Board games that involve using money to track points, purchases, and goods are pretty widespread, and there are all manners of sizes, shapes and values of money that are provided in the box to use. While some titles are extremely unique (such as Millennium Blades’s stacks of cash), most games give gamers the ubiquitous cardboard cutouts to use, with perhaps an interesting shape (like Lords of Waterdeep) if we’re lucky. While functional, in game coins usually lack the aesthetic and flavorful feel of actual currency.
To combat this card-boredom, a number of companies have emerged to provide gamers with real metal coins to use while playing their favorite games. In this edition of Level Up My Game, we are going to take a look at the selection from Campaign Coins, and whether or not these coins stack up as a worthwhile addition to your gaming table.
Campaign Coins offers coins in various denominations (1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1K, 5K, 10K) and in copper, silver, gold, and platinum. Each coin has their own unique and interesting sculpt, with common traits between some of the denominations.
For example, the 20 coin in all four metals has a hole in it, while the 5K coin shows a dragon. The sculpts have a solid amount of detail, and serve to give each type of coin their own individual identity.
Campaign Coins allows you to build your own collection of coins to your specifications, but conveniently provides a number of starter sets, with metals and values preselected. Most useful of these starter sets to the boardgamer-at-large is the ‘Fantasy Board Game’ set, giving you mix of copper 1s, silver 5s and gold 20s. They have even put together a neat document with a list of popular games with currency and how many coins of each denomination are included in those games, to help you with your coin purchasing. Campaign Coins recommends two Board Game sets, which is what Stephanie and I picked up at Gen Con this year.
Adding these metal coins to our game table truly enhances the gaming experience. Since they are of decent weight, they have a nice heft and feel nice when you are passing them around, tossing them into the middle of the table, or jingling them in your hand.
The design, based ostensibly in fantasy, is generic enough to fit into any game. We used them in playing Castles of Burgundy and Fresco as currency, two games taking place in different eras, but still felt that they worked well. They can also be used to count victory points, as we used them in playing Roll for the Galaxy. While not traditionally sci-fi, the coins were easier to read and work with than the tokens included in the game!
Many games are being released with deluxe editions that include metal coins, but with Campaign Coins, you can pick up a single set of coins that can be used in a majority of games in your collection. If you are looking to ditch the cardboard and add some metal to your gaming experience, I recommend you check out Campaign Coins.
Right now, you can check out their Kickstarter for ‘electrum’ coins, which have a black metallic finish. We were able to check out the samples at Gen Con, and they look really unique and interesting. You can also pick up a Board Game Starter Set, consisting of 50 coins, for $40 at CampaignCoins.com. These coins are worth cashing in on!
