Tonight I am hosting, with the help of a great group of friends, our second Upland Community Game Night. The first game night in the summer was well attended for a small town with over fifty in attendance. Not bad for a town of around three thousand when the college is not in session. This time around the local college is in session and we are expecting a larger attendance. We also expect word of mouth about how fun the first game night was will draw more people in.
I wrote previously about how I host these game nights if you are interested. I plan to continue what has worked well, making some minor adjustments to the event tonight. A big change will be having a few games already set up and ready to play. I saw this idea in action at another game night I helped with in Indianapolis. Having two or three visually-appealing games already set up can entice people to try them. You remove the intimidation of a new game in a box by having it already set up. For this event, we are planning to set up the new games Star Trek Panic and Junk Art. Also contemplating another game like Ticket to Ride, Jamaica, or Takenoko. All of these games are very visually appealing the for game table, and I hope this will encourage some people to try new games.
I am looking forward to greeting friends, meeting new people, listening to the socializing, enjoying the cheers and groans of gaming, having a cookie or two, and maybe getting a game or two in myself before the night is over.
Have you hosted a community game night or attended one? If so, I would love to hear about your event. What worked? What didn’t? How can we make these events even better?