6 Tips to Be the Ultimate Host for a Board Game Night

As Friday evening finally comes around after a hard week, you and your friends find yourselves in your living room ready to sink battleships, overthrow empires or become real estate titans during the next few hours. Well, within the confines of fiction. (It is only game night, after all.)

If you’re looking for a quiet night in filled with delicious snacks and in the company of great friends, consider giving board games a try. Although often dismissed as children’s activities, pen and paper (or sometimes even plastic) games can be a great way to unwind and have a few laughs. Sure, they might not have the high-quality graphics of video games, but there’s nothing really like the feeling of rolling dice and moving pieces around with your own hands.

But, hosting an amazing board game night isn’t just about picking games and making sure the table is big enough to seat everybody. In fact, there are quite a few things to take into consideration if you want the night to be a success. So, here are six tips to keep in mind if you want to be the ultimate host for your own board game night.

Gather your party

Every grand adventure needs its protagonists. And, as the host, it’s your duty to pick the best-suited ones for the game night you have in mind. But, what does this mean? Simply put, you need to figure out who among your friends is interested in board games and who might be available to play. The easiest way to go about that is to ask around. However, if this fails, just hop on social media and try some of the local groups in your area.

Schedule, schedule, schedule

Once you have a group of people ready it’s time to tackle the next big challenge — finding a time when everybody is free. Without a doubt, scheduling is the worst enemy that every host will face, and board game nights are no exception. Depending on the group of people you’ve invited over, it might take a while to come to a decision — which is why starting a group chat or setting up a calendar is a great move. It’s important to maintain a fair balance between being flexible and assertive so that everybody feels like they’re reached a fair compromise.

Pick the crowd-pleasers

Once you’re done gathering the players and picking the date, it’s time for the fun to start, right? Not quite. While having the right people meet at the right time is crucial, there can’t be a game night without a few games. Additionally, when deciding which games to play, it’s best to keep in mind the number of players who will be there. Otherwise, it’s really about preferences: Whether it’s a strategy game like Risk’ an old-timer like checkers; or the ever-popular classics — like Clue, Monopoly or Pictionary — just make sure it’s something that your guests might be interested in.

Stock up on snacks

Like any other party, food and drinks are a necessity. After all, you don’t want a large group of hangry people on your hands! In order to avoid that, make sure to provide a few snacks and drinks to keep your guests in good spirits. This can be anything from finger food to candy or even pizza — as long as it’s not too greasy and you provide plenty of napkins. Unfortunately, plenty of board games go through tragic spilling or staining accidents each year — and you don’t want your precious collection to be one of the casualties.

Invest into your home

This goes without saying, but if you’re having guests over, be sure to prepare proper seating arrangements. Nothing kills the spirit of a board game party faster than finding out that you’re expected to stand up the whole night. Of course, depending on how spacious your rental is, there are plenty of options. But, for the ultimate comfy experience why not go for the classic set up of throwing pillows down and gathering around a low table? That way, there’s plenty of room for everyone (without having to worry about chairs.)

Read the instructions

Finally, it’s time for the party to start. You’ve gathered your people, prepared your place and stocked up on rations for what will most likely be an epic game night. But, uh-oh! There’s a problem: A couple of players are disagreeing about the rules for one of the games you’ve picked, or maybe someone has never played it before and has no idea what’s going on. Avoiding awkward situations like this is what really makes or breaks a great host, so it’s time for you to step in and play mediator. All that means is that you have to speak up when you witness poor behavior on behalf of your players’ or step up to the challenge of teaching the rules to someone new to the game.