Game night is a classic way for friends and family to come together and spend time with each other, but it can quickly become a mundane activity after a few successful get-togethers.
Whether you’re planning a game night for your family, friends, or neighbors, you want to make it a night that your guests remember. To help you with the planning, we’ve put together a few fun ideas to spice things up.
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Try a New Game
You probably have favorite games that you and your crew play every game night. It’s great to have trusted hits like that, but it’s also fun to try something different from time to time. Try thinking outside of the box with some new games that you and your friends haven’t tried before.
One way to help ensure that at least one person likes the suggested games is to ask everyone to suggest a game that they’d like to try. Let your guests know how many people will be there and how much time you have so that they pick an appropriate game for the evening.
Some popular games you might want to try include:
- Cards Against Humanity
- What Do You Meme
- Exploding Kittens
- Bang
- Zombicide
- Spyfall
- Codenames
- Settlers of Cataan
- Ticket to Ride
- Cover Your Assets
You never know — you may end up finding a new favorite game that becomes a regular part of game night from now on.
Take the Party Outdoors
One of the biggest mistakes people make on game night is keeping everything indoors. If your game night falls on a day with pleasant weather, get everybody outside with a picnic table and chairs.
When it starts to get dark, set up lights to keep the party going. You can also light a bonfire for heat.
Just be sure there isn’t too much wind, as high wind levels can knock over game pieces or even the entire board. Set up some sort of barrier on windy days or bring it back inside.
Also, don’t forget the bug spray!
Set the Mood with Music
Who wants to play games in complete silence? Help get people in a party mood with high energy songs.
Find a Bluetooth speaker and set it up where you’re playing. Make it loud enough for people to hear but quiet enough so people can talk about the games comfortably.
Set up the playlist well in advance so that you don’t have to look through songs during the game. Allow other people to create a playlist, too. Whoever won the last game can be the one in charge of the music.
If you don’t have time to curate a playlist, consider using a free service like Spotify, Pandora, or Amazon Music to shuffle songs for you. You can pay for a subscription to these services to get rid of the ads, but most people won’t really notice the commercials when you’re in a social atmosphere.
Help Everyone Relax with a Vaporizer
Many people include drinks on game night, but alcohol can make people feel groggy in the morning. This is especially problematic if game night is on a weeknight when people have to work the next day. Instead, try offering your guests a vaporizer to lighten the mood without the downside of a hangover the next day.
You have two options when it comes to using a vaporizer on your game night, CBD and THC. CBD will help partygoers relax without the psychedelic effects that THC provides, and it’s legal in all 50 states, making it the safer option of the two. That said, if you’re in a state that permits recreational THC use, don’t rule it out so fast.
Either way you go, you’ll want a vaporizer that can fill the room rather than just occupying a small space in the larger room. Try something like the To the Clouds Classic Volcano Vaporizer that has the strength to cover the entire room, and you’re guaranteed to have a great time.
Upgrade Your Snacks
Most people offer some chips and dip on game night. While that’s not the worst thing in the world, you can certainly do better than that.
You don’t even need to be a great cook, either. There are a number of great items that you can make that are sure to please the crowd while fooling people into thinking you have skills in the kitchen.
One crowd pleaser is something called rumaki, which is essentially bacon-wrapped water chestnuts. They are simple to make and only require 3 ingredients (4 if you include the toothpick).
You can also find some simple meatball recipes, potato skins, chicken wings, or little cucumber sandwiches. Don’t forget dessert! Have cookies or brownies available for the end of the night.
Make it a Themed Party
If you really want to spice things up, turn your game night into a themed party. The good news is that there is never a shortage of themes to choose from.
Start by deciding whether you want to do something that specifically suits you and your crew or whether you want to try something completely out of character and different for you guys.
A casino theme is great if you want to play games that stick to a specific theme. You can play poker, blackjack, craps, and a number of other games. People can even dress up as if they were in a vulkan vegas 50 free spins casino.
You don’t have to spend real money. Just give everyone chips that don’t really have any value (unless you want to offer prizes). Of course, you can use real money, too.
An “around the world” theme can give everyone the opportunity to play foreign games. You can also offer foreign foods and drinks. Dress in a culture. Just be mindful to remain appropriate if you choose this theme.
You can even have everyone wear and end the night by throwing paint on each other or drawing on each other’s clothes. It’s like an additional game.
There are a wide variety of themes you can pick, so have fun with it. Just make sure you pick the theme early and encourage people to play along.
