Carcassonne Central

With the untimely demise of GQ, it looks like our group may never gets our hands on the Cathars expansion. So, I was thinking that perhaps I need to make my own Cathars tiles instead, since you can download them.

So, my question is, what is the best way to go about doing this? I believe I read somewhere that someone uses labels of some sort and then just sticks them to spare tiles. My question is, do they feel different so they would be easy to pick out when the tiles are in the bag? Or if using stacks, can you trim them close enough to make them look the same when face down? Also, I would rather not burn extra tiles to create new ones; does any suitable alternatives exist, or would I really need to use actual Carc tiles?

I made a set of The Cathars before I got hold of the Almanac, and I used simple paper and glue - strong glue. If you use a good scan of the tiles before they're 'popped' from the card then there will be a little bit of overhang which should help - you can trim it using a craft knife or Stanley knife (which is what I used). I wouldn't try using scissors, though, as the cut is too imprecise. Glue an image to a tile, and then trim it away - it'll work fine.

I would advise using real tiles if possible, as it makes things easier when drawing tiles from most anywhere except the bag. In Germany there are still countless copies of The Count around - the only mini-expansion they seem to reprint - and I have a spare one at home just to 'burn' if I need to. 'Course, they have numbered backs, so it's not ideal... Carcassonne.de will actually send you some blanks if you want (no idea if they do international orders).

I also don't remember them feeling very different in the bag. But if you have a bag-hog who is obviously searching for something, then they deserve a good reprimand anyway!

I've made about half a dozen homemade expansion sets. I bought a spare set of the basic Carc game (half price during the B&N sale) for the express purpose of using it for parts.

I print the tiles on the nice color printers at work onto Avery full page labels (i.e., the entire 8"x11" page is one giant label). Then I cut them with a ruler and Exacto knife or even just with a pair of scissors and apply to the tiles. I cut my stickers a little smaller than the tile so that they won't peel up. I try to match the backgrounds so that the tiny exposed area of the original tile will more or less match the features of the sticker. I also round the edges of the sticker a little bit to prevent peel-up.

One thing that I learned a little late in the game is that you can use Photoshop to apply a linen texture to the tile image before printing. This makes the tiles look better and more authentic. I'm an idiot when it comes to Photoshop but I was able to figure out the texture filters pretty easily. I'll use it for any tiles I produce in the future.

There're lots of great user-created expansions out there to print & play. Give it a go.

Thats strange Matt, here in the UK our local games shop gets all of the expansions from RGG on a regular basis, doesnt seem to be a particular one gets reprinted as none of them have been cancelled.

In Germany the only one you can pick up with ease is CoC. I had to buy a Windows-only version of the computer game to get hold of The River, for instance. I guess RGG and HiG have different policies there…

In Sweden you can get all expansions without trouble as well (with the obvious exceptions of The Cathars and GQ).

there is a company about 30 minutes from my house that produces gaming products made of paper, cardboard, etc.  When I get some free time I'm going to contact them about making carc-sized tile kits.

Thanks for the advice guys; I am going to try and create some of my own tiles. Hopefully, it will work out OK. Gantry, let us know what happens with the game company; that sounds like it could be a good source for blank tiles, if they decide to do it.

They said they don't make that sort of thing.  Will continue to pursue this

New update: went to a local company that has had experience making game boards and game pieces, had an interesting visit.  In about a week I'll know if it's worth pursuing a side job selling Carc blanks.

Maybe it'd also be worth looking for some kind of pre-cut, printable stickers? That way it'd be easy to apply your newly printed graphic to your empty tiles! :)

yes, that's on the list too  :)

the vendor still hasn't gotten back to me, although they said they'd fax it in on Friday  >:(

however, my request is being discussed by a certain game company . . .  ;)

A tip for those making their own tiles:

You can obtain ZETA card from a printer. This is exactly the linen type finish on Carcassonne cards. I purchased some to try. There was only ivory colour in stock, but I got some anyway. The weight was 260gms (plain paper is usually 80 - 120gsm per sheet), but my inkjet printer handled it ok. I printed on best quality settings and changed the paper type to 'card stock' I'm pleased they only had ivory in stock as this has worked really well and the printing has come out superb.

Now just have to mount them. Will use Matt's idea to mount them on existing cards from a spare mini expansion.

Sorry to bring up an old string but I have been talking with a friend who has contacts with a variety of printing companies and asked about the possibilty of printing tiles on cardstock. He seemed to think it possible with some of his clients but had several questions for me before he could get a quote. So I thought I put it to the forum for help and interest?

1) Concerns over licensing and/or copyrights. In short are there any legal issues for personal production of the tiles and the selling of them at cost?
2) What format and size would the image be provided and size of the die cut? I imagine Novelty's images if standardized to a set # in/cm x # in/cm would be what they are looking for and I will ask what format they would prefer the image.
3) Thickness of card stock.
4) Quantity of tiles.

In regards to #1 he actually asked if we had something in writing granting permission to the printing of the tiles. I told him tehy were not copies but original designs by a group of fans. But if anyoen has any information along these lines let me know.

Also how many people would be interested in purchasing tile sets that were agreed upon. If there is not much interest it will likely not be cost effective but if there is, I will continue to pursue this and well we can have almost any tile combinations we want.

Here's the reply I got when asking Jay specifically about using the box graphics for our web site:


If you use original graphics that are similar to the Carc graphics that's another thing. Plus, it's another thing entirely if you sell them.  I would contact Jay at the address above, making it crystal clear what your intent is and what his opinion is, he's excellent at getting back to anyone.

There are legal ways to get around selling them as well (ie just sell the bag they come in, get the tiles free).

My advice would be to tread VERY carefully with this. At the end of the day you are using images direct from the game, a very heavy copyright issue.

Yes, Wishmaster is right, I certainly didn't mean to make light of the usage. Here's hoping there's a way to use it that will please all parties involved.

With regards to 2 - it's up to the printer to tell us how many tiles they would fit per sheet.   We (or I?) can easily resize and/or rearrange the tiles to match the dimensions required.

There are issues of GQ11 for sale on ebay right now:
http://stores.ebay.ca/J-and-J-Board-Games

3.99 + 3.59 shipping in the states ($11 shipping to canada! Gah!)

but it man, this really a nice little set!!

p.s. buy also the Cathars!! PRICELESS!!!

For completeness' sake I suppose I should finish up this thread by saying that I ended up dropping my idea of buying blanks. The printing company that I spoken to required a minimum of 500 sheets ordered, at (and I don't recall the exact cost) something like $10/sheet. Again this was some months back and I don't remember the exact cost but it was prohibitive.  Clearly not a cost-effective solution.