When players open up your game’s box, their first impression often comes not from your game board or its artwork, but also from how your game’s components are organized inside.
Just like a well-organized desk signals that you’re a professional, a well-designed game insert sets the tone for your game. When your game’s components are neatly laid out and simple for players to access, you create a great first impression that sets your game apart from others.
On the other hand, a poorly designed or flimsy insert can lead to game components scattered around the box, long setup times, damaged components and a frustrating experience for your customers.
The good news is that designing a great game insert isn’t that difficult. Below, we’ve discussed everything you need to know about insert design to help you create a great first impression for your game, keep manufacturing simple, and minimize your production costs.
Like with anything related to board game manufacturing, feel free to contact us if you’d like help from our team with designing or making your game’s inserts. We’re happy to suggest materials, design choices and offer other tips to help you make your game the right way.
Start With Your Game’s Components
The first step in designing an insert is understanding exactly what it needs to hold. Every insert should begin with a complete component inventory.
To do this, you’ll need to understand the components that make up your game. If you’re early in the design process and still deciding on things like tokens, cards, dice, miniatures and any other game components, you should delay your insert design until you have these things ready.
Need help choosing components for your board game? Our guides to choosing components go into detail about your options.
Every item in your game differs in its size, shape, weight and fragility. A deck of cards needs to be held snugly without bending. A miniature requires cushioning and protection from scratches, which can develop if it moves around inside the box.
By mapping out every component of your game and its requirements, you lay the foundation for an effective insert design.
Define Your Insert’s Purpose
At its core, an insert exists to solve problems for both you as a game publisher and the player of your game.
As a publisher, one purpose of your game’s insert is to make sure its components are protected during transport so your game arrives intact. It also ensures the components stay secure during storage, such as when the game is stacked upright on a shelf.
There are also cost considerations. Does your insert fit in with your game’s production budget? This is where choosing the right materials for your insert, such as cardboard, plastic, wood or a different material, is important.
For players, the purposes of an insert are to keep game components organized so game pieces can be accessed easily without potentially getting mixed up or lost, and to make setting up your game as quick and easy as possible.
By defining these goals early, you can avoid design decisions that look good on paper but fail in practice.
Plan Around Your Player Experience
The best inserts aren’t just functional, but are intuitive and designed around your game’s core mechanics.
Can you use your insert as part of gameplay? A good insert should come out of the box when your game is being played. Can your insert sit directly on the table? If your game has resource cards or tokens, can your insert act as a “bank” that players can easily access while playing?
Is your insert easy to use? Each component should be easy to access without players needing to remove your insert from the box, tilt it to remove small components, or need more than a few seconds looking to identify which type of component they’re picking.
Finally, is your insert accessible for your target audience? Games designed for adults can have some degree of complexity without it becoming a problem. However, if your game is made with families in mind, it will need a simple insert that children can use without confusion.
What to Keep in Mind When Designing Your Insert
When you start working on your insert design, it helps to think beyond just “where the pieces go” and instead consider how your insert will affect the whole experience of owning and playing your game.
First, precision matters. An insert that’s too loose will let pieces move around and get damaged, while one that’s overly tight will make removing components frustrating for players. Try to aim for compartments that hold everything securely but still allow for easy access.
Second, think about future-proofing your design. Will your game have expansions or other extra content later on? If so, it may be worth leaving room in your insert for additional cards or tokens that come as part of an expansion or stretch goal.
Third, keep manufacturing in mind. The most complex or creative insert design isn’t always the best if it’s expensive to produce or difficult to assemble. We can help you design an insert that matches your vision without increasing your manufacturing costs.
Finally, don’t forget about presentation. Your insert is part of your game’s overall packaging. If it looks clean, fits well, and complements your game’s theme, it makes the unboxing experience more satisfying and memorable.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Designing Inserts
A key part of designing a good insert is just avoiding common mistakes. We’ve helped 100s of game creators with their inserts and notice the same mistakes often. Try to avoid the following mistakes and you’ll be 80% of the way there:
- Designing your insert too early. Like we mentioned above, your insert is designed around your game’s components. Make sure you’ve finalized the design of all tokens, cards, your box and other components before you work on your game’s insert.
If you design your insert early and then make changes to your components, there’s a good chance your components won’t fit properly or will overflow your insert. - Overly tight fit. Avoid designing an insert that requires force to remove game cards or miniatures. Your game’s components should fit snugly inside the insert, but should not require excessive force to remove and use.
- Too much empty space. Make sure there isn’t excessive empty space in your game’s insert. If components can slide around, the level of protection offered by your insert will be reduced and your game’s presentation might look sloppy rather than polished.
- Not accommodating card sleeves. If you’re designing a game for enthusiasts, keep in mind that some people might use card sleeves. Add some extra space to accommodate these so players who use card sleeves can also use the insert effectively.
- Not keeping it simple. Your game’s insert shouldn’t be overly complicated. Remember that the purpose of an insert is to protect the pieces and make organization easy for the people playing your game.
The Bottom Line on Designing a Great Game Insert
A well-designed board game insert is a key part of your game as a product. It protects all of your game’s components, speeds up the setup process for players, organizes gameplay, and adds to your game’s theme and perceived value.
The design process starts with understanding your components and defining your game insert’s purpose.
From there, you can design around the player experience, select the right material and balance your game’s aesthetics with the requirements of manufacturing.
Like with everything else related to choosing components and manufacturing your game, we’re happy to help you with your insert design and materials.
Contact us and our team can walk you through the insert design and manufacturing process for your game so you save time and money, impress your customers and get the best results.
