Ever since I started going to game night, my luggage has always been a point of fixation for me. In my roleplaying game days it was what kind of filing box to bring and how to tote all the miniatures. In my board game era, the bag chosen for game night has been slowly evolving. It started as a review of all the possible open-top grocery bags. When companies started to crowd-fund board game bag production, the situation got serious.
One of the bags I came across was from Top Shelf Fun, a company that hit the big time on Kickstarter with Meepillows. Their initially launched Game Haul board game bag held an impressive number of games, but the handle and strap situation needed a v2 to sort out. I recently attended Gen Con using the second version Game Haul to carry games back and forth. It has nice wide shoulder straps, and it even survived being checked as luggage on the plane ride home without incident to bag or games.
So with Top Shelf Fun releasing a more compact version for, you guessed it, game night situations, the bag stayed on my radar until release.
The bag they provided for this review is an exceptional product for the price. The overall build quality is high, especially around the carabiner connection to the D-ring on the main section. The zippers and nylon are sturdy with extra padding in the important places around and under games. Supporting the bag are spiked rubber feet to keep the bottom nylon away from dirt.
The only serious minus in build is the shoulder pad for the strap. It’s a straight pad, without frills. However, for the price point, this is easily forgivable, and the solid top handle is nicely done.
As for real frills, the bag has two. There’s a side pocket clearly meant for a filler game or wallet. The opposing side webbed pocket could carry a dice bag or random small snacks.
One of the most important aspects of the bag for board gamers is whether or not it can hold games in multiple orientations. The civil war between the vertical stacked vs horizontal stacked camps can build a peace accord around the Game Haul Game Night. It carries three and one-half square box games in either arrangement. Rectangle boxes can find a suitable organization as well.
I will say it again, overall, for the price (currently $29.99), and especially at a sale price, this is an excellent bag.
A 2014 study suggests that women might be buying expensive designer handbags to ward off other females from their significant other. If this is true, I need to see if the authors of the study are willing to do an analysis of board game bag customers because this is the kind of bag I would love to see in multiple colors and trim.
