Upgrades

Silicon Cupcake cases

I pick these up at the pound store at about 16 for £1.  They are great component cups and can be swapped out from game to game.  They come in a variety of colours as well!

Fold your own Card Wallet

Great for games that have a set of start decks for players (e.g. Ark Nova or Flamme Rouge), or games with a few cards of different types.  These little wallets are made from A4 paper or light card and hold about 12 cards in each of it's 4 sections

Or if you are feeling fancy, or need more than 4 slots, you can create a bigger wallet using this video (note you need a 15x15cm square to fit a standard poker playing card)

If you have paper money to organise along with cards you could try this wallet

Fold your own Component Box/Case

These collapsible boxes are made from a A4 paper or light card, fold flat and stop your peices going all over the table.  If you don't want to use cupcake cases, these are great - and can be stored the game box as well!

If you want more impressive component boxes then I can recommend Paper Kawaii on YouTube with thier comprehensive range of  containers for intermediate paper folding

Reuse/UpCycle

Keep an eye out for boxes that can be repurposed - 

• TicTac boxes are the perfect size for the mini Euro cards you get in games - just take the lid off, 

• Toffifee boxes are great for flatter components and can be subdivided easily, 

• Compeed blister pack boxes make great cases for smaller components.

I haven't found a perfect standard card size reusable box yet - let me know if you have any ideas!

First Player Markers

You can get novelty rubbers/erasers in a variety of shapes and themes, or stickers, (or anything else that suits the theme) and create your own first player marker if the one that comes with the game is a bit 'meh'. I use a wonderful rubber whale in AQUA from a box of ocean themed erasers that cost me a whole £1.50 (check out the pound shops during back to school season) and I've seen a christmas cracker compass used in Lost Ruins of Arnac, small stuffed toys and pin badges have also appeared in friends games.

DryWipe Cards

If you own or like party games like Just One and Herd Mentality - or a range of others where you write down an answer then have I got a deal for you!  First up if you have access to a laminator you can laminate the papers that come with the game, which makes them useable with drywipe pens (see next entry) or if you want to go a little more deluxe Apostrophe Games sell a range of dry wipe cards in various sizes.  You can pick up 45 playing cards for about £7.99 - and I decked out my copies of Herd Mentality, Just One, my RPG toolkit and I still have spares for other games. Apostrophe also do index card sizes.

Note: laminating some player aids (either yourself or at your local print shop) is a great way to extend those score pads you get in games or the sheets for roll and write games - Cascadia, Blue Lagoon, Harmonies, Welcome to..., Cartographers etc..  that way you never run out! 

DryWipe Pens

the pens that come in games with drywipe pens vary wildly in quality, or sometimes you have changed a game from pen to drywipe by laminating the score cards.  In those cases  there are lots of options.  I upgraded my copy of Just One with this collection of 12 multicoloured dry wipe pens for about £8, but there are sets starting at just £5.

Get Crafty

If you have time or have basic craft skills, check out World of Board Craft's video series on how to upgrade your tokens yourself.

Card Sleeves

Not everyone wants to sleeve their cards, and that's fine.  They are great for cards that get a lot of use to make them last that bit longer - but they do have a knock on that they can be more difficult to shuffle.  You can also get solid colour back cards if you want to create starting decks of given colours, or hate the art on the back of cards, or if your cards have become identifable through marks and you want to anonymise them again.

We're not going to give specific recommendations here as there are so many choices, but we will point you at BoardGameGeek (see Resources for more) 

• Search for your game

• If there are cards in the game, there should be a 'Sleeve It' button, second in at the bottom of the top 'information' box.  If not you can also find sleeves under the 'More' menu.

• clicking either of those links will take you to a page with the sizes and quantiies you need for each card type in that game.

• You can then use that information in your google searches to buy oneline - or at your Friendly Local Game Store (FLGS)#

Another great resource is SleeveYourGames.Com which does a very similar thing giving you various brands and options for any searchable game.  Note this is a USA site so prices are in dollars and the link is to Amazon.Com not Amazon.Co.Uk - but once you know what you need you can search for more local suppliers.

Card Boxes

If you have standard bridge or poker sized cards in your game you want to store in a box you have several choices.  If you want to box every single card you own then 50 cardboard boxes in 5 colours might be your answer for £35, or you can pick up a 6 pack of plastic boxes for about £6 that hold a standard deck.

For bigger decks you can find cheap holders (GameGenic seem to be the best) such as these which hold 100 cards for £3 and GameGenic do cases that hold 1000's of cards if you are that way inclined.

For smaller decks (upto 20 cards unsleeved) you can find things like the CubeShell from Dragon Shield at about £8 for an 8 pack- but you might need to do some hunting

Coin Capsules

These are great for those counters you have in games that either need to be kept nice (Quacks of Quedlingburg), or you want to make them feel nicer. / easier to pick up  These little cases are meant for keeping your coin collection in mint condition, but they are also great for board games.  Again many games have this info on BoardGameGeek (though you tend to have have to look in the forums) or you can count your counters yourself.

Note Measure carefully and make sure you have checked the INTERIOR measurement so your counters will fit.

Dice Towers

There is a whole range of these available if you want to make sure people are rolling fairly.  My favourite is a small portable tower I picked up at BadgerBadger for £10 - but you can get them from about £10 to shiny money depending on your tastes and if you want to carry it around or fit it to the theme of your game.  Etsy isa good spot, as is printables if you have a friend with a 3D printer.

If you are crafty and have a bit of time, there are several videos on youtube on how to craft your own.

Dice Trays

From making your own using a pound store picture frame, to silicone rollable, to felt lined flat to luxury wooden dishes there is a wide variety of dice trays.  However, if your game uses a lot of throwing dice about you can protect your dice and the table (and the scrabbling on the floor for the energetic rogue one) by having a dice tray.

Component Boxes

Those who have played Honey's games will know she frequently puts components into small boxes for ease.  She likes these ones (24 Bead Storage Organiser Boxes) but they come in a whole range of different sizes, and 24 boxes will do quite a few games!

If you would rather have your components stored in the box and have a seperate 'dish' that you can use over several different games, then these collapsible component trays are excellent - I've had mine for about 4 years now and going strong.

Empty match boxes are also great for smaller components, and aren't made of plastic - you can get a pack of 50 for about £10

Table Lamp

Lighting in pubs can be on the mellow side, and sometimes you want an extra boost.  Several of you have asked after the lamp I have which is this one:

Folding Table Lamp

My priorities were small foot print (so it didnt' take up lots of table space), folding so light protected in transport, light for transport and level of light not in people's eyes.  However, please note that the on/off on this model is not protected and it is possible to have the night on in your bag draining the charge without you knowing.

There is of course other options and I've put a few below that I considered (note: I haven't tried or tested any of these so not a recommedation)

Rechargable Lamp with Table Clip

5" base folding rechargable light

Gooseneck Clip lamp

Play Mat

You'll have seen the beautiful custom printed, game specific mats that cost a pretty penny, but if you want a generic clean soft surface to protect your game and make peices easier to pick up then you can grab an extra large mouse mat (tend to be 1200x600) or a neopreme mat online or at pound stores - I picked up mine at The Works in a sale (it was maked as a jigsaw mat) and if you need a big mat then cheap thin yoga mats are good.  Search Neoprene Mat in Amazon for some cheap options.

Poker Chips

There are freqnently poker night games available at local charity shops, and poker chips make lovely replacement counters where size doesn't matter.  You can even download a template and print your own labels to add appropriate graphics.  They make great replacement money tokens if you don't want to go the metal route for example.  If you want to go all out there are some very expensive but beautiful poker chips out there - my current favourites are the Roxley Ironclay Chips - but at 50p each (£100 for 200 chips) they really belong on the next list!

Hugo's Amazing Tape

Ok, this one is borderline for the next list at £24 but this tape is so cool.  Hugo's Amazing Tape is a clear non sticky thick tape that only sticks to itself.  This stuff is perfect for wrapping loose cards in a game box, or keeping lids on in transport.  It doesn't damage your cards, doesn't stain or mark and is reusable for a good amount of time (I mean months rather than minutes)

Metal Coins

These add such a nice feel to games that use coins.  They range from about £20 to "how much?!" but if you are playing a game lots or love it to bits then this is an easy upgrade that adds a lovely deluxe feel to any game.  There are even specific coin sets for specific games such as gloomhaven, sythe, Coup etc..  Etsy is your friend for those!

Note: some metal coins actually work out more expensive than using actual money so make sure you do your maths unless you really want a particular set for a particular game.

Upgraded components for specific games

Check out Etsy but also printables (if you have access to a 3D printer) for games you want to add that special something to.  Better meeples, stickers to add to existing meeples, 3D components, acrylic tiles, tile holder grids, dice towers, inserts, t-shirts, coasters, posters... if you can think of it - it probably exists.  Simply put the name of your game and upgrade or components into Etsy or your 3D printable file site of choice.  Brokentoken are also a good resource for specific games

Box Inserts

There are several companies such as Folded Space,  e-Raptor, Laserox and many fan developed sets on Etsy and Printables  that do inserts for specific games.  These really can improve the speed with which you get a game to the table and clear away time afterwards.  However they can cost the same or more than the original game - you have been woarned.

Game Components/Design

If you are interested in replacing a whole set of peices or developing your own game and printing it there are several websites that will do low number prints (typcially starting at 1, bulk buy reduces costs).

• Game Crafter

• LaunchLab  (see AdamInWales for really clear tutorials for this site)

• TableTopSupply

• BoardGameMaker