In every game of Sylvan Tactics, tracking your King’s and Queen’s health needs to be quick, clear and in keeping with our goal of low-waste design. As we weigh component costs, environmental impact, and ease of use under new tariff pressures, here are the main options.
PEN & PAPER
Many of the earliest war games like Squad Leader relied on nothing more than pencil and scrap paper to record hit points. That hands-on simplicity carries forward into modern wargaming, but at what cost to flow of play?
Pros
Zero manufacturing footprint since players supply their own materials.
Complete flexibility to design whatever layout you prefer.
Cons
Manual erasing and rewriting can slow down fast-paced turns.
Risk of smudges or faded notes making values hard to read.
Sustainability in Sylvan Tactics
Best case for green credentials, but could make the game feel “incomplete”.
DICE
Later board games and collectible card games adopted D6s or D20s for both resolving actions and tracking life totals. Dice offer instant visual feedback yet carry both cost and environmental weight.
Pros
Players likely already own extra dice, so they wouldn’t necessarily need to be included in the box.
Instant, at-a-glance indication of remaining health.
Reuses a component that fits many different games.
Cons
Adding 6 plastic dice (2 for each King and 1 for each Queen) increases box weight and shipping cost.
Loose dice can get bumped or roll off the table.
Plastic production works against our low-waste ambitions.
Sustainability in Sylvan Tactics
A solid middle ground if players are encouraged to “bring your own.” Including dice in the core set would push us away from our eco-friendly goals.
DIALS
Dials would be the most “customizable” option that could be aesthetically matched with the art of the game, but they also would incur the highest production costs.
Pros
Easiest to read at a glance.
Great for a cohesive theme when customized for the game’s aesthetics.
Tactile “click” feedback makes each point gained or lost feel meaningful.
Cons
Precision die-cutting or plastic molding drives up manufacturing and tooling costs.
Small wheels can jam, break or wear out.
Often made from mixed plastics, which are hard to recycle.
Sustainability in Sylvan Tactics
Visually appealing, but too resource-intensive for our print-run targets and tariff constraints.
Tracks
Many modern games feature health or score tracks printed directly on the board or player mats. Markers slide along grooves, keeping everything in one place.
Pros
Can save space if you game already has a board or mat component.
Low per-unit cost when bundled with a larger board.
Cons
Requires a larger or thicker board, which increases shipping weight.
Still needs a marker or cube. Another tiny component to manufacture.
Sustainability in Sylvan Tactics
Board-integrated tracking conflicts with our minimal-component ethos unless we can repurpose existing cards somehow.
Cards
Recent titles such as Regime and Star Realms use their cards for dual purposes: rotating or sliding cards themselves to mark health or status. This elegant solution aligns with our sustainability vision.
Pros
No extra box weight: uses the same cardstock as the core 100-card deck.
Keeps component count low and production simple.
Cons
May require clear layout design to keep tracking intuitive.
Needs careful prototyping to ensure visibility and durability.
Sustainability in Sylvan Tactics
Definitely seems like this would be a viable option for sustainability, but it remains to be seen if this would actually be a useability improvement over just standard pen and paper.
What This Means for Sylvan Tactics
Under new tariff pressures, every ounce of plastic and cardboard adds cost. We’re leaning toward a system that either lets you use materials you already have (pencils, dice or cubes) or embeds tracking right into your cards. Offering a custom tracker as a Kickstarter upgrade remains an option, but we want the core set to stay lean and green.
Now it’s your turn: which health-tracking style would you choose for Sylvan Tactics? Do you love using D6s you already own, writing hit points by hand, or sliding a game piece along printed cards? Leave a comment below and help us decide the final design for our crowdfunding campaign!
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