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By this point everybody knows that if you have access to a local gaming group, even if you have to put up with some questionable rules systems or people you might never invite to dinner, there is a certain level of niceness surrounding it. Being able to invite people over for boardgames where you get to sit around at a table and fiddle with components is one of the strongest causes for the hobby still being alive rather than being relegated to just playing games on Tabletop Simulator, VASSAL, and so on. Hands down, nothing beats being at the table playing a game with your chums. That physical aspect of the hobby is one that causes people to dump hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars into tiny pewter and resin figurines, construct impressive dioramas, and celebrate what used to be viewed as a purely humdrum activity that you only did while in college in your parent's basement (or the dorm rec room, garage, driveway, whatever). To take the physical component of traditional games to the next level, an aftermarket of sorts has cropped up where people are purchasing "premium" components to further enhance their hobby. Previously only the province of people who wanted to make a home casino or make their poker nights particularly great, this has since spilled over into a new niche of people who want more out of their physical experience. These usually combine functionality with good aesthetics and tend to cost a boatload of money. The best example of this would be furniture made to order by Geek Chic, whose gaming tables have made people rethink what they'd spend their money on if they won the lottery:  The Geek Chic Sultan, deposits starting at 5500 USD. Average price 10-15,000 USD The idea of a dropped play surface for the home table is one that has been around for awhile, but a lot of people got their first exposure through custom ordered furniture such as through Geek Chic. It is such a popular idea, people have discovered, that pretty much anybody who makes a gaming-related table as their primary income driver includes either a dropped play surface as standard, or offers it as an upgrade. Some have even gone so far as to create tables themselves with the right tools and document their process, such as this fellow who built a table with $150 of materials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spdescYFqIE Video: Bum Kim from BoardGameGeek demonstrates in video form how he made a Geek Chic-style gaming table with a built-in TV for his gaming group. Fancy tables are not the only things that people like to spend money on, though. Many people game on the go or don't have a dedicated gaming space - maybe they prefer to play at their local gaming store. Most of these folks have devised some way to transport their gear in relative comfort and safety. People who play tactical miniatures games were, generally, a step ahead of other people by several miles - with multiple hundreds of dollars of customized miniatures as well as reference books and templates needed for their part of the hobby, containers with customized foam configurations held weirdly shaped or oversized miniatures in relative safety without marring their custom painted figurines. People who predominantly play pen and paper RPGs have usually sufficed with backpacks or other more simple methods of transporting books and dice; board games typically ended up in repurposed bags. Now, people are starting to come out with custom built carrying solutions for board games, which themselves can begin to cost quite a lot of money: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdBTGLlRl20 Video: Rodney Smith of Watch it Played does a preview of the Game Canopy board game bag Additionally to storage and surface solutions, there is the question of premium game pieces. Board games are experiencing a bit of a renaissance for this as not only are there premium materials being used to create components for games, but custom box inserts which make game setup and teardown much faster. An example of the "purely unnecessary" type of accessory are custom-stamped currency, available in a variety of styles and denominations from a handful of manufacturers:  Fall of Magic style gaming coins by the company Campaign Coins In case it wasn't obvious, people really like throwing real money at fake money, but also for other tokens that are game-agnostic. Another example of small choking hazards that could theoretically heighten your experience is below:  The Treasure Chest of game pieces suitable for euro-style games, from Stonemaier Games A more useful accessory is the previously mentioned box inserts. Again, a handful of manufacturers are throwing their hats in the ring for this, and they prove to be quite useful utilities and an upgrade for more expensive games, both in terms of logical organization and presentation at the table. One could argue it is actually quite a bit more appealing to see game pieces for a complex game laid out neatly rather than being taken from countless tiny bags: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP1O3fcjRMQ Video: Rodney Smith of Watch it Played (again) does an overview of the Terra Mystica custom box insert by Daedalus Productions Additionally, in both the "practical" and "portable" combination of accessories comes play mats. Originally there was really only two reasons to get a mat: playing CCGs such as Magic the Gathering while displaying your love for anime/dragons/scantily clad individuals; and for detailing complex dungeons and/or lairs of dragons, which necessitated a grid to play and mark. Chessex is sort of the old king of the hill for this as their Battlemats, made from soft vinyl and compatible with wet-erase markers, have been enjoyed by people for years as the go-to surface to play grid or hex-based movement pen and paper RPGs on (or tactical minis, for certain things like BattleTech). Recently new offerings are popping up such as Grip Mats, FAT Mats, and other companies that have the word "Mat" in their name. Typically, these are some type of soft and porous surface slapped onto a neoprene core and textured back. This allows it to be transported easily, rolled out on most any table, and people are able to place tiles, roll dice quietly, and generally avoid the common ptifalls of playing on a surface designed more for eating and ease of cleanup rather than playing games on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Bg7Gs0rr64 Video: Chalkboard Game Reviews does an in depth review of Grip Mats and demonstrates the special properties of the mat Speaking of Chessex, there's of course all things dice and dice related. Some woodworking companies have caught wind that people like rolling dice on fancy trays or can't sleep easy at night unless their imperfectly shaped dice are not sufficiently randomized when thrown onto a playing field. For those people, there are many different types of dice, dice trays, dice towers, and dice containers, all of which tend to beat the old standby of the Crown Royal bag. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA2acKm0AF8 Video: A 2015 promo video for a Kickstarter run by Wyrmwood Gaming, manufacturers of dice towers and dice trays from a variety of increasingly expensive exotic hardwoods Of course, to the benefit of anybody who plays with cards for these fancy games (made even fancier by the smorgasbord of accessories noted above), there is the humble card sleeve, of which there are many different types in all sizes, from oversized Tarot card sleeves to mini half-size sleeves for small reference cards. Some sleeves even designed to fit a card into it, then both that sleeve and the card it holds can be placed into another sleeve, protecting your masterfully composed deck of cards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ2tMSQcBr0 Video: A tutorial from Tolarian Community College demonstrating the usage of KMC Perfect Size sleeves with KMC Standard Size sleeves Anyway, the point is that people have found more ways to throw money at their hobby of choice beyond just buying more games, cards, and books. The side effect? There is even more visibility for people interested in making their games better in different ways without spending ridiculous amounts of money in it, such that there's a robust forum on BoardGameGeek with a pretty solid master index of things you can do yourself. --- Do you buy into the extra cost of accessories for your games? Are they more a necessity rather than a luxury? What has worked for you, or what hasn't? I threw some examples up as noted but feel free to talk about whatever you like related to game accessories, ups and downs, personal product reviews, and so on.
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Jun 28, 2016 21:00
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I put sleeved on my expensive cardboard, would recommend.
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Jun 29, 2016 18:59
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Artana, a company specializing primarily in fancy game coins and paper money, has recently put up third run of product offerings, bringing their total number of currency types to 20: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6JKQ5mXHmg
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Jun 30, 2016 03:23
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ENnie 2016 "Best Accessory" Nominee for aroma accessories "Adventure Scents" is apparently successful enough to have a fairly broad product line. I have no idea if these things would actually enhance a game night or the like, but I assume that with the amount of choices they have there's something to fit a given scenario, like the smell of...A pool of acid?
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Jul 4, 2016 17:03
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