Real Life Strategy Guide: Planning the Perfect Game Night
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Currently, I’m in London shooting videos with my friends at No Rolls Barred, a YouTube channel that makes great tabletop videos and plays A LOT of Blood on the Clocktower. With all that being said, you may be surprised to learn that I’ve been diving into a myriad of different board games in quick succession. Today, some of the folks and I talked about having game nights with friends, and how often it leads to playing simple party games that you can pick up and play. Which I get, since I have had Dead of Winter sitting on my shelf in shrink wrap longer than I have had my ten year old daughter. Some games are just hard to teach and most of our friends don’t want to spend a majority of the hang sitting through a tutorial. Shortly after that, the entity (the nickname for my ADHD) took hold and I started thinking about how to plan the perfect game night that allows you to play your complex board games while streamlining game night for everyone involved. It goes without saying that if you have a core game night group that can play these kinds of games really easily, this isn’t for you. This is for all my homies who can’t help but yap with their friends and the concept of sitting in silence to hear almost 45 minutes of rules makes you want to scream.
Tip #1: Prep your players
The key to your perfect game night is making sure people are going to spend less time learning and more time playing the damn game! That’s why we revert to party games so often. When the rules are so simple they can be explained in the time frame of a TikTok, you can keep your friend’s attention span long enough to dole out the basics of the game. With rules dense games you’re going to have to do some prep work to help speed things along. Send your players a tutorial of the game in an email along with a rulebook pdf if available. (Even better if they have a quickstart one sheet!) We live in a day and age where more games have a YouTube tutorial for them online, so just search… or you know, support my friends over at Good Times Society, and give them a chance to get a head start on the rules. I’m going to be honest, though, if your friends are like mine, many of them will not watch the video. However, the ones that do are the ones you want to make sure have access to it. Your tryhard friends and most importantly, the rules lawyer friends are going to study up and need less repeats during tutorial and throughout the game. If you’re wondering why you’d do this if you’re still going to have to explain this, I have to tell you from experience that more people understanding the rules is better. Oftentimes, a “this is too complicated” is settled by a “I can sit next to you and remind you of the rules”. Self policing in friend groups rocks when it actually happens. However, let’s do a bit of introspection.
Tip #2: Know the rules of the game too
As much fun as it is to blame the short attention span of our friends, what’s really pushing the limits of their patience is the host fumbling through the rulebook. We often look up at our checked out friends annoyed without realizing we spent 10 minutes rereading a rule because we misremembered a portion of it. As the host pushing the fun complicated game, we should be able to take the knowledge of the rules within the book and translate it to our friends in a way they’ll understand. Example: “In Gudnak, your unit is fatigued when you deploy them, similar to summoning sickness in Magic!.” The more you can put the rules in laymen terms, the quicker you can explain the rules and get to playing the damn game. Also, it’s helpful if during the game itself, you don’t need to pull out the rulebook for every question. Even if some friends are going to ask to read it out of the rulebook anyway. (I’m looking at you, rules lawyer friend.)
Tip #3: Have the game set up before people get there
This is probably one of the most important aspects of the guides. What got my wheels turning was when someone in the conversation that spurred this whole thing said: “If my game nights had all the games set up like this shoot, I’d definitely be into playing games like this more!” I knew this was true because I have a partner that’s really into Wingspan, like really into it. (The whole reason she slid into my DMs is because a Wingspan Um, Actually statement popped up on her timeline.) When we finally got the chance to play, it was my first time and she explained the game in less than five minutes and had the board set up in record time. Before I knew it, she was saying “Let’s just start, it’ll be easier to learn as you play!” and she was right. I am definitely learn while playing guy, but we cover all the bases by doing Tip #1 for the visual learners who need to see or read how it works before playing. Game night is always going to start with chit chats and catching up, but I find it to be the reason it’s so hard to transition into these more complex games. You just spent 15-30 minutes yapping and laughing with friends and now you’re expected to sit down and shut up while the gameboard is being slowly set up, then sit silent for even longer while the rules are being explained. If everything is set up, you can transition into your tightened rules explanation and just jump into the game.
Tip #4: Have a food agenda
Snacks? That’s basic. Most folks will have them, but what are we doing about the imminent meal that will interrupt gameplay? My favorite trick for my TTRPG group is getting a pulse check about food before the night and have food scheduled to arrive during the break. Gives ample time to step away from the table, eat, and yap with friends. Most importantly, you didn’t waste an hour trying to get everyone to order on a food delivery service that may end up messing up everyone’s order anyway.
Tip #5: Have a back up plan
Look, I’m going to be completely honest with you here. There’s a world in which you do all of the above tips and run into the simple fact that your friends hate this game. Hell, you might even hate the game. So, always keep that simple party game handy just in case. I’ve heard of many a game night ruined by the host’s desire to force their friends to play a game no one liked. This is a group activity, and more importantly, a chance to hang out with your friends. So, if they’re not into it, just pack it up and play something else. Unless it’s Gudnak, then you should just find new friends. (I fucking love Gudnak.) Jokes aside, take it easy on yourself, everyone is here to hang out with you most of all.
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