There are tons of great ways to have fun on Long Island! From frequenting town festivals to hiking through Long Island trails, listening to live music to spending a day out on the lake fishing the list seems never-ending! As the cold weather rolls in though the list of outdoor activities available to Long Islanders to participate in does begin to shorten as people’s desire to spend time outside also lessens. This doesn’t mean you can’t plan your own fun game night in though!
Game nights are a great way to entertain yourself and friends from the warmth and comfort of home! You can decorate your place in a fun game night motif, choose what food and drinks will be served and encourage everyone to bring over a plethora of games to pick from! Game nights prove that don’t need to go out to have a good time!
Here are some helpful tips for planning your own future game night:
- Open Up the Game Before Game Night! Everyone knows what it’s like when you’re pumped up to play a board game and when you finally get the box down from the highest position possible on the shelf you open it up only to find that pieces are missing and you cannot play the game. This time around save yourself the heartache and make sure beforehand that all of the pieces for the games you’re going to be playing are present and playable.
- BYOG! Guests can still bring their own beer but encourage them to bring their own game! Everyone has their own favorite board game to play so by hosting a “Bring Your Own Game” night everyone has the chance to play a game they like and to introduce it to fellow game/board game lovers.
- Create a Game Motif! Make your game night the ultimate game night by incorporating game motifs into other aspects of your gathering! Regular playing cards can be used as drink markers by punching a hole into a playing card and cutting from the hole to the corner of your playing card. All you have to do now is put the card on your wine glass via the stem and you have a variety of beverage markers. There are lots of creative ideas you can come up with, like writing your guest’s names in Scrabble pieces to indicate seating placement!
- Easy To Grab Snacks! When it comes to picking out snacks for your game night keep in mind that people’s hands will be busy playing games. Opt for foods more on the finger food/snack side of the spectrum this way when guests are eating it won’t be a total interruption of game play and game flow. Pretzels, popcorn, pigs in a blanket, chips and other similar small, easy to eat foods are ideal.
- Have Variety & Options! Game night doesn’t have to mean just board games you can include other games too! If you have gaming systems at home set them up so people can feel free to pick up a controller and play. Many board games only work with a certain number of people so instead of just watching the game go on without them those who cannot play this round can go play a round of something else in the meantime.
Photo by Becky Freeland via Free Images