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Counters

In most games something has to be counted, life, money, damage, etc. Money is easy, you just use gaming money, but others, especially if there is a lot to count may have various way to count. In general, dices make a good choice for keeping score. Many things can actually be used for counting. Lately, shiny glass stones have been used a lot (can be bought at any interior decoration shop).

Another interesting way is found in 'Die Siedler, das Kartenspiel' and some other games, where as you can turn your card in order to change any counter number (each side is numbered form 1-4) and you just turn to the right side. 

(taken from Siedler, Kartenspiel) As you can see the three cards (L2R) represent a stock of 3, 0 and 1 sheep (the number that is facing you). The dice in the middle tells you when to add one sheep to your stock (Ex: you roll a 3, then the third stock gains another sheep and the card is to be turned 90 degrees contra clockwise, indicating 2 sheep). This mechanic can easily be expanded to 6 or 8 (you will need more sides on a card then or use the corners as well). This mechanism is also used in Victory and other games (from Columbia Games).

One of the most commonly used counters are money (how come??). There are lot of shops around that sell 'fake' money. In general you may find fake dollars and fake local money. Fake Euro money is very 'state-of-the-art'.

Some games require countersheets, such as Yahtzee and dice poker. Some games, especially wargames / skirmish games (e.g. Battletech) require complex countersheets. I don't think these games will ever leave the 'freak-scene'. These games are specificly targetted are certain scenes, usually the experts. 

Loading Resources

In many games, especially RPG's and CCG's, characters and equipement have to be loaded in order to use them/it. In MtG for instance you have to play a number of energy cards first before you can summon a monster or cast a spell. Also, to use a specific ability, additional energy has to be available. In most games, energy or more generic, resources come in various flavors. In MtG there are 5 basis colors of Energy plus colorless energy. The same goes for Pokemon. In other games, like TechWarrior, energy is replaces by resources. If you look at Siedler (Settlers), the various resources come from different (occupied) lands.

In many RPG, characters need to 'rest', 'heal' or use special items in order to full up their energy (e.g. for fighting, wizardry, loading guns, etc.). This resting option goes for a lot of other games thought as well. In RoboRally, you bot's have to 'shutdown' or to visit a repair station in order to recieve the full amount of program cards. In Risk you have to 'pass' to put some additional armies in your countries.