Tigris & Euphrates:
Back on the laser cutter
Years ago, I stumbled into Tigris & Euphrates at a board game meetup. Back then, I was all about Euros, and T&E threw me for a loop. This abstract, cutthroat game felt like a whole new level of strategy. It had tile-drawing that forced you to adapt your plans on the fly, scoring points and grabbing new tiles in a frantic dance. At the time I wasn't ready for it. I lacked the patience to learn the ropes.
Fast forward to today. My patience has grown, and I appreciate T&E for the masterpiece it is. Every play feels like a learning experience, unlocking new ideas with each round.
About half a year after finishing my Power Grid project, the laser cutter itch hit again. Can't even remember what sparked it, but suddenly Tigris & Euphrates was back on my mind – maybe a podcast? I fired it up on BGA and instantly knew: this was perfect for the laser cutter. Simple pieces, already abstract gameplay – why not push the abstraction further?
From the get-go, I knew I wanted the leader tokens to be one color. That meant changing the leader visuals entirely, using symbols to differentiate them. I started with complex designs, but quickly realized those wouldn't be clear enough at a glance. These tiles needed to communicate the board state fast. Sure, symbols might not be as intuitive as the original colors, but I absolutely love how this version turned out. It plays fantastic, and there's something deeply satisfying about reaching into a bag of these wooden tokens.
While this version of Tigris & Euphrates won’t be avaiable on Patreon as a download, I am working on relasing a digital version soon.
Beyond this project, I've got a whole bunch of downloadable designs on my Patreon. Members get them for free, and it's just $3 for everyone else. Come check out what I've created! 🥰
The Box: Lesson Learned, Mostly...
Making Power Grid taught me a valuable lesson: design the box early! This time, I didn't completely forget about it, but it wasn't exactly top priority either. That said, I really love how it came out! The color scheme and front panel look sharp. It's a bit on the bulky side, I'll admit, but everything fits in there so satisfyingly, it's kind of hard to complain.
Symbols & Layers
With these photos you can see how the depth of the different pieces compare to each other, and how some of the varnished of the regular tiles vary and provide a secondary design cue to the state of the board.
Monuments
The monument tiles were my design guinea pigs! They went through the most revisions, evolving from a simple flat layer with etched symbols (version one) to a smaller 3D version (version two). Back then, I hadn't even finalized the wood stain for the base tiles yet. Version three tried matching the monument color to the base tiles, but it looked too busy. So, I made the call to prioritize clean visuals over intricate details, and that's how we ended up with these elegant white tokens. I really enjoy how they stand out on the table!
Treasure Tokens
These treasure tokens came together pretty quickly. The base triangle tile, used for capturing treasures, has a perfect pyramid shape counterpart. It felt like a natural fit!
Player Screens
Each player screen features a segmented score tracker. I originally planned to etch symbols onto the cubes to differentiate point types, but time constraints prevented that. For now, the cubes remain unlabeled.
Point Token Box (not essential yet!)
This little box might not be necessary right now since the cubes aren't etched yet, but I still appreciate how it keeps these point markers neat and organized when everything's packed away.
The Finishing Touch: The Bag
Last but not least, the bag! I found the perfect fabric for it – a lined pattern with colors that complement the overall design. While I'm a laser-cutting pro by now, sewing isn't exactly my forte. Thankfully, my awesome friend Jen came to the rescue and helped me bring the bag to life. (Thanks a bunch, Jen!)
