I’ve played board games since childhood, and as an adult I dove into hobby headfirst in 1999 after being introduced to modern games like Settlers of Catan. Board games are central to many of my favorite memories, like…
The time a group of us played the entire campaign of Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 over a single weekend.
The time my wife and I introduced one of my older sisters to Saboteur and saw just how suspicious and conniving she can be.
The time I was the last player remaining in Ra and had a 50-50 shot of pulling the one tile that would give me the win… and lost.
The many times (far too many to count) that I nearly passed out from laughing so hard playing Time’s Up.
The time a good friend told me his house burned down and my first question was whether his game table survived the fire.
Most of all, I cherish the many incredible lifelong friendships built at the game table.
Needless to say, I love game nights. (And game days, game weekends, game weeks… if the word “game” is followed by a timeframe, I’m all in. Especially once the gathering restrictions related to COVID-19 are lifted!)
In fact, I love game nights so much that I’m writing a book for Tiller Press called How to Host a Game Night, and I’m thrilled to reveal the cover here at The Opinionated Gamers:
The book is scheduled to be released this fall, and right now I’m smack dab in the middle of writing it. How to Host a Game Night will be full of practical advice and a lot of stories based on my game-night experiences — and the experiences of gamers like you.
In fact, I would love to hear from you!
What are your favorite game night memories? What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever seen happen at a game night? What are your go-to games for new players?
Please take a few minutes to share your stories by filling out this form. (Even if you don’t host a regular game night, there are plenty of questions you can answer!)
How to Host a Game Night is my love letter to game nights and I can’t wait for it to be available. In the meantime, here’s to many more great memories at the game table!
How to Host a Game Night will be available in trade paperback and ebook. It can be pre-ordered via the Tiller Press website. Connect with Erik Arneson on Twitter at @ErikBoardGames.
Brandon Kempf – Surviving the Purge 16
Over the next few months, instead of going with my Three Games articles, I am going to take a look at my collection and try to discuss why certain titles survived the great purge of 2019. During this process I may take a look at some games that didn’t survive, but only as a measuring stick for what did survive. Since I am silly, like a lot of gamers, I use Ikea Kallax shelves to display the games that we own. This makes it pretty easy to break things down cube by cube, so that’s what we’re going to do, twenty-four cubes, plus a top shelf for games that don’t fit in the cubes, over the course of a few months. I hope you enjoy!
If you are a BoardGameGeek user, you can also follow along on the Geeklist I created.
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