...how to host a game night!
A few months before I turned 40, I stopped drinking.
I wanted to leave certain things in my 30s, and alcohol was a no-brainer. Giving it up was the right call, but I quickly realized being sober in a bar wasn't for me—so my partner, B, and I started hosting a weekly game night at home instead.
We're now several years in, and it's become a favorite tradition amongst our circle of friends and a total hit with out-of-town guests.
Here's how a typical game night goes:
six to eight friends trickle in around 6pm
Ellie greets them at the door
everyone crowds into the kitchen to help prep and cook dinner
the food is served family-style around the table
we all pitch in to clear plates and load the dishwasher
the main event is usually Mexican Train (our group dominoes obsession), though we sometimes swap it for Monopoly Deal (a surprisingly cutthroat, much faster card version of Monopoly)
Have a look at last Saturday's edition, if you'd like:
Peter brought a beautiful (garlic-free) hummus plate for everyone to snack on while the kitchen warmed up...
B and Terence put together an arugula salad with lemon dressing and shaved parmesan, plus a giant bowl of pesto pasta. The pasta is always a huge hit with this crew—B's secret is stirring in sour cream for extra richness...
After dinner and dishes, we used the Terence Method™ to pick our seats for Mexican Train. It actually matters who plays right before you, so Terence hides all the colored plastic train markers behind his back, has someone point to a random chair at the table, and pulls a train out blindly. The person who claimed that train color has to sit in that seat.
The goal of the game is to get rid of all your tiles first and finish all 13 rounds with the lowest score...like golf.
Things weren't looking great for me in this round—nothing lined up and I had some pretty big tiles...
...but Peter's homemade banana pudding gave me just the boost I needed!
In the end, I pulled out a win...because of course I did! Jk. :)
Normally we play from the double-12 tile all the way down to zero, but we were up late Tuesday night watching election coverage and Sumier was still a bit jet-lagged from a recent trip abroad, so we called it halfway through the game.
A few additional tips:
create a shared Spotify Jam so everyone gets a turn to play DJ
ask guests to bring a favorite candy to pass (we get ours from Giddy, a wonderful, lesbian-owned shop in the neighborhood)
if candy's not your thing, folks can also bring a fun new soda, a bag of chips, or an extra dessert
Playing games is fun, of course, but my favorite part of these evenings is watching everyone's guard come down after a long week as the trash-talking turns delightfully silly and giggly.
The night always wraps with a group pic (including Ellie, of course), so the digital frame in our living room is now full of years of game night memories. Then we pass out leftovers, hug at the front door, and everyone sends a quick text to the group chat once they've made it home safely.
It's something I look forward to every weekend.
Game nights in your 40s! Who knew?!
(Top photo by Sidral Mundet.)