Wooden game pieces are an essential part of board games, and they come in several standard shapes and a wide variety of custom shapes. Almost all mid-weight independent board games use wooden pieces in their games as tokens, resources, buildings, and more. Wooden pieces are the best way to make 3D blocks stand out on the board.
Standard Wooden Components
These wooden game pieces appear in almost all games: meeples, pawns, cubes, disks, cylinders, sticks, houses, and so on. However, even standard wooden game pieces made based on demand and are not always available in the right colors or quantities. So you can also make custom-shaped wooden pieces for the same price.
Wooden Game Piece Quality
Wooden components can made from either grass or beech wood. If you get an extremely low quote for a wooden component, it may be because it made from grass wood, which is softer and not as flat and uniform.
Another thing to look out for is the paint job; very cheap wooden components tend to lose some color on the curves and corners of the component and even on the flat areas of the wooden component.
Wooden Component Prices
The price of a wooden component is calculated based on the number of bends and cracks, as well as the actual size of the wooden component. For example, while a humanoid meep can cost as much as $0.06 per piece (depending on quantity). A standard Helma Pawn is only $0.045 at most because it is easier to cut and paint.
How to make wooden game piece?
1.Screen Printing
Screen printing is done by making a screen with some small holes and slots on it. The painter covers the screen on top of the wooden piece, adds color, and then slides the screen with the color. However, the color then passes through the small holes and lies flat on the wooden piece.
2.UV print
UV printing is a perfect solution for many components and parts, especially those in small batches. It does not require any setup fees and has unlimited colors. The only downside to UV printing is that the print is not absorbed by the wood, and if you run your finger over it, you will be able to feel the excess ink. However, this is a matter of personal preference; some creators like the feel of printing on wooden parts.
3.Heat Stamp
Heat stamping is the most popular method for printing on glass, wooden parts, and dice. We use a thermal film with a specific design for heat stamping, which is then stamped onto the workpiece.
4.Laser Engrave
If you want to engrave on wood, that is also possible and is a completely different process. For engraving, we lay the piece flat on the table and then go over all of it with the laser, or if the engraved part is a simple line, we will put the laser on the bottom and place the piece on top of it.
The engraved area will have a darker burnt color. When engraving with a laser, you will not be able to fill the engraved space with color. This will make production too complicated.
