Customer Reviews

Chessex Role Playing Play Mat: MEGAMAT Double-Sided Reversible Mat for RPGs and Miniature Figure Games - 34 1/2in x 48in

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As everyone else here has said, this Chessex megamat is excellent. It's much better than tiles, which are (a) expensive, (b) unique (your players will start joking about having been in this forest before), and (c) unstable at the table. This mat has enough friction on both sides that it basically sticks to a smooth, flat surface, so you'll never jostle it out of position. (No guarantees for jostling the minis on top of the mat, of course.) And it's just the right size to fit on a dining table for 6+ people.

A few tips on how to get the most out of this mat:

(1) Clean it thoroughly between sessions. I usually give it a once over at the end of each gaming session, but then I take it home and clean it again (wet paper towels are sufficient). You'd be surprised how much ink can stay in the mat's fibers even though it's not visible.

(2) If you must store it rolled up, roll it so that the side you use (squares or hexes) is on the outside. That way, when you unroll it at the table, the curl goes downward and into the table, rather than upward away from the table. This makes it easier to flatten.

(3) These Expo wet-erase markers (Expo Vis-A-Vis Wet Erase Markers, 8 Colored Markers (16078)) work great on the mat, and you get twice as many colors for less than an additional $2 compared to the Chessex brand proprietary markers (Chessex Role Playing Play Mat Marking Pen: (4 Pack) Staedtler Lumocolor Water Based Overhead Projection Markers). (I remember reading some reviews of the Chessex markers saying that their red marker left permanent marks in the mat. I can't confirm that personally, but I can confirm personally that none of the Expo markers have left permanent marks. Of course, I always wash the mats off immediately after our gaming sessions, but our sessions can go 5 hours...)

(4) If, as in my case, your mat does not live in the same place where your gaming sessions occur, I strongly recommend picking up a carrying tube. I just picked up an Alvin Ice Tube 37" (for example, Alvin Ice Tube 37 Inch Blue) for this purpose, and it's great. Besides allowing me to throw away the flimsy and battered thin plastic sleeve in which the mat was originally mailed to me, the tube is also fairly wide in diameter (2.75 inches interior), which means the mat doesn't have to stay so tightly coiled up in storage.

Game on!

I picked this mat up in preparation for a Savage Worlds campaign. The system, like many others coming out recently, is geared toward using miniatures to help visualize the situation. It seemed a convenient way to keep track of the immediate area instead of shuffling papers around and redrawing people at key points. Little did I know I would never be able to go back to doing things the old way again.

The pens they suggest are perfect, leaving no marks behind. The squares are 1", which is the standard for most miniatures systems out there. If you plan on doing a lot of drawing on the map and redrawing, you may need to rinse the wet cloth you use. When you wipe off the ink, it has to go somewhere!

This has also sped up our games tremendously, and has people saying how much they feel like they're more involved in the action. It also encourages them to use tactics, and eliminates any confusion on where people are when that becomes important. In all, I now have trouble figuring out how I'm ever going to play or run a game without it!

ok, so i bought the smaller mats and they were great, though my problem was that they were too small for some of the dungeons i ran, and as a DM i like to keep things moving and less time to redraw everything, and i used the tiles but they're expensive and to me unnecessary and get in the way most of the time and get knocked out of place easily as well. this will solve those problems. its big and will work for other Role Playing Games as well (on the back side it has hexes). its durable and i also bought wet markers (DO NOT USE DRY MARKERS IT WILL BE HARD TO WASH OFF). you can get those wet eraser markers anywhere or buy them on here. that's the cool part about it is whenever my friends want to stop or finished the adventure i just clean the mat roll it back up and put it in the packed tube it came in, you can use just a wet cloth or paper towels or baby wipes to clean it up.

if you're thinking of getting this don't hesitate and buy it. i'm planning to get another one i only bought one and i love it. it's easy to store and less preparation as well. if you get or have the D&D Dungeon Delves book this will definitely help instead of buying the required tiles as well.

This is a great mat. It roles easy, UNROLLS and lays flat (there's still a little curl at the edge, but the play area is flat).

Just be reminded this a BIG mat. This is great for creating expansive dungeons and playing areas, but it will take over your kitchen table, and character sheets might be moved to laps.

And as other reviews say USE WET ERASE (overhead projector) markers!

I've always used paper to manage my dungeon delves, so getting this mat was kind of a revelation for our games. I was not expecting the quality of the mat to seem so high. It's definitely an experience I wouldn't be able to reproduce using store-bought materials. I also bought the Chessex Role Playing Play Mat Marking Pen: (4 Pack) Staedtler Lumocolor Water Based Overhead Projection Markers to use with this mat. I'm not sure if they are special or not, but they worked great with the mat, very little smudging.

This battlemat was perfect for when me and the guys would get together for Dungeons and Dragons. This giant mat allowed us to draw rather large sections of explored territory at one time, instead of the old hassle of having to erase and redraw every time we moved to a new area because we didn't have enough room. The best for a DM's campaign! The hexes on the back also allow for any other RPG to come to life in an accurately scaled environment. Just awesome.

I got to break this in today and man oh man, this mat made such a huge difference in my game. My table absolutely LOVES it. If you are a DM and you don't have this, you are wrong.

I'm going to keep this quick and easy

1. The mat uses Wet Erase markers. I got the Expo Vis-A-Vis selection of markers. They work great, erase with a damp towel, but certain colors are better to use than others.

2. Pen colors. Basically the best colors to use for this mat are Black, Brown, Orange, and Green in that order. You can use yellow as much as you want but it happens to be really hard to see. Red, blue and purple are harder to get off and I wouldn't leave them on for over a day. With the colors that you can get off easily you should be able to leave them on the mat for about a week before you have to wash them off.

3. The mat is double sided, you probably already know this. One side is just the standard square blocks while the other are hex spaces. Really cool that this is a 2-in-1 mat :D.

4. Large! This mat is large and I wouldn't have it any other way. You can measure out the distance if you want but it basically takes up a table, which was expected for me. I really like it, so it's definitely a good thing for me. More space, more creation.

Overall I find this mat to do everything that it should. I use it for rpg games, not sure what else you might use it for, but hey go for it! My only complaint is that I wish I could use any marker color that I want to and not have to worry about erasing it in any amount of time. However, that is an unreal dream or at least for now it is. Other than the fact that it is not a magical mat, it does everything that you should expect, so no complaints. Maybe one day I will be able to get my super mat though :D

I'm very glad I picked this size/version of the playing mat, as it easily will fit a very large encounter, or allows me to setup multiple. I've had no problems with cleaning the mat, and it rolls up nicely. Now I need a carrying case! Great product. Would buy again.

I purchased this HUGE mat for my weekly D&D session and I've got to say it was the best purchase I have made (for D&D) to date. It covers my entire dining room table - which allows everyone who is playing to utilize the extra space for on-the-fly notes that won't get lost in the shuffle like stacks of scrap paper tend to during a game.
It is easy to clean - just wipe down with a wet paper towel.
Just remember to only use WET ERASE markers. I prefer the Vis-a-Vis brand.