Few things are as fun as a game night with friends. Getting together for some good old-fashioned tabletop gaming can be a great way to spend time with friends and family. And it’s easy to organize a great game night for large groups of people. Whether it’s a few friends at home or a large group of people at your local game store, you’ll find it’s easy to organize a game night that everyone will enjoy.
What Makes A Great Game Night?
Game night is an essential part of your social life and the experiences you have with your closest friends. Great game nights are those that are fun for the participants. They usually have a theme that all the players can relate to or something that everyone enjoys. People should be encouraged to try new games, so they experience something new and exciting. Some of the best game nights are when people try different board, card, and dice games that they would not usually play.
Everyone has different preferences, so everyone needs to get their fair share of time on the floor while still having some downtime to enjoy themselves. Essentially, the bottom line is that you will have succeeded as long as you can ensure that everyone is having fun. With all that said, what are some steps you need to take to create a fun night for all involved?
Get In Some Practice!
While this is a fun gathering, it is always good to practice before the guests arrive at the chosen game. You aren’t doing this to be the best and boast about it, but instead, you are doing it so you can fully enjoy the game. There is nothing fun about losing the first round and waiting until everyone else has finished playing! Therefore, you should decide on the game you will be playing (more on that later) and get practicing.
The scrabble gurus suggest that using something like a word finder for a few minutes per day, you will develop a broader range of vocabulary useful when playing scrabble. This is true for any game that you decide to play, from chess to checkers. Although it is not necessary to learn more vocab when playing chess, practice will help to improve your game, making you an even more formidable opponent to your friends.
Invite Enough People
You must invite the correct number of people around for the game you choose. Apart from the more, the merrier; some games need a certain number of players. This is especially true if you are hosting a tournament whereby you will be playing in rounds. For example, a scrabble tournament will need at least two boards with four players each. Therefore, you’ll need eight guests to make the night as fun as possible.
Decide On The Game You Will Be Playing
This is a vital and arguably the most critical step of the night. You need to know what game or games you will all be playing. The best way to do this is to set up a message group with WhatsApp or FB Messenger and invite all the people you want to attend into that group. From there, you can create a poll and let all of your friends choose which game will be played. This results in everyone having fun and getting prepared for the night ahead.
Decide What Time You Will Begin Playing
There is nothing worse than waiting for someone to show up to the game night. Everyone else has managed to arrive on time, but there is always one person who holds up proceedings. Therefore, you should allow extra time before the game for people to show up, which leads to the next point.
You Don’t Need To Begin Immediately
You must never forget the reason for hosting a games night in the first place, namely to have fun! If you get too involved with the game aspect, you might lose sight of what makes a party fun. This step is also vital to allow enough time for your guests to show up and get settled in. Continuing from the last point, you might find that some of your friends aren’t as punctual as others, so taking the time to relax and catch up will pay off immensely.
Make Enough Space
You will be surprised at how much space several adults can take up. Therefore you must leave enough room for everyone to sit comfortably. Depending on the game you have chosen, you might need more or less space.
For example, Scrabble is a game played by four people, each of whom needs enough room for their tiles, food and drinks, and the game board itself. Games need even more space, but the point is that you should ensure that you have plenty of tables and chairs and the physical space to host the party. If this means moving furniture around to be a gracious host, this is what you’ll have to do.
Prepare Some Food And Drinks
You are going to need enough food and drink to last an entire night. Aside from the games and the company, this is the next most vital factor to hosting a brilliant games night. It would help if you lay on a range of soft and alcoholic drinks as well as plenty of snacks.
You don’t need to cook full-blown meals, but there must be chips, dips, and lots of other finger foods that your friends can graze on throughout the evening. You should plan to double the amount you think is necessary because you will be shocked at how much people eat and drink when they are in the zone playing the game!
After Game Entertainment
While the games themselves are the most crucial factor, it will ultimately end, or the games might merely fizzle out. Therefore, you must ensure that you have enough after-game entertainment to keep the party going. It can be some music, movies, or anything else you and your friends enjoy.
A fun game night includes a lot more factors than you might have first thought. Nevertheless, with a bit of forward planning, you can set up and enjoy a great night with friends and have fun.
