I keep meaning to take better PNP notes and make a PNP Geeklist, and keep failing on both counts so I’ll just post the stuff here.
Today’s build is Dave Mansell’s Aquaducts, a solitaire tile-laying puzzle game. It has been on my list for a while and a few posts on SGOYT gave me the push I needed. This is a simple build, 3 sheets of tiles and 1 page of rules. I printed the cards on 110lb index stock with 100lb coverstock core. For backs, I used bright blue Astrobrights copypaper. 1 layer Avery permanent gluestick for adhesive. The final sheets were laminated 2x in 3mil pouches. I normally corner punch laminated cards, because the edges are sharp, but since this is a city-building tile-layer I opted not. The thicker core helps the tile edges not feel as sharp.
I recently started using colored copypaper for backing on projects that don’t have backs, or have a back that is largely solid-colored. The copy paper has more even coloration, is cheaper, and doesn’t need to be lined up exactly. I noticed edge splitting almost immediately between the index and coverstock. For future reference, anything heavier than copypaper needs 2 layers of adhesive. The copypaper side was fine with 1 layer adhesive.
This build doesn’t quite lend itself to a tuckbox, as it requires 1 dice and the rulesheet as printed would need to be scaled and trimmed down. It’s possible, though.
This will probably (?) be the last solo tile-laying game I build for a while, last month was evidently tile game month and I built a bunch and the box is now full. Highlights include Silk Road Maker (with the Arcade Road Maker retheme) and my own Ebbe & Flut map retheme, which uses tiles instead of cards. I think I will get into Micropul (farming retheme) with more plays. Cheese Chasers and Ambagibus didn’t quite click for me, but those and Mower Mania will hopefully get more plays in the near future. Mower Mania was one of the first games I built after I got a color printer.