Building the Perfect Board Game Insert on a Budget (w/ LOTS of examples)
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- čas přidán 3. 07. 2024
- I'm way too poor to buy fancy inserts for all my games, so I decided to learn how to make them. If you've ever felt like you wanted to make an insert but you aren't crafty, don't worry, I'm even less so. And if I can do it, you should have no problem!
So check out some tips, see some examples, and go and make your own awesome storage solution!
00:00 Intro
01:10 Why you should check out existing companies
02:45 Insert Companies - Folded Space and others
05:48 What makes a good board game insert?
07:37 6 Tips to consider before starting to build
13:58 Working with Foamcore Intro
15:41 Catacombs 3rd Edition Insert
21:39 Spirit Island Insert plans
24:42 Dead of Winter Insert
29:27 Castles of Mad King Ludwig Insert
34:26 Terra Mystica Insert
38:38 Istanbul - Turning a Ferroro Roche chocolate box into a useable container
40:34 Rising Sun Storage Solution
51:37 Recap: 6 Tips to remember when working with Foamcore
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Check out our website for our latest content: www.roomandboardreviews.com - Zábava
Personally I 3D print all my inserts because I already owned a printer. But MAN! What a well made informative video! Fantastic job on those inserts
Aw thanks so much, that means a lot. And oh yeah, 3d printers are so cool. I have a friend who lives on the other side of the country who has one so I'm storing up files for him to print for me when I see him next haha.
I watched this a while back and it inspired me to make a foam board insert for project elite. I got it probably 85% done months ago then set it to the side. Recently was thinking about it and just finished it today! I am so proud of it and so happy I didn't spend more than $10 on it. I'm confident it will help me table it more often too. Thank you for all your tips on making it
Amazing! I am so thrilled for you :) I'm glad this was helpful! It's one of my favorite videos I've made! Way to go!
Very useful information for anyone who enjoys playing board games. Will enable them to set up their game quickly especially when organized for the number of players. Thanks for all of your excellent tips.
After doing bags, bins, Folded Space and some wooden ones that I got for a good price - I think this video has finally convinced me to take the Foamcore plunge. Thank you for the content. You maybe downplaying some of your lack of craft skills, but those are some nice inserts!
Awesome! That's what I love to hear!
And I swear I'm not, it's really that easy! I also am so super proud of the inserts too because they are probably the most successful craft I've ever accomplished. I'll have to get my horrible painting videos up to prove how untalented I really am, haha.
This was outstanding. Great overview, great encouragement to reuse materials, loved the focus on practicality over name brand. Was good to hear somebody tell me to go the dollar store instead of a more expensive, and likely no more functional, substitute.
Thanks so much :) This is one of my favourite videos because it was so much easier than I expected it to be once I started experimenting. Really happy I tried it out.
Evacore, for anyone watching this, is like foamcore board made with printed/laminated cardstock and EVA foam sheets (think that waterproof rubbery plastic foam kids can craft with). You could make inserts with the stuff. It's bendier than foamcore and it doesn't take print very well, but it's pretty rigid once they add their cardstock and laminate, and it's tough to tear, dent, or break. You CAN make inserts out of the EVA foam, it cuts like foamcore. I dunno about laminates and cardstock, but it's an interesting material they're using.
But if you're reading this comment, you haven't got the budget to be _that_ interested in what they're using.
My best advice for these things: Xacto blades are expensive, but you can get a ton of cheap blades cheap. For foam especially, I don't know that an expensive blade outlasts a cheap one. I skimp on blades, but not on the knife. I could've bought a box of Xacto knife handles for what I paid for my Fiskars knife. The white one with the orange lever to lock/unlock the blade.I have scars from slipped blades on my fingers. you can avoid having your own if you're careful and use the right blades. But as often as anything now I reach for my snap blade knives. I have nice snap blade knives made by Olfa and NT Cutter (the latter are left-hand-reversible), and I safe the Xacto for fine details.
Definitely mix card and foamcore. Also, sometimes some fabric ribbon handles are useful. The other thing that can be useful is poly folders. Same material as the Utra-Pro deck boxes, in multiple thicknesses depending on where you cut it from. I use it to make dividers when walls aren't appropriate. Get a corner rounder for scrapbooking to remove the sharp corners.
I realize I suggested spending money on tools here, but they're tools a gamer will use for print-and-play or TTRPG crafting, not just box inserts.
Great ideas!! Thanks for all the useful information and terrific examples.
