Capstone Project - Environmental Considerations

The impact of tabletop games on the environment:

Toys and board game pieces that had washed up on a beach : Tracey Williams https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/04/monopoly-houses-toy-soldiers-lego-museum-of-plastic-lost-at-sea

When producing board games it is important to consider how the creation, production and shipping of your game will impact the environment. Nowadays, a lot of board games include a lot of plastic elements, these can span from tokens, dice, miniatures and even packaging elements such as shrink wrap and card sleeves(Oliverkinne 2020). Most of these elements are non recyclable, which contributes to the ever growing amount of forever plastics, forever chemicals and other pollutants that are released into the environment (Oliverkinne 2020). Not to mention, the process of transporting said games only adds to this with most manufacturing companies being overseas, and international shipping of large quantities of stock having a very high carbon footprint.

3D printed board game pieces :https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1580557687/3d-printed-figurines-for-board-games-and

Originally, board games were created in smaller numbers with wooden pieces, however as the board game industry grew and technology allowed for more complex pieces to be manufactured, more and more games were being produced with higher quality plastic materials. It is undeniable that plastic will always be a more flexible material to work with in terms of allowing for higher levels of detail, range of textures and colours, and of course the ease of asset production with the introduction of at home and commercial 3D printing(Oliverkinne 2020).  However this change came with major implications for the environment. Plastic in comparison to wood has a much higher carbon footprint, where a miniature made of wood is able to biodegrade within a few years, plastic pieces may take almost ten times the duration to even begin to start to break down , only then it doesn't entirely disappear but instead leeches microplastics into the earth(Walker 2023). 3D printing with PLA might seem like it is the answer to this problem, however their "biodegradable" nature is only relevant when given to specialized facilities that ultimately produce just as much damage to the environment through toxic greenhouse gas emissions(The Snapmaker Team 2025). 3D printing also brings with it an excess of waste that injection printing does not have. Yes, 3D printing may cut down on transport costs being able to make assets remotely, however it can generate a lot more waste due to user error or printing setup limitations such as failed prints and supports (The Snapmaker Team 2025).

hasbro games: https://thepopinsider.com/hasbro-new-board-game-editions-news/

This problem isn't one that has gone unnoticed however, in fact some large toy and board game companies are making huge strides in making games more eco-friendly. In a statement made by Hasbro in 2019, they discussed how they are working towards making their games more environmentally friendly whilst retaining customer satisfaction. Some of their changes include: eliminating wire ties in their products that cannot be recycled, switching plastic based elements to a  "plant-based bioPET" material, redesigning their packaging to reduce single use plastics, and their involvement with launching a toy recycling program by the name of "TerraCycle®"(Hasbro 2019). By implementing these changes at the source, especially within these large companies, helps push the ball and encourage more companies to make changes within their own products to reduce plastic waste and their carbon footprint.

Turning to the consumers, there are a range of opinions regarding changes companies are making to become more eco-friendly. Some consumers stare that they feel guilt upon playing a game with many plastic elements(Pierce 2022), especially if those elements are single use such as shrink wrap card sleeves and box covers(Pierce 2022). Some also feel that plastic coated boards are unnecessary and that "every part of the game does not need to be a mini"(Pierce 2022). However there are other opinions that feel that plastic within board games isn't as bad as other single use plastics, for example many people will want to hold onto their games for a long time, so sturdier parts made of plastic ironically result in less waste in comparison to flimsy cardboard or wooden pieces(Pierce 2022). Its about how plastic is used, in most cases we should be looking towards reducing plastic where unnecessary, but completely phasing it out might not be as helpful as we think(Pierce 2022).

How to make your game more sustainable?:

A set of wooden standees for D&D: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1335713067/bandit-miniature-set-6-2d-ttrpg-standees

There are many things to consider when making your game more environmentally friendly. Beginning at the production stage, consider what materials you will be using and how you will be using them. For example, is it possible to swap your plastic out for sustainable wood? consider how these wood pieces will be painted, try to opt for non toxic or reclaimed materials(Anon, n.d). Generally wood is the best option, its similar to plastic in terms of weight and presence, but is much more ecologically friendly due to it's biodegradable nature(Walker 2023). If you can, consider swapping plastic out for Cardboard, this may come in the form of non plastic coated cards (Walker 2023). A good, Eco-minded manufacturer should give you these options, and may also give you suggestions on how to package your game(Anon, n.d).

