So you enjoy playing board games and have a couple of like minded friends, but still have trouble making the most of your get togethers? Here’s a few tips used in my gaming groups to make game night run as smoothly and enjoyable as possible.
1 Deciding on a date, location and time frame
Most of the preparatory work for setting up a game night is in our case done over social media (facebook to be more precise). We have a private group where these things are decided. Scheduling far ahead has proven a bit difficult for us so we usually just run a poll in the weekend for what day fits the most players in the following week. The day(s) that have the most votes is set as a game night and depending on how is willing to host we determine the location and create a private event. Due to work and family life we basically run with a time frame on 18:00 to 22:00 on weekdays (we rarely play on weekends due to family situations etc, but when we do get a date that fits players, the time frame is of course a lot more flexible). As a general rule we only have a game night if at least 3 people are available.
This point basically boils down to use social media to set a date, a location and a time frame people agree on. Remember that especially location and time frame may also limitate what you can play. It’s of course nice to have these things fixed (game store/library to play at etc), but in general life is pretty fluid and being flexible also keeps game nights fun and not a “chore”.
2 Keep setups efficient and to a minimum
The time people has for gaming in a week is limited, and having setup (and clean-up) taking up a significant time is just depressing, remember you rarely have more than 4-5 hours available. There are a few ways to cut down this with good planning. First, if you plan to play a game you know takes a lot of time to set-up, try to have the host pre-set the game before everybody arrives (so what you play might be decided on where you play). If possible also let the host deal with the clean-up and packing the games away after everybody has left. Just sliding the components to an unused part of the table or something similar and starting something new immediately can work really well (and a host could even have a few games ready to go if they have the space for it).
Also try to keep the games as organized as possible. Dividers, plastic bags with tags, set-up notes etc makes the set-up a lot more efficient, especially in component-heavy games. You usually need a few games under your belt before you know how you should store the components and have everything readily available – don’t be afraid to change things around if you find a more optimal solution!
3 Deciding on what to play
We basically have an idea of what to play when we decide on the date and location. This will in part be determined by 1) where we play and 2) who is playing. The location might limit the space we have to set-up games (big board and loads of components needs a real gaming table), and if you want to cut down on set-up it is often an idea to start with a game the host owns (or the game owner has the possibility to show up early to setup the game. Who is playing is of course a big factor, mainly because games often have a fixed min-max number. If there are 6 or more coming to a game night we’ll usually split in two, as 6+ games aren’t that common and often takes too long to play through (but again, there are games that are best with 6+ players). The level of experience is also something to consider, especially if multiple players need to learn the rules before playing.
We basically get to play 2-3 games each game night, and that comprises of 1-2 more complex/lengthy games (boardgamegeek’s complexity rating is a good indicator, I find that when the complexity goes up the suggested play time becomes more and more optimistic!) and 1-2 shorter “filler-typed” games. Sometimes we also decide to go “all filler” and get through 7-8 lighter games on a single night. Both can be very fun. If we plan to play anything lengthy/complex we usually start with it and also determine what we’ll be playing before we start (again, social media and discussion the game night on the event is a good idea). For the other games, it’s best to keep a selection of choices close by.Combined the gaming group have several hundred titles so you have to limit the selection to a handful of games that the group can decide on there and then. Too much to choose from is just a time stealer. Again remember that explaining the rules also eats up time so you shouldn’t go for too many new games on one game night.
4 Really know the rules
There are few things as frustrating as having to constantly checking the rulebook while playing when nobody really knows how the game is played (some games also has pretty badly written rules!). I strongly advise you to have at least one player really know the game and the rules before breaking out a game on game night (yes, this might give them an unfair advantage when playing, but that’s a lot better than all being frustrated and spending/wasting time on learning the rules on game night).
Having one player know the game also makes it that much easier to give newcomers a quick and easy run-through of the game . Players can of course read up on the rules beforehand, and many games publishers post the rules as pdf’s on their homepage, you can even find strategy guides etc on the internet (again the boardgamegeek forums are great source of knowledge), but don’t expect/require players to know the rules if they haven’t played a game before. Having players read the rules on their own also has the added “hazard” that players have a different understanding of what’s allowed so it’s often smart to “calibrate” the players knowledge and agree on things before play starts.
5 Explaining the rules
Teaching new players rules is often a part of a game night (ideally the others can do the set-up and save some time). There’s no correct way on how you teach another player a new game, and players also learn differently, but I prefer the following system;
When does the game end and how are the scores tallied? – Is it co-operative, how do you win, do you need to collect resources, victory points etc
What is in a game round? – Most games are broken down in various rounds, turns and phases. Describe what each is called and what happens. Important to not mix the various terms as this quickly confuses the beginner. And don’t get bogged down in the more intricate details of a particular gaming element (like how combat is done), these are often things you can learn more “on the fly” and learn by seeing the others play.
What can you do when it’s your turn? – Describe the various options a player has during their round/turn/phase. Remember to point towards the end-goal
Possible strategies – Finally give some general pointers on what you think is an optimal strategy. Important to present these as options and things you think work well and not something a player MUST do.
We also try to post condensed versions of the rules highlighting the important bits in our facebook group. Again, don’t expect players to read/remember this information before arriving on game night, but for the guy that is tasked with explain the rules it is often smart to just do that exercise of trying to condense the rules and write them out as you think is best and makes the most sense as this makes the explain more coherent and meaningful.
So there you have it, some general tips from my own experience for making the most of game nights. Yeah and a final note, don’t bring along sticky grease food/snacks and don’t spill drinks on the game components. If you plan on having a meal together I suggest you have it away from the game during a break. If the game table is cramped keep glasses and bowls with snack on a side table.
Tabletop Cave 