Great video! Got a lot of really useful ideas from it. Thank you!
I also want to add something to it because I noticed that when you cut out your finger holes for dividers you tend to cut them out in squares or rectangles.
There is a simpler shape for finger holes which is really useful for card dividers.
Try cutting out triangles.
The base of the triangle is the top of the box. You just have to make two straight cuts that meet at a point and you're done.
It's super simple and easy, it takes less time and it looks clean.
Nice thought, I'll have to do that next time , thanks for sharing :)
Why is this so darn well presented
Love it😊
This made me subscribe finally, awesome advice ! I've watched several of your vids on Alex from BoardGameCo's recommendation, but this one was some particularly amazing advice! Thanks for being such a voice of reason in a hobby than can get carried away with spending way too much on a lot of things :D
Awesome video! I haven't created any inserts until now, but you convinced me. Great tips, thank you 🙂
Just what I was looking for!
I'm so happy you made this video! Thanks.
I'm glad it was helpful :)
this is one of my favourite vids you have posted- so useful!
Thanks! It's one of my favourites as well :)
Love this stuff! Thanks.
Yes to the painting series!!!!
Yes! An Ankh painting series is a great idea.
APPROVED!
Really useful video with great tips. 👍
Thanks so much for this video. I made all my inserts from foamcore and card boxes from cardboard but never even imagined I could use other stuff to save space or time.
"You're the best aroooouuund."
Really great video and channel in general!
I designed/created and 3D printed a Spirit Island organizer for base and both expansions. Love it.
Great video! I've been thinking of doing my own inserts for quite some time now, but been putting it off. This gives me the extra motivation I needed. Thank you!
Awesome, I'm so glad :) I was hooked once I got into it and realized it wasn't as hard as I'd been making it out to be in my head
Fantastic tutorial!
Your in depth explanation convinced me to try it myself, thanks! :)
Thanks so much, and I'm so very glad :) It's easier than you think, just takes a bit of time! Hope they turn out great!
what a chad of a video! I love it!
Great info!
Super helpful video, thank you!
Awesome, I'm glad :)
Thank you very much for this video, I am super excited to have a try at making my own inserts and stop doubling the cost of some of my games, have custom storage solutions that work for me and be able to nicely condense down some of my shelf hogs!
Nice! Glad it's helpful!
What an exceptional resource. Thank you Chris
Thanks Callum, I really appreciate that :) and thanks for the Patreon sign up (I assume it was you since a Callum signed up around the same time)
@@RoomandBoardReviews I've been watching your stuff for the last few months. I need to contribute for your time and information... and also, perhaps most importantly, your humour! Thanks again mate
One of the best videos I've ever seen, ... ever! Thanks for the excellent advice. I never would have thought of using foam core to make inserts, or to plan the organization based on set up/tear down/piece need, etc. Just got Kuntá Hora, and the card holders that have to be constructed would have been bouncing around in the box, susceptible to damage. Now everything is tucked away nicely in it's own space. I'm just now getting into collecting games, and look forward to making inserts for them all. Thanks again!
Great video thank you
Brilliant!!
Thank you so much for this video! After also looking at the crazy price of commercial options, your video was a relief and an inspiration.
I'm so glad! :)
I love, and can tell, how genuine you are in these videos! They're truly helpful for someone who's just getting into the hobby!
I'm glad :) thanks! Honestly this is one of my favorite videos, I love setup optimization haha
This is just awesome! Thnx man.
I'm glad it's helpful :) This might be my favourite video on the channel haha, I'm so proud of all the ones I've ended up making
During lockdown time I had a bit of fun making a few inserts, things I liked were a "Foam Werks rabbet cutter" to have cleaner edges, and for player colour components, get some coloured cardboard at the craft store and glue that to the walls and base of the player areas so it looks brighter then just white or black foamcore
That awkward ending made me laugh, thanks :D
Nice video. I used foam board for Aliens: Another glorious day in the corps,and all the expansions, into the two main boxes. I just finished Zombicide: Prison Outbreak with foam board. All with Dollar Tree supplies. Going to work on Zombicide: Invader, Black Ops, and Survivors of the Galaxy game. I don’t mind using more than the main box. It helps organizing the game for easier setup and play. Great vid, man
Man, your video was so enlightening for me. I've entered this world of BGs just some four months ago, and I have some 48 games, most of them with sleeves that do not fit within their inserts or come with basically no insert at all, like Ark Nova. Yesterday that game was my first attempt to build my own insert, and I think was good enough. So thank you.
