You’re into Board games now, right? You’ve been reading and watching Best Play, growing a small but amazing collection of the best games money can buy.

Well how do we take it up a notch, and make those games feel extra special? Well you gotta spruce em up, treat ‘em nice and show them how much you care. You’ve got to make sweet, sweet love to them. Read on to see how.

Expansions

If you love a game and have played it a lot, then maybe it’s time to make it even better. Lots of games have expansions that take it in a new direction, expand on existing ideas or add just that little bit more. Most of the time they’re also much cheaper than splashing out on a whole new game. Now that’s what we call R O I.

Some expansion recommendations for games we’ve recommended before:

Survive expansion collection (US / UK) – Letting you play with more people and adding more water beasties.

Colt Express Coach and Horses (US / UK) – Adding more options and chaos in the form of a good old horse and carriage.

Mysterium Hidden Signs (US / UK) – More pictures to haunt your dreams.

Upgrade them pieces

Lots of games have similar parts, be that dice, tokens or meeples. Invest in some nice heavy metal coins to replace those crappy cardboard ones.

You could also get some nicer dice, or maybe even a dice tower. You can even find custom-made pieces for games you love on sites like Etsy.

If you’re feeling really ambitious then try to make some yourself. We’ve seen some nice ones made with 3D printing.

Print all the things

You can upgrade your games for free. Say what?!

Most games have fan-made (and sometimes official) additions you can find on Board Game Geek. Like the rail road for Colt Express to add to the scenery or these helpful rules summaries and reminders to make it easier for everyone to follow along. If you have a game you love, someone has probably made it better and won’t even charge you for it.

Storage and smarts

You want your games to look their best right? You can replace the box innards with some nice wooden or foam inlays meaning the game is neater, more secure and will be more likely to squeeze in your new expansions. You can have go all out and replace the box altogether for the games you love the most.

You can cover your cards in sleeves for a slicker feel, which will have the added benefit that they last a lot longer and look fresh fresh fresh. This is also a great tip for any of those print ‘n’ play games you made at home after reading that great Best Play article about it.

A Killer Soundtrack

Everyone wants something in the background when they play. To heighten the tension, increase the good feel vibes or just something to bop along to. There are lots of great fan made soundtracks for popular games, and you can start making them too. Here’s one we made earlier for Colt Express.

Dress up and set the mood

Music has set the mood nicely but if you really want to get into it then maybe its time to make this night special.

Dim the lights, get some candles and get out those halloween costumes for a game of Mysterium.

Don your cowboy hats and plastic pistols for Colt Express or get on your Kigu onesies and play King of Tokyo. We all know the best secret last round of Monikers is a costume and props round.

How else do you like to spruce up your games and make ‘em POP? Lets us know in the comments.