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"Must Haves for a Game Room" Topic


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Personal logo Cormac Mac Art Supporting Member of TMP19 Jul 2020 9:26 a.m. PST

I finally have the space to build out a game room. My wife and I do enjoy playing boardgames, and having people over to play boardgames (pre-COVID and hopefully post-COVID). I also have lots of miniatures that I enjoy gaming with as well. I do a lot of solo-wargaming and am also building out some FoW forces and various other projects.

So the question I have for everyone is: What are the must have items/equipment/decorations/etc… to have in a game room?

Maybe this could be a poll at some point in time.

JimDuncanUK19 Jul 2020 9:45 a.m. PST

Elbow room and head space.

RittervonBek19 Jul 2020 9:50 a.m. PST

A room to start with in my case……

nnascati Supporting Member of TMP19 Jul 2020 9:53 a.m. PST

What Jim Duncan said, plus shelving and snack tables. Use the snack tables for rules, charts etc. keep the gaming table clear.

Eumelus Supporting Member of TMP19 Jul 2020 9:57 a.m. PST

Adequate lighting.

Marc33594 Supporting Member of TMP19 Jul 2020 9:58 a.m. PST

Mini fridge works wonders. Good lighting.

Hamilton19 Jul 2020 10:08 a.m. PST

Something on bare walls – posters, maps, memorabilia, etc.

John Armatys19 Jul 2020 10:12 a.m. PST

Chairs.

clifblkskull19 Jul 2020 10:16 a.m. PST

Good lighting
Side areas for staging and keep table clutter off
Storage under table for terrain mats, etc.
Clif

DisasterWargamer Supporting Member of TMP19 Jul 2020 10:22 a.m. PST

Covered area for miniatures and keeping it able to be dusted

Comfy chairs

Lighting – including natural light if possible

Decent table

Pictures on the wall

Music system

Painting area

Shelving for larger models, boardgames and books

Flooring that can be easily cleaned

Safe place for drinks and food – so they dont get on minis

Lascaris19 Jul 2020 11:18 a.m. PST

I have a Flexsteel dual recliner and a largeish (65") TV to go with my 6'x9' table. This way my wife can hang out and watch movies etc while I play or, when my brother visits to game with me, we can watch "inspirational" movies as part of the experience. On a more prosaic note, adequate storage for minis and rules and, as noted above, some pictures on the wall to add to the ambiance.

14th NJ Vol19 Jul 2020 12:26 p.m. PST

Air conditioning, heat, decent lighting, room to move around the table, cabinets or shelves, chairs or barstools, mini fridge, coffee maker.

jwebster Supporting Member of TMP19 Jul 2020 12:27 p.m. PST

Could think about folding chairs for when there are more visitors. Agree with the comfort, you can get padded chairs or have seat cushions

Folding table or something to expand the size of the permanent table

Lighting – absolutely. It is possible to get high CRI led bulbs nowadays. Colours will look much, much better compared to fluorescent

I'm jealous, have fun with your game room

45thdiv19 Jul 2020 12:45 p.m. PST

Since you like playing board games with friends, as do my wife and I, think about having a removable section. I have a 6 x 12 foot table. Great for miniature battles, but for board games, all though they are starting to need more and more table space, we can only use 3 sides. If I were to do it over, I would make the center 6 x 4 foot board come out so we could sit around all sides of the table to play. As it is now we play board games at the dinning room table.

One thing I did was to build shelves into the wall, between the studs. This saved me floor space.

Matthew

TMPWargamerabbit19 Jul 2020 12:56 p.m. PST

Seems I have successfully thought of many of the excellent suggestions above so I must have done something right for once in my life.

Can check off:

Lighting (three light circuits to control light intensity)
Ceiling fan – three speed
AC and Heating on call, Swiss chalet 1960 era gas furnace.
Vaulted ceiling
Tile flooring with rug
Lots of elbow room for 12x6 table
Folding tables for varied table size configuration
Side tables
Book shelves for library
Music on call
Six file cabinets for terrain storage, mostly five drawer
12x padded folding chairs
All miniature collection / bulky items storage in adjacent garage room

Still need to improve:
Add poster art to vaulted ceiling.
Small refrigerator
TV in room…. connected to house and computers

Personal logo T Callahan Supporting Member of TMP19 Jul 2020 1:34 p.m. PST

Easy access to a bathroom.

