Boda Games Artwork Guidelines

No game is complete without punchboards. As such, punchboards play a central role most modern board games. They make up a wide array of components in a game and can be used for almost any purpose. The game board, the tokens, the player boards and anything else that you can think of, can be made with punchboards.

For tokens, generally the smallest a token can be is 8mm x 8mm, although it depends on the shape of the token. For uniquely shaped tokens, as a rule of thumb, individual edges / protruding shapes of the token need to be at least 3mm long. If not, then it will not be possible to ensure an accurate cut from the molds and a consistent shape on each token. Furthermore, keep in mind that tokens will be slightly rounded at the edges when seen from the top. This is due to the way that you punch the shape of the token into the cardboard, allowing players to push them out without tearing the paper.

When you have multiple sheets of tokens or other items that use the same die-cut, make sure to label each of them accordingly. This helps make sure that there are no mix ups during production and packing. You can put the label anywhere on the outside of the board. Later during production we will cut it off and throw it away.

Each item on the punchboard needs to have enough bleed and margin in all directions for a perfect result.

Dielines spacing: For a punchboard, you should leave a minimum of 6mm between any diecut lines. This can be dielines between different tokens, or 6mm spacing between a token and the dieline of the board itself. Then, each token should have 3mm of bleed outside the adhering dieline, and 3mm of margin between the dieline and the artwork.

Board sizing: Besides the individual tokens, the entire board as a whole also needs to have 3mm bleed and 3mm margin. The dieline should have the same size as discussed and specified in the quotation.

One space-saving alternative is to create shared dielines. There are some limitations to what kind of shapes can use shared dielines. Straight lines, square shapes, rectangular shapes and such work well with shared dielines. But complicated shapes (rounded, very pointed) are usually not very suitable. If you are considering using shared dielines, please consult your account manager about the feasibility.

Further requirements for shared dielines: two items that are sharing a dieline have the same artwork content in their margins. Also, that the token needs to have a minimum of 1 touching point with the physical punchboard. This means you cannot have a token that shares dielines on all 4 sides (in the case of a square token); 1 side must be attached to the “main” punchboard.

For dieline files, please take care to make separate files for each dieline. You can either save them as separate PDF files, or as individual spot layers in the art file. However, don’t include them in the regular art file layers.

When creating a layout for the punchboard, keep in mind the following: The backside needs to be an exact mirrored shape of the frontside. Of course the artwork can be different. But the placement of the tokens and the layout will remain the same and therefore needs to be mirrored.

Due to the cost incurred for each individual diecut, in some cases it is better to design the punchboard in such a way that you only need 1 diecut mold. This helps save on the molding costs. For example, say you need 12 round tokens and 24 square tokens. You are better off making 1 punchboard with 4 round tokens and 8 square tokens and printing 3 punchboards. Instead of making 1 punchboard with only round tokens and 1 with only square tokens.

With double layered punchboards you can print different artwork on each layer as well as make cutouts and holes as much as you like on any of the layers. However, when putting artwork below a cutout portion, take extra care and make sure that the artwork will fit within the cutout.