This gets expensive and makes it difficult to have a truly relaxing evening with friends.

I’m a planner, and because of this I often end up putting off social events because I haven’t had the proper amount of time to plan for them. So instead of having friends over, we end up going out to the Plaza or the Power and Light District to have dinner. This gets expensive and makes it difficult to have a truly relaxing evening with friends.

Last weekend I decided to bite the bullet and host a game night in my home. It was so much fun, and so simple! We called a few good friends and invited them over for dinner and games, and by the end of the night we were all rolling on the floor with laughter from the antics of our fellow players.

Now, I learned a few things from my first game night that I thought I would pass along to you. These are things I will do a little differently next time. I’ve already promised several guests there will be a ‘next time,’ so I know I’m going to be doing this again.

Have a Place

To host a successful game night, have a place for to play games comfortably. We were fortunate to have purchased a poker table last spring, so we set that up and had a dedicated game playing surface. If you don’t have a game table, consider a simple folding table you can set up specifically for game night. Make sure there’s enough room for everyone. Also, check that the surface of the table is conducive to playing cards.

The Right Food

We invited our friends over for dinner and a few card games. We have a Zarda just down the road, so I grabbed some ribs to go to serve to our guests. This was a mistake. The ribs were excellent, but they were too messy. We couldn’t eat while we played because of the grease and sauce, so we missed out on some playing time. Next time, I think I will do non-greasy finger foods.

Gather Writing Utensils

When we were done with poker, we decided to play a round of Balderdash. The poker table worked just fine for this board game, too. Balderdash is what sent everyone into hysterics, because some of the answers were simply unbelievable. However, we had one problem. We didn’t have enough pens ready! Some of our friends had to search their pockets and purses for their own writing utensils. Next time, we’ll have a stash of sharpened pencils ready to go before calling the game night.

Other than that, our first game night went off without a hitch. We are going to leave our poker table up in the basement so we can quickly throw together another one. In fact, some of us are considering making this a monthly event. Kansas City offers a multitude of ways to spend a night out, but sometimes it’s far more relaxing to just spend a night in.