Jeff Koslofsky

If you’re a board game lover and you’ve considered taking your game live on Twitch, there are a few tips you’ll want to consider to make viewers want to stick around for your stream.

Banzainator has been streaming to Twitch for more than two years. She does both board games and PC games, but I would say her true love lies with board games. She attributes the beginning of her interest back to when she was nine years old playing cards with her family. She now has nearly 200 board games in her possession.

In the last two years, Banz has not only gained more than 2,000 followers, she’s found a community that she loves. On top of that, a board game company discovered her streams on Twitch in June of 2021 and reached out to her about a full time job. She’s still a proud employee of Master Goblin Games today.

“Instead of getting famous, I was able to get a job that changed my life forever,” says Banz. “It’s a job that I actually really love in an industry that I can’t believe I work in.”

With all of her experience comes many lessons learned. She will be the first to admit that her first live stream was pretty bad. Camera angle looking up the nose, dirty dishes in the background, poor lighting, you name it.

Fast forward to today, and her streams have become much more polished. She saved money over time and invested in better equipment. And with experience, she grew her community and turned her streams into something viewers stick around for.

Here are a few top tips from Banz for streaming a board game:

Internet is everything

If you’re lagging, people will tune out. Plug in an ethernet cable and invest in a good router.

Audio > video

Invest in quality audio equipment. Get a good mic. Viewers would much rather have clear audio with maybe a poorly lit video than a well-lit video and bad audio.

Clean up your overlays

If you create graphics for your stream, make sure they’re nice and clean. Overlays should have a title of what the game is, maybe a nice photo of the box of the game. This way, no matter when the audience tunes in, they’ll know what game is being played.

Clean your space

Make sure you have a clean desk. Remove anything in the shot that you don’t want seen. This could be trash, drinks, notes, etc. Banz mentions she sees a lot of lens caps sitting around. Get those out of there.

Make sure the game pieces are aligned correctly and nothing is crooked.

“It really really irks me when the board game is crooked on screen, and people have to watch a crooked board game for two hours. Please be conscious of alignment,“ says Banz.

Get a decent chair

Remember, board games can take a long time. Sometimes you’ll be streaming for hours. You’ll want a comfortable chair. Not only for comfort, but to avoid potential future back issues.

Moderators or mods

Mods are people who are in the community and have ability to interact in the chat, ban people, do commands for you, etc. They’re important to a stream success because they can help viewers get information or answers to questions quickly. If someone asks about game information, the mods are there to pass it along to them. If someone is being unruly, mods can get them out of there.

If you’re interested in learning more about streaming board games and Banz’s journey on Twitch, check out our full podcast wherever you get your podcasts.

For specific equipment that Banz uses during streams, check out the YouTube video below.