I’m spending 2019 traveling, but committed to continue to design tabletop games while doing so, with the thought that constraints might lead to some good systematization and process habits.
The first thing I felt I needed in order to keep designing on the road was a way to transport and contain all the assorted bits and pieces needed to assemble prototypes. (Cubes, meeples, resources, gems, etc.) I shopped for a while, before someone recommended I look into finding a fishing tackle box, since they have lots of little compartments, and some are soft-sided which would be good for putting in a suitcase. Most of the stuff on Amazon was questionable, and I wanted to get eyes-on something before committing to it, so I checked out the local hardware store’s fishing section. Most of the soft-sided options were belts (let’s be honest… fancy fannypacks), so I checked out the tool area, and found this, which is a pretty good depth and had a lot of little internal boxes, which an be combined or split as needed with the little walls.
I spent a little while getting stuff packed in there, trying to make a logical grid of “bit type” against my chromatic options, as well as making some space for other prototyping sundries; cards, baggies, dice, some miscellaneous items like a coin or two or the odd ‘mini’, just in case.
The vertical (depth) dimension, and some of the compartments are a little tight, verging on too short, for things like cards and for a tarot-sized Deck of Many Games , but then they fit in a little bit tot his. It also fit fairly well into my new huge ass luggage which I’m lovingly referring to as my portmanteau. A pretty good win, though it’s heavier than I would have liked, counting against my airline-imposed 50# limit, but it seems like a pretty good organizational tool for a range of things that I might need.
We’ll see how it goes!