The Clash Over Copycat Crokinole Cases

Update 11/19/2025: Shortly after this post went live, Mayday posted a response to the controversy.

Crokinole is a skill- and dexterity-based board game that combines elements of shuffleboard, curling, and other tabletop games. It calls on players to flick discs both to knock opponents out and also land their chips in the highest-scoring position possible.

Though the game has been around since the mid-1800s, it’s primarily been played in Canada and the northern United States. However, the internet has given the game a much greater exposure. 

But getting into the game can be expensive. A crokinole board, when the surface area of the ditch and rail is added up, is usually over 30 inches in diameter. It’s typically made of finer wood that requires maintenance and other supplies. Furthermore, since the game is not “mainstream” yet, manufacturing is usually handled by a “cottage industry” of smaller companies.

As such, a decent high-end crokinole board can cost over $400 CAD ($285 USD) without the other supplies and accessories. For people new to the game or simply budget-conscious people trying to purchase a new board, this can be a significant obstacle.

This is where a company named Mayday Games has stepped in. Over the past 12 years, they have launched eight different Kickstarter campaigns, usually selling new boards with accessories for under $100. 

However, their latest campaign is drawing controversy. In a post to Reddit’s r/crokinole, Steven Brown, the owner of BrownCastle Games, accuses Mayday of copying his carrying case design.

To make matters worse, this isn’t the first time Mayday has been accused of copying, but it may be their most clear-cut.

Background of the Case

Disclosure: I am an avid (albeit terrible) crokinole player. I have also purchased two Mayday boards from previous campaigns (before I was aware of the allegations), and I own a third board from a different company. 

Due to the specialized nature of crokinole board production, the industry is dominated by a handful of small companies. Those include BrownCastle Games, Tracey Boards and Crokinole.ca.

The boards themselves are largely standardized. The National Crokinole Association (NCA) has standards for crokinole boards that are considered acceptable for tournament play. However, the boards can still vary wildly in terms of playing surface, color, pegs and even outer rail shape.

In addition to the boards, accessories are commonly sold with them. These include discs, gliss (sand), counters, and, most relevant to this story, cases.

According to Brown’s post, he’s been working on and refining his design for a padded crokinole board carrying case for over four years. In January 2021, he published a video showing the changes he made from a previous version of the case to his current design.

Though both of his versions featured three handles and four zippered pockets, his new version added additional padding, rotated the zipper location (so the shoulder strap never needed to be removed), added non-slip pads, and reinforced the handles with rivets. 

With its latest Kickstarter campaign, Mayday introduced its own version of a padded cronkinole board case. Their version mirrors every single change Brown made and announced in his 2021 video. This includes the three handles reinforced with rivets, the four pockets, the non-skid pads and the rotated zipper. It even puts the logo in the same place.

According to Brown, Mayday purchased his version of the case and sent it to their suppliers in China to have it recreated. To make matters worse, Mayday directly compares its version of the case to Brown Castle, saying that it is “substantially the same” but is $15 cheaper.

Understandably, the move has left Brown angry. In addition to his post on Reddit, he shared the information on the Board Game Geek forum, prompting several individuals to cancel their pledges.

Brown also claims that this isn’t the first time Mayday has done something like this. He alleges that Mayday also copied a wall mount from another company. He also says they previously copied sample images from another company.

Still, this raises the question about what, if anything, Brown can do. Sadly, there may not be much.

The IP Challenge

The main issue that Brown faces is that there isn’t much that he can do to stop this. 

Copyright doesn’t protect “useful articles,” and that would likely include the copied elements of the case. Though well thought out and designed, they all serve a useful function and are not elements of artistic expression.

Trademark law also likely wouldn’t help, since there’s nothing beyond the logo that would make it recognizably theirs. Though Mayday kept the logo in the same place, it replaced it with its own.

This is a conundrum that many inventors face. For example, Gary Fay created an articulated style of 3D gloves that has been widely featured online, in film, and in haunted attractions. However, almost as soon as his version began to attract attention, others began low-cost imitations, often made in factories in China.

What makes Brown’s situation so unique is that the crokinole community is very tight-knit. Though the game is growing in popularity, it’s still very much a niche community. 

However, Mayday Games has primarily targeted new players and those curious about the game. Many who purchase this may only learn about the controversy after their purchase. 

That is why the community has been trying to get the word out about this. However, unless Kickstarter takes action or Mayday voluntarily recalls the case, it’s unlikely to do much to hurt the campaign.

After all, it reached full funding in just two minutes and is on track to be even more successful than the previous campaigns.

Bottom Line

As a fan of crokinole and an occasional evangelist for the game, I recognize that the entry price is a significant obstacle to its growth. There is a very real need for moderately priced boards and accessories to increase access to the game.

To that end, there could be space for someone like Mayday Games. A $99 board is a great starting point and could help new players fall in love with the game and purchase higher-end boards down the road.

But it can’t come at the expense of copying established companies. The reason their padded bag is cheaper is that they didn’t invest the time, energy, and resources in developing it. They just took a design that was years in the making and copied the final (for now) iteration.

By doing this, Mayday Games is undermining the crokinole community. It limits others’ incentive to innovate and improve. Why invest resources in improving a product when Mayday, or another company, will just copy it and undercut you?

Personally, it makes me deeply regret my previous Mayday purchases. I wasn’t looking to purchase through this campaign, but I won’t be buying from future ones either. I, like most crokinole fans, would much rather support those who love the game and put in the work to improve it.

It’s the only way this game will grow over the long term.