I'm starting to see some potential peeling in the hinges of my Dungeon board, though I've only had it since the expansion's release. No, it hasn't been put under any unusual duress. I'm wondering if anyone else is experiencing this based on normal use, and if so, have you come up with any fixes? I have notions of my own but am wondering if anyone else has ideas I haven't thought of. The problem is not severe at the moment, but I can already tell it will worsen over time.

Sad, considering the 2E Dungeon that I gave my daughter long ago doesn't have this problem after almost two decades.

That's a good question. Our boards aren't peeling yet, but my Drakon tiles are starting to show wear, and I've only had them a month or so. I was considering dipping or spraying them with some sort of fixative (maybe something like what you spray on miniatures, or a thin varnish, or something).....has anyone tried anything even remotely like that? What were the results?

In the old days of 2E and Dungeonquest 1.0, we applied self-adherring clear contact paper (actually plastic, sold in rolls). It is a bit tricky to do, but worked great in the end. All the 2E stuff my daughter has is fresh as day one. But that approach won't work for 4ER.

The 2E boards and parts were either separate jigsaw/puzzle cut piece, an other game boards had a 'fold zone'. There was space between the board backing parts where only bonding paper created a flexible zone. When the contact paper was applied, it was carefully pressed into that fold, making it even stronger and almost untearable The newer boards with their flush backing mean that only the top paper layers provide a "hinge." It is extremely weak and subject to quicker wearing. Applying a clear plastic layer on top would help a little, but with three problems.

1. the plastic layer wouldn't let the board folder completing for packing away... not enough leeway as with a folder space like in old game boards.
2. the board playing surface / top paper layers could still peel from the board backing.
3. the extra material, when the board is folded, might actually produce more torque to peel the board surface when the board is folded up.

Still searching for a way to patch the Dungeon board before it deteriorates too much.