I confess — I just love ziploc bags. Today I re-bagged my Puerto Rico, inspired by a post to rec.games.board I saw. Now I have 55 colonists in one bag and a 4-player bag and a 5-player bag. Both have 20 colonists, one Prospector, a ship (7 and 8) and victory points (20 and 22). So, if I play with three — no changes. If I play with four, I add one bag and if I play with five, I add both bags.
This adds some extra trouble when putting the game away, but I think it saves enough time when setting up the game (after all, I want to get to play soon) to be worth it.
I also put all the extra colonists and the blank building to another bag and hid that bag under the plastic tray. Out of sight, out of mind. I also switched some bags to smaller ones, so everything would be as tight as possible. Then I found a new home for thusly spared larger bags — I had my Africa tiles in two smaller bags, now I could put them all in one, larger bag.
I bought a bag of 100 (I think) small ziploc bags — I used them all, now I’m going through my second bag. I just love them, can’t help it. I hate to see bits and pieces floating around the box, or all bits and pieces in one, large bag. All the trouble sorting the pieces, that’s so frustrating.
One day, I’ll write (or rant) here about my another obsession, plastic sleeves for the cards… Meanwhile, you can read my letter to the editor from The Games Journal, December 2001.