I'm so thrilled. This is one of my favorite videos I've made, I'm excited for all the incredible storage you're going to make from here on out!
I'm a few weeks late but this is a fantastic video and exactly what I was looking for as I dive into making my own inserts!
Thanks a lot, much appreciated! Hope they turn out great!
instant subscribe for me. Love your passion!
Thanks so much :)
I love MacGyvering storage solutions for my games. It adds another fun thing I get out of them, and when I do it myself it makes it more “mine.”
Absolutely, I'm so proud of the ones that I've made, and I feel so accomplished afterwards. Gives me an incentive to play them more too!
Those boxes from dollar store are great!
Great video, i wanted to buy an insert for Abyss. Your video motivated me to try my own, and specially the advice about re-using whats good of the insert, i managed to fit leviathan and core game in the same box, i just needed to make a hole for the miniature and accept a small lid lift
That's awesome! :) I'm glad it was helpful!
I bought my RS because of your videos. Purchased recently.
Great video. I love making foam core inserts. I do also love the Folded spaces inserts. The evacore is lined by a thin plastic instead of cardboard that foam core is lined by; more durable. The precut folded spaces insert also saves a lot of design and cutting time.
I also mostly use dollar store foam core, but there is definately a quality difference when comparing it to the more expensive foam core you get from a craft store like Michael's. I find the Michael's foam core easier to use.
I love your dollar tree bins. I'm going to pick those up as soon as the Ontario lockdown lifts.
That's great to hear about the Folded space inserts, for those looking at that cheaper option. Great to hear they're good quality! I'll have to check out Michael's foamcore, I've gotten some great little bins from them, but didn't know they had foamcore.
@@RoomandBoardReviews I 2nd the comment that the Folded Spaces material is not the same as foamboard. In addition to the outer lining, the foam itself is a very high density foam. If you pinched it hard, it would spring back to its original dimension (for the most part). It _will_ make your box a little heavier than if you made the same components out of foamboard. For a really big box, that might be a concern. That said, I think the Folded Spaces designs are just meh. They mostly use the same basic shapes for all of their games just scaled up or down to fit their needs. Sometimes that means bins that are a little bigger than they need to be and components slosh around more than you might want.
If I may suggest, when you are starting out with an entire piece as the base at the bottom of the whole box, make each cut of that base a couple mm smaller so that all the trays you make out of that base are easier to fit back into the box. Otherwise, it will ba a snug fit. Trust me, you’ll appreciate a bit of wiggle room, especially when you realize that your trays are not completely square.
Great tip! Absolutely those millimeters can make all the difference, you're 100% right - I should really trim a bit off those Catacombs ones.
I should have added, good job on putting this video together. I found myself in the same boat as you, I can’t justify spending more on the inserts than the price of the whole game (and then paying for shipping to Canada). I have since become an “expert” with glue, exactos ans foam core. I have made an insert for Mage Knight Ultimate Edition, Robinson Crusoe and... Gloomhaven. The more I make, the better the final product.
My next project is an insert for Spirit Island and both of its expansions. Should be fun.
I have to say I love my Broken Token Dead of Winter insert... saves me so much time on setup and teardown. I'm impressed with your custom inserts, but don't have the energy to make my own :D
Wow, I kept expecting to see an increasing amount of bandages appearing all over you between edits. I was cringing at how you talk with your hands when wielding that exacto-knife. XD Great vid!
Hahaha, that would have been a pretty good bit
So many useful tips for thinking about storage and quickly getting games to the table. I'm just beginning my collection of games, but love the ideas behind "getting the game to the table". At game nights when folks spend 30 minutes opening bags of bits, I lose interest in the game.
Totally, I'm the same way, it feels really good to pull them off the shelf when you know setup can be as efficient as possible.
I both make and buy inserts, depending on how much work I think the design will require. I find that sometimes the time needed to built some inserts is too consuming that I'd rather pay for inserts, although I don't like wooden inserts because of the weight, so it's mostly been Folded Space inserts. (The evacore they use is actually much nicer than the foamcore I use, but I think that I'm primarily paying for the design.)
I use black foamcore (for aesthetics) when I build my own and also use a hybrid of containers, bags, and foamcore as well as parts of the original insert when they are useful. I sleeve about half my cards so I often find myself making inserts just so I can fit the cards back in the box. For some games, I don't even add bottoms to the insert, if I don't think I'll ever be taking those parts out of the box.
