Many people that are not familiar with man caves will think about a gamers man cave. Gaming is a very popular pastime so it’s not surprising that this is the stereotype. The gamer cave stereotype is not very positive. It’s dirty, dark, messy, smelly and occupied by a similar creature.
Table of Contents
Console/PC
The PC vs console debate is not very interesting to me. This article isn’t about the actual games or hardware you’re going to be using. It’s more of an introductory guide with things you’ve got to think about.
Some things in this post might also be useful to console gamers but it’s focused on PC gamers.
Other activities
You’re building a man cave anyways. Why not try to make it a room for other interests as well?
Of course it quickly becomes a question of how much space those activities take up and how much space you’ve got available.
If you can fit in a decent sized table and some chairs around it, you’ve already got a lot of options. You’ll need a table for playing board games, card games, as a workbench, etc.
Furniture
A gamer’s man cave is usually used by a single person. But many people would like to have a place to hang out with friends as well. I’ve divided the furniture by how many people it’s meant to house. Of course you can have any combination of the two.
One person
Desk
For the PC some console gamers, you need a desk. Something that’s big enough to put a monitor, desk, mouse and your limbs on. Depth is more important than width in most cases although you’ll want a good width desk to put some other things on if you have the space.
It’s of course perfectly possible to use a normal desk. No need to pay extra for a “gaming” branded desk. Some things to look out for;
- Build quality
- You don’t want the desk to move around during an inspired session.
- Height adjustability
- Since gaming sessions can be quite long, it’s a good idea to have a good seating position. Height adjustability can help you find this.
- Size
- Enough space for monitors, keyboards, etc. Depth should be at least 23″, a little bit more would be great. You need about 12″ of space to move your mouse.
- Table top material
- I don’t like to use a mouse pad. That does mean the surface of the desk has an influence on the performance. Laser mice have few problems with this but optical mice can have some.
- Cable management
- Some desks come with options for cable management built in. This helps everything look neater.
Chair
Next up is a chair. You need a place to sit and since gaming sessions take pretty long, a good chair is essential.
A gaming chair of office chair will do the job as long as it is comfortable, has height adjustment and decent back support.
Window covers
No one likes glare. It’s distracting and can make you lose games. If you’ve got any windows that might create this problem at certain times, get something that can block out the light.
Storage
Many gamers like to have some models and action figures in their man cave. Since these are usually not cheap, you’ll need some safe places to put them.
A bookshelf or shelves are good to put items like that on display while keeping them relatively safe.
For really valuable and/or vulnerable items you can get a glass showcase. This will protect your valuables while you can still see them.
This black metal and glass showcase on Amazon looks great for this purpose. The build quality is solid and provides plenty of space while being easy to place anywhere because of the small footprint.
Fridge
Whether you’re alone or with friends, cold drinks is always welcome. Since you don’t have time to pause your game and run to the fridge in the kitchen, you need one in your man cave.
I’ve written a whole article about fridges for man caves here.
For the purpose of having cold drinks during your gaming sessions, it’s best to have a fridge that you can place somewhere in arms reach. That means a mini fridge you can place under your desk or one you can place on the desk.
Multiple people
For people that want to have some mates over, you’ve got two choices; -A sofa for just hanging out and relaxing. –A table with chairs so you can play board games, card games, etc.
You’ll need all of the items for one person as well. Otherwise you can’t really game and it’ll just be a place to hang out.
Of course you’re not limited to just gaming. If you’ve got the space you can obviously do anything you’d like. Some suggestions;
- Home bar
- Pool table
- Darts
- Workbench
Again, if you’ve got the space you can do anything in your game cave you’d like. Make it a place you want to spend time in. It’s costing you a room of your house so you might as well use it.
Decorations
This is where the gamer cave is going to be quite different form the average non gamer variety. There are so many different games that all have their own merchandize. Besides that there are many decorations that are replicas of items from a certain game.
Is it nerdy to have a room full of action figures and models? It certainly is in my opinion. However, if that’s who you are and you’re comfortable with it, why would you care what I or anyone else thinks? Besides that, being nerdy doesn’t have to be a bad thing.
DIY
The gaming PC is actually quite flexible to be turned into a decoration in several ways.
PC case
The first and easiest way to turn your PC into something decorative, is to just make it look good.
What looking good means is different for everyone. Some like the subdued PC that doesn’t draw any attention to itself and just does its job. For those people it’s difficult to turn it into a decoration.
Others like something a little flashier with a nice PC case that looks nice. Something with a glass panel on the side and some lights inside so you can look at all the hardware nicely lit up.
Desk
The next level is something really cool. Take all the components and throw the case away.
You make a case out of the desk and put everything inside. Now put a glass table top over it to cover it up and to create your desk.
Add some lighting and you’ve got something really cool that will certainly be a conversation starter for every new visitor.
Check out this website to find out how to build your own.
Wall
Another option is to build your PC on the wall. This does require some skill and patience. You’ll also have to be quite precise since you and everyone else will be looking at it often. Measure and plan carefully. Use nice looking components and manage your cables very neatly.
Using LEDs to light up the outlines of your components from the underside creates a really cool look when you turn down the lights.
Read this article for inspiration.
Posters
Just like any other topic, you can find a seemingly limitless amount of posters that have a certain game as a topic. What you’ll like obviously depends on which game you like.
Posters are the easiest and cheapest way to decorate a place. There is a large variety so you can always find something you like.
Want to know more about ways to hang posters? Check out this article.
Example
Even though the last version of Fallout wasn’t great, the game has a huge fanbase. The awesome retro style of the games is a great source of inspiration for decorations. Check out this poster on Amazon for example.
Action figures
Not everyone is into action figures and not every game even has action figures available. Many guys are afraid to “play with dolls” but it’s not really the same.
If you’re not familiar with them but interested, take a look at this website.
Stigma
Keep in mind there is an amount of action figures that can be considered “weird” by other people. Of course this depends on which people see it but it’s something to be aware of. Think of someone having a couple of pictures of a celebrity on their wall. No big deal, it’s probably their idol and maybe role model.
Now imagine someone having all their walls full of this celebrities face, branded items everywhere and is writing fan fiction involving this celebrity. I would probably try to get away from that person pretty quickly. It can be the same with action figures
Models/replicas
Just like action figures, there’s a ton of models and replicas of items from certain games. Again, it depends on the game, what is available. Obviously more popular games are more likely to have items available but, some smaller games have a hardcore fanbase that creates things like replicas.
I don’t know which game you like obviously so it’s hard to say what is available for you. There are some creators that can make custom items for you but that doesn’t come cheap.
These items do have somewhat less of a stigma attached to them, at least less than action figures.
Hi there. I’m BetterDaily. I’m a man in his early thirties that likes to travel, ride motorcycles, work out and write. Usually I write about men, things related to masculinity and things men like. Teacher by day, blogger by night.
