Build an infinitely customizable game table with these 3D printer plans

fans of 3D printing often tend to be fans of things like board games and Dungeons & Dragons. When I find something that combines these admittedly corny hobbies, I tend to get excited. That’s what drew me to a Kickstarter project called the StageTop 3D Printable Game Table by Gut Shot Games.

The StageTop is a fully 3D printable modular gaming desk that you can build at home. The way it works is that anyone with a 3D printer can print all the parts needed for the gaming table right from home with just one 3D printer (and lots of filament). Players can 3D print as many modular parts as they need, including tiles, connectors, bumpers, and feet, then build a playing surface of almost any size and shape.

Supporting the project at its standard tier (currently $48) unlocks all of the digital files needed to build a game table at any custom size. Raising over $300,000 via Kickstarter so far, the project has added “stretch goals” including modular dice towers and card holders. I’ve played around with some of these files and can tell you they’re really good.

The main table consists of 8 inch tiles that fit perfectly on most standard 3D printers. I printed these on four different machines and as long as your print area is around 220x220mm you’ll be good to go. The design is excellent and each tile fits together perfectly, locked in place with simple lock nuts. None of the models require supports, so they are quick and easy to print.

I printed 16 of the lock nuts on the Snapmaker J1 using this printer’s dual nozzles, and they took 3 hours and 30 minutes to print, but your mileage may vary. You also don’t need to print the parts on a $1300 machine like I did. I printed the plates on different printers, including the most economical Elegoo Neptune 3, and saw very little difference in quality. Expensive machines are undoubtedly faster, but if you have a budget printer you will be fine.

I asked Gut Shot founder James Campbell where the idea for this project came from. “During the pandemic, I had to set up a workstation on the table I usually use for gaming so I could work from home,” he told me over email. “Although I could and still play games on other tables in our house, I couldn’t leave a game in place for long and it became a pain.”

His team has been working on this design for about 18 months and you can see how thoughtful it has been. This was designed with 3D printing in mind, so issues like overhangs or hard right angles have been eliminated, making it easy to print on any printer. Even the holes in the tiles are there to reduce filament usage. Each tile I printed weighed only 100 grams, so I managed to get 10 of them out of a single roll of 1 kilogram filament.

To give you an idea of ​​size, 10 tiles are enough to build a 2ft by 2ft playing surface – with one tile left over – perfect for most board games, including In the wind, my favorite game this month. My goal is to have a much larger area than that – I want it to cover my pool table using 55 tiles. According to my calculations, I will need about six rolls of filament for all the parts. Even using the best 3D printing filament, it’s only about $210 in materials cost; a fraction of the cost of a pre-built gaming table, the cheapest of which is around $950 at this size.

You also don’t need to have fancy filament for most of them. Build MatterHackers PLA Series is perfect for this and only costs $110 for six 1kg rolls. You only want nicer filament for the upper parts, not those hidden parts. Even adding the cost of a 3D printer if you don’t already have one, the price is still good.

One of the promises of home 3D printing is the ability to create custom versions of various objects and bypass the supply chain. The StageTop is exactly that, a fully customizable surface that can be printed at home, on demand. No waiting for delivery, no worrying about parts breaking – you can just reprint any part you need. Play as you wish.

When I asked Campbell about the options for fully customizing all the parts, modifying the model files, he was understandably cautious. “Shortly after the campaign started, we heard feedback from the community that they wanted to create their own playing surface designs and accessory tiles. So we added an unplanned stretch goal of remixable game tiles. This will allow the community to create their own Play Tiles to go along with their favorite games.”

This “remixable game tile” will be the only model with a license to allow editing, but with it, modelers will be able to create custom parts that can sit on a StageTop. It looks like Gut Shot Games will keep the proprietary rails, legs, and locks for the time being.

I followed this project almost from the beginning and I found that it lived up to my expectations. In addition to the basic $48 version, which includes all 3D models for personal use, there is a $96 version which includes a two-year license to print and sell the table commercially if you have, for example, an Etsy store or a table during a gaming convention. You can also re-subscribe to the commercial license after two years.

Before contributing to a crowdfunding campaign, read the crowdfunding site’s policies — in this case, Starter — to know your rights (and refund policies, or lack thereof) before and after the end of a campaign. This particular campaign essentially uses Kickstarter as a store to sell digital files that already exist, so your risk is much lower than with a campaign that promises to ship you a physical item.