Realistic Resource Selection Poll: Raw and Refined – Stonemaier Games

Realistic Resource Selection Poll: Raw and Refined

Last week I posted a poll regarding some realistic resource tokens we’re looking to produce and package in a “Treasure Chest” for use in a number of games. I really appreciate all the votes, and I learned something important from the comments: There is a clear delineation between “raw” and “refined” resources in games, potentially calling for two separate treasure chests to appeal to both types.

Thus I present to you sketches raw and refined resources from the lovely Katy Grierson:

resources for poll 2

As you can see, some of these resources are labeled for the polls below, while others are not. The only one that might be a bit confusing are the gems, which are three different shapes and colors. I’m trying to figure out which color is used most often in other games (or is the most desired) AND the best shape–two separate polls.

The materials in parentheses tell you what the pieces would be made out of. Resin is that nice hard plastic you see in upscale miniatures. The metal is zinc–it’s nice and heavy (it’s what the gold in Euphoria is made out of).

Thanks for your input! Please share this with others, as the more input I get, the more accurately I can produce a treasure chest that will satisfy the most people. I’m hoping to put at least one of these treasure chests on Kickstarter in early summer, so you can subscribe to this blog our our e-newsletter to get a notification e-mail when the Kickstarter launches.

27 Comments on “Realistic Resource Selection Poll: Raw and Refined

Leave a Reply to Tony DixonCancel reply

If you ask a question about a specific card or ability, please type the exact text in your comment to help facilitate a speedy and precise answer.

Your comment may take a few minutes to publish. Antagonistic, rude, or degrading comments will be removed. Thank you.

  1. For a fture project I would like to see wild boar, black covered hair with tusks. These would be more thematic for Agricola and Caverna than the ‘modern’ pink hairless porkers.

    1. Yeah, we had a big debate about a dark grey boar to match Caverna/Agricola and a pink pig–lots of voting went into that decision. :)

    1. Thanks Simon! I like your suggestion, but we’re already working on the moulds for these. What we’re going with is a stone that you could use in a foundation. It does look like a generic cube, but it’s going to be heavier that a cube–I think the weight will make a big difference. Thanks!

  2. Jamey: Very true the tactile nature of reed would be rather difficult to replicate. Thanks for the heads up on Meeple Source, I’ll have to check them out.

  3. Jim: Fortunately our friends at Meeple Source make reed tokens for Agricola already. I think it might be cool to make reed tokens that really feel like reeds, but I’m not sure how to do that.

  4. Jamey, any thought of adding reed as a resource? That way you would also cover all of the resources in Agricola as well as the 2 player game All Creatures Big and Small.

  5. D’oh, I got 5 out of 6. Failed in the gem color one. :P

    This is going to be awesome, although there is always going to be some resource that is missing for somebody’s favourite game – so if the concept takes off I can see a lot of different treasure chests (maybe each centered in a few specific games) being attractive.

  6. The only thing with the gems – don’t get me wrong – the normal ‘gem’ shape is cool, but in most games, I want to be able to stack my resources – takes up less room and fun to play with. As for between raw & refined gems – I don’t think I would ever use the raw version – too point, large….just meh to me….

  7. What do I get for being the guy who pointed out/kicked off the Raw vs. Refined discussion? A discount on the Treasure Chest, perhaps? Although maybe Jamey is now annoyed with me for creating more work for him… ;)

    1. Ryan: I’ll give you partial credit. :) I’d say that the comment that really helped me sort it all out was from Christopher Smith.

  8. Most of them look really nice, it was really a matter of voting for favorites, not ruling out bad choices. I’ll be saving my money and designing a custom wooden chest for them (in case it’s not part of your plans).

    1. Cool, I bet the custom wooden chest will be awesome. I think that would be cost prohibitive for us to make, but we are looking at a special insert that will ensure that the box doesn’t scratch the pieces.

  9. I’m not sure the best color for gems isn’t just clear. Honestly though, gems are the least interesting to me. I have BAGS of glass stones if I want to upgrade components – they are small and cheap and easy to get in a multitude of colors.

    Also, refined wood = lumber ;)

  10. This is great! I’m into having both sets of resources. I’m wondering if gem type 3 would roll around too much. Also, does the gold have the potential to be too jagged, thus scratching the board? Last, any way that the stump could be made out of wood? What if it was a different shape? This seems like a lot of complaints, but really I’m stoked. I just want to see things come out as awesome as possible.

    1. Dylan: I’ll make sure the gold doesn’t have any sharp edges–it’ll be more bulbous.

      Yeah, my hope is that the tree would be made out of wood, but I don’t think it can be done with that shape and the multiple colors.

  11. I’m surprised you’re not running this poll on BGG. Granted you couldn’t embed it here, but it seems like it would start generating hype about this upcoming project of yours.

    1. I’m not all that surprised–I like to host this kind of stuff on my blog so people can discover other resources and entries here that might be helpful to them. :)

See All Comments

Discover more from Stonemaier Games

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading