13 Must Have Board Game Upgrades 

I would say you can upgrade a game for virtually zero cost just by going to BGG files section and downloading and printing out all the player aids and reference sheets and analysis tables and fan made expansions and maps, etc. The value to cost ratio on this is through the roof.

I am absolutely 100% here for a deep-dive review of bags of baggies. Y'all speak to my soul

Great video topic. Gloomhaven and Jaws of the Lion are the 1st board games I purchased organizers for. The reduced setup and tear down not to mention the ease of grabbing tokens during play help make it easier to get to the table more often. Ever since I've been a fan of upgrading certain games.

Odd that you did not mention BGG and their sleeve information that they provide. It is very useful. Really enjoyed the video.

Great video. You really won me over on the wool blanket idea. I'm going to look into that. One "upgrade" my friend won me over on, as well, is little wooden bowls you can find at a thrift store for putting components in at the table. Feels a little more premium even than the thin plastic gametrayz, and way cheaper too.

Love this type of content, thanks you two! Keep this game related content coming

Is there a link for the mats in the video or other people’s suggestions for affordable large table mats or a good wool blanket one on Amazon?

I have all of my playmats stored in a lined wicker basket. I found it in the laundry section at Target. It looks nice in the space next to my gaming shelf and is tall enough to house even the larger playmats. I would recommend getting one with a lid as this will help to keep dust out.

Awesome ideas! We also have Terraforming Mars player boards and Y Trayz coming out soon, which will let the X Trayz stack on top but will be twice as wide with a bunch of configurations. The wool blanket was the biggest surprise to me.

Great video, I agree on all your items. However I also print off custom player aids on thick card stock, often from the files tab on board game geek.

I bought those dice trays at gencon love the colors. I helped invent the new ziplock bags use them 😁 color coated 👍👍

I’d recommend a vertical map/blueprint rack for storing your mats, no more rolling! I’m looking for some compass/coins upgrades for Lost Ruins of Arnak since the other resources are so good.

Loved the video and Thanks for all good advice.🤘

My favourite upgrades are DIY tuck boxes. Unfortunately there are no professional tuck boxes for games being sold online so I either design myself, did it for TI4, or download the free designs from Tom Teaches. Tom was the one I got the inspiration to build my own boxes for TI4 from.

I ordered the geeked up-bits for dice throne season 1+2 along with the root faction bags and can't wait to receive the stuff.

One that isn't essential but is oh so nice is a dedicated game table. That vaulted area is so great to work on

For bags I use snack bags that have a wide opening and shallow depth. This makes it very easy to put things in or take them out, much easier than the standard bags that have small openings. Sure, they're thin, but they are extremely cheap to replace if they ever become damaged.

A laminator for roll and writes, creating labels etc. Tackle boxes to organising bits.

must have / essential somewhat overstates the case. Whilst I have done some after market upgrades, none are IMO essential, though a number do make the game a more aesthetically pleasing experience, or simply make setup / pack away faster and easier.

Great video! So many gold nuggets. If you don’t mind me asking what lighting setup do you have? Everything is so bright/clear in your videos 😍

My friend stores his neoprene mats in a wine rack. They also have wine bottle inserts for Kallax shelf's that you can use for your mats. Alternatively game toppers made a specific Mat holder if you can find it.

I was looking for a large neoprene mat to put over my table for ages but couldn’t find anything suitable, then you mentioned heavy wool blankets in one of your travel vlogs, so I picked one up for £25 off Amazon and have never looked back.

Great topic! Thank you!

to store player mats (small individual ones) I use a multiple tier hangar with clips. each level has 2 clips with rubber covers - I think they are used for ties? You can hang up 6 playmats for the space of 1 shirt in a closet. I've never seen anyone do it but it hit me randomly when I was brain storming. I can show you a pic of one of them if you want to see it.

I am so intrigued by that wool blanket idea! I've been looking for something for my table but it all seemed a bit... janky. I would love to hear more about it! Did you cut the blanket to the size of the table or is it swinging off the sides? How would you compare it to some felt surfaces or other boardgame table top solutions?

Great vid. Of the vids you have done, this really, really needed løse up B-roll of the bits.

E Raptor also makes amazing inserts with UV print and do not require glue. Cheers.

Great video, thanks!

I am printing some 3D pieces for Root, and painting them, and I am ordering add ons that improve game experience, like metallic coins from KS, it truly enhances the experience. got some new ideas from your video!

