海角大神

How to host a games night

Looking for a rich social experience with friends, without doing the same old thing or spending a bunch of money? Try a games night and dinner party.

As I鈥檝e mentioned before on The Simple Dollar, one of our favorite social activities is to host a 鈥済ame night鈥� with several of our friends. We do this on a rotating basis with them, with roughly two 鈥済ame nights鈥� happening per month. For us, it鈥檚 a social highlight 鈥� it provides great social interaction (that鈥檚 what a board game or a card game really is 鈥� a tool to get people at the table talking), a fun evening with friends, and some great thought-provoking game play.

Every so often, I鈥檒l hear from a reader who seems somewhat interested in the idea but envisions people sitting around bored to death playing a marathon game of Monopoly. An example, from Brady:

We have friends over two or three times a month. We usually end up watching movies, which I like every once in a while, but I don鈥檛 like it because no one talks or interacts. I鈥檇 love to host a game night but playing Monopoly for four hours sounds really boring. I understand how in theory it gets people talking at the table, but a game marathon?

Never, ever judge the experience of playing tabletop games by your early-life Monopoly experience. From the many people I鈥檝e talked to about board games, Monopoly has singlehandedly soured them on the idea of playing board games, and for good reason. Monopoly is extremely luck-based, takes far too long, has a huge 鈥渋nevitability鈥� factor (meaning when one person gets ahead, that person almost always stays ahead), and the house rules intended to make it 鈥渇un鈥� just make it worse. If you鈥檙e one of the folks that likes Monopoly, your mind will be blown by a well-designed game.

Beyond that, people also often get a negative view of gaming because of the way it鈥檚 often used as an icebreaker, pushing people into an uncomfortable situation under the auspices of a 鈥済ame.鈥�

So, this brings us to the question: how does one organize and host a social evening of games with friends?

First, a 鈥済ame night鈥� is actually just a potluck dinner or dinner party with games as the entertainment. Keep that in mind as you plan this. The key is social interaction, as it would be with any dinner party with friends.

Second, the games themselves are there to provide entertainment and a springboard for conversation without dragging things down. Unless you really know the crowd, the games should be short, they should be easy to teach, and they should inspire a desire to replay it in at least some people. If you get a regular group going, of course, you can go beyond this 鈥� there are some truly great games that violate both the 鈥渟hort鈥� and the 鈥渆asy to teach鈥� rules, but when you鈥檙e trying this out for the first time, stick to games that are both short and easy to teach.

Our gaming evenings go as follows.

If we鈥檙e inviting new people, we explain in detail the purpose of the evening. Usually, because of the anti-Monopoly and often anti-gaming sentiment out there, we focus on the social aspects of the evening 鈥� the dinner and the conversation. Simply state that we鈥檒l be playing a few games as well that we鈥檒l be happy to teach to you if you come.

We designate a pre-dinner time for people to arrive, but aren鈥檛 strict about it. Depending on what games we鈥檙e going to play and the schedules of the people that are being invited, we sometimes even start in the early afternoon. I find that a pre-dinner game or two does a great job of setting the mood for the evening. Plus, with an open-ended arrival time, we allow for the possibility of games to start before everyone arrives.

Someone should fully understand the games to be played before guests arrive and is willing to teach it. This is essential when you鈥檙e first trying this idea out. You want someone that understands the games well enough to teach them to others and has the self-confidence to do so. I usually encourage people to start out with the overall goal of the game (how do you win) and summarize the entire game in fifteen seconds or so. Then, set up the game, explaining the pieces as you go. This usually gets the basic framework of the game in people鈥檚 minds.

The meal should be partially prepared before guests arrive. We focus on 鈥減otluck鈥� meals, where guests bring a side dish and the hosts are usually just responsible for a simple main course. Often, this is prepared in a slow cooker so that the meal can be served conveniently whenever there鈥檚 a break. We regularly serve soups and stews, as they prepare very well in slow cookers.

We strive to play a variety of games. This is really the kicker, isn鈥檛 it? What kinds of games are we talking about here?

The least expensive way to start is with card games 鈥� particularly games that can be played with a standard pack of playing cards. These work very well if you have a multiple of two guests or especially a multiple of four guests, as many such games are played with a partner against another partnership. I鈥檝e been to several such occasions where one card game was played for the entire evening, with 鈥渞elegation鈥� and 鈥減romotion鈥� among the tables, with the winning team at each table moving 鈥渦p鈥� and the loser at each table moving 鈥渄own鈥� (with the winner at the top table and the loser at the bottom table staying put).

Some suggestions: , , , , , and . I particularly love and , but both are best taught with an experienced teacher.

The advantage of card games is that the equipment cost is very low and it鈥檚 an effective way to gauge the interest of gaming among your friends. The disadvantage is that endless card games with a deck of cards can seem boring after a while, especially when there is such a wide variety of games out there.

However, there are a multitude of excellent games out there that meet the criteria I established above: easy to teach, simple rules, short, but also very engaging. Games that fall into this group include , , , , and . These are the games we break out when we鈥檙e playing with family members who don鈥檛 regularly game with us for the reasons stated above: easy to teach, simple rules, short, but also very engaging. They鈥檙e the perfect 鈥渟tarter鈥� games, and the variety among the games is fairly large. I鈥檓 going to guess that readers will pop in in the comments below and offer many more such suggestions.

If you鈥檙e concerned about the cost, remember that board games like this are an excellent gift, as they basically beg to be played, shared, and to facilitate social interaction.

We keep food and beverages on a side table (usually). This makes it easily possible for people to have food and drink at the table when games are being played without risking moisture all over the game components or a cataclysmic spilling accident. An exception is when we use a standard deck of cards, during which we don鈥檛 worry about it too much.

If you鈥檙e looking for an evening with friends that鈥檚 rich in social interaction without doing the same old thing and also without spending a bunch of money, try a gaming night and dinner party. You might just find another avenue of entertainment to add to your repertoire.

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