Hello everyone! Welcome to a very special review of a new product on the market from Gray Matter Gaming. Andrew over at Gray Matter reached out to me to ask if I would do a product review of their new neoprene gaming mats and I jumped at the opportunity. As a regular user of the FLG mats and having used the Tablewar mats at NOVA Open I was curious to see firsthand the innovations with this kind of product that has become a standard in the gaming community. Check out the full review after the break and be sure to visit the Gray Matter Gamings Website and Twitter!
Much like its competition, the Gray Matter Gaming mat comes in a sleek and logoed carrying case, but what I cannot properly express to you in pictures is how much lighter the mat was compared to the others on the market. The mat is slimmer and lighter, but not so much that it felt fragile. While the weight might not seem like a major deal I can assure you that having to move, layout, and store hundreds of mats at a time for events like NOVA Open or the Warhammer US Opens the weight adds up quickly and can make cleanup after a long day that much harder.
As I mentioned above I am a fan and user of the FLG mats and I thankfully had mine on hand so I could help showcase the weight difference between the Gray Matter Mats and the mats currently on the market. As you can see in the picture below the Gray Matter Mats is much slimmer and gives it a much lighter weight (almost a whole pound lighter), but it does not lack any durability. The mat can still handle spills, dice rolling, and the general abuse of playing a wargame just as well as its competitors.
The last feature I want to call out is the quality of the images on the Gray Matter mats. They are some of the crispest and high resolutions images I have seen on gaming mats. They only have a small section right now, but the owner Andrew has already confirmed that many more designs are on the way in the near future. If you don't see what you are after now be sure to keep an eye on the website! You might be worried that such a detailed image would be distracting, but after I filled the mat with terrain the mat looked great but remained in the background as you would want so your armies can remain the focus.
The Gray Matter mat enhances the look of your table while not taking away from any aspect of the game itself. They are lighter, durable, and fantastic looking. They also offer Free Shipping in the lower 48 states which is hard to beat for the price. They are also a small business that is looking to grow so be sure to support them and visit their website Whether you are a TO needing a bunch of mats, a club organizer needing a handful of mats, or just looking for an option for your home table you really need to check out what Gray Matter Gaming is doing.