Enjoyed the video, but was looking for a link to that wool blanket in the info? Can't seem to find what you have on Amazon

One thing that I got into recently is 3d printing miniatures with resin. I feel that it really adds a personal touch that you can be a part of the process. I'm sorry to say, but I'm not a huge meeple person. I just prefer the miniatures and just recently I redid Root with all the faction units, buildings and tokens. A 3D resin printer is only $100 and a bottle of resin that can go a long way is only $15.

I store my mats in mailing tubes with the name of the game written on the tube. Hope this helps!

Nice video! The blanket idea looks nice! Do you like it more than felt? What blanket specifically you use ?

I prefer the foam inserts over the broken token ones, if you havn't tried them you should.

Some great ideas!!!

Oh, Lords of Waterdeep uses tiny cubes for people. I swapped them out for meeples and it really made a difference

For storing mats either clothes pin them to hangers or a clothes line

I have become an Laserox addict 😁

Shira could've played that sneeze off as a nod and I would never have noticed! lol

This video is an absolute banger!

Upgrading board games is more addicting than buy new board games. There is alot of self satisfaction when you start to customize your board games.

Just up graded ingredients for Grand Austria Hotel. Much better than cubes and adds so much to theme.

Would love to know where you got the wool blanket from on amazon

My number 1 deluxe upgrade, is actually a kind of downgrade that feels nicers haha. Games that makes me shuffle cardboard tiles together made me buy a laminator and a scanner. Scan the tiles, adjust in photo program, print then laminate and cut to size. Redo steps 3 and 4 when the tiles gets too worn. Plus it takes less space overall in the box (not that I throw away the tiles, but lets just say they get the expansion box treatment when possible). Bloodborne by cmon got this treatment (and honestly needed it with the cardboard quality). (I would recommend a laminator that laminate 5 millimeters sheets for a stiffer tile, shuffles nicer) Coin capsules are a must for me too when there is not alternative on the market. And custom card separators (homemade or not, the pvc ones awesome but hard to get reliably, I find that a good old peterborough cardboard or bristol board works wonder for nice custom separators if you have the patience or a cricut machine). Deck boxes are also a life saver for campaign games with multiple decks. The deck may not fit in the main game box, but at least they are safely behind it. Multi tiered deck boxes works wonder for components too (any deluxe mtg game box may offer a place for tokens anyways). In short, everything gets a deck box if I have my way :P Did I say I was into deckbuilders? Man I love deck building.

Metal coins i probably my first upgrade for most games. Though if the coins made by a specific publisher don't stack well (I'm looking at you Viticulture coins from Stonemaier!) it's a huge negative. Not that I won't get them ever but they have to be something really special.

Damn, you got the 110x110 sleeves for Unsettled! Gotta tell them to start selling those on their website. :)

Where can I buy the dice trays? I don't see them listed on the steeped games website.

Crown Royal bags are the best gaming bags I’ve found. You can find them pretty cheap on Amazon if you don’t want to drink the product that comes in the bag.

Kick them out of your game of they eat during play 😆. My friend pulled out Clank for a work lunch, it was sleeved. A coworker of ours placed his fountain drink next to the board, so I picked up his drink and moved it and told him I needed to move it before our friend had a panic attack lol

Additional note about sleeves: I suspect that a lot of people who never sleeve have been put off by handling low quality sleeves that have a bad fit. Cheap thin sleeves are worse than no sleeves at all. They crinkle up when shuffling, the cards shift around inside them or easily fall out and, worst of all, after a while they get sticky and start sticking together. I cannot stress enough that you do not want 'standard' sleeves, they are only going to give you a bad experience. If you're going to sleeve a game you should really go all the way and get premium sleeves.

Did I miss the link for the wool blanket?

Always like to protect cardboard tokens that see a lot of traffic and are handled often with plastic coin capsules. Already come in various sizes and shapes and once they wear out, easier to replace then the game component.

Suggestion for storing mats. Baseball bat tubes, mini baseball bat tubes or mailer tubes. They can be see through hard plastic even. My favorite two large ones are. Alvin Tube Mailer 37 x 2.75 Inches Ultra Pro Baseball Bat Tube.

I upgraded the small, green cubes in King of Tokyo with large, ‘ice rock crystals’ (like the ones in Ascension, but green). They are easier to pick up and more visually appealing.

Is there a link for where you get you're large play mats?

What sleeve brands do you recommend? I have tried "Swan PanAsia" sleeves. Its standard (thin) sleeves have high friction coefficient, making it very hard to shuffle the cards. Its premium (thick) sleeves are pretty slippery. This makes large card decks even larger and harder to stay together (the deck can easily have a landslide). The brand "Sleeve Kings" is the best one that I have found so far. It is not too thick and slippery.

