Game Component Manufacturers and Printers for the Entrepreneur
I truly believe that a great game does not need a big corporation’s marketing muscle behind it to achieve success. Take “Wizards of the Coast” and “Magic: The Gathering” as an example. It started out as a home-based operation and grew into the juggernaut of gaming companies. It happened once, it can happen again.
Somewhere, probably in a garage or basement is the next great gaming idea, waiting to see the light of day. Today’s post is my small contribution to the next great idea. I did some research on companies that make game components, the individual pieces that combine with a great idea to make a game. These companies are not “gaming” companies in the strictest sense. They are printers, box builders and token molders. They are the nuts and bolts of any game.
I thought it a good idea to put together a list of helpful links for a budding game designers. Perhaps it will inspire someone to move a great idea from their basement into the bright light of my “friendly-local-game-store.”
I am not endorsing these companies or their services. I do not receive any benefit from sales this post may produce. I would like to hear from anyone who used these (or any similiar company) in the past.
This is a printing company. They seem to work a lot with decorative and laminated papers. Scratch cards, like for a lotto, are also in their catalog.
They claim they can produce your board game from start to finish. You need to contact them for a quote.
This token manufacturer produces a variety of spinners, dice and plastic token houses. Main things that caught my eye were the custom 3-d tokens. Here is a sample of their work. So if you need little men, this is the company for you.
They also had an interesting “Game Inventor Kit ” with a variety of tokens for game development. Cheap at only $20.00.
Printers of custom playing cards and poker chips. If I read the site correctly, the smallest order accepted is 10 decks of cards.
Card printer based in China. Also handle blister packing.
Trading card printers. They print a variety of card products, including collectible card games (CCGs) and trading cards. The work looks great in the photos and they apparently print the Naruto CCG. Board game production is also listed in the catalog.
Big surprise, they sell printed boxes. You need to request a catalog from them. The site has very little in the way of samples to look at.
Seller of marbles and glass counters.
I am sure there are many other companies providing these services, feel free to post any company that is in the same vein.
Trask, The Last Tyromancer
Filed Under: Resources
About the Author: Trask is a long-time gamer, world traveler and history buff. He hopes that his scribblings will both inform and advance gaming as a hobby.