adhesive to mount regular heavy clay coated plotter paper to double corrugated cardboard. No reason it wouldn't work to stick paper to sheet metal.
posted by Mitheral at 12:54 PM on October 20, 2010
I don't know what the board is like, but, here's what I would do:
Mount rare earth magnets on the back of the board. Drill in little holes if you have to.
Then, attach washers to the pieces so that they will stick to the board and not each other.
My concern with attaching magnets to the pieces is that they will repel each other if they are set next to one another.
posted by 47triple2 at 10:26 PM on October 20, 2010
Mount rare earth magnets on the back of the board. Drill in little holes if you have to.
Then, attach washers to the pieces so that they will stick to the board and not each other.
My concern with attaching magnets to the pieces is that they will repel each other if they are set next to one another.
posted by 47triple2 at 10:26 PM on October 20, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by cabingirl at 7:56 AM on October 20, 2010