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Quick Look: Uprising Grip Mat

Designer: Eric Salyers
Publisher: GripMats Break From Reality Games 

Find more info HERE.

From the Publisher:

Review:

Not too many reviews allow me the opportunity to discuss two products from two different companies. Today thankfully provides an exception to this norm, and grants the provision to merge two of my favorite reviews into one, exciting new product.

You may remember my review of Uprising : Curse of the Last Emperor and its expansion. Let me also throw in for two years in a row now it has been my groups favorite game of all time.

It may also tickle your memory when I talk about Grip Mats, since I also tried out their Eclipse : Second Dawn for the Galaxy mat a while ago. Sporting not only fantastic aesthetic value, it has possessed a heaven-sent ability to keep map tiles from sliding all over the table with its one-of-a-kind grip function.

To be truthful, ever since I tested the original grip mat, I was at a loss, because as great as it was, something felt like it was missing. Indeed, what I wanted ever since that monumental moment was to experience the same Grip Mat quality paired with my favorite 4x game, Uprising. Could such a feat prove possible? Was the world ready for such a pairing?

I have thankfully had many occasions to chat it up with Nemesis games, and its brilliant developers, and they were kind enough to not only provide me with a hi-res file of not just one game board, but all 3 of Uprising’s boards, sleekly merged into just 1 simplified mat (even including a space for the newly upgraded Druid cards for the Titans of The First Age expansion) , if I could just happen to find someone who could print it out for me…

Eric at Grip Mats was thankfully able to handle such a provision. Being able to manufacture custom-sized mats of just about any size (as long as I could provide the file), he would be able to do the print. And given the quality I had seen with the Eclipse mat, this would be something worth paying for this time around, as last time it had been a gratuitous offering I had been sent for review. 

This was something I wanted to splurge on the show off the excellence of both Grip Mats and Nemesis Games.

And, in an epic Seinfeld moment (much to the dismay of poor old George), worlds collided, and I managed to obtain, in shining radiance, the final product in all its splendor. 

And behold, it was well worth the wait. As I had inwardly squabbled with myself for over a year as to whether or not I should move forth with this prospect. As there were some reservations I had initially held.

Because, as some of you may know, not all mats are created equal. Even so-called “premium” offerings, because I have experienced letdowns with those as well. For example, as much as Too Many Bones touts itself for having top-notch components, I consistently found that the mats that serve as player boards all had text that was warped, blurred, and otherwise too hard to read. How would Uprising’s board, which relies heavily on the use of text on the side to streamline game phases, fare in this endeavor? Would I end up feeling like my hard-earned money was wasted? Because at the time of my ordering the item, I had zero frame of reference for what text would look like via a Grip Mat product, given that the Eclipse mask has virtually none. So that was one source of worry for me.

The end result defied my expectations, and proved my fears unfounded.

My key worry with regard to the Grip Mat’s readability was quickly obliterated, as the text’s resolution blinded me with its sharp radiance. No difficulties reading it at all, unlike my experience with mats such as those employed in Too Many Bones. 

And I was hit with in instant dose of wow, as colors seemed to pop out at me. Maybe they are just a tad more saturated than the original Uprising board, but in this case, it really helps things stand out just a bit more, even if the effect is subtle. 

And of course, when purchased with the “Grippy” surface (their trademark option available at a slightly increased cost to the base mat), the game was elevated even further. 

This of course doesn’t mean the gameplay is magically improved, but the sense of flow is optimized. The fact that you don’t often find yourself fiddling to get hexes to stay in place on the mat means less distraction to take your mind away from your master plan to defeat the forces of Chaos and the Empire, and consequently leads to more immersion. Time is a priceless commodity on game night, and when people have fatigue that can set in during long gaming sessions, every precious second counts. The less seconds and minutes that are spent reorganizing tiles, the better.

Other game components also fared quite admirably on the Grip Mat, though not all as well as the tiles they were designed to contain. Wooden point trackers, for example fared pretty well, but Legion and Horde cards didn’t fare as well, most likely due to the fact that the bottom cards on the stack would of course cling to the mat’s surface, but cards on the top of the pile, lacking the resistance that the mat offers, would of course occasionally spill off of each other. So there are some incidental little things that still happen, but these are not the fault of the product, so no deductions are given here. 

And did I mention how the mat helps to consolidate space by joining all three of the original game boards into one space (yes, I did already, but I just need to say this again). This really helps give a very cohesive center space for your game, that again, won’t allow for the originally separate boards to get jostled apart from each other and trigger someone’s OCD during a session. An all-in-one solution helps keep things looking tidier and more organized than they might otherwise be.

So my overall impressions?

This is a must buy for fans Uprising : Curse of the Last Emperor. I know the dev team from Nemesis Games well, and they never, ever pass up an opportunity to provide the consummate gaming experience ; the quality of all other gaming components they have produced thus has never lacked for anything. 

And yes, they have already had a regular mat for their game produced in the past, but this new Grip Mat edition one takes the sublime to the next level by incorporating a grippy / non-slip surface and being updated to the latest standard for the current rules in the game. This is already my favorite game of all time, and I know many others who feel the same way. But as we fans of the game know, Uprising deserves the best of the best. A Grip Mat helps bring the Uprising experience to the perfection that it already enjoys, but can never have enough of. 

Thank you very much to Nemesis Games and Grip Mats for allowing me to combine two of my favorite products into one fully realized dream come true.

To order your mat and support both fantastic companies, please visit the following link, and let me know if you happen to get one! Uprising is coming up with another crowdfund later in 2025, and news of this game really needs your support, as it is truly among the best of the best! (It IS the best, in my honest opinion, too!).

After reading Jazz’s review, if this sounds like a Mat for you at the time of this posting you can Pre-Order Uprising: Curse of the Last Emperor Play Official playmat 115 cm x 58 cm for $50-$85. Check it out and pre-order yours HERE.

Did you pre-order it based on our review? Please comment below letting us know!