Thanks!
For games where you need to fill a little space like the lid in your Terra Mystica solution, you can put a little glue on top of the foam to fill in the gap without remaking the whole insert.
Oh really smart idea, give it that extra bit of depth.
Not finished watching the video yet but really enjoying the great information that's not being throw at me in a disorganized and too fast of fashion. I definitely want to make myself one for Scythe (which I see you have :) ) as I own all of the expansions. and possibly a better one for Catan and my 2 Risk games. Mainly here however for this nice little box of goodies I found in Value Village. Canucks unite!
Awesome! I'm glad it's helpful. This is probably my favourite video I have on my channel, it has really enhanced my own board game setups so I'm really happy to share and show everyone. I just have the base scythe with Invaders from Afar, but want to pick up rise of Fenris at some point, I hear that's phenomenal.
Catan I managed to not use an insert (I have the base and cities and knights and up to 6 players for both), I used the small box from the expansion to now house the pieces from the expansion (other than the long dashboards) and then everything else manages to fit along the sides and on top (I removed the original insert but am super happy I have it all in the one box, although I certainly wouldn't be able to fit an additional expansion into that one, haha)
@@RoomandBoardReviews Catan has a lot of weird shapes too with the water pieces and the hex tiles, plus it's insert isnt all that bad yes.
With Scythe I have The modular board, The Wind Gambit, Invaders and Fenris. I managed to fit it all into the Legendary box or whatever its called though I have not made an insert for that and probably couldn't fit one.
I like how you replaced the glass in your window with a game shelf
Super helping video, I wish I can give 2 thumbs up... :), thanks man
If you are worried about the minis in the deck boxes moving around and chipping you could stuff plastic grocery bags in them to hep hold things in place. You could even put the bag between the minis for more padding
Any suggestions for a tray for the buildings in puerto rico? Awesome video, thanks for the help!!!
Great video! Thank you a lot. I am still buying inserts for my most favorite games, since they look awesome and make the game feel more premium. But for the rest? I will make them myself.
Awesome! I'm glad it's helpful. Yeah, I think for the favourites it's fun to treat yourself, but I'm super glad I started doing this for the others. Like anything I go through waves, but it's always very satisfying to use once they're done.
@@RoomandBoardReviews I‘ve bought me a Christmas present this year. A filament 3D printer. It will be very busy over the next few weeks :D But no matter if made of foam core or plastic, the principals for planning the inserts are the same.
@@HansJoachimMaier Ooh awesome that's wicked :) nothing can stop your games from being perfectly organized now!
I like the custom wooden insert, but after thinking about it, and yes if you already own Rising Sun's insert, great, it's awesome, but I thought about it. You don't need much of it. You could use the parts that you insert the larger monsters, and for the smaller one a single container with a way to seal it is the way to go, or a box withy little areas, so a 'plano' plastic box might work, or the plastic 'glass' type you buy for sewing, and you put each little model in each of those. Depends on what your storing.
But for the colored factions. I bought little containers (which are colored) and so you get one of those an inside is all the 'yellow' faction pieces, all of them. So you don't need all the yellow faction troops individually attached like you see in the Rising Sun wooden insert. This means i'd buy a wooden insert, but only if I can cherry pick the pieces I want. Those pieces I would put inside the box and the rest of the room would be those little inexpensive containers I mentioned earlier.
So this would be a hybrid approach using some bought, some repurposed containers, as the plano boxes and tupperwear are not made for those purpose, and in the end it is a low cost way to make storage for your game.
i love that i was #420 on your likes. lol Great video dude. Im totally gonna try to DIY some inserts cause I cant afford to buy them. sometimes they cost as much as the game!
Haha, yeah same here, I'm as cheap as they come. And I can never justify buying an insert when I could buy a completely new game instead, right there with you.
I've been doing the same thing for a while now, get foamcore and hastly put it together with hot glue. Doesn't look great but its so functional. Burned my fingers twice though.
I got rid of the Lords of Waterdeep insert. I hate it lol It gives me crazy anxiety thinking of everything falling out that shitty box 😆 Maybe I'll create my own with dollar store tubs 🤔 I'll let you know how it goes!
Also, I bought these awesome tin tubs with puzzles in them from the dollar store (Star Wars themed! Bonus!) They fit dice masters cards and dice perfectly! Each set has its own tin, 8 tins and booklets, and dice bag fit in my dollar store tin lunch box! (Marvel! Double bonus!)
