Looking to host a fun and friendly gathering? Why not plan an awesome board game night! Sure, board games may sound like kid stuff, but people of all ages can appreciate a few hours away from the TV to enjoy some childlike fun. Plus, there are some great ways to spice up board game night and keep things interesting.
The first step to the ultimate game night is, of course, to pick the games. Old-school options like Monopoly and Risk are classic favorites. Want to stretch your mind? Trivial Pursuit and Scrabble are also popular choices. Some more social and carefree games include Apples to Apples and Loaded Questions (one of my personal favorites!). If you ever get bored of the classics, though, here is one site with an impressive selection of off-beat games.
To make things more interesting, you can always add themed drinks (and fun rules on when to drink them) and snacks. Cookies and cakes can be easily decorated to resemble your favorite games. Check out a few awesome sheet cakes here!
Next up, make your space party-friendly. You don't need to raid the party store for great decorations. Some colorful tablecloths and plates go a long way. Spice things up by making your own game-themed centerpieces, place cards, and more. Check out this link for one great idea.
You can bump up the level of competitiveness by playing games for prizes. If you're playing multiple games, give winners points for how they do in each. Otherwise, you can play a single game as a tournament. Setting up a money pool is one option, but you can also have other (cheap) prizes like dollar-store goodies or IOUs for favors. You may even want to ask each guest to bring a grab-bag prize.
If you're in mixed company, Battle of the Sexes can be a lot of fun. This summer some friends and I discovered a game called Buzz Word that's different and interesting also and we enjoyed it quite a bit. Cranium and Pictionary are also great (Cranium might require people who know each other though - at times it got a little awkward). Another idea for a prize: if you want to try out new games, have everyone chip in a few dollars so you can buy a new board game. Winner gets to keep the game!
ReplyDeleteYeah we used to have board game night at university. Often Risk or some other strategy game was the favorite, or a game called Hare And Tortoise, where your energy is carrots, moving forward 1 square costs you 1, 2 costs you 1+2, 3 costs you 1+2+3 etc. You ended up moving backwards and forwards on the board to accumulate the right number of carrots. Very interesting because there was a lot of strategy to it.
ReplyDeleteLike the blog, really nice.