We live with our limitations
I decided to write this blog almost as a reaction to little problems I have faced in the past while setting up board gaming sessions with friends. I am here referring to things that if allowed to accumulate can just as well derail an otherwise pleasant evening. Make no mistake, these matters will frequently surface in some form or other and tackling them, while not impossible, requires a willingness to solve them.
So let’s set the stage in the hope of establishing the possible contributing factors that could lead to these situations. We are assuming that all invited players are married couples with kids. Furthermore, these couples may or may not have kids who are still “dependents” at the time an invitation is sent out.
Where?
Location is the first problem that needs to be tackled. Deciding where to hold the gaming session can strongly affect how successful the event will be. Ideally the place is somewhere central, preferably requiring minimal to moderate commute.
Guests should also have no problems parking their vehicles or perhaps provisions could be made to pool cars if possible. If on the other hand you intend to host at your own house, just make sure that enough time and advance notification of the event is offered to all potential guests. A simple invite with an RSVP could also help establish both who will be in a position to attend and as well as offer a discreet way to manage the event and plan for it.
It’s all about timing.
When it comes to timing, I can identify two aspects that could affect an event. First there is the aspect of how much in advance you should issue your invitation and the second the actual starting time for the event. Both will have an effect on how guests will manage themselves on the day.
Starting with the idea of invitations, an invite should ideally be sent out between three week to a month before. This should offer a good time-window for all willing guests to block their calendars and make their preparations for the event. From experience, this is a good amount of time, some guests will guarantee their participation outright, others will confirm and then cancel closer to the date..it happens, just make provisions for these eventualities.
When it comes to the actual starting time for the event, you will need to take into consideration whether kids will factor in the equation. Parents with young kids in tow could prefer earlier starting times on account of sleep patterns they might be trying to enforce.
On a different level, a comfortable and relaxing environment is also important, including how easily a gaming session can be set up. Adequate table space commensurate to the size of the board games being played is also a factor. Playing card based games will normally not require large surfaces (there are exceptions!!) but games that came with large boards will need equally large playing surfaces. As a rule of thumb, each player should have enough space to allow them to spread their game pieces or game resources comfortably. Ambient temperature and lighting are also important contributing factors in this instance. Poor or inadequate lighting could make it difficult to read instructions during play, while uncomfortable temperatures may cause players to focus poorly on their actions during play.
With or without kids
Now the matter of kids. When you reach the “family” stage in life, you must expect that there will be kids in tow so any event needs to be approached tactfully if it is to succeed. The first option would be an event that is child free. To organise such an event, all participants need to be in a position to leave their kids with family or a babysitter. Not everyone can do so, so you would need to assess the matter before suggesting a no-kids event. There are obvious advantages to sessions where kids are not in tow but the likelihood is that most of your events will include kids and this is what we will consider next
Kids in attendance can increase the challenges of setting up a gaming session, especially if they happen to be very young. All players must feel confident that they can handle the needs of their dependents if they will be tagging along. When kids are small, there will be emergencies, there will be a need to ensure they are taken care of. The trick here is to have, readily available, resources that could help. For instance, you could prepare a variety of accessible, child-friendly foods as well as create a safe play area. More importantly children should be guided towards not disrupting the main board gaming area, in most instances this will entail offering them alternative activities and/or distractions at an acceptable distance from the main gaming table.
Kids onboard!
If on the other hand, kids are within the eight-year-old to early tween bracket, then this will present other challenges. Normally you will try to include them within some of the games (if not all of them), particularly if they happen to show some aptitude towards board games. The main challenge will be to select games that are appealing to them while also being engaging for the rest of the players. Personally I would tend to choose games which are fairly simple to teach, with a clear (and short) turn structure.
You should definitely favour shorter games which resolve in around 30 to 45 minutes. If you are not sure how well they can handle competitive play, then ideally you should opt for cooperative games that would allow them to act within a team structure. Cooperative play will tend to offer fewer antagonising moments (if at all) with a sharper focus on beating the game. However don’t exclude competitive games in those instances where the kids can handle them.
Food and Refreshments
Another aspect that could impinge negatively on any gaming session is determining what food arrangements will be best, given the type of games played. Long games will require some form of snacks distributed at intervals, while playing, but these should preferably be light snacks, possibly non-greasy so that game components are not compromised while being handled. Ideally snacking should not detract from gaming time. Equally important is ensuring the availability of absorbent napkins, wipes as well as access to a bathroom with adequate supplies of hand wash and towels.
Dinner anyone?
The situation becomes more challenging if you intend to host a dinner before the games themselves. You would here need to prime expectations and ensure that there is no overindulgence on particularly heavy, carb rich foods. The reason being that these, while notably cheaper to prepare, could lead to players feeling sluggish or tired afterwards. Good choices could include vegetable based dishes, pasta salads that emphasise vegetables. Light roasted meats like chicken or fish, soups, or vegetable or dairy-based dips or entrees. This does not mean you go zero carb, just that the carb and fat content should be kept low.
Continuing on the idea of a light dinner or lunch before a gaming session, you also need to ensure you have sufficient time for such a setup. You need to set aside at least one and a half hours for eating and at least 15 minutes to clear up the dining table if this will also double as a gaming table. If you have a separate table for the gaming session, even better.
Drinks on the house!
Alcohol should be consumed in moderation as this will definitely affect game-play. As a host you should offer lighter alcoholic drinks like beers or wine. Alternatively you could agree to serve just soft drinks if that’s fine for everyone.
Commitment.
Commitment is another critical limitation when it comes to organising gaming sessions, especially when it comes to multi-episode campaigns as one would find in legacy games. It is vital to ensure that players are committed to the sessions, while at the same time avoiding the trap of making each session feel like an obligatory grind. This is the hardest to handle as gaming groups will fluctuate over time with players falling by the wayside and others stepping in. You will need to be the session champion, the person who will at all times enthusiastically propose the next meet-up, even when feedback or response rates would be low. More importantly, fine tune your ambitions to the realities of your gaming group, it will spare you disappointments later.
That just about sums up the main aspects you would normally have to face while organising a games night in the marital period of your lives. Sure it's more complicated to organise a games night once you have a family and kid/s in tow but don't let that dishearten you in any way. With sufficient commitment and advanced planning you can still organise a board game party that your guests will remember fondly for years to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment