With the 4th of July holiday close at hand--and the extra family and friends time it often brings--we wanted to share a guide on planning the perfect game night.

4 Steps to Hosting a Perfect Group Game Night

Hosting a gaming night for you and your friends is an excellent way to stay socially active and bond with your peers. Not only does this present the perfect opportunity for you to relax and have some fun, it also helps to alleviate stress. Here are five steps for you to follow to improve your chances of hosting the perfect gaming event whenever you want.

1. Organize and Choose a Theme

Clean and organize your home or party space in advance. Don’t wait until the last minute or you could find yourself feeling stressed and overwhelmed, which is not going to put you in the mood for game night. After cleaning, make things more interesting by picking a theme. Add little decorations throughout your game space and consider asking everyone to dress up to match the theme.

2. Pick Your Games Ahead of Time

Pick the games you want to play ahead of time to avoid confusion, arguments and lost time. When choosing which
 games to play, consider the interests of all of your guests, not just your own. Don’t choose long and drawn out games. Consider games that are short and easy to learn to hold your guests interests. Diversify the type of games that are available for everyone to play. Video games, board games and card games are great ice breakers and help to start the night right because there’s something for everyone regardless of their skills and interests. Make sure you know the rules for each game that is going to be played on gaming night. And don’t forget to teach everyone else the rules as well.

3. Don’t Start on Time

Gaming night is one event when people are not going to show up on time, and you shouldn’t expect them to. To make it easier for late arrivals to join in on the festivities, start off your gaming night with games that allow for a fluctuating number of players.

4. Cook or Potluck

Since you’re the one hosting, you get to decide whether you want to cook or purchase food and snacks for everyone to enjoy or not. If you are on a budget or simply want to minimize your expenses, consider informing your guests that they each need to bring a snack or side dish to game night. Consider serving a crockpot meal as the main dish because it is very easy to prepare and requires very little supervision. That way everyone, including you can still participate in game night and eat without missing anything.

Game night doesn’t have to be some huge and elaborate event for it to be a success. It can be a small and intimate group gathering among friends. All that matters is that you plan accordingly so you can pave the way for more successful game nights in the future.

Enjoy the holiday!