We had to pick between a 5 hour board game or a quick card game last Friday

My group was split, half wanted to start our new campaign game (which we knew would take all night) and half just wanted to play Skull for a couple rounds. I pushed hard for the short game first, because we had two friends who were already tired from work. We played three quick rounds of Skull, everyone laughed a lot, and then the tired folks went home happy. Honestly, forcing the big game would have ruined the night. Does anyone else have a hard rule about starting game nights with something fast?

3 comments

3 Comments

ruby_fisher124d ago

Honestly, that sounds like a great way to kill the mood for the main event. If you commit to a campaign game, you gotta dive in. Starting with filler just wastes the good energy and makes it harder for people to settle into a longer, more serious game. You might as well just admit you're not actually up for the big game night you planned.

price.tyler4d ago

Kill the mood" is a strong take. We tried diving straight into Gloomhaven once and it was a total brick wall of silence for an hour. Now we do exactly what brown.reese said, a 15-minute game of something like Just One. It gets people talking and laughing, and then they're way more ready to focus on the big game rules.

brown.reese24d ago

Ever try to jump straight into a heavy game like Twilight Imperium? We did, and half the table was checked out by round two. Now we always start with something quick like Skull or Love Letter. It gets everyone laughing and talking, which actually makes the big game later way better. That warm-up time turns a stiff group into a focused one.