Tabletop Accessory Review/Content Creator Spotlight: Daft Concepts
Christopher Urinko is a mad man. On the Facebook page for Daft Concepts, on his Etsy shop, or over on his Twitter account he’s always sharing amazing new designs for his laser cut MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) game accessories. When he asked me if I wanted him to send along a few products for review, I leapt at the chance.
Chris sent over two different products for me to take a look at. The first is a Settlers/Seafarers of Catan board, while the other is a customized 12-month gaming tracker.
The Catan board is made out of a beautiful wood, and breaks down into 6 pieces. These pieces have small notches on them which allow the game board to fit together perfectly. The board can be either assembled into four pieces to make a standard Settlers of Catan board, or into 6, which extends it into a larger map for playing Seafarers.
Each hex in the board has a little triangular divot in the bottom, allowing you to press on one side of the tiles you’ve placed on the board to pop the pieces up easily, so they won’t get stuck, and can easily be swapped out. This is especially useful in Seafarers scenarios where your tiles are supposed to be upside down and you explore outward, flipping them over. I’ve never tried these scenarios in the past, because removing tiles from the middle of a group of tiles is next to impossible. Not so anymore.
I’m hoping to get some 3d versions of Catan tiles printed up on my 3d printer soon, and I hope to try them out with this board. I’ll keep you updated!
If I had any criticisms, it would be that the spaces between tiles is a slight bit too large. It felt like my tiles were very far apart when we played. I imagine if they were any thinner, you’d end up with some structural issues, so it’s not a big deal.
The 10×12 sign is beautiful and magnificent. Chris customized the board so up top it reads “In the Meredith Home We Game.” This version of the sign is a new concept he’s trying out. There are spaces marking each month, with 10 spots for each month, allowing you to move a wooden meeple down the track to mark the number of games you’ve played that month. The goal each month is to play 10 games, so by the end of the year, you’ve played at least 120 games. In addition, he provided dry erase tabs to fit over the months so that you can write in your own games, and can try to play each of those games 10 times in a year.
The meeples each rest on a little shelf to hold them up, and there are two holes up top for mounting to your wall.
If I should fix one thing about the board, it’s that the dry erase pieces are slightly too small. If you stand the board upright, they fall out. This could be fixed easily with a little sticky tack, which I tried and it worked, but I really like the idea of tracking each month, so we’ve kept it like so.
Bridget’s planning on getting both pieces stained to enhance them, and paint up the meeples on the game play board. This is definitely an heirloom product that will be used again and again through our lives. We really love these products, and since the Catan board has arrived, our son has begged us to play again and again.
There are some fantastic other products over at the Daft Concepts Store, including a Twilight Imperium board like the Catan board (slightly larger hexes needed for that game), and a Forbidden Island board similar to the Catan board for your co-op game needs. He also does custom orders, so if you’re looking for something he doesn’t have, let him know! I know my 12×10 isn’t there in the store right now, but he’s always taking new requests.
I’m really impressed by Daft Concepts products. You should head over and check out all of his stuff immediately.
