I have a friend who hosts a game night every few weeks. People come over, snacks are served, drinks are imbibed, and a wide variety of games are played.
Whenever I hear about the latest game night, I feel myself turning a little green with envy. Having a regular game night seems so Lucy and Ethel. It sounds like one of those things I thought would automatically happen once I became a grown up. Like knowing how to fill out income tax forms and being able to drive stick shift without any lessons.
Game night sounds so dang social, but in a good way. Not in a trapped-in-an-elevator-forced-to-make-small-talk way.
However, when my saner self prevails, I have to wonder if I’d really want to host regular game nights because it sounds like they’d require a LOT of effort, such as:
The house would have to be not only clean, but company clean. Company clean is different from family clean since family members understand that all upholstered furniture is essentially big dog beds. Company clean requires a bathroom without towels on the floor, fresh cakes of soap, and a vanity counter cleared of everything but a small bud vase holding lily of the valleys.
Snacks must be served. And not Cheetos or anything wrapped in plastic, but snacks suitable for guests, which would involve many lengthy internet searches not to mention some serious kitchen time. Drinks must also be available but what kind of drinks? Diet soda? Beer? Lime gimlets? Somehow, I don’t think I could get away with my usual box of white wine without at least a little judgment from my fellow gamers.
You obviously can’t have a game night without games. I’m a fan of the easier card games, like gin rummy and hearts. To hear my friend talk, all the games they play are not only long but incredibly involved with tons of characters and complex rules.
Which brings us to another wrinkle: suppose some of the guests like to play gin rummy and the others are into Dungeons and Dragons? True, the people I know aren’t sure what Dungeons and Dragons is, but someone can always pull a fast one on you.
Then there’s the competition angle. Competition between family members is one thing. Competition between people who aren’t blood relatives is something else.
Mark and I used to play a lot of games when we were first married. We stopped when it became apparent that one of us was a very bad sport, prone to pouting and once even threw the Clue board and all its pieces across the room. Good thing Mark has fast reflexes and was able to duck before Colonel Mustard hit him in the eye.
Then again, sometimes when I talk to my game playing friend on a Monday morning after a game night weekend, I hear that game night wasn’t all I imagined it was cracked up to be.
“They were playing games I didn’t like so I went to my room and read a book,” my friend reported after the last game night.
While that doesn’t sound like a bad way to spend a Saturday evening either, I guess it’s a good thing a game night tradition never took root in our household. We’re much better off with our own version of fun Saturday nights which consist of snacks wrapped in plastic, whatever is showing on Netflix and exactly two and a half glasses of wine.
It might not be life on the Riviera, but at least no one gets hit by a flying Clue board.