Best Board Game Insert, Dice and Puzzle Generators

Game night creates a lot of small printing jobs: an insert so the box stops rattling, a case for every card deck, a replacement die, a stack of bases for a new army. Each depends on exact sizes, which is what generators do well: you type the measurements and get a part that fits, with no CAD.

This guide sorts the strongest board game, dice and puzzle generators by job. We compare them on documented features and our own check of each tool page; we have not printed them.

Quick answer

• Best for board game inserts: BGSD. A free desktop app that puts forms on top of the Boardgame Insert Toolkit. You need OpenSCAD installed to export.
• Best for cards and tokens in the browser: Deck in a Box. Deck boxes and token trays sized to your cards, free, no account.
• Best deck box for sleeved trading card decks: alpaco.it TCG Deck Box Generator, with a slide, cap or magnet lid.
• Best for custom dice: DiceGen. Any Google Font or your own SVG symbols on d2 to d100 dice.
• Best photo jigsaw: Obloid Photo Puzzle Generator, which prints the picture into the pieces in up to four colors.
• Best maze puzzle: A-Maze-Ring, a two-part puzzle ring with a maze you edit yourself.
• Best miniature bases: alpaco.it Miniature Base Generator for plain bases in batches, BaseCrafter for scenic ones.

Every game and puzzle tool we list is on the puzzle, game and insert generators page.

Which generator makes board game inserts?

Use BGSD (Board Game Solutions Designer). It is a free visual editor for Windows, macOS and Linux, made by the author of the Boardgame Insert Toolkit, one of the best known insert libraries. Every setting of that toolkit, and of its companion Counter Tray Designer, becomes a field in a form, so you set boxes, compartments, lids and labels without writing code. The catch is that BGSD still hands the model to OpenSCAD to render and export the STL.

1. Measure the inside of the game box with calipers, including the height under the lid.
2. Install BGSD and OpenSCAD. Both are free downloads.
3. Add a box for each group of components and set its compartments, lid and label in the form.
4. Save the file. BGSD writes the OpenSCAD code and downloads the library files it needs.
5. Open it in OpenSCAD, render it and export the STL.
6. Print the smallest box first and check the fit before you print the rest.

BGSD itself uses a non-commercial license (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), and its README says nothing about selling printed inserts, so ask the author before you sell any.

What is the easiest way to store cards and tokens?

For card decks, open Deck in a Box in the browser. Pick a card size from the presets or enter your own, set the deck thickness and download STL or STEP files. It also makes token trays, including a version for filament printers where you place the separators, and DXF dielines for folding a box from card. It is free and needs no account.

Trading card players should look at the alpaco.it TCG Deck Box Generator. You choose the sleeve type, from unsleeved to double-sleeved, and the card count, and it works out the inside of the box for you. There are three lids: a slide lid in rails, a cap that clicks shut, and a magnet cap with pockets for four 5 x 2 mm disc magnets. The download holds an STL for each part and a 3MF with the colors set. It is a new one-person site, but it is free, needs no account, and its terms let you sell the prints.

On MakerWorld, the Parametric Playing Card Box builds a clip-shut case from the card width, card depth and stack height, with a window that shows which game is inside. The clip is stiff on purpose, and one maker who broke PLA boxes switched to PETG. Magic players who want to show off their commander can use Commander Case, a deck box with a sliding lid and a front window. For extra game pieces, the Custom Coins / Tokens Generator turns a word, number or symbol into a coin with raised lettering on one or both faces.

Which dice generator should I use?

Start with DiceGen. It is free, runs in the browser with no account, and covers d2, d4 and a crystal d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20 and a d100 percentile die. You can use any Google Font or upload your own, swap single faces for an SVG symbol, and download a whole set at once. The numbers are engraved, so fill them with paint after printing.

If you already use MakerWorld, Customizable Dice by Lerch gives every face its own text, font, emoji or uploaded SVG, can turn the d10 into a percentile die, and colors the die and the numbers separately for a two-color print. Dice Studio, a community tool in MakerLab, does d4 to d20 with pips, numbers, emoji, icons or your own artwork. Both need a free MakerWorld login. For resin printing, the desktop app DiceMaker adds support fins that keep the faces clean.

For story cubes or a game prototype, Dice Builder puts an icon from game-icons.net on each face of a rounded d6, with more than 4,000 icons to search, and exports an STL with no account. That is all it does: there is no other die shape, no size setting and no upload of your own icons, and the maker marks it as version 0.1. The icons are under Creative Commons BY 3.0, so credit the icon authors if you sell dice made with them.

Is there a dice tower generator?

Not one we list yet, so for a tower you need a finished model from a model site. What you can generate is a case for your dice: the DnD Dice and Miniature Box on MakerWorld is a hinged, print-in-place box sized to your own dice and one standing miniature. If you know a dice tower generator that works without CAD, send it to us.

How do I make a jigsaw puzzle from a photo?

