02 Oct 6 Steps to Plan A Great Board Game Night
One of the most pleasurable ways to strengthen relationships with family and friends, a board game night is a very relaxing and fun way to spend an evening or afternoon. Focus on the basic plan and make the right preparations before your game night, and the event will make everyone’s week and not beat you up with difficult or time consuming prep work.
1. Select The Game In Advance
Be sure to reach out to your family and friends in advance to select the best game. Doing a poll with 4 options to select from will keep the discussion civil and quick. Be sure to choose options that are good for the size and ages of your guests.
2. Invite The Right Number For Your Game
Once your game for the event is chosen, make sure that the number of guests invited matches the board games intended playerbase. Typically this ranges from 4-8 players, which will be a good number to host for your event.
There is nothing worse than having an extra person who is excluded, or mismatched numbers on teams during a game night. Be sure to think out the game, and the best way to play it to determine the optimum number of players for the game as well. If a game says that it takes 2-4, but you remember it not being great with only two, it might make sense to only use it with larger groups.
For a Shifty Eyed Spy party try this Spy Themed Invite
TIP: Try a themed personalized e-invitation for your guests. Like Paperless Post or Evite
3. Specialty Drinks, Cocktails or Beer
Take the extra time to theme the events by having specialty non alcoholic drinks, cocktails or beer to match the game. Make large quantities available in a pitcher for easy refills throughout the night.
For The Wizard Always Wins, try Black Magic Sangria or a non-alcoholic Butterbeer.
TIP: One of the best pieces of advice we can give is to avoid serving in wine glasses or tall glasses during game night. As your guests reach across the table to move pieces on the board, they might tip over unwieldy glasses and spill their drink on the game, table and floor.
4. Fun Food – But Easy To Fix Food
Keep the recipes easy and fast. Choose snacks that match your game’s theme with an eye towards fun. The meal should be easy to fix without spending the entire day in the kitchen. You wouldn’t want to be dragging on the floor when your guest finally arrive. There are a million websites out there with easy party foods. Spend the extra effort finding food that matches your game theme to put the event over the top.
For Bob Ross: Art of Chill try these Rainbow Cheesecake Swirl Bars
TIP: You also want to be sure that the snacks will not be too messy. Sticky fingers and cards or Meeples never mix!
5. Informal Coffee Table Seating
Weight the tone of the game, and the size and complexity of the board when you choose a seating arrangement. Simpler, more intimate games might be best played very informally around a coffee table with pillows or very comfortable poufs or low chairs. Super complex games with a lot of pieces to spread out are a better fit for your dining table.
TIP: Just make sure your guest are comfortable. Pillows and chair pads are great for those longer games.
6. Create Fun Decor To Match Your Game
It doesn’t take much to transform your everyday dinner table to a game night fun zone. Use disposable plates, cups and napkins to match your game theme and make clean up easier. Pull out your tablecloth to protect your table as well as give a non slick surface for rolling dice or laying down cards.
Make your game area festive by using bright colors like yellows and pinks or more serious by using dark greens and blues.
For How To Rob A Bank try Cops and Robbers in a Box
TIP: Add ambiance by turning down the lights a little and adding some string lights.
Conclusion
Whatever your chosen game, we hope you have a great time at your event. Bringing family and friends closer together is the reason behind why we do what we do at Big G Creative. Take your time planning your events, prepare ahead of time to make the preparations easier, and be sure to enjoy it for yourself.