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The Laserox Dead of Winter insert from Laserox is another fantastic entrant from a company I have come to love. They have a particular understanding of how I want to use an insert.
It shouldn’t just be a storage system, baggies work for storage, right? No, an insert should be something that enhances the gaming experience as well as protects your important components.
So before you read on I want to let you know that I was sent this insert for review but you know I am happy to burn bridges, destroy relationships and savagely berate games and accessories that are not good enough so please remember, I am not paid to say anything positive or negative, these are my own opinions and I stand by them.
The build
Putting the Laserox Dead of Winter insert was a very simple and very satisfying process. The wood was a little dry and splintery in parts but this is to be expected when dealing with a natural product. Sandpaper, wood glue and time are all that you need but having some common sense and the ability to follow the excellent instructions are also important.
Dry fit EVERYTHING first. Seriously, do not add glue or sand anything until you have dry-fit the parts. I have saved myself from numerous errors by making sure I understood what was being built before building it.
The components are cut perfectly and fit together very well. It’s quite tight but don’t be fooled, use a small amount of glue because we all have that one friend who has to pick up and manhandle everything. Watching them drop all the cards because they held the heavy box by one side that slipped apart is not fun.
I have put together an awful lot of inserts and would place this one on the easier side of the scale. There was nothing too complicated but make sure you check which parts are to be glued and which parts are removed during play.
Laserox Dead of Winter Insert in the Box
Once you have built the Laserox Dead of Winter insert and let the glue dry it’s time to place the parts in the box and feel the satisfaction of organising your components.
I get a lot of pleasure from organising my games. I don’t know why but having everything organised and in a specific place makes me as happy as I am playing.
The Laserox Dead of Winter Insert does not fail me here either. Every component fits neatly and without any cramping or spending time jiggling components to make them fit.
Generally, the Standees in most games are a pain in the neck and either require disassembly or some special degree in finagling to make them fit.
Not here though, there are two compartments that are large enough to comfortably fit both the survivor standees and the zombie standees.
I love little touches like the cutouts on the dice and token trays that lock them together and the etching on the boxes. It’s those things that give an insert table presence and mean you don’t mind having them on the table. I hate baggies, genuinely hate them, they work but are awkward, ugly and hold dents like fading fingerprints on a forgotten door knob.
The crossroads cards have their own compartment and everything fits so neatly that there is zero lid lift when completely put away.
During play
The best part about an insert is the speed at which you can the whole game out and set it up. Going through baggies for components takes an age and all players helping, however, I can set up faster with the Laserox Dead of Winter Insert on my own that a team of four adults can get the game to the table when stored in baggies.
On top of that, I can then use the insert whilst playing to keep things tidy and on top of all that Laserox have done something fabulous, something wonderful and clever, something that no one else has thought to do and for the life of me I do not know why.
They realised that we don’t want the box on the table while playing and but a bottom on the cardholder so it can sit on the table and be used during play!
This is something I have suggested about all the other inserts for Dead of Winter and finally a company has got it right.
For this reason alone I will use the Laserox Dead of Winter Insert over any other insert but when you couple with that the way it looks, the token storage, the zombie and survivor storage and the crossroad card holder then there is no competition.
Other companies make a first player marker too but there is something about a huge knife that says, “ITS MY GO FIRST SO BACK OFF”.
I love this insert, with the boxes around the table holding various items it no longer falls to one person to keep things organised and having the tokens in easy reach for everyone, the cards organised and not slipping everywhere means that you can just get on with the game and have fun being a snidey backstabbing git!
In Summary
If you own Dead of Winter and play it. If you have a small dining table or coffee table you play at. If you take your game to the pub and use a few small tables together or one large table with drunk people’s drinks on it or if you are a lucky swine with a gaming table then the Laserox Dead of Winter Insert is an absolute must buy.
If you don’t own the game buy it anyway then get the game to go with it. This is an essential purchase. There are very few games that demand so much table space and so much organisation as Dead of Winter and there are so few games that stay on the shelf because “I can’t be bothered” vs “but its awesome” in my house yet Dead of Winter has been a stubborn game to deal with.
My kids and I love it, my wife, well, she gets antsy when there is a mess and I have to agree that the table can look quite cluttered when you play Dead of Winter. Since this insert arrived we have played so much more and that is great because Dead of Winter needs to be on the table as often as possible.
In short, buy the Laserox Dead of Winter Insert and thank me later because its fantastic.