I am a sucker for a good mat. They just add so much

I hate bags so much haha. If I'm going to deluxify a game one of the first things I want to do is get an insert so I don't have to deal with bags anymore.

as an owner of laser ox products, and also broken token products, and not just one ore two but several , i can tell with certainty that broken token products are above and beyond better products than laser ox. this regards quality, ease of build, and of course organization regarding taking out your game and putting it back in. usability and straight are also considered.

Number one must have upgrade. Terraforming Mars player board. Enough said.

Link to thick wool tablecloth?

So could you give a link to the „fat table cloth“ cause it‘s either lost in translation or we‘re talking about a simple blanket.

Where can I get silicone dice? I love them.

Would love to see a customized/upgraded Arkham Horror the card game

Love the wool blanket idea! I'm have to get this from Amazon. No affiliate link? I have a friend who bought deluxe poker chips and uses that in any game that has money. Not as thematic for some games but saves a lot of money from having to buy custom coins for every game in a collection.

Ok came back here because you had mentioned washing minis and how there are tons of resources. Internet help me out does anyone know of a good video or link to just quick and dirty washing minis

Good watch.

I personally hate all the bags. If you have more different sized ones then that’s cool. But usually the game gives you a couple and then you have to sort everything out. I love inserts for games. A place for everything and it makes setup so much quicker. I’m also a card collector (yugioh back in the day) so sleeves were my very first upgrade to every game I could

Umm the link for dice trays goes to the Chai Tea game. I don't see the trays there.

i played with someone once...... who riffle shuffled sleeved cards....... ::shivers::

Do you sell any of your dice or little ducks? If so, where. Thanks.

Take a look at Iron Clays money that are like poker chips ;) pretty decent equivalent for metal or paper money in games and they look so gorgeous!

Do you have the full TenHun clothing line?

The only thing that comes to mind that you didn't mention was upgraded or custom standees

I feel like I'm missing something here - you most certainly can riffle sleeved cards? I don't understand why you wouldn't? (Unless you're only able to riffle short end to short end or something?) Coming from a TCG background this is madness! :p

If you have standard sized cards nothing beats Katana sleeves.

Crown royal bags are among the best

The only thing I think that you two missed is upgrading the actual box. Just like the components not lasting sometimes the box doesn't. Or when you add in all the expansions it no longer fits.

No links for the game mats?

Baggies? I have never added more bags and will make a box from a cereal box before hunting for a baggie.

You forgot Player Aids...some to setup, quick rule turn summary, and many exist on BGG

For storing mats buy a tube in shop with stuff for artists and architects - they use tubes to carry their big sheets of paper with projects and painting in them, so you can buy tubes in all sizes you need, you can buy one big for all bigger mats and one smaller tube for player mats and keep everything in those two tubes

I do like upgrading my games, and I do sleeve all my games. I prefer Ultra-Pro... I started this after the first playthrough of my Pandimic Game. Multiple cards were stained, like oil on the back that had soaked in, and as you said, it ruins the game to know what card is coming. Also, as a Black Jack dealer, rifling cards breaks the fibers inside the cards, which will destroy them in time. Had not seen Laserrox, I have used Broken Token inserts mostly (Well before I got a 3D Printer, Now I make most of my own). ... Meeple Stickers can peel off, many times because of heat, like if in your car, which leaves a sticky meeple and partial sticker in the box ... Metal Coins, I do love BUT they are generally one the more expensive upgrades, a Cheaper Way to do this is Just use Poker Chips (get the good Quality Clay ones) to use for any game with money (and you can also get custom printed ones as well). ... I like to upgrade my Games so each player has their own set of dice to use (Dice and Upgraded Components also fit well with a 3D printer, so many free Files players can get and make) ... Washes: just buy Army painter Washe, you can get cans of it, and Either brush it on or Pour some in a container and dilute it with water and DIp it. ... I did use the Storage Boxes but again Now with 3D Printing I just make ones that go right into my Organizers ... Game Mats ... I do like the neoprene but there more a pain to store most want fit in the box or large table size (2 Storage ways Ive seen is top of Closet with Cut lengths of PVC pipe they slide into the tubes and Slacks hangers, they have the Clips) ... Easy Cheap UPGRADE you did not mention "LAMINATION" you can get the machine for VERY cheap and if you by the Box of Lamination Sleeves there good as well, I Laminate all my Thin Player Boards and etc, that card sleeves want work on, I even Laminated my Firefly Money (one my Favorite games), IT protects it but it also makes the money more Futureistic looking to me.

