A plastic labyrinth
I'm really thinking about the game options that become available with 3D printing through a company like Shapeways. If you can build something in a CGI modelling program, then convert it to an appropriate file format, then they can manufacture it from steel, silver, ceramic, glass or a variety of plastics.
Another production run could be established for boards with pre-made walls.
Game boards could easily be manufactured, especially the kind of thing that I've long been considering for the Goblin Labyrinth game.
A production run could be established for blank boards...
Another production run could be established for boards with pre-made walls.
A variety of boards could be created with different wall configurations. The blank boards could have houses, shops and other buildings added to them as pieces of 3D printed terrain (either integrated into the board or modular).
I've seen people pay upwards of $50 for a single piece of terrain, so my rough calculations of $15-20 per blank board ($20-30 for a walled board) isn't too extravagant...especially if the boards were going to be used on a frequent basis. I'm hoping that buying in bulk will reduce the costs on these, because I'd be looking at using at least 10 boards for a typical game set up (and thirty or more for a convention game with a dozen or more players).
The simpler option would be to print out hexagonal board segments on cardboard, and place a few of these into a small tin...certainly a more portable option and cheaper to produce, but not as visceral to play on. I like the idea of physical walls standing between figures.
.png)
Comments
Also, to add some flexibility, how about separating the bases and the walls, make a single panel wall that can link to other walls that would then in turn fit into the slots around the hexes on the base. Something similar to the Bendy Walls product so you won't have to worry about multiple types of wall pieces to fit any contingency.
It might be time to put my industrial design training to some use.
One of the issues I have with Shapeways is an object handling fee, but I could possibly get around this by having a half dozen (or more) modular wall sections mounted on a sprue as a single object. I'd just make very flimsy joints between the sprue and the wall so the could be cut/torn off.
The other advantage of this is that players would be able to change the labyrinth over the course of play. Adding, removing, and changing the configuration of walls across the map.
Though I have use them to get master models and then make resin copies from. At under 1/3 the cost.