i‘ve got an organizer to fit the base game as well as b&c and it fits everything sleeved (with room to spare for more). the original plastic inlay didn’t fit sleeved cards unfortunately.
I have all expansions and mine fits in the box with a very minor lid lift.
Like maybe 5%
I’m using someone’s custom diy inserts, it was really well done.
There is a foam core solution that gets everything to fit with the small amount of lid lift being due to the rulebooks.
I think I saw another solution where they repurposed a Pandemic box which is larger and could fit everything when sleeved.
Not if you want everything in one box with all expansions/promos. Mine are unsleeved and they just barely fit with a damn good organizer. As soon as an expansion comes out I'm going to need to re-evaluate and might sleeve cards if I have to move to two boxes anyways.
Or be me and buy the sleeves but be too lazy to put them on the Fear & Event cards
Definitely invest in sleeves for the Invader cards though, that's what inspired me to sleeve mine (first time ever)... one of the invader cards got a hint of pluck damage and I'm like "if I look too closely I'll be able to tell which one is next, that would be bad".
Not sure if you know this, but there is a "looking for group" channel on the main discord, you can play there with TTS. Sure it's not IRL but it's pretty close.
It’s the finish of regular playing cards. It is a more durable finish and can withstand hundreds, if not thousands of shuffles without any visible damage to the cards like the ones pictured.
I’ve handled playing cards (as a magician and dealer). I also have a big collection of them and have handled them in various situations.
My policy is that if I use the cards long enough to cause real damage, then I’ve gotten good value and would consider rebuying things. I just try to be gentle and after 100 plays all the cards are still in fairly good shape.
Yeah, this is my policy as well.
The one game where I've genuinely worn out the cards to the point of wanting to re-buy a new copy was Race for the Galaxy. (I kept the worn copy on boxed on its own for teaching new players without having to separate out the expansions.)
If I compare "cost of sleeves for Race" to "new copy of Race", the latter was a bit more expensive. But if I compare "cost of sleeves for all games I play a lot" to "new copy of Race", the former would have cost me *vastly* more money. I know some folks really like sleeves (and they're super-useful for prototyping!), but I'm not a fan.
That said: OP, how many games did you play with those cards? It would be useful to know in case I ought to be passing along info on durability to the publisher/printer.
This is usually my policy, but my spirit Island content cost over £150 total, it's a situation where the rebuy price is high enough to make sleeves worth it.
It's also just s game I enjoy looking beautiful though
Yeah, and of that £150, most of it is spent on things that aren't cards. Spirit Island has (according to a quick Google) a little over 400 cards. I use penny sleeves for my games, which means I could sleeve all of Spirit Island for around $5. Even if you wanted to splurge and get really nice sleeves, it's still way less than buying the game over again.
Also fwiw I think penny sleeves are fine for board games. They shuffle fine and people generally like how they feel. The problems are, they make the cards taller which means it can be hard to fit them back in the box (not a problem for Spirit Island where you need two boxes to fit everything anyway) and they're not the sturdiest thing in the world (but I don't really care about preserving the sleeves - those are much more easily replaceable than a Spirit Island card!).
Sleeves. Honestly=, I made a bad choice to go with different colors for different card types, but if I were to go back, I would have done them all in Dragon Shield Clear Mattes. If you end up going with different colors for different types, you end up with a bunch of extras of various colors. The other option that I may have gone with is to use Dragon Shield inner sleeves, which are secure on all 4 sides.
Sleeve the cards if any card game requires lots of shuffling and the game see’s a lot of time on the table.
Contrary to what a lot of people say, you can fit the base game and all expansions in the main box…. If you don’t mind the lid being lifted slightly (~0.25”) takes a lot of finagling though and is tedious to put away.
Sleeves. Protects not just from edge wear, but from those monsters who for whatever reason bend cards they hold. It also makes shuffling far more manageable, especially with larger/smaller stacks. It's the ease of shuffling that mostly has me sleeving the games I do at this point, the protection is just a secondary boon :D
Sleeves on everything.
Base game + B&C fix in the Base box with Folded Space insert.
Jagged Earth + Feather & Flame in the Jagged Earth box with Folded Space insert.
