A guy at the 2019 Gen Con math trade taught me to always bring a sharpie

I was trying to trade my copy of 'Food Chain Magnate' and had forgotten to mark the box. This older guy named Frank saw me struggling and handed me a black sharpie from his bag, saying 'Rule number one, kid. The box is part of the deal, so mark it clear.' He had about fifteen games in his stack, each with his initials neatly written in the corner. It stuck with me as a simple, practical piece of geek wisdom. Anyone else pick up a small habit like that from a random encounter at a con?

3 comments

3 Comments

wyatt_fox681mo ago

That "mark it clear" thing is so true. I started using a silver paint pen for dark game boxes after a trade mix up. The regular sharpie rubbed off on my copy of Twilight Imperium, but the paint pen stays put no matter what.

lucas9721mo ago

I saw a board game blog post last year that tested like 12 different marking methods. The silver paint pen came out on top for dark surfaces, just like @wyatt_fox68 said. They found the ink soaks into the cardboard fibers instead of sitting on top. My only tip is to let it dry a full 24 hours before you stack games.

wren30116d ago

Remember that guy who traded for a used copy of Scythe? He got home and the box was totally blank, no marks at all. We spent weeks trying to figure out whose copy it was before.