Pathfinder Flip-Mat: "Basic Terrain Multi-Pack" [RPG]

There’s not a lot to say about the Basic Terrain Multi-Pack beyond the basics you can read about in the product description.  It’s a set of two 24x30 inch gridded mats that, as with all Paizo flip-mats, accepts wet erase, dry erase, or even permanent marker.  Each side of the mats is a different colour and is very lightly textured to serve as an otherwise-featureless landscape: grasslands, stone floor, water, and street.  By “otherwise-featureless”, I mean that these are uniform in pattern—there aren’t any fallen trees in the grasslands or broken cobblestones in the street.  But to me that’s okay, as it’s not the point of the set and other flip-mats exist that provide that additional layer of detail.  In terms of the colouring and texture that are there, I think each side is a good representation except that the “street” side doesn’t seem particularly evocative of anything at all.

In terms of usefulness, I think it’s really going to depend on the level of immersion you want players to have during encounters.  Featureless grids aren’t hard to find, and the Bigger Basic flip-mat could stand-in for any of these terrains.  But if you’re vexed with players who are like “why is the ocean a light tan”, then having terrain-specific but detail-free flip-mats could be useful.  I don’t have those players and don’t use this set very often, though it’s always handy, of course, to have some extra mats available to pre-draw certain encounters.  And if you don’t already have any blank flip-mats, then this is a good value and worth the purchase.