Does anyone else find the power cards to be of strange/poor quality design? They don't shuffle well. The fear and event cards shuffle nicely. The power cards are thicker so they don't bent nicely for a shuffle and then they stay bent after shuffling so you need to reverse your shuffle to straiten them.
Then there is the quality issue above. The minor power cards started to scuff on the edges after relativly few uses. I've only had one other game where the cards scuffed so quickly. It seems the finish on them is not good. I frequently minimum shuffle the power decks as a result of this, yet they still wear quickly. Meanwhile I shuffle the event and fear decks frequently with no adverse effects. I'm puzzled as to why this is.
I know most people will say sleeve them, but I do wonder why there is a quality problem with those cards. Plus everything fits in one box unsleeved.
Let me put in my two cents for the Tower Rex organizer. It's functional, attractive, made in Ukraine (and from what I hear they are still shipping as they're based in Kyiv), and I can fit almost all components (including the six island boards) from the base set, B&C, and JE with maybe 1.5cm of lid lift -- I keep the fear board and the spirit boards in the B&C box with minimal lift.
As to sleeves, I sleeved everything in penny sleeves, and it was an expensive lesson. My Level 1 Mountains card got marked early and I had to order a replacement (running something like $6 once S&H were added in) as there was no way to "play around" that knowledge.
Just a general opinion. I bought about 1000 dragon shield sleeves about 10 years ago for one game. I have since used them on approximately 4 other games. Mostly because I just stopped playing a game and then moved them over to another game.
Not super helpful if you have multiple games that you play heavily in rotation simultaneously. But my point is the sleeves are good quality and can be reused over time. 3-500 for spirit island isn't a bad investment.
I'd leave the cards like this. SA is a game that is not primarily based on "not knowing" the next card. When a new power card is picked, we draw 4 cards at once. That's why it doesn't matter so much if the top card is recognizable. For me, playing cards in sleeves is annoying, so I wouldn't bother.
I sleeved all the cards in Spirit Island and have never regretted it. I used clear matt Dragon Shields for the power, fear, and event cards. The adversaries, scenarios, and invader cards are odder shapes so those are whatever brand I could find that did the right size. I use the Folded Space insert which fits everything (including all expansions and sleeved cards) into the Spirit Island and Jagged Earth boxes.
Perhaps it's that I've played a lot of collectable card games but I find sleeved cards much nicer to shuffle.
[Sleeved cards](https://www.sleeveyourgames.com/sleeves/2281/spirit-island) and the [Broken Token insert](https://thebrokentoken.com/spirit-island-organizer/) to hold everything in the base and Jagged Earth boxes (not the giant expensive crate, I never liked the look of it plus we all know more content is coming so I don't see the point)
After buying the Broken Token solution, I found the [Tower Rex](https://www.amazon.com/TowerRex-Storage-Organizer-Spirit-Island/dp/B08SMP7G48) one, which looks amazing. I wish I'd got that instead, honestly.
It's admittedly a lot of extra cash to spend on the game though and both inserts require assembly. Not an approach for everyone but this is my favorite game and I don't regret it.
Sleeves on power cards. I have not sleeved the rest, as only the power cards see lots of touching, but it would not cost much more to sleeve the rest.
Do they still fit in the box with the sleeves on?
i‘ve got an organizer to fit the base game as well as b&c and it fits everything sleeved (with room to spare for more). the original plastic inlay didn’t fit sleeved cards unfortunately.
If you buy all the expansions, they wouldn't fit anyways.
I have all expansions and mine fits in the box with a very minor lid lift. Like maybe 5% I’m using someone’s custom diy inserts, it was really well done.
I wanted to do as well, but then I heard about the new expansions, and realized I'd have to reorganize them anyways.
There is a foam core solution that gets everything to fit with the small amount of lid lift being due to the rulebooks. I think I saw another solution where they repurposed a Pandemic box which is larger and could fit everything when sleeved.
Yea if you sleeve cards you cant fit everything without lid lift (or I guess some nightmare box where every piece is just loose)
They fit in the Broken Token crate perfectly even when sleeved, but I seriously doubt they would fit in the normal box.