Thank you so much! I play flamecraft a lot and I wanted to buy a 3d printed insert, but we have custom wooden pieces that wouldn't fit
If you're going to be doing more foamcore builds and starting to 'care' about them more, i highly recommend getting a couple of 1-2-3 blocks (1" by 2" by 3" steel block) they are great for making 90 degree walls (vertical) and making consistent 1" or 2" boxes! Also, I've gone to PVA glue (Elmers White) instead of glue guns just from a cleanliness standpoint - but you do need more patience :)
Ohh that's really cool, really smart for quick and consistent angles, great tip!
Chris you are doing the Lord's work. I just got a sweet deal on JOTL for $25 and wanted one of these cool looking inserts to help organize the game so I grabbed a laserox and payed double the price of the game. After watching this great video I had to slap the crap out of myself for being such a sucker. I really want to get a 3d printer for stuff like this as well as minis. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks for the life lesson and keep up the great work!
I haven't yet experimented with 3d printers, so my experience with them is pretty minimal unfortunately. Too rich for my blood, haha, but my neighbour's son now has one and I'm going to try and get him to start printing inserts for me. Maybe BGG or reddit board games might have more resources for looking into printers :)
Man I wish the expansion stuff for Rising Sun was available. I want more clans.
Travel soap dishes from dollarama fit sleeved cards perfectly.
Incredible idea!
Hey !
First of all, congrats on your videos, cool content, nice editing, straight forward... really good.
But what i was really concerned with is you messing around with that razor blade at 14:22 so close to the boxes man. Please dont give a heart attack again.
Cheers!
Haha, thanks for watching. And don't worry the perspective makes it seem closer than it actually is, I could never hurt my babies that way!
Omg great video subject! I have a Go7 insert for Wingspan because if you sleeve obsessively, cards get pretty ungainly with such a big set.
Plus, if you have all the expansions and play with everything every game (highly recommended this, just make your draw pile 6 instead of 3 to help cycle your deck) you need something.
Also every expansion is a different size box in different dimensions, which drives me nuts for shelving, so that Go7 insert fits everything in the original box. It's heaven.
Nice - I've been thinking about doing one for Wingspan as well, since you're so right, with the expansions it makes it pretty chalk full, I can't imagine adding sleeves to the mix, haha. I love there being six piles though, was looking at this one and others the other day to see how they arranged it :)
Nice to see someone else also making their own stuff. I‘m also a big collector of little containers and things to potentially use for in-box organizing. Never even occurred to me to share that practice. Good for you. Cool
P.S.-nice channel!
@@boardgamesonthemoon Hey thanks so much, I appreciate it! I let some small little boxes go when I was at Michaels the other day because I didn't want to stand in line, and they've been haunting my dreams!
@@RoomandBoardReviews I’m in Berlin, so no Michael‘s, but we‘re super lucky here with good equivalents, i.e. a super cool supply store called Modulor and many awesome local hobby supply places, it’s fun to hunt around. Looking forward to your channel’s posts. Cheers 🤜🤛
@@boardgamesonthemoon 🤜🤛
I started using a glue gun and found the timing to get the pieces together before it hardened was a little tricky.
If you are willing to spend a little more, there is a craft glue called Fabri-Fix that's just as good at holding foam core and has a quick drying time, but is much more forgiving with regards to positioning your pieces.
It was a tip I saw on the bgg forums and I exclusively use that now to make my inserts.
Oh that's cool, I never heard of it, I'll have to check it out! I haven't had too much of an issue of them drying out too quickly, but probably great if you have a lot of precision pieces that you have to line up juuuust right.
White glue (the cheap stuff elementary kids use) works very well. It dries slower than hot glue cools so there’s a longer working time. And with a few pins to hold the pieces together for about 5 min for the glue to set, you get a solid bond. That how I... do.
I'm going to check out that fabrifix. I've been using normal white glue but it can get a bit messy.
@@WillStecho Fabri-Fix can get messy as you are applying as well but a feature I really like about it is that you can "roll" up the excess and throw it away. If you let it dry for just a minute or two, you can rub/roll the excess into a a little ball with a gummy consistency and dispose of it. This helps clean up the insert and make it look a bit nicer as an end product
I'm breaking rule 4 right now because I can't play that expansion before I get another one that is in the mail. There was no inserts at all so I'm making something up for it.
