This is me trying to be as constructive as possible. I brought this into the layout software & messed with it a bit (lmgur link below)...
1st - The border was off-center, which bugged the crap out of me right off the bat, lol. Also the spacing between a lot of the boxes, one another and the border seemed inconsistent and slightly messier than I'd like, but I ASSUME that may be by design to try to cram them in a little tighter.
I can't help but compare this to the original 14x28 playmats. I immediately like that this one uses all the available space (wheras the originals only used about 1/2 the available space, so a lot was kind of wasted) - However the reduction in size to 10x20 seems real prohibitive on what can be done w/ the layout.
I liked that the original playmat had double-wide spaces for class & race, so you could more readily accommodate half-breed & super munchkin. I notice on the new one they're slightly taller, I assume the intent is to overlap them vertically, but that's not as nice functionally speaking as you can't easily read the cards once overlapped.
I LOVE that the new mat adds a space for a Steed (which the old mat lacked) - But wish there was also a similar space for hirelings/allies
I dislike that the new mat puts footgear off to the side of the armor, rather than beneath it. I thought it was a way more natural/intuitive layout on the old mats with headgear, above armor, above footgear, and the hands to either side in a cross shape. I assume this was changed due to space constraints, but much like the class/race space reduction in size, I think it's a change for the worse. You literally can't stack the cards 3 high enough with only 10" of vertical space though, so the only way to replicate the original layout would be w/ some sort of slight overlap situation. AND I could see where you might have wanted to avoid that.
A lot of the terminology used seems confusing to me. To elaborate: The carried items space is too short to put cards in vertically, so I assume the intent is to put unequipped gear in this space turned sideways and overlapped. Now in that regard - The original playmats had a spot labeled "unequipped items" and I think use of the word "unequipped" was a better choice than the word "carried" - Technically ALL the items on the table are "carried" are they not? Including 1-Shots? I found myself asking "what's the difference between carried items and unslotted treasures??" and given the horizontal nature of the space, I ASSUME "carried items" is strictly for unequipped gear, as there would be no need to turn items like 1-Shots sideways as they're not really "inactive" but the use of the word "items" implies more than just gear for this space. Wheras "unslotted treasures" is for equipped gear that simply lacks a slot (like Kneepads or Rings) but since it's labeled "treasures" (which implies ALL treasure cards, not just equippable gear) it's similarly confusing. Both "items" and "treasures" are broader terms than these spaces seem intended for. So their specific purposes didn't jump right out at me at first.
I then assume that things like One-Shots, Hirelings and whatever else are supposed to go in "Other Stuff" - Wheras the original mat had a specific space for One-Shots (and I think One-Shots are a common enough item type to warrant their own space - Arguably more common than spells)
Also what ARE spells? To be clear? I know Munchkinomicon has spells, but those aren't very prominent to the overall game and I can't imagine they'd warrant a space so big. Is this just for any general cards that aren't items but can be played to the table? I'm not even sure to be honest - And this spot wasn't on the original playmats.
SO ANYWAY...
All those thoughts in mind... I pulled your layout into CorelDRAW and played around with it... It's quick and dirty but here's what I've got...
https://imgur.com/a/MGLwJrM
I reduced the border from .75" to .5" just to loosen up the overall cramped spacing a HAIR... And I centered it, lol. Re-arranged some things. Put the gear back into a cross-shape but had to overlap it a little to achieve that shape (don't figure that's TOO big a deal as most gear is just stats at the top of the card, so covering the bottoms isn't the end of the world) - Got rid of the "Spells" slot as that seems... vague? I changed "Other Stuff" back to "Everything Else" to keep the terminology in line w/ the original playmats. I changed "Carried Items" to "Unequipped Gear" slightly closer to the terminology on the original playmat and "unequipped" sounding a LITTLE more clear about the fact it's "inactive" as opposed to "carried". I changed unslotted items to unslotted gear. Gave one-shots back their own spot as in the original playmat (replacing spells I guess) - Snuck in a space for hirelings.
I also tried a version where the "Class & Race" spots were swapped with the "Unslotted & One-Shot" spots for the record, which is theoretically an alternate option... This would make them slightly bigger - But I ultimately switched them around so that more items were on the right side of the board w/ the gear slots, and the race/class had a clearer separate area all to themselves. Also this gave me a little more room to add the "super munchkin" and "half-breed" tabs. Since there was some extra space under the logo.
