I was introduced to the gaming hobby a lifetime ago.

I won’t name who is responsible. He knows who he is. The bastard.

One of my favorite early RPGs was Game Designers’ Workshop’s Traveller. It was a sandbox science fiction game that gave players the ability to apply the game system to the fiction of their choice.

The game came packaged as three saddle-stitched booklets in a small, chipboard box.

Supplemental books added worlds, new ship designs, characters, adventures, and gear.

I loved the ability to build my collection of booklets to suit the tastes of my play group.

I loved the spartan design. The booklets used very small type — perhaps 9 point at most, and lacked illustrations. The typesetting was typical for products at that time but would be considered a bit of a horror show in 2023. Tables were present as needed, complete with wonky alignment, wavy rows, and crooked columns.

Many pocket games from other manufacturers followed similar formats. One or more 5.5” x 8.5” (140mm x 216mm) booklets. Small type. Limited illustrations. Saddle-stitched.

The products were inexpensive, but the text density assured customers that they were receiving real value.

This is the format I selected for Zone 17.

We’re not copying the dumb stuff. Our typesetting is top shelf. We use illustrations as needed. Our booklet format is 80 to 84 pages.

The typesetting is tight. We use illustrations to…well…illustrate how to play and for just a bit of visual interest. We kept the small text to provide a complete guidebook in a small package.

The booklets are sized to be portable physically (a booklet fits in my cargo pockets without needing to fold them) and digitally (booklets display on tablet screens at essentially 1:1 scale). And the format allows us to keep the cost low. A complete set of three boxed booklets has an MSRP of $39.95. Individual booklets have MSRPs of $14.95.

We will add some miniatures lines to our product profile, but we encourage players to use what they already own. We don’t judge.

All game components are manufactured entirely in the United States.

We hope you appreciate our design decisions. Stay tuned for more design notes and other cool backstage content about Zone 17.