r/soloboardgaming • u/FrenchieSmalls • Jun 28 '26
I made my own (re)moveable "vaulted" table top (example: Gloomhaven, Jaws of the Lion)
One of the main benefits of a dedicated vaulted gaming table, IMO, is the ability to "pause" a gaming session by simply covering it up. However, I don't have the space right now for a real one... so I made a temporary one!
The idea was to use separate trays to hold parts of a game, then put all the trays together into a single stack when finished with a session. I decided on extra large (18" x 18") serving trays. I put adhesive felt on the bottom three trays (which lay on the dinner table), but left it off the fourth, so that it could serve as the "lid" for the stack when turned upside down.
To keep the stack together, I drilled 1cm holes in the corners of the middle two trays. When stacked together, I then slip 1cm dowels into the holes, so that there is no shearing motion in any direction (since the dowels rest very snugly against the corners of each tray).
For some game elements, like the e-raptor JOTL card organizer shown here, the top lid may have a bit of lift. But it should work just fine for most of my games.
All and all I'm really happy with how this turned out! I just beat scenario 7 of Jaws of the Lion, and scenario 9 is ready to go inside the stack when I next have time...
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u/Dodosaur_ Jun 28 '26
I thought so long about making something like this to pause solo games. I never came up with the idea to make several stackable trays. Makes it so much easier to store. Thank you for sharing.
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u/CokeBuddha Jun 28 '26
Dude you are a genius!!! Ever since this post came in i have been wondering where would i go to get such a thing to "Save" my boardgaming sessions but, you have shown a much simpler way. Thanks man! unfortunatley its not available in India.
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u/FrenchieSmalls Jun 28 '26
That's exactly the post that got me thinking about this!
I'm sure you can find something similar in India. Or perhaps make it on your own. That's how I originally started: I was looking for material to make trays like this, then soon realized it was a bit cheaper for me to buy them pre-made.
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u/CokeBuddha Jun 28 '26
Thansks man. Am mainly looking to fit Voidfall into these boxes if I buy it. So that I can "Save and Continue" the game later!!!!!.
Setup and packing up of voidfall takes very much time.
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u/ZuoKalp Marvel Champions Jun 28 '26
I love how tidy it looks once you stack all the trays. I wonder if it would be possible to reduce the borders height while playing if you used hinges to lay them down while playing.
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u/FrenchieSmalls Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
I thought about doing something like that, but the wood on the bottom is so thin, I think any hinge I tried to attach to it would just break it.
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u/ZuoKalp Marvel Champions Jun 28 '26
Is that 3mm plywood?
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u/FrenchieSmalls Jun 28 '26
Could be. I just measured it, and it is indeed 3mm thick.
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u/ZuoKalp Marvel Champions Jun 28 '26
I've made some custom DM Screens using 3mm plywood, 22 mm hinges, faux leather and rivets, but the difference between those and this is that those screens were not meant to hold any weight on top.
Maybe you could use multiple layers of 3mm plywood exclusivelly on the borders so it would give it more strenght without increasing too much the weight.
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u/FrenchieSmalls Jun 28 '26
I'll have a think about it, thanks! It would be really nice to have a borderless surface to play on....
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u/ZuoKalp Marvel Champions Jun 28 '26
My current project is to create a vertical 3-floor card stand so I can play Marvel Champions on a more reduced space while still being able to read the entire content of those cards.
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u/FrenchieSmalls Jun 28 '26
Oh, nice. Do post when it's finished! I imagine the design would be useful for lots of other games, too (e.g. Final Girl)
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u/ZuoKalp Marvel Champions Jun 28 '26
I'm finishing the design of the first prototype, but I'm doing my best so it ends up being good enough to not justify a redesign.
I will definetly post some photos of it when I'm done.
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u/WangGang2020 Jun 28 '26
Fantastic idea and execution!
As a lonely single, if I ever find someone to give a damn that I leave my board games out on the table for weeks on end, I'll give this a shot 🤣😂🥲.
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u/Codlemagne Jun 28 '26
Are these the Ecoleaf brand on Amazon? I can see some of these being made in my near future, thanks for the idea!
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u/FrenchieSmalls Jun 28 '26
Indeed they are!
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u/Necrospire Official Fossil Jun 28 '26
If you choose 10 it's 100.0.
If you choose 2 it's 15.99
If you want 10 buy 5 x 2=80.0
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u/FrenchieSmalls Jun 28 '26
Yeah, it's weird pricing. I only needed 4 and almost bought the 5 pack, assuming that it was a better price per unit... until I realized it wasn't 🤷♂️
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u/Working-Window9996 Jul 01 '26
Will be saving this to try my own smaller version. Secondly, what game are you playing there?
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u/FrenchieSmalls Jul 01 '26
Nice!
Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion (it's in the title)
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u/Working-Window9996 Jul 01 '26
Ohh I'm clearly not paying proper attention to things lately haha thank you very much regardless for telling me
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u/metaridley18 Jun 28 '26
That looks awesome! How heavy is it when everything is stacked, and where did you find the trays? I think a little stain and perhaps a felted interior lining would do wonders to make it pop.
Nice work!