Music and Board Games

I'm always listening to music.

Cooking, cleaning, driving, walking, shaving, sleeping, entertaining - every job or situation is enhanced with music. I'm listening to music while I type this (Dorian Concept is my current writing soundtrack in case you're interested).

We had a couple of friends over for dinner a while ago and they seemed dumbfounded at the fact that I always had music playing - at the time I had Spotify playing on my phone in my pocket. Music was just an essential part of my day, why would it be seen as strange to have it accompany almost everything!? This was the first time I considered that my habit might get on people's nerves from time to time.

With having such passion for music and board games, it makes sense that I would combine the two.

I like to have music playing in the background whenever I have company over to play games for a bit of ambiance, and sometimes it doesn't have to be anything specific. However, with most games having prominent themes it makes sense to me to theme the background music. There's only one thing better than listening to music, and that's making playlists!

I have several playlists that I use when playing some of my board games:

• I have a playlist for when we play Betrayal at House on the Hill and other horror-themed games. It consists mainly of tracks by Fabio Frizzi (and from a few other Lucio Fulci films). His music perfectly fits the low-budget horror vibe I get when playing Betrayal. It's atmospheric without being too dark.

• I have a playlist for my Sci-Fi themed games. That's a (mostly) minimal, Bladerunner-y collection of tracks including Michael McCann, Hans Zimmer, Philip Glass, and, of course Vangelis.

• I like to listen to Ennio Morricone while playing Doomtown, and anything else with even a slightly Western theme.

• A Blues playlist is always on the menu while playing Ticket to Ride (I am aware these aren't really linked thematically, but it just works for me).

• I'm currently putting together a collection of music from Akira Kurosawa films and the Okami soundtrack for playing Samurai Spirit.

• I need a playlist for fantasy-themed games.

As a side note, I have been known to turn music off when learning rules or when a game is getting particularly complex and requires everyone's full concentration. Sometimes.

I'm interested to hear if you use music to enhance your gaming experiences. Do you find it helps create atmosphere, or does it distract from the game? Any suggestions for a fantasy-themed playlist? Feel free to leave a comment or tweet me.

P.S. I read a great post about board game soundtracks on JK's Game Shelf at the start of the year. It was great to know I wasn't the only one soundtracking their games.