I was going to say Top 5 Board Game expansions, but when thinking about it, I think I’ve done that list before. And it’s also fun to talk about add-ons to board games. The things that you don’t really need, but when you get them, they are cool for one reason or another. Some of these are going to come from third parties, others from the publishing companies themselves. And I know there are a ton of them out there, I don’t tend to buy many. So let’s talk about the board game add-ons that I do have.

Top 5 Board Game Add-ons

5. X-Trayz

These are from GameTrayz, I company that for personal reasons I can’t fully support. But that’s besides the point that they make really good trays and their component bins with covers get used pretty often by me. It started out with Tiny Towns where I used it to store all of the houses and tokens. I think I have the different ingredients for Quacks of Quedlinburg in them as well. And Lost Ruins of Arnak has it for their resources.

Why are they so handy, you can use bags for things. You can, but bags you dump out and refill at the start and end of every game. These you keep whatever you aren’t using in there. It’s a nice sturdy option for storying components.

4. Aeon’s End Starting Cards

This is the one that is from the company and it’s a big absurd. Aeon’s End is a deck building game where everyone’s starting hands are almost the same. I say almost because each character has at least one card different. That means before each game you need to go find your characters unique card(s) as well as build out their starting deck.

Well, Indie Board and Cards was smart and they created packs for each of the core boxes. So it’s not cheap to go in on this, it’s five packs. But, when integrated you don’t need to build those decks again. And that is going to help with the set-up and teardown of the game.

3. Marvel United Divider Cards

This is one that I actually need to buy more of. That might seem confusing, they are dividers that go between the characters. Well, yes they are. But I don’t own them yet for Marvel United X-Men, and eventually Marvel United Multiverse. It makes it much easier to find the character cards, and it stores okay. I only put it at as okay, because Marvel United in general only stores okay.

2. Potion Explosion Marble Holder

These top two are the nicest wooden components that I have for a game. I do have one more, but I need to put it together still, actually two more. But this is a replacement for the cardboard holder for the marbles.

Why is this one so great, because the original one, you would take it from the box hoping it wouldn’t fall apart. There were ways that you had to hold it and elements that would become loose every time. With the wooden one, it’s much more solid and just as functional. This one it just looks nicer and works better. But the top one makes the game much easier to play.

1. Gloomhaven Insert

That top one is, of course, an insert for Gloomhaven. Gloomhaven is an amazing game, but one of the biggest issues is that it’s a beast to set-up. Well, the insert doesn’t take care of all of that, but it takes care of a chunk of it. And that makes Gloomhaven so much easier to play. I had put together my own storage solution before getting a real one. But I can’t imagine playing Gloomhaven with baggies like some people probably do because that’s what they have in every other game.

Gloomhaven just has too many tokens. There are cheaper solutions, but the insert for me was the way to go. And if a simpler solution still makes it hard to set-up, I do think that an insert really makes it so much easier that it’s worth the money.

Final Thoughts

There are a lot of upgrades or add-ons that you can get for a board game. Some people love to get an insert for everything in hopes it’ll be easier to table. Other people want to bling out their board game with fancy components to make it more thematic.

Right now with Frosthaven just in, I am debating about buying 3D printed terrain for it. Just something to add to the immersion of the game. But is it worth it to add in stuff that will just make it trickier to travel with? I’m not sure I want to travel with it anyway because it is a beast, but adding more makes it trickier.

What are some things you’ve add-on to your board games to make them fancier or more functional?

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