How to Create the Ultimate Game Room

How to Create the Ultimate Game Room

Photo by Bartek Mazurek / The Unsplash License

Who doesn’t dream of having the ultimate entertainment room? A room separate from the rest of the house where you’re free to shoot pool, play video games, jam to some tunes, or kick back with your favorite movies — all without bothering anyone else in the house.

To create the ultimate game room, you’ll want to make sure that you have everything needed in the realm of entertainment, including activities that are popular with friends or guests. It also helps to pick a theme for the room to improve visual appeal and to make it a room you want to spend plenty of time in. Below, we’ll take a closer look at how you can go about all of this in order to create the ultimate game room.

Pick a Theme for the Room

Simply put: A theme will make your room more exciting. It’s a chance to show off what you love, what you collect, and what you’re interested in. Generally, you could do a specific movie or TV theme, a sports theme, a music theme, or a gaming theme. But this is your chance to be creative! This is a room specifically created for fun, after all.

For example, if you’re a huge fan of James Bond, give the room a sophisticated, retro vibe with sleek and colorful furniture, framed 007 posters, a record player, and a mini bar. For a sports theme, mix sports memorabilia with neon lights and team posters. Or, go for a classic video game and arcade theme with decor, consoles, and games from decades past.

Games to Consider

If you’re a huge fan of old video games — and also want to make that your room’s theme — then the ultimate game room won’t be complete without a good selection of old-school games like the undisputed classics from the 80s like Donkey Kong, Tetris, Ms. Pac Man, Super Mario Bros 3, and The Legend of Zelda. Some other classics to add include Sonic the Hedgehog, Contra, Frogger, Super Mario Kart, and Doom. You should also collect old school consoles or opt for an upgraded, modern version like the Super NES Classic or the PlayStation Classic, which include pre-loaded games.

Photo by NeONBRAND / The Unsplash License

Besides video games from the past and present, the ultimate game room also needs a good selection of board games, card games (like Uno), and puzzles. Besides any modern board games you love, you should also have Clue, Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, Chess, Checkers, and Scrabble. Some other popular options include Life, Risk, Chinese Checkers, Guess Who?, Trouble, Battleship, Catan, Jenga, Twister, and Scattergories.

Upgrade with Smart Tech

There are many awesome tech additions you should consider adding to your home to make your life easier (and better), but two you should definitely have in your game room are a VR headset and at least one streaming device. Virtual reality has seriously improved over the years, and if you want to amp up your game room, it’s something you should invest in. It will not only be entertaining for you, but it’s a great way to pass the time with friends.

As for a streaming device, Roku is usually your best option because it supports a wide variety of channels. If you go with another streaming device or even a streaming stick, just make sure that it supports the channels you want, has the features you want, and has enough power to meet your needs. While your smart TV or blu-ray player might have streaming capabilities, it’s usually best not to use them due to unreliable and poor performance.

Some other general smart tech you might want to consider adding to the room include: color-changing smart light bulbs (that you can adjust from your phone), one or two bluetooth speakers, a smart speaker, and a smart thermostat. Although not necessary, all of this tech will certainly come in handy. And it’ll make the room cooler, figuratively and literally — which is important for when you work up a sweat gaming