Entertainment rooms are a wonderful addition to the home, but don’t stop just at the aesthetics and the game selection. While most of us focus on appearances over the other senses, it’s important to go a step deeper and think about the overall ambience of the room. The most effective way to do this? Think about sound.
Noise affects us a lot more than many people realize, with sound playing a huge role in determining how we feel. A fast-paced song or, conversely, a slow, chilling piece of music can totally alter the atmosphere, changing the game experience from the ground up.
With that in mind, we’ve collected some suggestions for some typical games room entertainment, so you know what to queue up when you want to take a game session to the next level.
Classical Music For Poker
Poker is a great favorite in game rooms everywhere, with variants like Omaha Poker proving particularly popular. Omaha is often considered more challenging than standard Texas Hold’Em, so it’s important to find the right music to pair well with this. You might think that something intense suits poker well, especially if you’re a fan of the movies, but we’d actually suggest leaning toward classical tracks for games like Omaha Poker.
That’s because you want to create a stimulating vibe in which nobody feels rushed. Classical pieces have been shown to reduce stress and improve your memory, making them a perfect foil for this kind of game. You’ll set all the players up for success when you use this kind of music for your background track, letting them focus fully on the cards. We’d recommend keeping the volume at a comfortable level, low enough so that conversation – and any bluffing – can flow with ease, but loud enough so that the music can be heard and appreciated.
Setting up soothing background sounds is a great way to ensure your players find their sense of balance and focus, allowing them to approach the game in a calm, measured way. It might even help people who aren’t great at managing their body language create a better sense of equilibrium, avoiding situations like this one!
Fast Music For Racing Games
A lot of racing games have their own music, sure, but you don’t necessarily want that, and if you’re playing a board game that focuses on racing, you need a soundtrack to accompany it. The pick here is relatively obvious: go fast-paced to inject energy and excitement into the game.
You can still select an instrumental piece if you don’t want the distraction of lyrics, but you might be surprised by how this picks up the game, enhances focus, and gets everybody engaged. There’s nothing quite like having a quick beat to move to as you roll dice or take corners at speed; it’s the perfect combination.
If you want some specific track suggestions, the Sephiroth Theme from Final Fantasy VII is bound to appeal to traditional gamers, and it will pump any gaming session full of energy, no matter what the players are enjoying! Alternatively, a lot of pirate-based music has a good beat and will serve as a good accompaniment, although most of the sea shanties do have words, so they may be best-suited to simple games.
Jazz can also work well in this setting; it’s upbeat and exciting, giving these games an additional edge and keeping the room’s energy high. Plus, if you want to sound fancy and show off to your friends, jazz is definitely the way to go about it.
Soft Instrumentals For Patience, Scrabble, Etc.
The classic board games are mostly about using your brain, in which case, you may find that soft instrumental tracks are good options. You can use things like the music from The Sims to increase your focus differently from the instrumental tracks. These pieces have been deliberately created to immerse audiences and engage their brains, and again, they are lyric-free, so they can work as an excellent backdrop for these kinds of challenging board games.
You’ve also got a good number of options here; you could use the Mario music to focus your brain in Scrabble, where you want a good pace that will encourage players not to take too long, and The Sims’ soundtrack when you’d rather keep things easygoing and slow – perhaps in Patience.
Wrap Up
If you’re still feeling unsure, don’t be afraid to experiment! Everyone’s musical tastes are different, so you can try different approaches. Maybe you’ll find The Sims’ music is the perfect pick for your Omaha poker sessions, and you’d rather go for the Sephiroth Theme when you’re playing Patience because you love the pacing and energy it provides. Whatever it is, don’t neglect the sound aspect of a great games room; it’s staggering what a difference a bit of music makes to an experience, pulling together the whole event, bumping up immersion, and demonstrating thoughtfulness.
