Folded Space - Terraforming Mars & Expansions

The old saying is true when making a purchase and there is no exception here; you get what you pay for.

If you are on a low budget and really want something to organize this game, this is a decent buy. I personally do recommend something to organize this game as it does have a lot of pieces and they are fairly time consuming to set up if you don't have one. Now I will go over a few points for you to consider before deciding to buy this low budget option, or opting to invest more for something else, and I will also give you a few tips for using this one should you choose to buy it.

>The Build - It is a fairly easy build, with great instructions and does not take much time at all. However, make sure you have some glue, crazy/gorilla glue would be best. Make sure you understand how pieces goes together, then use the glue as you put it together so that pieces do not fall apart.
> The fit - This will fit into the game box as is, even with the cardboard liner that comes in the game box, however it is tight. I had to remove my trays starting with the taller card trays, and when putting back in, those were the last to go in, it was still tight. Do it carefully so you do not damage any trays.
> Better Fit - To make it a better fit, fold one side of the cardboard liner, that is in the game box, underneath *see photo (If your game box has one). Do not remove the entire liner as then it could be too loose, but folding under one side makes it easier to remove the trays and put them back, with less chance of damaging any trays. If you still find it too tight, fold another side of that liner under. I find it perfect with just one side folded under though.
> Set Up and Take Down Time - Having an organizer that fits, separates and organizes all of the many pieces and cards from all expansions is a time saver. You do not need to keep anything in little plastic bags and then waste time trying to organize it all over the table. You can just pull out the trays and set the trays on the table near players. It is also quicker to put all of the pieces away, not having to put it all in little bags, you just have to put the items in the trays and put the trays back in where they go. Easy Peasy.
> Card Sleeves - The deck holders do hold cards with sleeves, providing you have sleeves that are close in size to the cards *see photo (I am using thin standard size sleeves). The deck trays could stand to be a bit taller since sleeves do take up more space. I do not have all expansions, I have the base, Prelude and Colonies. I wonder if I will have space to fit the cards from the other expansions once I get them and put sleeves on them. I also wonder if all of my cards will fit if I upgrade my sleeves to better ones, as I plan to do.
> Cube Holders - (This is where my exception comes in) Because the material is foam, it is not slick so it is more difficult removing player cubes and money cubes from their trays, because they do not easily slide. It sounds like such a little thing, but it really is a pain and does take up a lot more time for everyone trying to remove money cubes from the trays. We did end up dumping them onto the table anyways, which defeated the purpose of those trays. I have actually decided to remove the money cube trays from the box completely, and I am keeping those cubes in bags and using silicone muffin trays for play (as you will see in the photos). The player cubes, yes a pain to take out of the trays to use, but not such a big deal because you are generally only pulling one out occasionally and each player has their own tray.
> Player Cards - There are several organizers for this game online, some come with holders for players cards. This one does NOT. If you are wanting to protect your player cards, or wanting to make sure you have the little spaces that hold resource cubes in place on the cards, take that into consideration when choosing between this organizer and one that comes with the holders, when deciding what price best fits your budget. You may end up spending more to buy this and then also buying player card holders separately, than you would just buying a better organizer that comes with the player card holders. Whether you buy this or another, I do recommend you buy player card holders that have the cube holders built in, as the cubes do slide out of place very easily. Without them, you and other players may have issues keeping track of how much you are earning, and you may mix up your money/resource cubes with tracker cubes. If one person bumps the table, everyone's could slide out of place.

Conclusion: Even though it is a lesser quality than some, and it does have a few cons, this is a decent organizer that will work, hold the base and expansions and it is budget friendly, though I cannot say if it would hold all expansions if all cards are sleeved. I personally am already planning an organizer upgrade because of the issues with removing cubes from the trays, it is a deal breaker fo...

I have the game and every expansions with sleeves in this insert with the base game box. Cheap and well made organization. Lightweight. Need glue and 1-2 hours of your time.

The instructions that came in the game mentioned a different game, but once I realized they were the same for Terraforming Mars, I was able to follow them without issues. Other than that, I think is a good product. It helped me organize and setup the game more easily.

I haven't built this yet as I just received it and found out that PVA glue is required for the assembly. Will post an updated review once I am able to get my hands on some PVA glue.