Lol "kick them out of your group" I try to be a very accommodating game owner/owner of most of the games used by my gamer group. I had a guy spill a full cup of red wine all over my game table and fully set up architects of the west kingdom. :P I died laughing :) I regret not having him sign and date the stain on the table.

What about Boardgameco favorite a board game table?

No clays??

Wine rack for storing a collection of gaming mats.

Supporting the comments 😇🤪

So when you started, I was totally expecting you to say a duck as a joke, then the first thing you say is a duck for first player marker... I may be watching too much Quackalope... Nah, that could never happen haha happy gaming!

If townsfolk tussle leaves I want to buy it

Cuphead is awesome imo! Feels like a campaign-based super fast elder sign

My hobby since covid is upgrading board games by myself. My most amazing upgrades (besides painted minis) are my magnetised player boards for Blood Rage and Kemet. No more unwanted moving player token :-). Double layered boards are good, but I prefer my own solution. Other Upgrades are on paper printed minis for Ankh: Gods of Egypt which are cut and shaped with water to fit perfectly in the existing tray. After gluing the dry paper in place I know exactly where which mini goes in the dedicated spot. It’s a lot of work but love it and I save money.

You know Cubitos you don't have to buy bits that cost more than the game to make it enjoyable 😜

TM's own double layered player boards are essential and cheap. Dice trays and coins are nice but you have a bit too much plastic in this video :/

I see your zip lock baggies and raise you a 3D printer 🤣

2:18 is the start

Just found your channel, really good content! Constructive feedback: you two tend to talk over and interrupt each other quite a bit, maybe it's just this video but I wish you'd let each other finish a thought. I love the energy however!

1. First player markers are pretty useless and a waste of space, especially when the majority of one's gaming is two players. Even in multiplayer games I never had a case of not remembering who was first. Games that do require it because it changes throughout the game provide them. 2. I'm all for cheap sleeves for games that require a lot of card shuffling, because I prefer shuffling with sleeves than without them. Games that benefit from baggies generally include them. In cases they don't I use the baggies that held the sleeves I bought. 3. Expansions are a strange item for this list. It's not as if there are universal ones that you can add to any game, or even to a random subset of games, plus, they're not necessarily upgrades. Often times having expansions for a game decreases the frequency of the game getting to the table. 4. Inserts that decrease set up and tear down times are great, and I love that they've become more common in base games in recent years, but it's hard to justify buying a 3rd party one when they cost about as much as a new game, if not more. I do want one for Castles of Mad King Ludwig and have for a while, but have yet to find one that's reasonably priced. 5. At least this isn't dice towers (people who pay extra to have less fun with their dice games, I'll never get that). When I need a dice tray I use the box top. I generally do not need a tray. 6. Whatever comes with the game is fine, generally. 7. When I clicked this video, I was hoping for a discussion of poker chips, as I'm curious about getting a cheap universal set for economic games. We've got the metal coins discussion instead. Coins are fun, but I haven't found myself taking them from one game to use in another yet. (I've only got the nifty set that came with Sorcerer City, which turned out to impress me less than I hoped, and the 1's & 3's from Crimson Company which I like much more, and bought an extra set of, but have still not used with any other game.) 8. Whatever comes with the game is fine in general. I didn't like the dice in King of Tokyo when I tried it (too chunky), but 1. that's the only instance where I didn't like the default dice, and 2. that one doesn't even fit your criteria for upgrading, since it's got custom faces. 9. I did get coin capsules for Quacks to improve the feels and because I heard the components wear out quickly otherwise. I'm happy with that upgrade, but I'm not aware of any other game that'd really benefit from such an upgrade. 10. Sometimes the cardboard components are prettier and more functional than the upgraded ones. Like with most things, it varies. I'm amused that you went and upgraded the bags for Quacks, as I use those Quacks bags as the upgraded ones in other games (for Dice Masters, for instance). 11. Washes do look good, but tend to be too expensive for me, and I don't know that I can do it myself. More complex prepainted minis usually look worse to me than unpainted, and given how significantly more expensive they are, I'll pass on them 10 out of 10 times. So how many must haves did we have here? (12 &13 aren't anywhere near must haves either) I guess the clickbaiting worked though.

01:27 What game pieces d'you normally put in your mouth? 🤔😉

Did I just watch a board game upgrades infomercial?