Experience Greatness – 10 Greatest Gaming Experience Upgrades
Author: Marc Kenobi
Every gamer dreams of the perfect game night. Where every detail enhances the experience and you’re able to focus on strategy, story, and fun rather than on missing pieces, wobbly tables, or cramped spaces. Whether you're hosting a casual game night or diving into an epic RPG campaign, the right upgrades can transform your gaming experience. Here are ten of the best investments to help your game nights go from fun to unforgettable.
1. A Recessed Table – Keep Gaming Where it Belongs
A great gaming session should be immersive, not filled with interruptions from knocked-over dice or sliding boards. A recessed table like the Ironside 2.0 creates a natural boundary that keeps everything in place, making play smoother and eliminating the fear of an accidental nudge undoing hours of play. Plus, you can chuck those dice like you’re in a Las Vegas casino without worrying you’ll be picking pieces off the floor for the next half hour.
2. A Quality Playmat – Smooth, Silent, and Satisfying
If you’ve ever struggled to pick up a card from a wooden table or winced at the sound of dice clattering on a hard surface, you’ll know why a good playmat is essential. Soft, smooth neoprene makes shuffling, rolling, and moving pieces effortless, while also protecting components from scratches and bumps. Bonus points if you have thematic playmats to match the mood of the game.
3. Component Trays – Organization Meets Efficiency
Nothing kills momentum like digging through a box for missing tokens or sorting out a pile of jumbled pieces. Component trays keep everything neatly organized, making setup and cleanup a breeze while ensuring you always have what you need at your fingertips. Whether you're drafting cards, collecting resources, or managing your warband’s miniatures, having a dedicated space for each component speeds up play and keeps the table looking sharp.
4. Comfortable Seating – Because the Best Game Nights Run Long
If you’re lucky a great game night stretches on for hours, so why settle for uncomfortable chairs? Investing in good seating, whether it’s padded chairs, ergonomic stools, or even a cozy gaming bench, keeps everyone comfortable and focused. You don’t want a sore bum or back to be the reason you tap out before the final round, or why no one is willing to play just one more game.
5. Storage – Pause, Don’t Reset
Epic campaigns and sprawling strategy games don’t always wrap up in one sitting. Having a way to store in-progress games, ideally with a beautiful wooden topper, ensures you can pick up right where you left off without needing to re-sort decks or reconstruct the entire board. Less time setting up and breaking down means more time playing and lets you switch from fighting epic battles to finding room to eat lunch a breeze before heading right back into the action.
6. An Extendable Table – Adapt to Any Game or Group
Not every game night looks the same. Some are intimate affairs with a few friends, while others turn into sprawling, multi-table events. An extendable gaming table lets you adjust on the fly, expanding for larger games or tucking away when space is tight. It’s the ultimate in flexibility, ensuring that no game is too big (or too small) for your space.
7. More Games – Because Variety is the Spice of Game Night
Having a great collection means there’s always something for everyone, whether your group is in the mood for a quick filler game, an intense strategy battle, or an immersive storytelling adventure. An extensive library, as well as looking great, particularly if you have a set of BoxThrone shelves designed exclusively for games, it lets you match the game to the group, the mood, and the time available, making every game night a fulfilling and exciting experience.
Yes, I have a shelf of shame where all my unplayed games live. Yes, it's actually a bookcase of shame. No, I can’t get rid of any of them, they are mine, my own, my precious!
8. Rules Keeper - Someone to Explain How to Play
Sometimes a YouTube video will do the trick, and more and more often publishers are producing their own ‘How to Play’ tutorials, but there’s nothing quite like learning from someone else at the table.
I speak from experience as the rules keeper: No video quite manages to cover every weird edge case players want to ask about or explains that one rule someone’s not quite getting for the twelfth time. We’re happy to do it, I promise. Just give us a little time, and remember we’re human too when we need to check things or make a mistake.
9. A Safe Place for Drinks – Keep the Table (and Game) Dry
Mixing drinks and board games can be dangerous, but a well-placed drink holder or side table keeps refreshments within reach while minimizing the risk of accidental spills. Nothing is quite so sad as washing game cards covered in lemonade and laying them out to dry while hoping they won’t split or curl. Whether it’s a custom drink holder or a separate table to hold mugs and glasses, this simple upgrade prevents disasters before they happen.
10. Friends – The Most Important Upgrade of All
All the best gaming accessories in the world mean nothing without a great group to play with. Friends bring the energy, laughter, and rivalry that make every game memorable. From seasoned strategists to newcomers learning the ropes, we love them all.
The people around the table are what really makes each session truly special and in our experience the more the merrier. We’re happy to advise on what accessories to choose, but who to play with we leave to you.