Welcome everyone to a special look at the company Folded Space! We have an interview with them today along with a review of a few of their inserts we have gotten a chance to take look at! Let’s start in with the interview and then we can see how their inserts stack up for your favorite board games!
Tell us a little about yourself and your business:
Folded Space is a company setup to bring a new kind of insert/organizer to the market. Our inserts are made from a material new to the industry, Evacore, which is lightweight, sturdy and easy to work with, and most important of all roughly half the price of a wooden insert. Our range of 65 products brings gamers an additional affordable option for organizing their games.
What inspired you to start Folded Space?
I have been making my own inserts from foam core for some time, and three years ago we found a way to mass produce the designs. I thought that affordable easy to build inserts was something really missing from the board game market, so it was something people would be really happy to see.
What are your goals and hopes with the new business?
Our main goal is to continue to expand our range and market reach. We now have worldwide distribution, and we want to build on this to reach as many gamers as possible. We also hope to start making bespoke inserts for board game publishers using full colour designs, similar to what we did for TMG’s Gentes Deluxified game.
What do you think will set you apart in the industry?
Well i think affordability and lightweight products are our main strength. We also have the ability to mass-produce our inserts meaning there are far more suitable for distribution and retail.
What was the first game you remember playing as a kid?
Apart from Cludo, Monopoly etc, the first real gaming i got into was Warhammer 40k and Fantasy in the mid 80’s. For many years i was more a table top gamer than board gamer, though i have always played board games. Over the past 6+ years i find board games far more social and accessible, so i play much more board games than table top.
What is your ideal game night? Games, group size, snacks, etc:
Four is a good number, playing a medium heavy game, best snacks for me are really craft beer – i’m a big fan. The most fun i have gaming is when we get together with my brothers and have a loud competitive game weekend.
What game really shines with the addition of a good insert?
Well many games benefit a lot from having an insert. Generally a game with a few expansions already released, and a lot of tokens/cards is perfect for our products. Our FS-TERv2 for Terraforming Mars is a good example, storing loads of expansions inside the box, and every tray being useful during gameplay.
So do you have any Kickstarter campaigns coming up soon or what are the details for you getting these inserts out into our hands?
We have ran three Kickstarter Campaigns to date, and thanks to the amazing support of our backers we are now in a position to continue the business using our own funds. So we do not plan a fourth campaign for these kind of insert products, and will from now on release new products monthly straight-to-market. We currently release three new designs every month.
Any extra information you’d like to share with us?
Well people can find us at www.foldedspace.net, or also now most likely at their own local FLGS. We love to hear from people with ideas for new inserts and design ideas for existing or incoming products, so we encourage everyone to follow us on social media and sign up for our newsletter to keep informed on developments and get in touch anytime they have a question or idea they would like to share.
Thank you for the time and interview guys!
On to the Review:
I want to take a look at a few of their inserts, specifically for Viticulture and Altiplano. All of their inserts come packaged flat and sealed in plastic, and once you crack into it you get a feel for the material pretty quickly. It isn’t as simple as a foam core insert, their material is much denser and feels more stable then any home-brewed ones I have seen out of foam core.
Instructions are laid out very nice, giving you simple step processes to construct and lay out the individual storage aspects of the insert. I found that just some clear glue, a few toothpicks and an open work area made it easy to put this together in about 30 mins. The pieces all lock in very nicely and have little shifting or issues with construction.
Once placed in the boxes, the instructions help you to follow where everything is supposed to go and it all fits in very well. There is no shifting, and it all seems to lock in without difficulty. I was able to get all of the pieces for my Viticulture Essential game along with the expansions to fit in perfectly.
When you look at insets on the market, the choices are pre-made packaged inserts that come with the game, custom wooden ones from a few different companies, handmade foam core and 3D printed inserts and the ones here from Folded Space. I have tried them all and although they all have pluses and minuses, I really enjoy these inserts from Folded Space. Their inserts are strong, durable and seem to stand the constant packing and unpacking that will go into repeated use of your favorite game. They are far more affordable than some of the other models available for inserts and do the job you are looking for- easy setup and teardown of those games with all sorts of pieces and bits. I plan to continue to get these as my go-to inserts for the majority of my games!
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