Personal logo Mister Tibbles Supporting Member of TMP19 Jul 2020 1:49 p.m. PST

Sofa

Tgerritsen Supporting Member of TMP19 Jul 2020 3:40 p.m. PST

Games. Beyond that the rest is negotiable.

Personal logo Parzival Supporting Member of TMP19 Jul 2020 4:38 p.m. PST

If you put a rug or carpet in the room, make certain it is low pile and all one color, probably on the muted side. The busier the rug, the more that dropped game pieces, chits, dice, etc. will blend into the rug and be lost or accidentally trod upon. I'd suggest a comfortably thick pad under the rug as well, if you play while standing.

Personal logo FingerandToeGlenn Sponsoring Member of TMP19 Jul 2020 6:21 p.m. PST

Good music, good brandy, good cigars. And probably some games. I actually have three storage systems: a bar height room wife cabinet where games and Plano boxes of minis are stored. Shelves for the better painted minis and those too big for boxes, and the cabinet bar for the big items like dragons and tanks.

Raptoruk369 Supporting Member of TMP19 Jul 2020 7:40 p.m. PST

Steel your heart and dont allow your cats inside the gaming room, its awesome to leave a game midway through for next weeks session only to be heartbroken when your beloved felines trash the joint.

cherrypicker20 Jul 2020 2:28 a.m. PST

Lots of space, good lighting, space to store all those unpainted and the odd painted figures, aircon.

Would like to show my room but not sure how to add a picture

WarWizard20 Jul 2020 5:05 a.m. PST

TMPWargamerRabbit that room is fantastic!
Are those 12 inch action figures in that display case?

Nick Pasha20 Jul 2020 5:08 a.m. PST

Folding chairs take up space. I have stackable chairs which take up much less space. Instead of pictures on the walls use shelves, as many as you need. You can use plastic shelving or build custom wood shelving to your taste. Use free standing shelves instead of wall hanging shelves.

Personal logo Sgt Slag Supporting Member of TMP20 Jul 2020 6:03 a.m. PST

Honestly, I think you need a custom, solid Hickory, gaming table, with pull-out drawers for dice, notes, reference sheets, etc., and an electronically adjustable height system. It seems as though you have everything else covered.

This is my Kaiser Table, 5 feet by 9 feet, eight player stations: Side view; End view; Side view full height; End view full height; controller next to end drawer.

You can get a table built like this, of any size you need. Stain color is your choice, at no extra charge. Visit this site for more information, and options. Two free Hickory Dice Towers are included with every table. Once you get used to a Dice Tower (slow-motion polyhedra dice rolled individually, and a handful at a time), you won't want to be without one: truly random rolls, regardless of rounded corners on your dice; guarantees no one is manipulating their rolls by dropping them out of their palms… Cheers!

The Shadow20 Jul 2020 6:42 a.m. PST

I don't think that it's a good idea to add posters to the ceiling. It will make the room look and feel smaller.

Dragon Gunner20 Jul 2020 11:31 a.m. PST

I am not sure how big your gaming room is. One of the best gaming rooms I ever saw was in Rochester Minnesota, the guy had the entire basement and four full sized gaming tables. He could rearrange them so they were end to end for long tables (great for chases) or side by side for a huge playing area (monstrous epic battles). He could separate the tables for multiple different games or to show several different areas of a battlefield. I was thinking it would be great for multi level dungeon crawls /space crawls each table showing a different level.

I am jealous I have a loft and finally thought I was going to have a dedicated game room. My new wife moved into my town home and needed it for an office to work from home. Now I am back to folding tables I cannot leave set up.

French Wargame Holidays21 Jul 2020 5:52 a.m. PST

I am doing the same at the moment, just started building my main table.

