Board gaming is fun activity and let's us keep the old strategic and analytical juices flowing. Now when we say "board game" we mean games like Ticket to Ride [any version], Champions of Midgard or Wingspan, not Monopoly or Life: sorry [see what we did there?]. These board games can have a very large foot print- Champions of Midgard is roughly 30 by 40 when using the official game mat [which replaces all three game boards] not including table space for the game components: warrior dice, Valhalla tokens, food, wood, etc.
Board game tables are very nice, but very expensive. These are not your ordinary card or even poker tables; they are much larger [think 40 x 48 or 42 x 60], usually rectangular and covered in a flocked material typically neoprene [mousepad material]. Some of these tables can run thousands of dollars with all the bells and whistles, like under rail lights, built in dice towers, component trays and of course, drink holders.
An alternative is a game table topper, which mounts to a standard card table while offering most of the amenities above; these can be found on places like Amazon for $200-$500 a pop depending on options. Being not quite so flush with cash to devote that much money for a twice a week hobby, we decided to make our own topper. There are numerous videos online to show how to convert an Ikea dining room table to a game table for only a few hundred bucks including the actual table, but we wanted to be even simpler and still have the card table for those occasions.
Behold, the first ever Miller Board Game Topper.
Materials List:
- existing, sturdy card table [32 x 32]
- 2 yards of flocked neoprene; we chose dark red - $15 from Amazon
- half sheet of 1/2" sanded plywood [cabinet grade was out of stock at Home Depot]- $45
- 4 scrap pieces of 1 x 4 or 1 x 3 about a foot long for the topper's "feet"
- 4 small bar clamps [to be replaced by small C clamps] - $6
- handful of short deck or wood screws
Cut the plywood to desired size- ours is 42 x 48. Find center point, measure out where the "feet" go, attach and dry fit before securing all the "feet". The "feet" should be snug against the existing table sides. Use the bar / C clamps to clamp the "feet" to the card table's sides to prevent table tip-overs when someone leans on the top's edge. Drape fabric over the topper and cut to length. Using a staple gun with short staples [we used 1/4"] attach the fabric to the underside of the topper, mitering the corners as best you can.
Viola! Rails may be easily added later as we haven't decided on that yet.
