Games
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One can see parts 2-5 of this discourse here, here, here and here.
As I mentioned elsewhere I am currently building a version of Merchant of Venus from the files on BGG by Dathkadan. This is not a project to undertake lightly, particularly given that I have never played MoV, but I have high hopes that this game can form a nice companion to Arkham Horror as the game of choice for my wife and I to play together (both are high theme, low conflict as I require the former and my wife the latter).
When undertaking any Print and Play project the first step, planning, is probably the most important one, but normally done as the second step or even as an afterthought. Planning is important for a project like this as you need to know how much time and money you need to invest to get an end product you will be happy with, and where you can cut costs if they are starting to spiral out of control (on BGG one user is claiming you can build a good quality version for $40 but he is talking out of his ass as he has omitted quite a few costs and attempts to replicate his build will be at least $80). The hard one (particularly for me) is that you should not purchase anything until you have done a complete costing. There are some parts that you have several options for and while a good high quality piece may be quick and easy to obtain, this may be an area where you can cut costs and will want to considering the total budget. I know I have made rash decisions already and my costs will be more than they would have had I planned a bit more thoroughly.
There are a few big things to build for MoV:
1) Player boards - You need to make about 35 boards of various sizes for the players to use and there are a variety of techniques you can use. Printing on stickers and attaching them to very thick cardboard (or thin wood) will probably give you the closest thing to a production quality game or you could go for the cheapest option which is just to print them out and use the paper. So you could spend anywhere for $1 to $80 here, and mine will come in at about $10 and I think the results will be OK (it won't be mistaken for a production run but won't feel completely home-made).
2) Counters - This is the big one in terms of money, skill and time. The set I have downloaded is designed to have the 450 counters on wooden 3/4" to 5/4" disks. You can use cardboard instead of wood if money is tight, but I think this is one of those things that will pay off with more time, money and effort. Pre-painted wooden disks from Germany would set me back about $80 plus shipping, but unpainted ones from the US are much cheaper at $36 including shipping. I will have to colour them myself which shouldn't be too bad but will add some time, effort and money. Then you have to print off 12 sheets of counters, cut them out and attach them to both sides of the disks, and protect them somehow. You could do this costing anywhere from $10 to $150. As with the boards my costs will be mid-range, around $65 ($36 for disks, $6 for stickers, $10 for spray varnish, $23 for 3/4" and 1" hole punches).
3) Board - This is one of things that you want to look really good as it will be the centrepiece of the game, but unless you are made of money (you can get a board made for you from a prototype board game store for $80 plus shipping) it will have to be home made and will not look perfect. I think the best option is to have the board printed in one big piece then buy a cheap thrift store copy of a game with the right size board and cut it up and glue it on top. Thus you tend to be looking at about $15-50 for the printing plus a few dollars for a game (or you could be really cheap and just print on A3 sheets and glue them to the board), and mine will be around $20 (plus the game).
So looking at my major costs there it doesn't seem too bad as it is around $100 so far which is cheaper than the $150 or so they go for on eBay, and only $75 if you don't count the 2 punches I had to buy. In fact the punches typify why it is difficult to cost these things and why suddenly you may find you have spent double what you thought you would. In my above costing I could include an extra $60 as there are a lot of things I have fudged the costs for as I didn't include things I already have or surplus materials that I purchased (eg I had to buy 100 sticker sheets but will only use about 20 so didn't include the extra 80 in my costing above). There are also extra costs which can sneak up on you such as printing and binding the rulebook, playing pieces and making a good box that you also have to take into account. I won't be shocked if in the end my total costs come to around $250 factoring in tools bought and surplus materials which makes you wonder whether the whole process is worth it given you could have a couple of very good games for that price. However due to the tools and surplus materials the next project will be significantly cheaper so maybe I shouldn't be so harsh on the costs (I think I could do Dune and Robin Hood for under $100 combined and $350 for 3 very good games is not so bad).
There will be hopefully be 4 more updates over the coming weeks and months as I complete the 3 steps above, plus a final one for the extras and finished product. The player boards are nearly done so the first update will be soon, but the counters may take some time (the disks haven't even arrived yet).