There is no dollarstore foamcore where I'm at :'( I guess I will have to buy from an online craft store as I haven't been able to find it anywhere in a physical store :( very inspiring video!
Ah shoot, that's too bad. But I'm glad it's helpful! Happy crafting to you :)
Well, I just walked down to Woodbine/Danforth in Toronto and picked up 2 sheets of white foam board at Dollarama.
All ready with the glue gun. I've been using black foam for way more money.
Did the same thing originally with Anachrony - opened it up and just too much to even think about getting started. Now I have the giant box version (LOL) and, well, maybe someday it will get played... For Rising Sun I went with Tower Rex - they're based out of Ukraine, and back when I bought it was incredibly cheap for a woodend insert. Not the same pricing at this point. :( But then I also modified it to add magnets to allow for vertical storage without pieces falling around. It's a thing of beauty, but a lot of time invested.
Oh yeah, that Tower Rex one was one of my favourite for sure. I drooled over it more than once, I can tell you that!
Definitely get Anachrony to the table! There's a lot of iconography, but it's totally worth the time investment.
Hello men! Do you have recommendations for in game accessories aside the card sleeves?
Hello, what a great video mate. Mind me asking if you have the measures for the card divider used on dead of winter? Thank you
Sorry just saw this - Pulled it out and measured just now: The height is almost exactly 2.5 inches (like the tiniest bit under, but not enough to be noticeable), the length is 11 and 1/4 inches and the width is just under 4 inches (like 3 and 15/16ths). The key to the width is just measuring the cards length which is (just under) 3.5 inches, and then accounting for the thickness of whatever you're using. The foamcore I was using was 5mm thickness, so I added in an extra cm and a little bit to make sure the cards fit nicely but weren't being forced to squeeze in.
And then when gluing it on, I'd add the length pieces on first, because then you can mass cut out the dividers, but keep in mind even though the width is 4 inches, your dividers are going to be basically the size of your cards - it's easy when you're thinking of the measurements of the full unit to forget to subtract the width of the foamcore walls that are already in place, so they'll be closer to that 3.5 inches. The cards are under 3.5 mm in length, 8.8cm, whereas my divider was pretty much 3.5 inches, or 8.9-9cm to give it that little bit of extra space.
@@RoomandBoardReviews Thank you
I actually tried eventually making my own inserts for my Capital Lux 2...and turns out I felt it was way too time consuming although I will not deny the satisfaction of using it afterwards...
I made small errors here and there eg things fit too tightly together its not very easy to take certain components out and also the lid lift a little as my measurement went slightly above required...
I felt so lazy to redo but probably if I am ever going to do it again I will need to take the shortcut of just gluing something into the box to make walls instead of making all the trays etc which felt very tiring...
I have yet to spend more than $35 on a Folded Space insert. My lords of water deep FS holds all the expansions as well. That said, FS does not make inserts for everything so this is a great option.
well I tried doing foam core once, but I was so unhappy how imperfect the cuts looked that I then got into 3D modeling and printing my own inserts
Love your owl shirt. Affiliate link?
I'm curious, I'm starting to consume material on the matter and I was wondering what thickness of foam core you use for your games? The two most popular thickness seem to be 3.15mm (1/8th) and 5mm (1/5th) of an inch.
I use 5 mm just because that's what is usually at the Dollar store by my house, but I would like to experiment with the lower value because it does take up a lot of room. That's pretty much why I exclusively use cardboard, usually from whatever box of food I have on hand for most of the bases, because it saves that extra room and sometimes those extra mm can make all the difference.
But for me it's more about the convenience of what's on hand, and then you sort of make do with the rest. I think 5mm will be more standard, and I suppose if you're handling it a lot, it'll be a bit sturdier, but if you have a game that's STUFFED with components, or you're trying to stuff it (I'm making something for Massive Darkness 2 right now and I am running out of room) that 3mm might help make everything fit.
It should be possible to just have a thin cardboard 'lid' for that Spirit Island card well, with wings that tuck down the sides... I wonder if that would work for Dominion too?
Did you allow for "tabs" to fit into "holes", making something like a 2D tenon joint, like the folded space inserts have, for added rigidity?
I think with the lid being flush or almost flush it would probably be okay.
As for the tabs, I didn't although I could have, mainly I just used a standard glue gun wherever it touched another edge.
