Should i sleeve my board game cards

Some games even have the sleeves you need listed on the back of the box, usually in some kind of colour code for a specific brand. If you come along to our retail store and bring a card from the game, we can even help you size it in-store. Sleeve companies can be inconsistent with what dimensions they write on their sleeve packaging, but in general, all cards of a certain size eg: Mini Euro will fit sleeves labelled as that size, despite minor differences in measurements.

If the cards are the same size as another game, particularly a popular one like Dixit , Catan or Magic: The Gathering , that can help you on your search. Sleeves can range from dirt cheap to even more expensive than a big board game!

Some things you might want to consider when allocating your budget are:. Dominion - Despite the fact that this is my favourite board game, it involves a lot of shuffling and I have invested a considerable amount of money into it and five expansions, I have not sleeved Dominion. Because there are so many cards that even with the cheapest sleeves, it would cost well over the price of a new copy of the base game. Since the cards that get ruined fastest are the base game cards, I would prefer to buy a new base game with that money instead of buying sleeves.

Nemesis - This was the first game I sleeved, mostly because it was very expensive. Plus, the cards are mostly black so wear and tear would be extremely obvious. Villagers - This is a medium-weight card game. Why did I sleeve it? Because the cards are white. There are so many sleeve brands it can be incredibly overwhelming.

When I first started working at Gameology, I was overwhelmed too. What I have compiled here is a quick list of some of the brands we sell, divided into categories with estimate prices to help you make your choice.

As I look over my sleeving habits, I do question how many games I sleeve and whether or not it is necessary. Sometimes, using sleeves can remove the nostalgic, tactile element of gaming as well. Sleeves can even remove a certain thematic touch in games. When I bought Seasons , I made the poor decision to sleeve all of the cards in sleeves with solid green backs they were on sale. While I love Seasons, every time I pull it out to play, I find myself wondering why I have yet to place clear sleeves around the beautiful cards.

The green sleeves just dull everything out. Clear sleeves would protect the cards which I definitely need with how often I play Seasons without pulling anything away from the experience. Another sleeve brand that I recently purchased were the Sorcerer sleeves. These sleeves were purchased in a bundle, and the back shares the same artwork as the backs of cards. I don't sleeve my cards for Arkham Horror as although they are very worn it isn't very important to keep information secret.

The cards also come in various sizes and sleeving them all would be annoying. For another game, Citadels , some information is very important to keep secret roles so I sleeve these cards to prevent marking, but other cards buildings are not as important to keep secret so I do not bother sleeving them.

The same idea applies with Battlestar Galactica. Sleeves are good for games that have you shuffle a lot. Roborally, for example, shuffles a single deck of cards many times every game, and my cards were significantly worn after a year or two of playing occasionally.

Similarly, if the cards just don't seem to be very durable, sleeves might be a good idea. They're usually mostly pointless for games that don't shuffle much once per game. The cards shouldn't wear that fast, so unless you prefer shuffling with sleeves or are very protective, there's not really much need. And sleeves are counterproductive for extremely large decks of cards think Arkham Horror with expansions where the stack of sleeved cards would be way too high to be stable.

As card sleeves are quite cheap, it's just a matter of personal preference. Some people like sleeves I do others don't some of my friends. One case I could argue for sleeves is when you have a card game and plan on maybe buying an expansion later.

The cards from the base set would be rugged from use, while the expansion would be pristine and shiny. Veilwraith: A Veil Odyssey Game Celestia Pharaoh Tomb of Wonders Ankh: Gods of Egypt Winter is Now Skull King Guardians Set Pantheon Evolution Wonder Woman: Challenge of the Amazons Kami Rising Secrets of the Order Little Brother Open Doors Moonlight Whispers Expansion The Lost Tribe Plague Inc.