GeekOn, the New York based company behind the The Ultimate Boardgame Backpack, recently sent us two of their top performing board gaming accessories. Over the past couple of weeks we have put the Quad-Mod Game Piece Module and Elastic Box Bands through their paces – attempting to recreate some of the storage and transport situations they’ll be used in. Here’s what we thought of the accessories:
Quad-Mod Game Piece Module ($39.99)
The Quad-Mod Game Piece Module is a storage solution, designed to be used in a backpack or on its own. While size wise it is 13.75″ x 12.5 x 5”, it expands to be able to hold around 4 Ticket to Ride sized games. The products tagline of “Expands like a rectangle, packs away in a square” nicely sums up the way the module unfolds. In this fold out design there is a central space for boards, with four sections of four velcro pockets to put bags of components in. If you’re trying to store something like a deck of cards which doesn’t come in a baggie it isn’t a problem. In each of the 16 pockets is a mesh bag, which can be removed, with a zip for that exact situation.
The instant benefit is the space saved for transporting or storing multiple games. Next to each other there is little size difference between a standard Ticket to Ride sized game box and a full Quad-Mod Game Piece Module. For a single game the benefit becomes that the module isn’t full therefore is smaller. Plus not being an entirely solid game box it is easier to pack. This doesn’t seem to compromise on the board game’s robustness, with the pockets stopping components from rattle around. As soon as there are multiple games in the module then the size benefits adds up.
Size isn’t everything, a saying often referring to mini heavy games – which would take up a good chunk of the module. Weight is something to be well aware of. Put 3/4 games into the Quad-Mod and you have condensed that many games but their combined weight, minus the actual box weight, will still be there. While this shouldn’t come as a surprise, it is something to bear in mind if you are planning on carrying it for a long time – especially if using more than 1 in a backpack or suitcase.
With all the zipped bags and pockets, only one minor thing is missing. It would have been nice to have a couple of material slips to place between game boards stored in the center of the Quad-Mod. As part of the testing the Quad-Mod it was dragged across the country in a suitcase, including a total of 16 hours of trains with multiple changes, and there were no signs of damage. Therefore, it might not be a problem at all. Yet, simple slips would be something to give comfort to the user.
As far as a method for transporting multiple games goes the Quad-Mod Game Piece Module does a fine job. Depending on the genre you’re most into the amount of games you’d fit will massively vary – easily 10+ small party games like SpyFall or The Chameleon would fit at once. Either way, for travelling to a game night or when off on holiday where space – not so much weight – is an issue I can see it coming in handy.
Elastic Box Bands ($29.99)
Made of stretchy but not just rubber material, the Elastic Box Bands are designed to keep game boxes secure with the lid on tight. Coming with two sets of five straps there are two sizes included 8” and 11”. The first fits more comfortable around Century or Splendor sized game boxes. The latter is ideal for keeping that Scythe or Terraforming Mars lid on the box with all the expansions squished in. Yet, even the larger size keeps the lid tight on something like Catan – showing the amount of stretch it can accommodate between.
In some of the promotional imagery the bands are around Twilight Imperium 4th Edition. As pictured I was able to replicate this, though it was a rather snug fit. I haven’t had issues with my TI4 box lid so would probably not use it for a game of that size – sizes below it works very well though.
The bands aren’t just great for securing board game box lids, they also provide a fair about of friction. Be it for storing on a shelf or so the boxes don’t get knocked off the table as easily during setup, this frictions seems to help. These might be somewhat of an expensive accessory, effectively replacing huge elastic bands – so they won’t be for everyone. However, they do look a lot nicer and have an upgraded look and feel to them. They’ll certainly be used around a selection of my games from now on.
[Editor’s Note: The Quad-Mod Game Piece Module and Elastic Box Bands were provided to us by GeekOn for the review. Check out their products here]