Or at least that's why I don't have a lid in mine, but if you found the cards shifting around too much, or there was too much space, that's a good idea.
how do I find an insert on boardgamegeek? Under which section would I have to look? I tried to find an insert for Gaia Project and could not find anything.
Sometimes they don't exist, and BGG's search function is bad so it's best to just google them "Gaia project insert BGG" and see what comes up. Might take you to other sources too
I think the phone box could be very useful, I keep those things around for no reason at all anyway
It's even harder to fit the content if you sleeve your cards - many publishers act like they never heard about sleeves and that pisses me off. Tainted Grail has nice insert, but it has 3 massive downsides:
- too little space for sleeved cards.
- there are rounded corners at the bottom which distort sleeved cards (because, hey, who sleeves fcking cards, right?)
- minis compartment is so tight that it hurts paint job when you try to get minis out.
So I had to make own insert. Shame because original insert looks really nice - basic design is neat, but details are unacceptable.
There's also place like Thingiverse. Even if you don't have 3d printer (I don't), there are files and photos, that may help you to create foamcore based insert. That's my case - other designs (including mine) weren't as good. I design inserts in vector graphics editor called CorelDraw just to avoid traps on the way.
Also I've seen people who put components like cards directly on foamcore during drawing and gluing just to ensure everything fits.
Never thought an organizer was necessary and I get sooo freaked out thinking about throwing away the customer plastic that fits the minis, but my god, having just played Rising Sun for the first time last night, I can say that trying to put it away was absolute hell
Yeah it really isn't the best. Seriously get those deck boxes at least, it makes it so much easier to be able to pass out the figures and they hold up well inside. I haven't painted my main figures and I don't even think I will because of the coloured plastic, so don't need to worry about any paint getting chipped off. Even if they were painted I'd probably still do it. Did you like the game though?!
@@RoomandBoardReviews I just bought those deck boxes off Amazon based on your recommendation! I'll be honest, I'm not very crafty and I worry when taking on a project that involves raw materials and measuring tape that I'm going to mess something up and potentially damage the game components or make it look horrible, but this video is giving me a lot of confidence and neat little tricks (like the deck boxes) to help organize and get it to the table easier. It was definitely intimidating for my group! They claimed the learning curve was really intense, but I absolutely loved the game and I look forward to getting better at teaching it and answering questions without having to consult the rule book.
Chris George I could kiss you right now. I just bought the deck boxes you recommended and I packed and labeled the clans and got rid of all the extra plastic and my god I'm so much less stressed about getting this to the table next time lol
@@FrightfulFailures I'm so thrilled for you! Wooooo!
I live in France and there is no stores wich sell Foamcore. What is the thickness of a foamcore board ?
I use 5mm, but there are different thicknesses out there. I unfortunately don't know much about the options that would be in France, but yeah 5mm works pretty well for me, even when I have to pull a big tray out from the box, I haven't noticed it bending or collapsing under component weight for anything that I've used it for.
@@RoomandBoardReviews Ok thank you very much !
I will find easily a replacement now that I know the thickness of it ! Thanks again !
Also I saw you storage solution for Rising Sun and Ankh, and I will copy it. This is top notch !
Chef’s kiss with a razor knife in hand could have gone much worse.
That always bugged me about game setups. I think every boardgame should have the setup printed and put on the inside of the lit, as addendum to in the rule booklet, atleast a shortened version that is required to setup for 2/3/4/5 or w/e player count. I don't usually need the entire setup. Just the numbers that change based on player counts. I started just printing stickers for player setup and put them on the inside of my boardgame box lits, just so I have that information always in the same easy to find place. Cause this is usually hidden somewhere in the rule book and it's annoying.
That's a great idea. I tried to fashion a little thing so that the board game lid would hold my rulebook (this was for Gloomhaven because there was already enough to pull out of the box but I knew I'd still want to reference the rulebook at times), but including player counts and setup there is pretty genius as well.
Hi! Those UP deckboxes are not available where I buy atm. Could you maybe tell me the measurements of those boxes so I can find proxys that fit? That would really help, I did not find anything on that with google! Thanks in advance!
Sure thing, they're 3 7/8 inches tall (9.8/9.9cm) 2 7/8 inches long (7.3 cm) and 1 7/8 inches wide (4.7cm) with those and the 6 across on top, that gives me about 1/2 and inch of space left in the box, but their walls are super thing (less than a millimeter, probably less than half a millimeter) so just keep that in mind if you can't find proxies and you're thinking of making some, foamcore probably wouldn't work, you'd want some Bristol board or thick cardstock to do the trick.
