Ever since I was a young girl, I’ve loved playing card games, board games and even video games. I’ve outgrown the video games but still enjoy card and board games. It’s nice because you get to spend time with other people and have a lot of laughs. Recently, my husband and I and a few other couples have been getting together and hosting a game night. I wanted to write about this because it is a lot of fun and it may give others a new idea of something to do with family and friends.
My husband and I recently hosted game night at our place. In case you are wondering how we went about it, take a look at the steps below.
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HOST A GAME NIGHT
First of all, make a list of who you want to invite. Make sure you have enough room to seat everyone comfortably.
Then talk it over with the people on your list to find a date and time that works for everyone.
Once game night has arrived make sure your place is presentable and clean.
If you decide to provide lunch or dinner, have a meal planned and prepared before your guests come over. My husband helped get our dinner ready.
Have the table set before your guests come. This way you can eat right away giving more time to play games later.
The group that I have game night with thought it would be fun to give away small, inexpensive gifts when someone wins a game. A cheap way to do this is find things around the house that you don’t use but are in good shape. If you can’t find anything at home check the clearance sections in craft stores or the dollar store. Some examples of things you can give away around the house for free or find on clearance are:
Board or Card Games (I find these at garage sales for cheap)
Note pads and cute pens (I found these at Hobby Lobby in the clearance section)
The point is to have fun and not go broke doing it. For my last game night all my gifts were from around my house. I have so much extra little things that don’t get used so this was a great way to get rid of it. When we travel I keep the lotions and shampoos from the hotel and give these out as gifts. You can have just as much fun without the gifts but it adds something extra to the night and brings a lot of laughs if it’s something silly.
So, if you are doing the gifts, you want to make sure they are wrapped and ready by game night before everyone arrives.
Most importantly, you need to have games picked out. Use your own games or you can have your guests bring a game that they want to play. Here are a few suggestions of games we enjoy and recommend.
CARD GAMES
Skip-Bo
This is one of my all time favorite card games to play.
Players are all dealt the same amount of cards (called a stockpile) to start with that are placed face down near them. Players then draw from the remainder of the cards that are put in the middle of the table. The Skip-Bo cards are wild cards that can be used as any number. The object is to get rid of the stockpile cards before your opponents.
Phase 10
Phase 10 is where players compete against each other to see who can complete 10 different phrases first. The phases can be sets, runs, cards of one color, or a combination of these. Wild and skip cards are for helping complete the phases. You will need to complete the current phase in order to advance to the next phase. First one to finish all 10 will win.
Apples to Apples
Pick someone to be the judge who deals everyone seven red apple cards. The judge picks a green apple card from the stack and reads the word out loud. All players except the judge chooses a red
apple card from their hand that is best described by the word on the green card. The judge mixes the red apple cards then reads each card given by the players. The judge has to pick the card he or she thinks is best described by the word on the green apple card. The player picked is awarded the green apple card played by the judge. To keep score and determine a winner, players keep the green apple cards they have won on the table until someone has won enough green apple cards to win the game.
Uno
Deal each player seven cards. The remaining cards place face-down to form a “draw” pile. Turn the top card of the draw pile to begin the “discard” pile. This is the pile players will place their cards on top of. The object is to get rid of all your cards before the other players while matching the card in the discard pile. There are lots of fun cards to use to help you get rid of your cards faster.
When you have one card left yell out UNO, but if you don’t and another player points it out, you must pick up two cards from the draw pile. Once a player has no cards left, the hand is over. Score your points then start over.
Cribbage
Deal six cards face down to opponent and yourself. The object of the game is to be the first player to score 121 points. Players earn points during play and for making various card combinations.
The object is to go around two tracks or rows before your opponent does. Beginning from the start, you move up the outside part of the track and then back down the inside track. Each point you score advances you one space. Players each use two pegs to record their points.
Mille Bornes
This is another really awesome game to play!! I taught my husband to play and we always have a good time!!
For each hand players usually need 700 miles, but the first player to complete that distance exactly has the option to call an extension in which case the race becomes 1,000 miles. There are special cards in the deck such as, hazard remedy, safety, and distance cards. The target distance is reached by playing distance cards. Play continues until either one player (or team) reaches the distance they aim for, or all players have played or discarded all their cards.
Spades Card Game
When playing Spades, you and your partner need to accurately estimate the strength of your hands in the bidding, and then in the play to take as close to your estimate of tricks as you can. The object is to win as many tricks as possible by guessing how many tricks each of you will win which is called a bid. Points are given and taken away depending how many tricks you get. The idea is to bid your hand correctly of bids made for 0 or up to 13 tricks. Play until a team makes it to 500 points first. If both teams go past 500 the higher score wins.
Zobmondo!!
When we traveled to California with family and friends, we played this game for the first time. We never stopped laughing. It was so much fun. Some of the cards are not age appropriate though, so if small children are around this is not a game you will want to play in front of them. The cards are “would you rather” cards making you decide which option you would pick from the choices given. The object of this game is to predict how other players will answer the questions. Be the first player to have your initials written in all the squares on the score pad.
Cards Against Humanity
Each player draws ten white cards. Appoint a Card Czar who plays a black card face up, then reads the question or fill-in-the-blank phrase on the black card out loud. The other players answer the question or fill in the blanks by each passing one white card (or however many required by the black card), face down, to the Card Czar. The Card Czar shuffles all of the answers, reads each card combination out loud and picks the funniest answer. Whoever played that card gets one point. This is not a game you want young children around when you play.
You can decide how you want your group to win the game but otherwise the object is to have fun!!
Exploding Kittens
My husband and I were in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on a vacation doing some shopping when we found the most awesome game shop. It was my husband who saw the Exploding Kittens game and suggested we pick it up for our game nights.
Play the game by putting the deck face down and taking turns drawing cards until someone draws an Exploding kitten card. When that happens, that person is out of the game. This process continues until there’s only one player left, who wins the game. There are cards that will help you stay in the game longer which make it even more fun.
These card games are just a handful of what is out there to pick from. Make sure the games are age appropriate for your group and don’t forget to have fun!!
If you are giving gifts away, play until someone wins a certain number of rounds you all agree on when you start the game. An example is, if you are playing Apples to Apples and someone wins 3 rounds first they get to pick a prize. We like to keep playing the game and not starting over so it doesn’t take as long for the next person to win a prize.
Here is some pictures of Jeff and Shannon winning prizes.
No matter how you set up your game night it will be a hit. As long as you have good friends and family to enjoy it with you can’t go wrong.
For other fun things to do, check out, 102 Fun List of Ideas to do with someone you love.
