The Boards & Bits Traveler is the Game Bag You Wish You Had on Your Last Trip

Remember your last trip when your game boxes were crushed, stuff was falling out everywhere, and you couldn't bring all of the games you wanted to play? It's time to learn from your mistakes.

Overview

With so many great games being released nowadays, it's natural to want to bring them along to play with your friends and family on trips, at parties, at game nights, etc. If you have a large game collection, you've probably been labeled as the "game bringer" who is more or less required to pack some of your favorites. But bringing them along is often a hassle and can damage your games that you have taken such good care of over the years.

The Boards & Bits Traveler intends to solve the problems associated with game transportation by providing a sturdy and compact bag designed to keep your game components safe. Rather than trying to fit in all of your game boxes (of which there are so many different shapes and sizes), this bag instead provides separate spaces for your boards, components, rules, and other items. A quick unpacking of each game allows you to safely store all of the necessary items for many games (the manufacturer suggests up to 20) while keeping your pristine game boxes safe at home.

A sturdy PVC board and foam protects your games from damage during travel, while its size meets airline carry-on requirements.

Review

I will admit that I haven't previously used a dedicated board game travel bag. But after trying out the Boards & Bits Traveler I definitely wish I had one sooner. On road trips, I usually stuff as many games as I can into a tote bag or fabric shopping bag, but I often see boxes get worn or dented (tin boxes are the worst) and games fall out with components scattered everywhere. I also end up taking far fewer games than I would like. I believe this bag solves most of these problems.

This bag has several compartments, and I really like the modular design that allows you to snugly fit all of your boards into one side so they don't shift around. Even flimsy player sheets or screens should fare just fine. There is a special pocket just for rulebooks, which is also a great idea.

The size is perfect to be able to use as carry on luggage. The extra pockets will fit your wallet, keys, and other belongings easily. The bag has a very sturdy build that seemingly would allow it to be dropped, tossed around, and otherwise mangled without damaging the components inside — but don't put anything too fragile in the outside pockets, which are only lined with padding.

The drawback to the sturdiness, though, is the added weight — even with nothing inside it feels pretty hefty at 6.5 pounds. With 20 games inside, it could get pretty tiring to carry around for too long.

While most games should fit just fine, not every game will work in this format. For instance, games like La Boca, Slide Quest, and Ice Cool have been designed to use the box itself as part of gameplay. These games will certainly fit on their own, but only a limited amount of space will be left for additional games. If you travel with these types of games often, you might look instead for a tote bag designed for holding game boxes. Also, for the best experience you will need to organize each game's components into it's own individual bag so as to not get everything mixed up. This product does not include any such bags — but Ziploc or other reuseable bags should work fine.

Overall, I see myself using the Boards & Bits Traveler very often for bringing along a lot of games in a relatively small amount of space. I can leave my game boxes at home to avoid damage and rest assured that the rest of the components are well protected. If only I had this on my recent cruise, my vacation would have been all the better.

Pros: Sturdy, relatively compact, meets carry-on requirements, modular design, several compartments

Cons: Feels heavy, not all games will fit ideally, component bags are not included

Disclosure: we received a complimentary sample of this product