Game night usually starts out organized. The board is centered, everyone has their cards and all the little pieces are sitting where they belong.

Then the game actually begins.

Dice roll across the board. Tokens get mixed together. Someone sets a drink dangerously close to the cards. By the end of the night, you are checking under the table for missing pieces and trying to remember which plastic bag everything came out of.

You don’t need a pile of accessories to enjoy board games, but a few useful ones can make setup, play and cleanup much easier. These are the board game accessories that may seem unnecessary until you’re dealing with a crowded table and pieces everywhere.

If you are still building your collection, I also have a list of easy board games for beginners that are simple to learn without becoming boring after the first game.

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Protect Your Cards and Playing Surface

Game Mats

Card game mats do more than make the table look organized. They give each player a designated space for cards, tokens and other pieces while protecting the table underneath.

The soft surface also makes cards easier to pick up. Instead of scraping at a card lying flat against a hard tabletop, you can slide your fingers underneath it. The mats can also help keep cards from sliding around whenever someone bumps the table.

A four-piece set works well when everyone needs an individual playing area. When the game is over, the mats can be rolled or stacked and put away until the next game night.

Sleeve Kings Standard Card Sleeves

Card sleeves may feel unnecessary when a game is new, but repeated shuffling and handling can wear cards down faster than you might expect. Add snacks, drinks and sticky fingers to the table, and sleeves start making a lot more sense.

This Sleeve Kings set includes 440 clear sleeves measuring 63.5 by 88 millimeters. That size is compatible with many standard game cards, but you should always measure the cards in your game before ordering. Board games use more card sizes than anyone realizes until they buy the wrong sleeves.

The sleeves help protect cards from scratches, bent corners and everyday handling without covering the original artwork. With 440 in the set, there should be enough for several card games or one larger board game with multiple decks.

Manage All Those Loose Game Pieces

Magnetic Hex Board Game Trays

Some games come with piles of cubes, coins, dice, meeples and resource tokens. Leaving everything in one shared pile works until people start reaching across the board and knocking pieces into the wrong areas.

These magnetic hex trays give the loose components somewhere to go. The set includes seven stackable trays in different colors. Built-in magnets allow the trays to connect in different arrangements, so you can group them in the center of the table or give one to each player.

The different colors are also useful when several players need their own supply of pieces. When the game is over, the trays stack together instead of taking up a large amount of storage space.

Token Silo Convertible

The Token Silo is helpful for games that need more organization than a few small bowls can provide. Its removable compartments can hold tokens, cards, dice and other components of different sizes.

You can organize the pieces before game night and then place the open Token Silo on the table during setup. Instead of emptying several plastic bags into random piles, everything is already separated and ready to use.

The removable sections make it more flexible than an ordinary divided storage box. You can take out the trays you need and leave the rest in the container. It also gives the shared game components a permanent home between games.

Metal Coins for Board Games

Metal coins do not organize the table by themselves, but they can make game currency much easier to handle. Thin cardboard coins have a habit of sliding together, blending in with other tokens or getting stuck under the board.

This set contains 50 metal coins in mixed finishes with values of 1, 5 and 10. The coins can be stacked, separated by value and picked up more easily than small cardboard pieces. They also come with a storage pouch to keep the set together after the game.

They will not match every game’s artwork or theme, but they can be reused with many fantasy games, role-playing games, economic games and games that use generic money or victory points.

If you like games with upgraded pieces and displays that look as good as they play, you may also enjoy these luxury board games and collector’s editions.

Make the Game Easier to Manage

Wooden Playing Card Holder Set

Holding a large hand of cards gets uncomfortable after a while. It can be especially frustrating for children, older players or anyone who has trouble gripping and fanning out several cards at once.

This set includes four wooden card holders that keep cards standing upright and visible to the player. Each holder also has divided areas for tokens and small game pieces. That gives every player a personal space for both cards and components.

Card holders are also useful in games where players constantly need to rearrange their hands. Cards can be moved around without accidentally dropping them or revealing them to the rest of the table.

Just make sure everyone positions the holders carefully so the cards are not visible to the player sitting across from them.

Desk Clamp Dice Tray and Table Organizer

This clamp-on organizer combines several accessories into one station. It includes a dice tray, small storage sections, a card or reference-sheet holder and a drink slot.

Attaching the organizer to the side of the table frees up space in the main playing area. Dice can be rolled without crashing through the board, and drinks can stay away from the cards. There is also room for pencils, tokens and other small items that usually end up scattered around the table.

According to the product listing, the clamp fits tables approximately 0.19 to 2.16 inches thick. Measure the edge of your table before ordering, especially if it has a thick lip, curved edge or decorative trim.

This is one of those accessories that may look excessive at first. Once someone rolls dice across the board or nearly spills a drink on the cards, it suddenly makes perfect sense.

And if the dice themselves are half the fun, take a look at these unique dice sets for gamers.

Keep the Box From Becoming the Next Mess

Meeple People X-Shaped Board Game Bands

The mess does not always happen while you are playing. Sometimes it happens when a game box tips sideways in the car or a loose lid slides off while you are moving games around.

These X-shaped board game bands stretch around the box in both directions to keep the lid in place. The pack includes ten bands, so you can secure several games at once.

They are useful for carrying games to someone else’s house, storing boxes vertically or protecting a game with a lid that no longer fits as tightly as it once did. They can also help keep expansion boxes and overfilled games from popping open on the shelf.

Because the bands sit directly against the box, avoid stretching them tighter than necessary, especially on older or collectible games.

Several of these accessories would also make practical gifts. For more ideas, visit my complete list of gifts for board game lovers.

Are Board Game Accessories Really Necessary?

Most board game accessories are optional. You can use small bowls from the kitchen for tokens, place drinks on another table and keep components in the plastic bags that came inside the box.

But optional does not mean useless.

The right accessory can make a game faster to set up, easier to play and much less annoying to put away. You do not need everything on this list. The best choices depend on the games you play and the particular part of game night that always seems to turn into a mess.

If tokens are constantly getting mixed together, start with component trays or a Token Silo. If cards get worn out quickly, sleeves may be more useful. If the biggest danger is someone’s drink sitting beside the board, that clamp-on organizer could save your game from a spill.

And if you have ever opened the car door and watched a board game box spill onto the ground, go ahead and get the box bands.

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