After a game of Twilight Imperium where the map tiles kept getting pushed around slightly and making the map a mess, I wanted a solution to keep the map together neatly. So I learned some basic Fusion 360 and made this design to hold TI tiles, with space for alternating magnets to hold everything together. This was if there are little bumps on the map as people move pieces around, even if the tiles move a little they will all move together as one. My friend suggested that if I was going to make something like this for TI, why not make it also compatible for Catan? So I added a second deeper pocket layer that holds Catan tiles. There aren't pictures of it holding Catan tiles, but I did test it on my Catan tiles and they fit loosely in the inner hole. There will be blank space between to tiles for Catan since Catan tiles are smaller, but the hole in the bottom makes it easy to press the tiles back out. The tiles are also held in place gently, so just turning the pieces upside down will have the tile fall out.
This design uses 5 mm diameter 2 mm tall/deep round magnets. For a standard 6 player map of TI, you need 37 of these tiles. At 6 magnets per tile, that's at least 222 magnets. For inserting the magnets, alternating the polarity as you go around the hexagon will ensure that all of the tiles will be able to hold together in whatever pattern you put them in!
The author marked this model as their own original creation.