Review on Travel In Style With Woodronic'S Upgraded 3-In-1 Backgammon Chess Checkers Set In Navy Blue by Maurice Matlock

Wow, what a delightful game set! I'm a big fan of classic board games and I love to travel, so I'm always looking for a way to bring our favorites with us on the road. This set completely exceeded my expectations from the moment I took it out of the box. It's in a completely different league from most plasticky travel game sets - if you told me it was designed by a major luxury brand, it would actually be believable. It would make a really great gift - everything about the packaging and execution is satisfying and I think anyone would enjoy receiving this product.The construction quality on this board is excellent and I believe it will last a long time. The zippered compartment is formed with two wooden stoppers at each end of the leather roll, secured by two discreet screws to keep everything in place. The gameboards are both well constructed, with precise and neat sewing throughout (a rarity!); even the ends of the threads are correctly tucked underneath other stitches to keep them secure. The outside of the board is covered with an overlock stitch to prevent fraying. Even the velvety storage pouch is nice, although the rolled-up board could also be transported on its own if you preferred.One of my main questions when I saw this set was whether it would lay flat during gameplay. There's enough rigidity and structure to the board that it does lay perfectly flat! Just give the board a quick roll in the opposite direction before setting it down and that's enough to counteract any memory in the material. The far side of the gameboard from the storage pouch also has a piece of reinforcement inside to give it a bit of extra weight and keep it flat against your table.The game pieces are also unexpectedly satisfying. I was expecting ordinary single-color plastic bits, but all of them have interesting, luxurious patterns in the resin, reminiscent of high end handmade board game pieces. The symbols are engraved too, so they won't wear off over time.About the only piece of minor feedback I have is that the included game instructions sheet is printed on fairly thin paper and is a bit cryptically worded, so it doesn't match the luxuriousness of everything else in the set. I'd love to see Woodronic spring for a nice, glossy booklet with clearer instructions to be enclosed in future production runs.But most folks know how to play checkers and chess, so the gameboard is what counts - and they sure did a great job with this one. As a leatherworker myself, I appreciate the handcrafted effort that went into producing this - it's not just a quick throwaway item and someone actually cared about their work when they made it. It's a satisfying object that I think will bring years of enjoyment to anyone purchasing it or receiving it as a gift.This would make an especially good groomsman or bridesmaid gift, for example, or would be appreciated by anyone who enjoys camping or travel. It's not cheap, but the product justifies the cost and I actually think it's a great value for what you pay.