PS. Speaking of which - I could also ditch the logo personally... but I assumed you guys would want to keep that, lol. Although personal preference - I'd like it better if it just said "MUNCHKIN" rather than "MUNCHKIN BIG BOX" ... I know you probably want the product name on there but a year from now is anyone going to care that it has the "big box" branding? I mean everyone who gets the mat is already buying the big box anyway - You've already sold it to us, lol. I think just "MUNCHKIN" would keep the mats more timeless and all-purpose.
Also I'm not the first person to say this but - Given the overall prominence of red in the artwork used - I think it's great for the red mat, but... I think it would be awesome if the other 5 mats had artwork to match their color palettes. If brand new art is too much work, I think a good compromise would be to change the color of just the dragon + Spyke's shoes on each mat.
Previously backed this creator's crowdfunding project
Engaged with this project 20+ times 🌟
This is me trying to be as constructive as possible. I brought this into the layout software & messed with it a bit (lmgur link below)... 1st - The border was off-center, which bugged the crap out of me right off the bat, lol. Also the spacing between a lot of the boxes, one another and the border seemed inconsistent and slightly messier than I'd like, but I ASSUME that may be by design to try to cram them in a little tighter. I can't help but compare this to the original 14x28 playmats. I immediately like that this one uses all the available space (wheras the originals only used about 1/2 the available space, so a lot was kind of wasted) - However the reduction in size to 10x20 seems real prohibitive on what can be done w/ the layout. I liked that the original playmat had double-wide spaces for class & race, so you could more readily accommodate half-breed & super munchkin. I notice on the new one they're slightly taller, I assume the intent is to overlap them vertically, but that's not as nice functionally speaking as you can't easily read the cards once overlapped. I LOVE that the new mat adds a space for a Steed (which the old mat lacked) - But wish there was also a similar space for hirelings/allies I dislike that the new mat puts footgear off to the side of the armor, rather than beneath it. I thought it was a way more natural/intuitive layout on the old mats with headgear, above armor, above footgear, and the hands to either side in a cross shape. I assume this was changed due to space constraints, but much like the class/race space reduction in size, I think it's a change for the worse. You literally can't stack the cards 3 high enough with only 10" of vertical space though, so the only way to replicate the original layout would be w/ some sort of slight overlap situation. AND I could see where you might have wanted to avoid that. A lot of the terminology used seems confusing to me. To elaborate: The carried items space is too short to put cards in vertically, so I assume the intent is to put unequipped gear in this space turned sideways and overlapped. Now in that regard - The original playmats had a spot labeled "unequipped items" and I think use of the word "unequipped" was a better choice than the word "carried" - Technically ALL the items on the table are "carried" are they not? Including 1-Shots? I found myself asking "what's the difference between carried items and unslotted treasures??" and given the horizontal nature of the space, I ASSUME "carried items" is strictly for unequipped gear, as there would be no need to turn items like 1-Shots sideways as they're not really "inactive" but the use of the word "items" implies more than just gear for this space. Wheras "unslotted treasures" is for equipped gear that simply lacks a slot (like Kneepads or Rings) but since it's labeled "treasures" (which implies ALL treasure cards, not just equippable gear) it's similarly confusing. Both "items" and "treasures" are broader terms than these spaces seem intended for. So their specific purposes didn't jump right out at me at first. I then assume that things like One-Shots, Hirelings and whatever else are supposed to go in "Other Stuff" - Wheras the original mat had a specific space for One-Shots (and I think One-Shots are a common enough item type to warrant their own space - Arguably more common than spells) Also what ARE spells? To be clear? I know Munchkinomicon has spells, but those aren't very prominent to the overall game and I can't imagine they'd warrant a space so big. Is this just for any general cards that aren't items but can be played to the table? I'm not even sure to be honest - And this spot wasn't on the original playmats. SO ANYWAY... All those thoughts in mind... I pulled your layout into CorelDRAW and played around with it... It's quick and dirty but here's what I've got... https://imgur.com/a/MGLwJrM I reduced the border from .75" to .5" just to loosen up the overall cramped spacing a HAIR... And I centered it, lol. Re-arranged some things. Put the gear back into a cross-shape but had to overlap it a little to achieve that shape (don't figure that's TOO big a deal as most gear is just stats at the top of the card, so covering the bottoms isn't the end of the world) - Got rid of the "Spells" slot as that seems... vague? I changed "Other Stuff" back to "Everything Else" to keep the terminology in line w/ the original playmats. I changed "Carried Items" to "Unequipped Gear" slightly closer to the terminology on the original playmat and "unequipped" sounding a