This is how you host games night, David!
A ‘Schitt’s Creek’ fan’s guide to success
Die-hard “Schitt’s Creek” fans know how important games night is to David Rose. Quite specifically — for games night to succeed — a strict protocol must be followed:
Only six people can be invited (“Any more and gameplay gets too yelly.”)
It’s NOT a party.
It’s composed of three parts — beginning exactly at 8 p.m., ending precisely at 10 p.m.
For those who don’t have the benefit of a Davidesque games night director — but who admire his tenacity and fearsome dedication — how can a perfect games night be pulled off?
Is David’s way the only play? Or are there other strategies to make your games night a success?
Let’s talk to a few experts:
Three, two, one — play!
To begin with, board game developer John Brieger (Briegercreative.com) suggests appealing to your crowd.
“One key to hosting a great games night is picking games to suit your audience, which sometimes means adapting on the fly instead of saying ‘here are the three games we’re playing tonight,” he says.
Often, according to Brieger, this means selecting a game (or games) that are short and easy to teach.
“Even if you know all your friends that are coming over, different games will go better with different moods for the same group,” Brieger says. “You can pick your second game (which could be short or long) based on how the first goes, rather than running the risk of
trapping attendees into a longer game that might not be to their tastes.”
And what if your audience happens to include a mix of not only different personalities and moods, but also ages?
Like many families, Cecile Leger, the writer behind Ella’s Blended Family (EllasBlendedFamily.com), has navigated this circumstance.
“Since there is a large gap between the youngest and oldest boys in our family, finding games suitable for everyone can be challenging,” Leger explains. “Some of our favorite games are Match 5, Carcassonne, Splendor, and our new discovery, Azul.”
Leger’s top game night choices are a combination of board, dice, tile and card games. Any type of board game, according to our gameplay experts, can be an easy and universally enjoyable cornerstone for games night.
“You can pick up [board] games anywhere now,” says Ross Thompsom (Twitter.com/ AlmostKirk), marketing manager at The Op Games, “At Target, Barnes & Noble, or your local mom-and-pop retail shop.”
For games night hosts and guests that prefer to delve into the latest, most trending games,
Thompson recommends “Hues and Cues.”
“It’s a game that lets people try to guess certain colors based on the clues you give them.
It’s great for all ages and can host up to 10 people, too,” Thompson says.
Pursuit of trivia
“Trivia at your local pub or brewery is always a great way to enjoy a competitive evening with your friends,” says Kris Parker, owner and operator of Big Trophy Trivia Co (BigTrophyTrivia.com). “The best number of trivia players to have on one team is four; however it’s important that each person brings something different to the table.”
The “something different” for which Parker refers is “a strong knowledge of history and politics, while another member will be strong in music, movies and television.”
And, while, Parker says it can be tempting to pack a trivia team full of these subject-matter experts, having more than four people per team can complicate team dynamics, and even lead to indecision and divisiveness.
Endgame
How about the length of gameplay? Do our experts agree on a strict three-part, two-hour games session?
“While it’s nice to have everyone over, we are still getting used to hosting and don’t want to have too hard of a ‘social hangover’ the next day,” Thompson says. “Keeping game night to around three hours is the right call. It lets everyone hang out, socialize, play a couple of games, learn the rules to some new games and still have plenty of time for snacks and chitchat during turns.”
For Leger, satisfying the mixed dynamics of family game night does mean a typical twohour time frame, with breaks in between.
“We play games that last between 35 minutes to an hour to keep the boys entertained and focused,” Leger says. “Some nights we play the same game twice, and others, we switch
to a whole new game. We usually start our game night with nachos for supper and special treats throughout the night.”
Get out of jail free card
Perhaps one of the best things you can do — again, unlike David — is allow flexibility during games night.
As Alexis Rose would say: “If it turns into something else, it turns into something else.”
Keeping game night to around three hours is the right call. It lets everyone
hang out, socialize, play a couple of games, learn the rules to some new games
and still have plenty of time for snacks and chitchat during turns.”