Gifts
Game Room Gifts Under $50
The small things game room owners always need and never get around to buying.
How these picks were made: from published manufacturer specifications, governing-body standards and the room arithmetic - not from first-hand use. We have not played on these tables. Read the method.
The useful thing about this price point is that it is almost entirely consumables, protection and small upgrades - exactly the category game room owners put off buying for themselves because none of it is exciting.
What works under fifty dollars
- Consumables. Chalk, wax, cloth brushes, dart tips. Always needed, never stocked properly, no sizing question on most of them.
- Protection. A cover, a surround, a throw mat. Each one prevents damage the owner is slowly accumulating and has decided not to think about.
- Small upgrades. A better ball set is above this bracket, but a decent chalk, a tip tool and a brush kit together are not.
- The thing they have been meaning to buy. A short cue for a tight rail. A mat under a dart board on a tile floor. Look at the room.
What does not work at this price
- Novelty accessories. Chalk holders shaped like things, themed racks, scorekeepers nobody uses. They end up in a drawer.
- Cheap cues. A cue in this bracket is a house cue, and giving someone a house cue as a present reads as what it is. A set for guests is a different and better idea.
- Cheap darts for a player who already has darts they like. Darts are personal in the way cues are.
- Generic 'game room' decoration. Signs, wall art and bar accessories are a strong opinion about someone else's room.
Quick picks
| # | Product | Best for | Key spec | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Pool Table Brush and Rail Cleaning Kit | Any pool table | Brush and rail cloth | |
| 2 |  Sun-Glo Speed Shuffleboard Table Powder Wax | Any shuffleboard | Two speed grades | |
| 3 |  Viper Dart Throw Line Mat | Any dart setup | Oche marked | |
| 4 | Winmau Pro-Line Dartboard Surround | A board with no protection | Foam ring | |
| 5 |  Players Short Pool Cue (48 in / 52 in) | A table against a wall | 48 in / 52 in | |
| 6 |  Fitted Pool Table Cover | A table in a garage | Fitted, by size |
The picks
#1 · Any pool table
Pool Table Brush and Rail Cleaning Kit
Brush along the nap, not across it. A two-minute habit that adds years to a woolen cloth.
The two-minute habit that adds years to a cloth, and the thing almost nobody buys for themselves. Fits any table, no sizing question, genuinely useful.
- What works
- Universal fit
- Real effect on cloth life
- What does not
- Unexciting to open
#2 · Any shuffleboard
Sun-Glo Speed Shuffleboard Table Powder Wax
Numbered speed grades of silicone beads. The number is the speed: low numbers are slow, high numbers are fast. Buy two and test.
A consumable owners are always running low on. Two speed grades is better than one, because finding your preferred board speed is half the fun.
- What works
- Always needed
- Experimenting with speeds is enjoyable
- What does not
- Buy both grades within one brand
#3 · Any dart setup
Viper Dart Throw Line Mat
A mat with the oche marked at the regulation distance. Also the cheapest way to stop a dropped dart chipping a tile floor.
Marks the throw line at the regulation distance and stops a dropped dart chipping the floor. Most home setups have a strip of tape on the carpet instead.
- What works
- Solves two problems
- Fits any board type
- What does not
- Rolls at the edges when new
#4 · A board with no protection
Winmau Pro-Line Dartboard Surround
A foam ring that catches the darts that miss the board. Cheaper than filling holes, and it fits over most bristle boards.
If their board is screwed straight to the drywall, this is the gift that saves the wall. Fits over most standard bristle boards with no measuring needed.
- What works
- Fits most standard boards
- Visibly solves a problem they have
- What does not
- Does not catch wide misses
#5 · A table against a wall
Players Short Pool Cue (48 in / 52 in)
A short cue for the side of the table that lost its clearance to a wall. Two of these fix most tight-room tables.
If one rail of their table is close to a wall, this is a gift that changes how they play every session. Look at the room - you will know immediately whether it applies.
- What works
- Solves a daily frustration
- What does not
- Only relevant for a tight room
#6 · A table in a garage
Fitted Pool Table Cover
Dust is what kills cloth in a garage. A fitted cover is the cheapest item on this site and the one that pays back fastest.
Cheap, and it does more for a cloth in a dusty room than anything else you can buy. You need their table size, which is the only question to ask.
- What works
- Big effect for little money
- What does not
- Size-specific
Matching the gift to their game
| They have | Safe gift | Needs you to know |
|---|---|---|
| A pool table | Brush kit and chalk | Nothing |
| A pool table in a garage | Fitted cover | Table size: 7 or 8 ft |
| A pool table against a wall | Short cue | Nothing - look at the room |
| A sisal dart board | Surround or throw mat | That it is sisal, not electronic |
| An electronic dart board | Replacement soft tips | Nothing - tips are near-universal |
| A shuffleboard | Two wax speed grades | Nothing |
| An air hockey table | Replacement pucks and mallets | Nothing |
| A table tennis table | A replacement net with a screw clamp | Nothing |
How these were chosen
On usefulness at this price point, how universally each item fits, and whether it is something owners reliably fail to buy for themselves. Every product here appears in a category roundup on this site with its full reasoning. We have not used these products.
