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The Mysterium insert from The Broken token is one of four I was sent to review. Once again I was immediately impressed by the quality of the cuts, the detail in the etching and the cleanliness of the wood.
The Broken Token has very quickly cemented themselves in my opinion as an incredible “high end” accessory producer. I was unaware of their reputation in the industry as their products are harder to come by on this side of the pond, generally, when I have tried to purchase their inserts in the past they have been sold out, now I know why.
The Mysterium insert changes nothing about my opinion of The Broken Token, it is the same incredibly clean and beautiful wood. It has the same first-rate production quality, easy to follow instructions and functionality as a container for your game but for some reason, especially when compared to the other inserts I was sent from them it leaves me feeling a bit, Meh!
At the time I had no specific reason for this, perhaps it’s the lack of etchings that make it look almost utilitarian or that their other inserts are prettier, either way, from a design standpoint I was not excited once the insert was built.
After the glue had dried and I was ready to begin populating the various containers which of course, were exceptionally well thought out and perfect for each component, I still felt that there was something about this insert that I wasn’t enjoying.
The Build
Let’s step back from the negative for a moment and talk about the Mysterium Insert construction which is of course, fantastic.
The instructions that The Broken Token sent are perfect. The fit of the components is so good that after you dry-fit the parts they will stay together and you don’t need clamps or bands while glueing up. If this was the only insert of theirs I had made I might say this was a fluke but all of them are this good.
What do you get?
When everything is together you end up with six small player boxes for holding player tokens and the intuition token of each colour. These pack into the box by sitting in the player box tray which is where you will keep the player envelopes.
The clock tray contains all parts of the clock as well as the progress bars, despite its depth, nothing stands above the sides. The Ghost tray has an asymmetric design with the high side holding the sand timer and the thinner wider tray holding the Ghost tokens (the bar with a semi-circle on it with the players colour and number on the back) and when in the box this is the part that keeps the Ghosts screen in situ.
There are three trays for the clue cards. You put the smaller cards at the bottom and the larger cards above transversely.
The object card tray has a wide side and narrow side with a shelf inside so that the smaller cards sit at the same height as the object cards.
Finally, there is a vision card tray that separates the cards in two and presumably means you can separate the expansion cards from the base game.
I do not have any expansions for Mysterium so I cannot say for certain that you will be able to fit the expansions comfortably but there is quite a bit of room for the extra 258 cards that would add to your collection.
Mysterium Insert for Storage
Using the Mysterium insert for storing your game, as I have already mentioned, is faultless. Every piece of card stock, every card and all the tokens will be kept separated and safe to the extent that you can even stack the game side on and not risk your items falling out of their various compartments.
At the end of the day, this is what the insert should do, however, I want more from my inserts, I not only want them to store my game, I want them to look great, I want them to have table presence and I want them to enhance my experience when playing.
Mysterium Insert for Play
At the start of this review, I told you that this insert left me feeling meh. It did, but that was until we used it for play. When we set the game up the genius of the design is apparent.
Mysterium is a visually striking game. The cards have incredible artwork and a lot is going on when each of these cards is on the table. Placing the various containers on the table and seeing them contrasted against the clean wood of the Mysterium insert has the effect of turning the saturation up on the cards.
The table looked incredible and the true presence of the insert was apparent. Not only had the set-up time drastically improved but the clean smart lines of the insert, the effect of keeping the cards neat when playing and the lack of fuss when cleaning up made me feel so much better about keeping my game safe.
I know that sounds crazy but I do feel that table creep and the way the discards are always getting knocked and moved around makes it a nightmare to manage, particularly when playing with kids.
In Summary
This is another incredible product from The Broken Token. The effect the insert has on you and how you feel when storing and playing the game means it can get to the table more. I am quite precious about my games, I like them to be kept neat. I want the people who play my games and interact with the components to treat the cards like I would, “don’t bend the cards, don’t wave your drink around the table, DON’T BEND THE CARDS” and using the Mysterium insert seems to make people handle your game with kid gloves.
Think about when you went to a jewellery store and the person showing you an item puts on white gloves and lays a soft mat to place the pieces on. Think about how you interact with the jewellery from that point on.
Now think about the way you treat the jewellery they show you in Argos. Elizabeth Duke doesn’t even own white gloves!
Inserts and more specifically the Mysterium Insert from The Broken Token is simply the best way to get your game protected from the dangers of letting other people play with your toys.