Creature Comforts: Make Your Games Room a Welcoming Space

Sure, you can play pool in the garage, standing on the cold cement floor and pulling up a case of oil to sit on between shots. And you can still hit a ping pong ball across the table under a low basement ceiling housing a bare light bulb. But do you want to?

The difference between a room with some games in it and a true games room  is the thought you put into it at the front end. If you’re going to invest in a pinball machine or a snooker table, why not make sure that the space they’re housed in is a space you’ll really enjoy? You’ll get more out of your investment, and more important, your family and friends will want to gather there, too.

The look and feel of your games room  will vary depending on the types of games you’ll play in it, but there are some common factors to consider that are key to making your games room everyone’s hangout of choice.

Layout is key to the overall comfort of you and your guests in that space. Save yourself a lot of frustration by clicking here for a game room planning template that will allow you to play with the layout of the larger items in your space (believe us, it’s not fun—or advisable—to drag a pool table around a room to find its perfect resting place).

Mapping out your room involves more than  just  making sure  everything fits,  however. Equally important is understanding the traffic flow of the room. You don’t want people to have to walk through the path of a dart to get to the pinball machine, for example, and refreshments should be easily accessible to everyone.

A simple ceiling fixture, which may be exactly what you already have if you’re converting an existing space, probably isn’t  going to cut it for most of your games room’s functions. A pool table, for example, requires task lighting directly overhead, while a pinball machine needs slightly dim lighting to be fully appreciated. Once your room is laid out in its ideal configuration, you’ll need to consider the lighting for each area separately. Remember to include table or floor lamps for general lighting and to add a cozy feel to your table games and refreshment areas—but not where they’ll cast a glare on any video game screens.

If the biggest noise generator in your games room is going to be Dad screaming, “You sank my battleship!” then you probably don’t need to pay much attention to the sound factor of your games room.

On the other hand, if your room will contain a pinball machine or virtual reality video game, you’ll need to think about how to manage the decibel level, for the sake of other games room users as well as the rest of the house.

Hard surfaces bounce sounds around, while soft surfaces (think textiles and carpet) absorb and muffle them. If you’re constructing your games room from scratch, you can build in extra soundproofing between the walls. You can even coat the walls with acoustical paint, which will dampen sound vibrations. Doors should be solid with minimal space between the bottom of the door and the floor, and remember to incorporate soft furnishings—upholstered chairs and curtains can curb excess noise. Consider installing sound-absorbing flooring, like cork, which is durable for a high-use area, and can even be used on the walls.

The flip side of the noise equation is ensuring that you have some pleasant sounds in your games room to help set the mood for games night or provide some cool tunes for Friday night poker. Include a stereo with a wide selection of music in your plan, or if feasible, run some extra speakers from your home theatre system into your space.

The more multifunctional your games room, the more multipurpose your seating needs to be. To start, you’ll need at least six comfortable yet supportive chairs for your poker or games table. You may want to add a few stools for shorter-term seating around the pool table and bar area.

And if your room is destined to become a hangout, include some comfy beanbag chairs—my personal favorite is the “executive beanbag” – a teardrop-shaped vinyl chair that works equally well for kids or adults. Of course, even beanbag chairs have a high end, and that might be the Roots leather beanbag at more than $1,500. For their sound-absorbing quality as well as their comfort, upholstered chairs are also an appealing games room addition.

Don’t forget to include a few small tables in your seating layout as well—you’ll want to provide ample, stable space for guests to set down drinks, lest they use your pool table or the edge of the pinball machine.

Snacks are always welcome, particularly if people will be whiling away the hours playing tournament foosball or Risk. A retro popcorn cart or sno-cone machine will inspire lots of conversation (and use), but you can also cover off the basics with a well-stocked snack cupboard and mini-fridge. If your games room and home bar are part of the same space, all the better. 

Electrical requirements: Most electronic pinball and upright video games require between two and 10 amps of power, which means that if you’re including one pinball machine or arcade game in your games room, you’re probably fine just plugging it in to a standard outlet, according to BMI Gaming, an online retailer of electric games. If you’re planning on having several games, however, you may need to have an electrician upgrade the breaker in your circuit box—a fairly simple and low-cost service.

Electronic games will also generate a fair amount of static electricity, which you can minimize with the addition of rubber feet under the floor contact points of the machine. With several machines in a small space, heat buildup can also become an issue, so be sure your games room has adequate ventilation (and perhaps a separate air conditioner if necessary).