Use the Obloid Photo Puzzle Generator if you have a multicolor printer. It reduces your photo to up to four color regions and builds them into 4 to 48 interlocking pieces, which print already assembled with a small gap and come apart once the plate has cooled. It exports a Bambu Studio or OrcaSlicer 3MF with the filament slots assigned. The generator and preview are free, but a free account gets three exports per tool, and Plus costs $15 a month for unlimited exports.

TanskyLab works with or without an AMS, because it turns the photo into height bands: dark parts stay low and bright parts rise, so each color prints in its own range of layers, with up to 12 filaments. The 3MF comes with the colors and layer changes already set for Bambu Studio, OrcaSlicer or Creality Print. Options include five piece styles, a gift box with the photo in relief on the lid, a display frame with a stand and magnet pockets, and puzzles wider than your bed are split across several plates with an assembly map. It needs a free account, which gives 2 puzzles a month in the two smallest sizes; Premium is $59 a year, and selling needs the $159 a year Commercial plan.

For pixel art, Bambu Lab’s Pixel Puzzle Maker turns a picture into a mosaic of small printed pixels that press into a color-coded base plate. Each color prints on its own plate, so it works without an AMS.

For a blank or painted puzzle, JigsawMake is free, needs no sign-up and allows commercial use. You choose a rectangle, circle, heart, star or oval outline, a thickness from 1 to 10 mm and the gap between pieces, which defaults to 0.4 mm for filament printers. The STL holds the shape only, so you add the picture afterwards with paint, decals or a glued-on print.

To turn a 3D model into a puzzle, upload it to the PrintPal 3D Puzzle Maker. It cuts an STL or OBJ into interlocking pieces, up to 15 by 15 in the controls, and suggests a tolerance of 0.3 to 0.5 mm for filament printers. It is free but needs a PrintPal account. For young kids, the MakerWorld Customizable Letter Puzzle turns a name into a plate with loose letters that drop back in.

What about maze puzzles?

A-Maze-Ring is the maze generator to try. It designs a two-part puzzle ring: an inner tube with raised maze walls and an outer sleeve whose tooth has to find its way through. You generate a maze, then click single walls in a flat editor to change the route, pick a US ring size from 3 to 13.5, and add bands, a marker or text. It exports an STL, or a 3MF with the walls, rings and decorations as separate parts for a multicolor print. It is a young one-person project whose fit was tuned on one printer, so print a test ring before a gift.

Which generator makes miniature bases?

For plain bases, use the alpaco.it Miniature Base Generator. You pick round, square or oval, type the size and the number of copies, and the whole batch comes out laid out on one plate, so a full unit prints in a single run. An optional pocket takes a 5 x 2 mm magnet underneath. It is free, needs no account, and its terms allow selling prints.

For scenic bases, BaseCrafter adds sculpted ground textures, rocks, ruins and other scatter objects. You can load an STL of your own miniature to see it standing on the base, and add flat pads where its feet go. Designing is free, but each STL export costs 2 to 5 credits depending on the base size, and credit packs start at $5 for 10.

Rank-and-flank players can make movement trays sized to their bases with the Tabletop Bling Movement Tray Generator. The standard ranked tray is free with no account, and other layouts and magnet holes need a paid Patreon membership. For the figure itself, Hero Forge sells an STL of the character you design for $7.99, for personal use only.

Tips before you print

• Measure first. Game boxes, card sleeves and dice vary between editions, so check the numbers a generator asks for with calipers.
• Print a fit test. JigsawMake, PrintPal, Obloid and TanskyLab all have a gap or tolerance setting, and the right value depends on your printer.
• Check the license before you sell. Our guide to selling prints from generators explains the common licenses.

Frequently asked questions

Can I sell deck boxes, dice or puzzles made with these generators?

It depends on the tool. The alpaco.it terms allow selling prints of its deck boxes and bases with no attribution, and JigsawMake allows commercial use of its puzzle files. The MakerWorld customizers in this guide use the Standard Digital File License, which rules out selling prints, although the Parametric Playing Card Box and Commander Case designers sell separate commercial licenses.

Do I need a resin printer for dice and miniatures?

Not for dice. DiceGen, Dice Studio and the MakerWorld dice customizer make plain STL or 3MF files that any printer can slice, and the customizer comes with print profiles, including a multicolor example set. Engraved numbers read best once you fill them with paint. Custom miniatures from Hero Forge or Eldritch Foundry are another matter: their fine detail and thin parts suit a resin printer much better.

Which game and puzzle generators work without an account?

BGSD, Deck in a Box, DiceGen, JigsawMake, A-Maze-Ring and the alpaco.it deck box and base generators all work with no sign-up. The PrintPal puzzle maker needs a free PrintPal account, Obloid asks you to sign in before you download, and the MakerWorld customizers, Pixel Puzzle Maker and Dice Studio need a free MakerWorld login.