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Hey everyone, I posted a thread in misc games about the old YuGiOh game dungeon dice monsters (here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/502317.page), and since this question wouldn't fit there, I figured I would post it here.

In the Japanese version of the game, their "dice" unfolded to make the path for the monsters. Well, in the American version, Mattel cheaped out and went with solid dice and cardboard paths. Since the unfolding dice seems a bit more fun, I wanted to try to make some. I was thinking about using a thin sheet for the initial shape, and then slightly thicker plasticard for the panels the crests would be on.

So, is my idea a decent one? Also, is there any way I could get the cube to hold once folded?

Any help would be greatly and extremely appreciated!

-B

After a quick google session to get a better grasp of how these "dice" work, I figured I'd share my thoughts. I'm not sure how well simple plasticard folds would work, I'd likely go for actual hinges, or possibly a rubber or even cloth fold. Rubber would likely dry out eventually, so cloth (or even thin leather?) would be preferrable. Maybe plastic from a thick plastic bag could work as well. To get the dice to hold together when folded up, either a snap fit action or what I think would be easier to build, magnets.

Depending on the size of the dice you want to make, I'd personally make each facing of the die on its own as a square. Unless you're comfortable cutting a groove into the side of a plasticard sheet, I'd sandwich 3 layers of plasticard together, leaving the middle layer offset so that it leaves a groove for the fold material to fit into. Also depending on how thick you make the sides you might have to work out a different locking mechanism, assuming you're to use magnets you could potentially just drill them into the sides of each square, alternatively make small ridges just where the magnet attaches.

As an initial design you could just go with plasticard as you had planned, to get the design down. Personally I'm not sure how well the plasticard folds will hold up to wear and tear, but could give it a go. I'd recommend magnets for a locking mechanism either way.

I was hoping to do something a little simpler than that...I need to make 20-30 of them, so leather, magnets, etc wouldnt really be cost-efficient

Well stick with plastic from a heavy platic bag for the folds perhaps. What I'd worry about with a locking mechanism is wear and tear, especially a handcrafted mechanical one. You could minimize the use of magnets by having each side lock into the previous with tabs&slots, to build a box where the lid is the last part to attach, and only put magnets on that one, potentially cutting down magnet use to just 2 per cube.

If you're dead set on not using magnets, you'd have to design some sort of mechanical system. Maybe look into how cardboard box lids are closed, you know those where a tab goes inside the box and another tab fixes that tab in place. Maybe even just a simple tab would suffice. Alternatively a snap fit system where a rod affixes to a plate with an opening.