Forest Shuffle has quickly become a favorite among many board gamers, thanks to its unique card-layering tableau building and relaxing woodland theme. With so many cards to manage, a good Forest Shuffle insert can make a big difference, so I tested two 3D-printed options to see how well they handle storage.
With three expansions (Alpine, Woodlands Edge, and Exploration), Forest Shuffle can exceed 300 cards. The game comes with a thin white cardboard insert divider by default, which won’t fit all these cards sleeved. Without a proper insert, that’s a lot of cards shifting around every time you close the lid.
In this Post
What I Looked for in a Forest Shuffle Insert
Searching for the right Forest Shuffle insert can feel overwhelming. There are dozens of 3d printed options out there, and not all of them are worth your filament. My search always starts with the same criteria.
Must-Haves
- Sleeved card support. Forest Shuffle is a card-driven game with a lot of cards, so sleeving is essential to me.
- Intuitive organization. The layout should make sense at a glance. Components should have a logical home, so setup and teardown are fast.
Nice to Have
- Box-to-table functionality. The best inserts do more than store. Card holders that pull directly from the box and sit at the table eliminate a whole step from setup, and that’s a big plus in my book.
With those criteria in mind, let’s see how the first insert organizes the growing forest of cards.
Forest Shuffle Insert Option #1
The first insert is the Forest Shuffle Insert by scuzzie19 and is currently the most-downloaded Forest Shuffle organizer on MakerWorld. It’s a single-piece print that drops straight into the box, though a split tray profile is also available for smaller print beds. Print time is roughly three hours on a modern printer and uses about 140 g of filament.
I printed mine in Bambu Lab PLA Matte Dark Green, which matches the game’s forest tones, so it naturally looks like it could have shipped in the box. Settings were straightforward: 0.4mm nozzle and 0.20mm layer height. The finished piece slides smoothly into the Forest Shuffle box and immediately gives the components a proper home.
What this Insert Does Well
- Fits Sleeved Cards. Both premium sleeved and unsleeved cards fit comfortably, making this a flexible option regardless of how you prefer to protect your cards.
- Flush lid closure. Even when fully loaded, the box lid closes without any lid lift. That makes this insert a great choice for vertical shelf storage or transporting the game.
- Finger-pull cutouts. Thoughtfully placed cutouts make it easy to grab card stacks, even when the box is packed full.
- Easy to print. No supports required, no complex settings, and clean results on the first attempt. This beginner-friendly print delivers reliable results.
Where It Falls Short
- No box-to-table functionality. This insert focuses purely on storage. Since there are no card holders included, you’ll still need to pull decks out and arrange them during setup.
- Only five card wells. This is the most common Forest Shuffle insert layout, but the limited number of wells can reduce flexibility if you prefer to separate card types more precisely.
- No compatibility with card trays. If you plan to use 3D printed tree card trays, this insert doesn’t leave space for them in the box.
Take a closer look at this insert in the images below.
This is an excellent insert for sleeved cards. I initially had all my Forest Shuffle cards sleeved in Gamegenic Matte sleeves, which happen to be my favorite sleeves for any card game. They shuffle like a dream, and at 100 microns thick, they offer solid protection. Fully loaded with Gamegenic Mattes, the insert was snug, but everything fit, and the lid closed without a lift.
That said, I eventually switched to Swan Panasia Thin card sleeves. Why would I move away from my favorite sleeves? That decision becomes much clearer with the next insert.
Forest Shuffle Insert Option #2
The second insert is the Forest Shuffle Insert by patricktb3d on MakerWorld. This design takes a very different approach and is built specifically to accommodate card tree trays by the same designer. These trays hold your tree cards and provide slots for cards around them. I’ll cover this upgrade in a separate post.
To support these trays, over half of the insert is dedicated to storing them, with space for roughly 30 trays. Because of this, the insert introduces a small amount of lid lift, adding about 1.2 inches to the box height. The insert does this by lifting the four corners, which makes the box bottom taller and keeps it stable.
