The Folded Space inserts were bought with Iain’s own money.
Everyone has their own preferences when it comes to organising their games. Some will sleeve every card, tuck tokens away in little boxes, get everything just so. Some will just use the bags provided, if any, slinging everything in the box with no real order, to be dispensed next time the game hits the table.
As tabletop gaming has grown, a whole support industry has grown up around providing storage solutions for games. These range from bespoke, lovingly carved wooden boxes, to custom rucksacks, and pretty much anything else you can imagine. The inserts that boardgames come with have always been a bit of a bone of contention, with people clamouring for good, useful, in-box organisation provided by the publisher. For the most part the inserts games come with are very plain, but we have seen more intricate ones come to light as Kickstarters offer upgrades and stretch goals around such additions. This has had a knock on effect where more commercially released games are now getting decent inserts, but that doesn’t stop the treadmill of accessories you can buy.
I’ve written previously about the Basically Wooden insert my friends gifted me for Gloomhaven, and recently I decided to upgrade some of my other games with the inserts from the folks at Folded Space.
Folded Space have been around for a while now, and I’ve had my eye on their inserts since I came across them at UK Games Expo a couple of years ago. Their inserts are made out of foam core, come flat packed, and require assembly. If you aren’t familiar with it, foamcore is a foam layer sandwiched between two bits of cardboard. This gives a light, stiff material, that is simple to cut and shape, making it a favourite among the crafting community. The Folded Space foamcore has a matt cardboard finish and comes pre-cut so you are just pushing shapes out of a sheet.
Each pack comes with a sheet of instructions, and you’ll need some PVA glue to assemble the pieces. I found the instructions well laid out and easy to follow. Furthermore there are examples on their site as to how to assemble and I would definitely recommend following them. Dry building each piece first, then applying glue proved quick and effective. Don’t be stingy with the glue either, you can always wipe away the excess.
Practicalities of construction aside, how do these inserts hold up against their promise? I bought the one for Root, Lords of Waterdeep, King of Tokyo, and Roll Player. I’ve been really impressed with the snug fit of the inserts. They hold everything nice and tight inside the box, whilst still making the individual sections easy to remove. The foamcore means that there is little in the way of added weight to the box versus a wooden insert, something that will be important if you plan to transport your games about.
I haven’t had a chance to use the inserts in play at time of writing. The end goal with a good organisational insert is that it makes setup and breakdown much simpler. However, I can speak to the fact that they separate out the individual player components and all the tokens for money etc are in their own little sections. These are really well designed inserts that I am itching to use in play.
I have only one real note of caution here. Each insert is designed to use a different number of boxes, some are just the core, but others require an expansion box as well. The King of Tokyo one just needs a core box, but the Root one requires all the player boards and maps to be put in an expansion box. I hadn’t realised that this was the case with the Roll Player insert and had only the core box to put it in as I had chucked out the expansion box. It does fit, as you can see from the pic below, but just make sure you read all the information about the inserts you are planning to buy in case you don’t have all the boxes you need. To be clear this was my fault, not the company’s.
Folded Space inserts are light, well designed, and won’t break the bank. If you have some games that hit the table regularly, I would really recommend them as an affordable organisation solution.
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