RPG Product Review: UGears Game Master’s Screen

 

I had the amazing fortune of picking up the UGears Game Master’s Screen, thanks to my friend Kevin Clarkson who sent me Paypal money specifically to pick it up.

UGears is a Ukrainian company who produces beautiful wooden models you can build from a kit. They have a wonderful collection of gaming products including dice towers, deck boxes and, of course, a dungeon master’s screen.

The kit has very clear instructions, but you REALLY have to pay attention to them. These models don’t glue together, so you CAN pull them back apart, but the joins are so snug, it’s tricky. I just wasn’t paying enough attention and ended up flipping a few pieces around.

It took around 3 hours total to build, and the kit includes a few pieces meant to help you punch out pieces, and they also have a cylinder of wax to apply to points that slot into other pieces to make it easier to push in. There are rubber bands you’ll cut to be placed on the bottom of the screen so that it will stay in place and not move around the table.

The screen itself is fantastic. It can fold down to about the dimensions of an RPG book, and then expand into a four-panel screen. The only thing I don’t like about it is that I wish it was landscape rather than portrait so that I could more easily see over the top at the table. The screen is empty, with rubber bands attached at the corners so you can place your own inserts, with your own art on the outside. This lets you swap out inserts based on your game. I run a Star Wars campaign right now, and not everything on the official screen is necessary for me, so I’ll be creating my own inserts, as well as another set of inserts for my inevitable return to D&D.

The screen also includes a dice tower! It’s tucked right into the center, and allows you to roll away away from the prying eyes of your players.

I really, really love this product. Our local Hobbytown USA sells them, my old FLGS is looking at picking them up, and you can also get them at UGears’ website.