When designing a board game, every detail matters—including the dice. Custom dice can transform a game from ordinary to extraordinary, enhancing gameplay and aesthetics. At Hero Time, we specialize in making your board game vision a reality, and custom dice are one of the most exciting aspects of game design.

Understanding Dice Materials

The first step in designing custom dice is selecting the right material. The most common options are plastic, resin, metal, and wood. Each material has unique benefits that affect the dice’s look, feel, and durability.

• Plastic Dice – This is the most commonly used material for dice manufacturing. It’s lightweight, affordable, and easy to produce in a variety of colors. Most mass-produced board games use plastic dice because of their versatility and cost-effectiveness.

• Resin Dice – Resin provides a glossy, high-quality finish, making it an excellent choice for premium or collector’s editions. These dice are usually transparent or semi-transparent, allowing for interesting effects like glitter, swirls, or embedded objects.

• Metal Dice – If you’re designing a high-end game or a game with a fantasy or steampunk aesthetic, metal dice add weight and a premium feel. They’re durable and have a solid, satisfying roll, but they require careful balancing to ensure fair play.

• Wooden Dice – Perfect for eco-friendly games or rustic-themed board games, wooden dice have a natural charm. They can be laser-etched or painted, offering a warm, organic feel to the game experience.

At Hero Time, we work with all these materials and can guide you toward the best choice for your game’s mechanics, theme, and budget.

Shapes and Sizes of Dice

While the classic six-sided die (D6) is the most recognizable, many board games benefit from different dice shapes, including four-sided (D4), eight-sided (D8), ten-sided (D10), twelve-sided (D12), and even twenty-sided (D20) dice. The choice depends on the game mechanics you’re developing.

For example:

• Standard D6 Dice – Ideal for casual and family board games.

• Polyhedral Dice (D4, D8, D10, D12, D20) – Common in role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons.

• Custom Shapes – Some games require completely unique dice with specific symbols, not numbers. We can create molds tailored to your game’s needs, ensuring the dice function exactly as you envision.

Printing and Engraving Techniques

Once the material and shape are chosen, the next step is adding numbers, symbols, or artwork. There are several techniques for printing and engraving custom dice, each offering a different look and level of durability.

• Pad Printing – This method applies ink directly onto the dice surface. It’s cost-effective and works well for mass production, but the prints may wear off over time with heavy use.

• Laser Engraving – This technique etches numbers or designs directly into the dice, making them permanent. It’s an excellent choice for wooden or metal dice, ensuring long-lasting readability.

• UV Printing – A high-tech option that uses ultraviolet light to cure ink instantly. This method produces vibrant, detailed images and is more durable than standard pad printing.

• In-Mold Labeling – For plastic dice, symbols or numbers can be printed inside the mold itself, ensuring the design never wears off. This is common for high-quality casino dice and games that require extensive rolling.

At Hero Time, we ensure that whatever printing technique you choose aligns with your game’s style and durability needs.

Balancing and Fairness

A well-designed die isn’t just about aesthetics—it must be fair. We make sure your dice are properly balanced by considering the density of the materials and the symmetry of the design. If a die has an uneven weight distribution, it may favor certain numbers, disrupting the game’s fairness. Our engineering process ensures that your dice roll randomly and fairly, keeping the gameplay engaging and competitive.

Bringing Your Custom Dice to Life

Designing custom dice isn’t just about picking materials and shapes—it’s about creating an experience that enhances your board game. At Hero Time, we guide you through the entire process, from conceptualization to final production, ensuring that your dice match your vision and meet the highest quality standards. Whether you need a set of unique dice for a Kickstarter campaign or a full-scale production run, we are here to make it happen.

Let’s turn your board game idea into reality—one roll at a time. Contact us today to discuss how we can create the perfect custom dice for your game!