Most small components usually come in a single use plastic bag, try switching this out for zip lock bags which can be reused again and again(Walker 2023). On a whole, you want to try to keep your game size as small as possible, consider downsizing the amount of pieces you need and condensing rulebooks to be as small as you can. This too reduces the overall weight of the game which contributes to cheaper and less carbon heavy shipping (Walker 2023). You might even choose to remove inserts, which serves a second positive of giving consumers more space within the box to store more items, this is especially helpful if there exists expansions for your game (Stonemaier Games 2024).

A company by the name of Launchlab offers print on demand services : https://launchtabletop.com/

Returning to shipping and distribution considerations, You may opt for a Print on demand service, which allows consumers to order single copies of the game rather than relying on you to purchase in bulk. This is not only cheaper for you, but also reduces waste generated by mass production and international shipping(Walker 2023).

Personal Considerations :

For my own game, here is a list of considerations on how i can make my game more Eco Friendly:

- Reduce my components, some of the components on the board such as the cave attributes and day tracker could be replaced with dry erase sections, which would reduce the overall tokens needed for my game.

- Right from the start i wanted to opt for wooden tokens as opposed to plastic, i think not only is it a more sustainable material, but aesthetically it fits with the game very well. These pieces could even be left unpainted to remove any potential contamination with toxic or plastic based paints. Alternatively, I could do something entirely different and use pebbles/small decorative stones as tokens, this fits great with the theme and poses no risk to the environment at all. I think this would be something I would have to provide in each game myself rather than rely on a manufacturer, as I don't imagine many companies offer this.

- I could keep my cards as being simple cardboard without any plastic coating, this would reduce how durable the cards are but would certainly make them more eco friendly. This returns back to the conversation on is it really more sustainable to make things biodegradable and thus weaker, or do stronger products actually contribute less waste overall. I would have to think on this and consider my options.

- I will make mockups using paper so that I am not contributing extra waste by making printed cards of an unfinished game.

- As i am illustrating and formatting this game myself, I have greater control over condensing the rulebook, I also intend to use double sided cards in some places to reduce the amount of cards that I need.

- At the moment, I will only be printing one copy of my game  [hopefully] however if in the future I wish to make more copies, I will certainly consider Print on demand services [I may even consider this for my personal projects through Hearthvalley, as it seems a lot more of an economical option than getting a bunch of my books printed in bulk].

Right the way through this project I will be referring back to these considerations to see how i can improve my game and reduce the overall carbon footprint.

Trello -

I have now completed MLO10 and have almost finished MLO4, i would like to create some more artwork for this project as i feel at the moment most of it is in writing so it would be nice to get some physical drawings to help demonstrate my idea. I think i will work on some more thumbnails and observational sketches alongside my pipeline and job role research just to help develop this area a bit more.

 Bibliography -

Anon, n.d. Create a Eco Friendly Board Games (Online). Kylin Manufactory. Available at: https://www.kylinmanufactory.com/news/Designing_A_Board_Game/Create_a_Eco_Friendly_Board_Games_What_is_the_Most_Sustainable_and_Safe_Material.html(Accessed at: 22 December 2025)

Oliverkinne (Pseud.), 2020. Less is More - The Environmental Impact of Board Games (Online). There Will Be Games. Available at: https://therewillbe.games/articles-essays/7918-less-is-more-the-environmental-impact-of-board-games(Accessed at: 22 December 2025)

Hasbro, 2019. Hasbro to Phase Out Plastic from New Toy and Game Packaging(Online). Hasbro. Available at: https://newsroom.hasbro.com/news-releases/news-release-details/hasbro-phase-out-plastic-new-toy-and-game-packaging(Accessed at: 22 December 2025)

Pierce, T., 2022. Should Board games phase out plastic? (Online). Boardgamegeek. Available at: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2887787/should-board-games-phase-out-plastic(Accessed at: 22 December 2025)

Stonemaier Games, 2024. Eco-Friendly Components and a Great User Experience: Are Both Possible?(Online). Stonemaier Games. Available at: https://stonemaiergames.com/eco-friendly-components-and-a-great-user-experience-are-both-possible/(Accessed at: 22 December 2025)

The Snapmaker Team, 2025. The Environmental Impact of 3D Printing: Is It Sustainable?(Online). Snapmaker. Available at: https://www.snapmaker.com/blog/environmental-impact-of-3d-printing/(Accessed at: 22 December 2025)

Walker, T., 2023. Go green with your game (Online). launch tabletop. Available at: https://launchtabletop.com/articles/post/go-green-with-your-game (Accessed at: 22 December 2025)