Game night attendance looks different than 10 years ago

I started hosting a monthly game night back in 2014 with the same five guys from work. Back then we'd sit down at 7pm and play something heavy like a four hour euro or a long campaign game, nobody looked at phones until someone got eliminated. Fast forward to last month, I had to start at 6pm just to get one two hour game in because two people had to leave by 8:30 for early shifts or kid pickup. The group is still five people but now three of them bring laptops or tablets to check work emails at the table, even mid-turn. I think it's just life, we're all in our late 30s now with real responsibilities, but the energy is totally different. We switched to shorter games like Heat or Splendor mostly, and even then someone gets pulled away for a call. Has anyone else seen their group's focus shift like this, or found a way to keep people off their screens without being the fun police?

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spencer_sanchez671d ago

Three years ago we had six guys at my place every other Friday for Twilight Imperium and now we're lucky to get four for an hour of Codenames. My buddy Dave literally answered a work call during a game of Splendor last month and nobody even blinked. But honestly, is that a problem? We're all tired dads now, the fact that anyone still shows up at all feels like a win. You are not running a focus group, you are hanging out with friends. If the worst thing happening is someone checking an email while you play Heat, that is still a good night.

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