Assuming a durable printing that is not subject to wear, I would expect tiles to easily last generations, which is cool. But the question I would ask myself is is that increased life span worth the extra cost to me? For me, the answer is no.

I have thought about getting blank scrabble pieces for counters though…

I don’t discount the additional heft of a tile over a cardboard counter.

But at the rate I’m using my blank counters, I’ve got a lifetime supply. And my FDP counters – they get beefed up by being glued to carboard from the backs of notepads and such (costing me nothing but a bit of glue – anytime I finish a notepad, the cardboard backing goes into my supply closet).

Frank

To these I glue Firey Dragon cardboard counters, or even images I size and print out with my PC. It’s a simple thing, but I always gets positive comments when I use them at cons.

The really nice thing about using the FD counters is that a) they’re portraits, so it’s easy to tell them apart, and b) you can mark them with wet-erase markers (“Orc 1″, “Orc 2″, etc).

So, the tile concept is awesome, and I commend Ocho for picking up on it. But I think that you can achieve the same end result with a little glue and lot less money.

I’ve updated my review with the tidbit you mentioned (about having sent me the next version of the tiles, not the current version).

It’s interesting to read everyone’s comments on this review — I didn’t expect it to generate such a variety of reactions, or so many ideas for different approaches to Monster Tiles.

During those 20 years, I’ve gone through phases where I didn’t use the counters much at all, but I’ve certainly used them solidly for several years. Perhaps it’s the way I store them, but they get a lot of use because I have several sets of 1/2″ counters numbered 1-10 etc. that I use for most encounters (of course these are not as nice as a color illustrated counter – and I suspect a Fiery Dragon Press counter would not be quite as durable as the counters I used, which were old blank counters, not sure who they were from, they’re also reasonably thick – but not 1/4″).

There is one probable advantage to the tiles that I don’t think has been mentioned. I would guess your counters are pretty resistant to gusts of air(from the window, a fan, or whatever), possibly even more resistant than the plastic D&D miniatures. Cardboard counters can tend to go flying.

My big point is that I don’t see the durability as a significant advantage. And the other advantages don’t seem worth the significantly higher price.

One interesting question – what is the price per tile of a decent Mah Jong set with engraved tiles? My curiousity is that engraved (and then inked) tiles would virtually eliminate the rub-off potential (which would still seriously concern me, unless the paint is baked on enamel). Of course that would tend to only support monochrome line art, but part of me would be more wowed by such a product for this price range than full color art.

It is really neat to have something be a part of your game for so long.

Of course my first Battlemat is older (about 25 years old, perhaps a bit more), and my 1st edition RuneQuest rule book is even older (28 years for that).

Frank

You have cardboard counters that have lasted for 20 years? That is amazing! It is really neat to have something be a part of your game for so long. I have an old dry-erase board that I used (up ’til 3 years ago) that I remember scoring in 1989. Before that we used paper grids with 2″ x 2″ squares.

Most people that use paper tokens don’t keep them as long as 20 years, do they? We’ve gone through many sets of paper/cardstock tokens through our games in the past (and really enjoyed them too), but they just don’t last that long in most game rooms. When we didn’t have MT’s we were very happy with paper-tokens. When we started making MT’s we immediatly saw the benefit to using a heavier/sturdier token.

Also, I just wanted to point out that our 1″ tokens do not sell for $1.25 per token, but $1.10 from our earlier price and we are going to offer them at $.80 per token at or before our trip to Origins. Sure, they are more expensive than a $.07 – $.09 (or even $.03) paper token but you are getting a much more durable product (for some that doesn’t matter and that’s ok).

I didn’t want our per/tile cost to be accidentally misrepresented. I’m not picking on anyone, I just didn’t want someone to come along and assume that we were selling our tiles for that price.

Sincerely,

David DeHart
Ocho Games
Co-Owner
david@ochogames.com
http://www.ochogames.com

Sure, they do have a durability advantage, and that may be valuable to some folks, but I want to make it clear what the durability trade off really is.

Oh, another advantage cardboard counters have, in the same volume, I can carry a lot more cardboard counters than 1/4″ thick ceramic tokens. And the cardboard will be lighter.

Frank

First I would like to thank you for your review and honesty. I’m glad that we had the chance to clear up a few of the questions that some of your readers had about Monster Tiles.

Now for some more information…

The use of spray-on enamels, urethanes, hobby glaze, etc… have all been tested on these tiles. The end result is that tiles coated with these products have a problem with image clarity when they are lightly abraded. Light scratching doesn’t affect the image on the tile, but the scratching causes the image to disappear behind a whitish scratch on the coated surface. I hope I’ve helped in answering that question.

As far as the image scratching on our current product, in our testing we’ve experienced no image degradation from light abrasion (tile to tile) and have tested carrying these tiles in the velour bags over the past four months and have had no problem with the image scratching off due to normal storage or use.

I doubt Monster Tiles would damage Tac-Tiles at all. There would be as much of a chance that a metal-mini would damage the surface. In our game we use a large dry erase board with the 1″ squares etched into the surface and we’ve had no problems with scratches on the board at all. If the worry is with the printed lines on the Tac-Tile grid, then I would still say that there is little chance that Monster Tiles would contribute to scratching those lines off.

The chalky feel that Martin is talking about is a texture that you get from bisque tiles. Bisque tiles are non-glazed tiles and though smooth they still have a different texture than glass (aka. glaze). They do feel kind of like chalk, but are denser.

and lastly…

I think that if someone were inclined to produce a product that is ‘similar’ to Monster Tiles without purchasing their own MT’s, that is their prerogative (heck, before MT’s we used green army men, fritos, m&m’s, paper tokens etc.. for years). I promise that our product is superior to paper tokens glued to ceramic tiles (and paper tokens for that matter) and I think it is evident in Martin’s review as well. Brad and I do not pretend that MT’s are cheaper than paper tokens, but we do think our product is higher quality than paper tokens and you will be hard pressed to get the durability out of a paper token that you can get out of a Monster Tile.

really lastly…

The tiles that we sent to Martin were the newest version of Monster Tiles which do not have a coating on them and cost $4.00/5-pack for 1″ tiles and $4.00/2-pack for 2″ tiles. Our older product has a gloss coating on the surface of the tile and costs $5.50/5-pack for 1″ tiles and $5.50/2-pack for 2″ tiles. I just wanted to clear that up so that if you visited our website and read the descriptions of our Monster Tile product you wouldn’t feel misled.

Thank you folks for sharing your opinions. As I have said before, we are constantly trying to improve our products and provide our customers with information. It helps up to sell products that our customers (or potential customers) want.

Sincerely,

David DeHart
Ocho Games
Co-Owner
david@ochogames.com
http://www.ochogames.com

P.S. Please feel free to email us with any questions that you might have.