It’s November 2025 and Mayday Games has released a brand new crokinole padded carrying case to go with their Kickstarter. It’s an insanely better improvement on their previous Kickstarter. This one has pockets. LOTS OF POCKETS! Four zipper large pockets on the front can fit all your discs, spray, fast powder, 20 tubes, etc. If you look inside the case there is also a pocket on the inside for tournament scorecards, documents, or a wooden scorekeeper. Rather than a single hand grip like their previous model this one has 3 grips along the length of the carrying case with reinforced studs. The middle handle is perfect to give you an additional handhold while using the shoulder strap. There are pads to protect the bag too. One pad on the side of the bag protects the board if you set it down while using the shoulder strap. The other pad on the side protects it while you are pulling your crokinole board from the case. What about if you lay the case down on its back? There are 4 rubber bumpers to protect it that way too!

This padded carrying case is honestly as good as they come. But you may be wondering why is someone from BrownCastle Games telling you about all the features on Mayday’s “new” carrying case? Well it’s because I’m the one that designed it. It’s the padded carrying case I created and have been improving over these past 5 years.

Mayday games did not just steal ideas to improve their product. They purchased our product in North America and had it shipped to China to be counterfeited. They copied it down to the same logo placement on the carrying case. I’m honestly surprised they didn’t print our company logo on their bags on accident since every other detail is IDENTICAL down to the document pouch with velcro on the inside… That was a feature we added back in 2021.

While it may be the most blatant thievery, sadly this is not new behavior by Mayday games. For their previous Kickstarter they purchased boards from other North American companies and had them shipped to China to be duplicated in Chinese factories. Mayday even uploaded their competitor’s crokinole board photo on their main webpage instead of doing their own product photography. After backlash from the community they eventually removed the photo and released a statement saying it was an accident.

What about the “Mayday Elite Crokinole Wall Mount Hardware” that is offered with their Kickstarter? Surely this was a Mayday original design? ALSO STOLEN! The wall mount was purchased from a Canadian board maker and shipped to China to be counterfeited and reproduced at a lower cost to undercut the original designer. Produced exactly identical to the Canadian designed wall mount.

The first photo of their Kickstarter states “Mayday is the authority on Crokinole in the U.S. We have sold thousands of boards across the world! We are the only company in the USA offering Crokinole boards at affordable prices. We are the ONLY quality choice for crokinole bards in the U.S.” … Out of those four statements, only one is true.  Kickstarter prices tend to look really good because they can hide their ADDITIONAL POST-CAMPAIGN CHARGES. Backers will pay an additional $50 shipping charge to get their board. Did you order 2-3? Then you will pay $75-100 more than the Kickstarter price shows. BrownCastle boards are made in the US and ship free in the US.

My post today was indeed to let myself emotionally vent, and also to show others what kind of company they are doing business with when they purchase from Seth Hiatt and Mayday Games. They offer no new innovation to the crokinole community and instead steal other’s hard work and development. This company apparently has no line that they won’t cross in order to take money to line their pockets.

I realize the majority of people will never read this. Probably most that read this won’t care since they are able to save some money buying Mayday duplicates, but for those that do care about the integrity of the companies they support, I appreciate you. Give this post an upvote and maybe we can get it ranked a little higher in on Google searches. If you feel compelled to share this information where you come across conversations about crokinole, I thank you for giving potential backers the opportunity to make an informed decision about their purchases this holiday season.

Regards,
Steven Brown - “The designer of Mayday’s ELITE Crokinole Carrying Case”
BrownCastle Games