Product Review: Metalfab Life Puck
The Life Puck from Metalfab is absolutely amazing and has immediately become my base hit point tracker of choice.
Being a generally stubborn person, it takes an awful lot for me to change my gaming accessories. When I find something that works I am going to stick with it. It is also easy for me to find design flaws or nuances to a product that would be annoying enough for my OCD to not use that item. The Life Puck has none of this type of issue. Going in slightly skeptical, I was off of dice and switched over to the puck within a single game of SWU.
Just under 1.75 inches in diameter, when turned off the Life Puck is very unassuming. From the top side it looks very much like a miniature hockey puck with a shiny top.
The bottom of the puck has a logo, and some other text as reminders for where specific menu options are location when the device is turned on. Then of course a single button to power on and off.
Holding the button power brings the device incredibly quickly to the main life screen. Tapping up raises the number and tapping down lowers the number. There is a function to press and hold to bring up some menus around the edges and then the bottom left has a reset to go back to zero. In the settings you can pick a different non-zero starting number that would be the reset value, but since I’m using this for SWU and not a maniac rule breaker that counts down on the base the default setting makes sense.
Additional menu details and functions can be found here and there is a usage video available.
There is a USB-C charging port right on the side of the device right where the power button is located. So far the battery has lasted a long time. Easily enough for a weekly event or a store showdown, and likely would make it through a long single day event without a problem. (Will keep some extra dice on hand just in case but not super concerned at this point.)
During game use the device is just simple to use. The clarity of the numbers is perfect. The ability to just tap up or down to change the damage on a base is so incredibly easy and quick. Contrast that with pulling a die out of a box, finding the correct side and placing it down, or finding the correct number of damage tokens to situate on the base. In a game of so much math, it’s one less thing to think about when taking damage or restoring points on your base.
Accessorizing, the Life Puck does come with a nice little case that could be clipped onto a backpack easily.
Have also seen some images online from another Life Puck user showing that it can fit pretty easily into the Gamegenic deck pods. (Believe I saw these two images online someplace and forgot to jot down the name of the photographer so if this is yours let me know so that I can give proper credit.)
Would I change anything? Not much really if anything. For $30 this seems like a bargain. Potentially there could be a future version with a sapphire crystal screen to prevent scratches (which may or may not be a long term use issue with the current model) and a metal shell instead of the current plastic one as a higher end, premium offering.
Overall, highly recommend the Life Puck from Metalfab.
Note: Porg Depot did not receive a demo item for the Life Puck and the one we tested was purchased normally while at the Galactic Championship. We are also at the time of this post not sponsored by Metalfab or any other gaming accessory company. The above is just one person’s take on a cool product and your individual experience may vary.
Don’t forget to check out some of our other product reviews as well as the rest of the Porg Depot website.