Just in case you were interested. Luckily:

• I have a day job
• Buying fiddly things makes me happy
• Many of them aren’t used up and can be applied to another prototype

And the list:

• $3.50: 9″x12″ foam board
• $5.50: 20″x30″ blue foam board (cut up, only about 1/3 used)
• $2: printing
• $17: plastic centimeter cubes (I got 1000–they’re hard to not get in bulk. And will be easy, I hope, to use for other games.)
• $2: blank white cards
• $7.50: Utility knife for cutting foam board (High-quality; should last for years; I could have got a cheap one for $2)
• $2: Dice (approximately–6 are used, plus a couple that I had laying around as generic counters)
• $4.50: small zinc washers (scoring chits)
• $3: large zinc washers (scoring chits)
• $4: gold spray paint

Total: $51, about the cost of a new game. (And this discounts probably $10 worth of bits I probably won’t end up using–colored paperclips and cardstock.) I’m definitely not complaining; I’ve had a great time putting Invasion together, I plan to have a great time refining and playing it, and I’m very pleased with the way it looks and feels. And maybe this will be the one that wins me the SdJ. Just reflecting a little on what goes into it.