When I printed this insert, I still had my cards sleeved in Gamegenic Premium Matte sleeves. With those thicker sleeves, the box felt a bit too full for my liking, and the sleeves also fit quite well in the card trays themselves.
That’s what led me to switch to Swan Panasia Thin sleeves. At around 40 microns thick, they’re noticeably slimmer than the Gamegenic sleeves while still feeling nicer than typical penny sleeves. Their slightly smaller size also fits the card trays much better. Sleeve Kings Standard American-size sleeves work nicely as well. I just wanted plenty of space in case of another small expansion or promo cards.
What This Insert Does Well
Fits card trays. This insert is designed specifically to store tree card trays, making it an excellent choice if you plan to use that upgrade.
Designed with minimal material usage.
Flexible card organization. The insert includes movable dividers that let you customize how the cards are separated.
Where It Falls Short
Lid lift. The insert adds significant lid lift to the box. The extra height is distributed across the four corners, so the box still feels sturdy and secure.
Premium sleeves may not work. Thicker sleeves, such as Gamegenic Premium Mattes, can make the box feel overly full and may not fit easily in the card trays.
Tight box fit. The insert fits very snugly in the box and requires a careful shimmy to seat properly.
Difficult print. This insert was much more challenging to print than the first one. It took me five attempts, and I had to add extra supports to handle the long bridging sections.
No built-in card holders. While the insert stores the trays, it does not include its own box-to-table card holders, so I still use my own separate card holder during play.
I appreciate the card dividers. I printed six and separated my cards like this: Base Game main cards, Alpine expansion, Woodland Edge expansion, Exploration Automa deck with Challenges, Caves and Winter cards, and Reference cards. The card dividers could have a larger tab so we could label each section. I don’t store the scorepad. The Automa deck I kept in the Gamegenic Matte sleeves, since it’s shuffled often when playing solo.
Take a closer look at the insert in the slideshow below.
This insert is built specifically for players who want to use tree card trays, and it excels at storing them neatly inside the box. While it’s a more demanding print and a tighter fit than the first insert, it becomes the clear choice if those trays are part of your setup.
Which Forest Shuffle Insert Should You Choose?
Both inserts solve the same problem, but they approach it in different ways.
Insert Option #1 is the better choice if you want a simple, reliable storage solution. It prints easily, fits premium sleeved cards well, and keeps everything neatly arranged inside the box without any lid lift. If your goal is straightforward organization and quick setup, this insert does the job beautifully.
Insert Option #2 is designed for players who want to use tree card trays as part of their Forest Shuffle setup. It dedicates space in the box for storing those trays, which makes it a more specialized option. I also love the card dividers to customize how my cards are organized. It’s a more demanding print and introduces a small amount of lid lift, but if the trays are part of your upgrade plan, this insert is clearly the better fit.
Be sure to check the dimensions of your Forest Shuffle box! My box is the English version from Lookout Games and measures 9.0 x 6.5 x 2.0 inches. There are different game box sizes for the German version and possibly different game board sizes, and you’ll want that to fit in your insert as well.
In short, Option #1 is the easier and more traditional storage solution, while Option #2 is the better choice if you’re building your Forest Shuffle setup around the tree trays.
Whichever you choose, a good Forest Shuffle insert makes it much easier to keep the growing deck of woodland cards organized and ready for your next game.
Final Thoughts
Forest Shuffle may be a compact card game, but once expansions and sleeves enter the picture, the growing deck can quickly overwhelm the box. A well-designed Forest Shuffle insert makes a big difference, keeping everything organized and making setup far smoother.
Both of the inserts covered here offer solid solutions. Option #1 is a simple, reliable choice that prints easily and keeps sleeved cards neatly stored without lid lift. Option #2 takes a more specialized approach, dedicating space to tree card trays for players who want to build their Forest Shuffle setup around that upgrade.
If you’re curious about these trays, I take a closer look in my Forest Shuffle Upgrade post.
Have you tried a different Forest Shuffle insert that works well for the game? I’d love to hear about it. Feel free to share your experience in the comments, and if you found this guide helpful, consider sharing it with another Forest Shuffle fan.