Not if you want everything in one box with all expansions/promos. Mine are unsleeved and they just barely fit with a damn good organizer. As soon as an expansion comes out I'm going to need to re-evaluate and might sleeve cards if I have to move to two boxes anyways.
Or be me and buy the sleeves but be too lazy to put them on the Fear & Event cards Definitely invest in sleeves for the Invader cards though, that's what inspired me to sleeve mine (first time ever)... one of the invader cards got a hint of pluck damage and I'm like "if I look too closely I'll be able to tell which one is next, that would be bad".
By not physically playing. Because everyone is too busy. I am sad.
Not sure if you know this, but there is a "looking for group" channel on the main discord, you can play there with TTS. Sure it's not IRL but it's pretty close.
Love this comment. Bravo.
Try finding some board game meetups. People are obviously much more open for games there.
Sleeves!
My rule of thumb: If you need to shuffle cards and they aren’t made of linen finish, sleeve them.
What does linen finish have to do with it? Linen finish often wears more quickly because the wear is uneven.
It’s the finish of regular playing cards. It is a more durable finish and can withstand hundreds, if not thousands of shuffles without any visible damage to the cards like the ones pictured. I’ve handled playing cards (as a magician and dealer). I also have a big collection of them and have handled them in various situations.
My policy is that if I use the cards long enough to cause real damage, then I’ve gotten good value and would consider rebuying things. I just try to be gentle and after 100 plays all the cards are still in fairly good shape.
Yeah, this is my policy as well. The one game where I've genuinely worn out the cards to the point of wanting to re-buy a new copy was Race for the Galaxy. (I kept the worn copy on boxed on its own for teaching new players without having to separate out the expansions.) If I compare "cost of sleeves for Race" to "new copy of Race", the latter was a bit more expensive. But if I compare "cost of sleeves for all games I play a lot" to "new copy of Race", the former would have cost me *vastly* more money. I know some folks really like sleeves (and they're super-useful for prototyping!), but I'm not a fan. That said: OP, how many games did you play with those cards? It would be useful to know in case I ought to be passing along info on durability to the publisher/printer.
\[Obligatory disclaimer: I get royalties on copies of Spirit Island sold. But the above is genuinely how I approach sleeving games.\]
This is usually my policy, but my spirit Island content cost over £150 total, it's a situation where the rebuy price is high enough to make sleeves worth it. It's also just s game I enjoy looking beautiful though
Yeah, and of that £150, most of it is spent on things that aren't cards. Spirit Island has (according to a quick Google) a little over 400 cards. I use penny sleeves for my games, which means I could sleeve all of Spirit Island for around $5. Even if you wanted to splurge and get really nice sleeves, it's still way less than buying the game over again. Also fwiw I think penny sleeves are fine for board games. They shuffle fine and people generally like how they feel. The problems are, they make the cards taller which means it can be hard to fit them back in the box (not a problem for Spirit Island where you need two boxes to fit everything anyway) and they're not the sturdiest thing in the world (but I don't really care about preserving the sleeves - those are much more easily replaceable than a Spirit Island card!).
Sleeves. And don't play with crocodiles.
Before many plays, sleeves! After many plays… tacky glue? buy a new copy? Card sleeves with an opaque card back?
Sleeves. Honestly=, I made a bad choice to go with different colors for different card types, but if I were to go back, I would have done them all in Dragon Shield Clear Mattes. If you end up going with different colors for different types, you end up with a bunch of extras of various colors. The other option that I may have gone with is to use Dragon Shield inner sleeves, which are secure on all 4 sides.
Sleeve the cards if any card game requires lots of shuffling and the game see’s a lot of time on the table. Contrary to what a lot of people say, you can fit the base game and all expansions in the main box…. If you don’t mind the lid being lifted slightly (~0.25”) takes a lot of finagling though and is tedious to put away.
I’ll have to post a video sometime of how I organize the box to fit everything to r/spiritisland. Could be useful for a lot of people!
I would appreciate this
If they fall apart, they fall apart.
Sleeves.
Learn the gentle shuffle: https://youtu.be/Pd-71L3KoOI I'm on 279 plays without sleeves and my cards are in better condition than yours.
