I bought a DS board game and played it with my daughter. She wanted to let her friends play, and I kind of cringed. The two sides of my brain fought each other. I forget which side controls logic, but that side said,"this game is too valuable to let kids play! They're going to want to have drinks by it; they're not going to be careful with that paper board!"
The emotional side said, "it's a game, a toy, FOR KIDS! Let your daughter have fun with it!". I told her I'd think about it.
I took it to a copy shop and asked if they could laminate it. They told me that they had a machine but would not do it for me. I'd have to do it myself. They'd had bad experiences with this service; once you make a mistake, there's no turning back. I wasn't too sure if that was what I wanted any way. Collectibles are supposed to be in their original condition. The game board is falling apart, but I've resisted repairing it.
She suggested that she could copy it, full size for $3. The only drawback, it would be in black and white. I told her to go ahead, forgetting that you had to be able to distinguish between black and red. We both agree that the game looks great in BW. I had to shade in the red squares and I drew a line under the goblets and daggars to indicate their color.
This might be an option for anyone who has resisted playing theirs or found that they worried about depreciating its value every time they use it.
Now if we could get someone to reissue it with a redesigned board that's sturdier and and more accurately reflects DS....