For me
1.One large dedicated table for counter or RPG games 5ft wide x 10ft long. It has extendable slide outs to almost 6ft wide to fit my tiles for tabletop Wargames. Fitted drink holders and slide outs for rules, PC/IPad and dice towers. Built on coasters so it can be moved.
2. Two storage tables/cabinets for terrain, on wheels that have fold out wings to extend the table or be stand alone tables.
3. Storage cabinets for miniatures
4. Display cabinet for miniatures
5. Memorabilia and paintings in the walls
6. Comfortable chairs and a lounge
7. Sound system
8. Good lighting

Cheers
Matt

Saxondog21 Jul 2020 1:39 p.m. PST

Number one has to be storage. Shelves. I used to have a finished out garage. 12x22 with it's own half bath and it wasn't used as much as I would have liked…..storage. Didn't have enough and digging was required. Had some things in a cabinet in my dining room and other's in the back bedroom/office.

cj177621 Jul 2020 7:10 p.m. PST

Air freshener

snurl121 Jul 2020 9:05 p.m. PST

Beer tap system.

12thFoot22 Jul 2020 4:09 a.m. PST

How about a gaming table hinged to the wall with shelving behind. When you're not playing you can raise the table and have the space for something else

Given up for good22 Jul 2020 4:49 a.m. PST

Think about the height of the table. Most normal units are too low for long term leaning over and can easily be raised to give more comfort and storage area.

I once played on high tables that had bar stools for siting at – great day as you could flop in arm chairs away from the game or sit at the table on the stools.

Think also about a ledge around the table but a bit lower for drinks / dice etc. This keeps them to hand but away from the main board.

A dart board never goes wrong even if it's only for ten minutes while waiting for the last person to turn up.

huron725 Supporting Member of TMP17 Feb 2021 7:07 p.m. PST

Good lighting, adequate space to move around the game board, game board high enough.

No chairs/stools. Don't want the gamers to get too comfortable. If this is a social event break out the comfort and drinks. If we're here to game we're gaming! :)

von Schwartz ver 218 Feb 2021 3:58 p.m. PST

What about the stripper pole?

huron725 Supporting Member of TMP18 Feb 2021 4:02 p.m. PST

I would prefer NOT to see a bunch of overweight, middle aged, gray haired old men on a pole!!! Thanks but NO.

Robert le Diable19 Feb 2021 8:28 a.m. PST

There's going to be a vote on the best paint-stripper?

Kaiju Doug19 Feb 2021 12:29 p.m. PST

Any flat surface could work for most avid war gamers. My workshop doubles as our game room. I have a 4x7.5 table that folds in half for board games, card games or if I have a woodworking project to do. One wall is shelves that hold troops and terrain. Several of our members are young punks (30+) and I have threatened to take their fancy phones away during the games. And BTW, get off my lawn.

von Schwartz ver 219 Feb 2021 2:28 p.m. PST

Air freshener

Industrial strength

von Schwartz ver 220 Feb 2021 11:02 a.m. PST

I do appreciate being referred to as "middle aged".

Middle aged perhaps for an land tortoise.

huron725 Supporting Member of TMP23 Feb 2021 5:44 p.m. PST

Well, von Schwartz ver 2 I am over middle age. I don't expect to live to 112. :)

IronMike27 Feb 2021 6:32 p.m. PST

Three things: Storage, storage and storage!

ACW Gamer22 Mar 2021 5:29 a.m. PST

Hello all. I just started a Facebook group for gamers to share pictures of wargaming rooms for inspiration. Check it out.

link

Last Hussar02 Apr 2021 7:16 a.m. PST

Beer
A way to open beer bottles.


Everything else is optional.

Carl T30 Nov 2021 1:02 p.m. PST

I found a great solution for my game room display case and for long term storage for my wargaming room. You can find some photos here.
link

Wolfhag Supporting Member of TMP02 Dec 2021 10:30 a.m. PST

I just moved into a place that has a 500 sq ft air conditioned finished basement with a full kitchen and fridge. It opens to a 2 car garage for storage. I can easily fit 3-4 six to eight foot gaming tables. My wife said it's my Man Cave to do what I like with it.

I'll post pictures when I'm finished.

Wolfhag

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