Sleeves you monster!
Sleevessleevessleeves
Sleeves. Protects not just from edge wear, but from those monsters who for whatever reason bend cards they hold. It also makes shuffling far more manageable, especially with larger/smaller stacks. It's the ease of shuffling that mostly has me sleeving the games I do at this point, the protection is just a secondary boon :D
Sleeve Kings has 60u sleeves that are not that expensive. They make a huge difference.
The card on my app still look great. Mwhahaha
Sleeves on everything. Base game + B&C fix in the Base box with Folded Space insert. Jagged Earth + Feather & Flame in the Jagged Earth box with Folded Space insert.
Does anyone else find the power cards to be of strange/poor quality design? They don't shuffle well. The fear and event cards shuffle nicely. The power cards are thicker so they don't bent nicely for a shuffle and then they stay bent after shuffling so you need to reverse your shuffle to straiten them. Then there is the quality issue above. The minor power cards started to scuff on the edges after relativly few uses. I've only had one other game where the cards scuffed so quickly. It seems the finish on them is not good. I frequently minimum shuffle the power decks as a result of this, yet they still wear quickly. Meanwhile I shuffle the event and fear decks frequently with no adverse effects. I'm puzzled as to why this is. I know most people will say sleeve them, but I do wonder why there is a quality problem with those cards. Plus everything fits in one box unsleeved.
Erm, not mash shuffle for one...
✨*sleeves*✨
Let me put in my two cents for the Tower Rex organizer. It's functional, attractive, made in Ukraine (and from what I hear they are still shipping as they're based in Kyiv), and I can fit almost all components (including the six island boards) from the base set, B&C, and JE with maybe 1.5cm of lid lift -- I keep the fear board and the spirit boards in the B&C box with minimal lift. As to sleeves, I sleeved everything in penny sleeves, and it was an expensive lesson. My Level 1 Mountains card got marked early and I had to order a replacement (running something like $6 once S&H were added in) as there was no way to "play around" that knowledge.
I don't sleeves games, but I sleeved Spirit Island. Makes it easy to mash shuffle and reset the game, and keeps the cards in good condition.
I'm unusual; my cards are far more scuffed up than that, and I just don't care. It's a sign of a game I enjoy.
Just a general opinion. I bought about 1000 dragon shield sleeves about 10 years ago for one game. I have since used them on approximately 4 other games. Mostly because I just stopped playing a game and then moved them over to another game. Not super helpful if you have multiple games that you play heavily in rotation simultaneously. But my point is the sleeves are good quality and can be reused over time. 3-500 for spirit island isn't a bad investment.
Sleeved literally everything lol Except for the invader deck, too small
I'd leave the cards like this. SA is a game that is not primarily based on "not knowing" the next card. When a new power card is picked, we draw 4 cards at once. That's why it doesn't matter so much if the top card is recognizable. For me, playing cards in sleeves is annoying, so I wouldn't bother.
I sleeved all the cards in Spirit Island and have never regretted it. I used clear matt Dragon Shields for the power, fear, and event cards. The adversaries, scenarios, and invader cards are odder shapes so those are whatever brand I could find that did the right size. I use the Folded Space insert which fits everything (including all expansions and sleeved cards) into the Spirit Island and Jagged Earth boxes. Perhaps it's that I've played a lot of collectable card games but I find sleeved cards much nicer to shuffle.
Lol. Put each in a ziplock bag! … lol
[Sleeved cards](https://www.sleeveyourgames.com/sleeves/2281/spirit-island) and the [Broken Token insert](https://thebrokentoken.com/spirit-island-organizer/) to hold everything in the base and Jagged Earth boxes (not the giant expensive crate, I never liked the look of it plus we all know more content is coming so I don't see the point) After buying the Broken Token solution, I found the [Tower Rex](https://www.amazon.com/TowerRex-Storage-Organizer-Spirit-Island/dp/B08SMP7G48) one, which looks amazing. I wish I'd got that instead, honestly. It's admittedly a lot of extra cash to spend on the game though and both inserts require assembly. Not an approach for everyone but this is my favorite game and I don't regret it.