Probably up to 3/4 inch remaining space if you push them together and have a little bit of box give, so you *might get away with using 2 inch depth instead of 1 7/8, but it'll be tight
@@RoomandBoardReviews Thanks a lot man, much appreciated! :)
@@Tharukan Of course, anytime! Hope it works out for you!
@@RoomandBoardReviews Worked out great using the 80+ Deck Boxes from Gamegenic. They are a bit larger, so everything of the clan color (also rings, markers etc.) fits in them. Just had to fit in the retail core box stuff, though, but that fits perfectly with even quite some room to spare! Thanks for the tip!
i made an insert for aeons end and all the expansions out of foam core! i didn't use glue though. its held together with dreams, friction and the weight of a million cards trying to burst outa the box.... i shoulda used glue
I just use the glue to hold together my dreams! A win win situation!
since i'm just as poor, is that boardgame shelf back there from ikea? or ? :D
You betcha. A Kallax and an Expedit before the Kallax was born. The Table is Ikea too, because cheap table for games and/or a smaller space because it can be folded up, the Gatelag/Norden
Would you know if sintra board would also be a good material to use instead of foam core? :-?
I haven't worked with Sintra, but I've looked into it a bit. From my understanding, it's a little bit harder to cut through than foamcore (in a video I watched someone mentioned that their 3mm thickness you could probably cut with an exactoknife, but at their 6mm thickness or more you'd need a bandsaw to get through it). It would therefore probably be firmer, and 3mm would be all you'd probably need for walls of inserts etc, but my worry with Sintra is that it's not malleable enough to easily work with at home.
I'd say try it out with the 3mm if you can get it for cheap (and don't have a dollar store nearby), but I think they're probably more used for signs and printing on a strong surface, rather than chopping up and gluing together.
Here's the video I found for someone who uses Sintra to make Cosplay Costumes, which seem like they'd have to be pretty sturdy, hence the bandsaw for thicker versions - czcams.com/video/qmhVJWVeB6Q/video.html
The neat thing with Sintra (watching that video) is that it looks like once it's cut into smaller chunks, you could bend it, if you wanted to create some circular containers for components, but I think square are probably better for the most part, since your boxes will already be square and that will help you optimize your space.
I think Foamcore will probably be cheaper - because I can't see something as sturdy as this being less than 1.50 for a big 2 foot by 3 foot -ish sheet, but if you don't have the space in the box for the 5mm thickness, and need a lot of little component sections, then having a 3mm option might be nice to have.
@@RoomandBoardReviews Thanks for all your inputs! The only reason I've been considering sintra is because a family member of mine has a seller he knows that ends up being cheaper than foam core here in PH. I'll try it out some time and see how it goes! Also, I've subbed to your channel. I really liked your video :D
@@micolopez3016 oh yeah, if you can get it cheaper, I'd say for sure go for it! Let me know how it turns out, I'll keep my eyes out for it next time I'm hunting for supplies. Thanks for watching, it really means a lot - I'm glad I could be helpful!
Quick comment about foam board from the dollar store. Here in the US, Dollar Tree carries a brand called "redi-board" foam core. This brand is helpful for various crafts, but is not good for inserts. The Redi-Board brand has an adhesive to secure the paper to the foam that is very weak and easily peeled. This is NOT what you want your inserts to do. The board is essentially craft foam encased in easily removed paper, rather than true foam board. In short, find another brand for inserts.
When I first found out about inserts, I thought they were a kinda silly waste of money or effort. And then I saw the inside of my Summoner Wars master set, where literally nothing fits properly... 😂
No Dollar Tree in Quebec, I'm so sad 😢
so YOU were the cause of the Great Bag Shortage of 1997
I'm a selfish monster.
T-Square
I spend more time on making 3d printed inserts than playing. I disagree with the choices behind almost every one I see. People separate the weirdest things, or have tiny tokens stack in a line which is a pain to put away. Player items are in different spots or can't be handed out individually. Making it yourself is the only way to make sure it is done right!
Inserts usually don‘t work for me. Foamcore and those plastic bins look so cheap on the table, I would put all the components into my wooden token holders anyways, so baggies work for me.
Personally I prefer board game boxes that are right sized compared to their components. Massive boxes with plastic and air, just to be able to sell a "bigger" game bothers me.