Part of our Kickstarter project consideration is assembling the game itself. Especially since were all “maker movement”, “sourced local”, “100% US vendors”, and all that feel good blah, blah, blah. =)

We don’t figure any hourly labor rate into this, however game assembly needs to be realistic.

For Mint Tin Pirates, there’s a video online showing most steps:

1. Inspect each tin inside and out, and test hinges.
2. Spray each lid, peel label, place jig, apply label, squeegee label, wipe label, and let dry overnight.
3. Inspect each meeple (7) and bag (all must lay flat).
4. Inspect each die (2), inspect cubes (3), and bag (must be in one row).
5. Inspect card deck shrink wrap and place deck in tin.
6. Fold meeple baggie with 3 on one side and 4 on the other, place in tin.
7. Roll up cube/dice baggie, place in tin, close and place tin into 4 mil baggie.

Mint Tin Pirates – total active game components: 13

Pretty involved but not so bad and it works out to 20 games per hour for one person.

For the upcoming Mint Tin Mini Apocalypse we have a huge space challenge. We wanted the game to fit in a mini tin which is less than half the volume of a normal tin. o_O

Here’s are the assembly steps:

1. Inspect each tin inside and out, and test hinges.
2. Position tin on arbor press, emboss lid, and remove.
3. Peel and apply game sticker to tin bottom.
4. Inspect each meeple (11) and sort into bags.
5. Stretch Goal: stamp each monster meeple (one side).
6. Inspect each die (5), inspect cubes (2), and sort into bags.
7. Stretch Goal: stamp each cube (one side).
8. Print, score, cut, fold, and place instructions in tin, close and place tin into 4 mil baggie.
9. Bag the mini game poster poker card.
10. Place all bags into one larger bag.

Mint Tin Mini Apocalypse – total active game components: 19

Mint Tin Mini Apocalypse has more components to inspect and the components have to be precisely arranged to fit in the tin. Meeples have to stand or or be stacked two deep on top of each other – this adds significant time to a longer process than assembling Mint Tin Pirates.

I’d like to use that time, hopefully, for the “maker movement” stretch goals.

Mint Tin Pirates and Mint Tin Aliens each Kickstarted for $14 with US shipping and Mint Tin Mini Apocalypse will Kickstart for $10 with US shipping.

Add the Kickstarter a “deluxe” version and Mint Tin Mini Apocalypse becomes a bigger game to manage.

After much lamenting, we made the decision not to assemble the final game for two reasons:

1. Time. We want to get at least 1,000 out early like our first Kickstarter.
2. The second came from consultation with Nick Shaw – the Mint Tin Games’ master variant creator. He brought up a good point – in Mint Tin Mini Apocalypse the “game box” is also an active game component – it’s the End of the World Shelter (EWS).

With Nick’s perspective in mind I thought about one of the things I like to do with a new game – punch out cardboard and organize.

While I am rationalizing the assembly time, I do like the thought of people setting this up in their own way and making it their own – there are countless possibilities how you can arrange the bits in the box. =)