LITTLE more clear about the fact it's "inactive" as opposed to "carried". I changed unslotted items to unslotted gear. Gave one-shots back their own spot as in the original playmat (replacing spells I guess) - Snuck in a space for hirelings. I also tried a version where the "Class & Race" spots were swapped with the "Unslotted & One-Shot" spots for the record, which is theoretically an alternate option... This would make them slightly bigger - But I ultimately switched them around so that more items were on the right side of the board w/ the gear slots, and the race/class had a clearer separate area all to themselves. Also this gave me a little more room to add the "super munchkin" and "half-breed" tabs. Since there was some extra space under the logo. PS. Speaking of which - I could also ditch the logo personally... but I assumed you guys would want to keep that, lol. Although personal preference - I'd like it better if it just said "MUNCHKIN" rather than "MUNCHKIN BIG BOX" ... I know you probably want the product name on there but a year from now is anyone going to care that it has the "big box" branding? I mean everyone who gets the mat is already buying the big box anyway - You've already sold it to us, lol. I think just "MUNCHKIN" would keep the mats more timeless and all-purpose. Also I'm not the first person to say this but - Given the overall prominence of red in the artwork used - I think it's great for the red mat, but... I think it would be awesome if the other 5 mats had artwork to match their color palettes. If brand new art is too much work, I think a good compromise would be to change the color of just the dragon + Spyke's shoes on each mat.
Previously backed this creator's crowdfunding project
Engaged with this project 20+ times 🌟
In hindsight... I wish I'd put the dotted boxes on race and class toward the inside edges, rather than the outside edges. That way they'd be better centered assuming you only had one in play. But I honestly just threw the dotted lines on the mockup to illustrate the way a single card fit - I wasn't necessarily putting it there as a design element.
Engaged with this project 20+ times 🌟
Looks great
Engaged with this project 20+ times 🌟
Previously backed this creator's crowdfunding project
I agree almost with everything you said and I like your layout more than the one proposed by SJG, but for one thing: sure the old plamats' double space for classes and races was better than the vertically overlapped one, but the horizontal overlap is even worse: the vertical overlaps allows to read the title of the card on the back, the horizontal is useless, it only allows to know that there is a second class/race. I'd put back the double slots making 3 columns in the bottom left quadrant, one for classes, one for races and the third for everything else (so the available space for this will be reduced, but there are not so many cards which have to go here now you have made more dedicated slots)
Engaged with this project 20+ times 🌟
In term of layout, it is cleaner. You get me
Previously backed this creator's crowdfunding project
Engaged with this project 20+ times 🌟
The horizontal overlap is why I originally had class and race at the top right corner where one shot and unslotted are now. Those spaces are more than two cards wide. That said the horizontal overlap in their current positions is less than half overall card which should still leave the majority of the card face exposed and legible, which I’d argue is way more useful for reading class and race abilities than just the top. Just the top is fine for gear but mostly pointless for class/race cars. I’m operating under the assumption that most people will be familiar enough with their races and classes to not need them fully exposed at all moments, but if you do need to read something on the back card more carefully, you need only slide i the front card a half inch or so to the right or left, rather than pick it up fully (and let’s face it, these boxes are just handy guidelines… cards are GOING to spill outside of them in most games.) That said it’s already semi-rare to even get half breed or super munchkin to begin with and even rarer to get both simultaneously so I’m ALSO kinda leaning on the fact that the instances you’ll actually need a full 4 cards worth of space are going to be seldom. If you only have 1 race and 1 class there’s more than enough space. If you have half breed alone some of it can bleed into the class space a bit with zero overlap. If you have super munchkin alone some it can bleed into the race space a bit with zero overlap. In the rare instances you have all four you can accept a bit of overlap or just let them hand off the edge a little. I personally don’t think columns are a better solution, then you’re just trading having the art/text partially obstructed for having the art/text fully obstructed and a horizontal layout leaves plenty of room for the (far more often) situations when you have between 1 and 3 race/class cards. Wheras vertical, if you have JUST half breed or JUST super munchkin, you already have 3 cards stacked vertically with no hope of not overlapping them. But again… if all this seems like a major issue. One could optionally move the class and race spots back to the top right corner and have no overlap at all. As those spots are over 2 cards in width. Ultimately I think some concessions need to be made for everything to fit in 10x20… and wish these mats were still 14x28 tbh.
Engaged with this project 20+ times 🌟
I like “other stuff” it is more fitting for SJG.