Game night is a treasured pastime across America. Every so often, family and friends get together to enjoy one another’s company with engaging games, snacks, and festive cheer. Back in the day, game night was all about dragging a dusty board game out. Often, it had missing pieces, crumpled cards, and out-of-date topics. Recall classic titles like Trivial Pursuit, Clue, Monopoly, Hungry Hippo, and Whack-a-Mole were all the rage.
To get things going, somebody needed to do a lot of work. Maybe you cleared off the dining room table, kept score, and brought lots of snacks, beverages, and desserts for the crew?. Besides being a lot of work, people find it increasingly difficult to regularly attend game nights, especially if they are geographically separated. Times have certainly changed, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Now, you can rally your crew – friends, family, neighbours, and coworkers – far and wide. You don’t have to be in the same town, city, or state. Thanks to virtual game night options, getting everybody together for lots of fun is possible. Even if attendees are overseas, across the pond, all it takes is a virtual invite to get going.
Sure, there’s a time difference, but it’s all good fun. The best thing about virtual game night is that you can play from the comforts of home or on the go – at your leisure. There’s so much fun to be had when technology is thrown into the mix. For example, if you forget that your camera is on and get caught in a hot mic moment, it can be awkward or even amusing. And who knows if somebody thinks that the mute button is on, and it isn’t?
Why are Virtual Game Nights Such a Big Hit?
There is something innately appealing about virtual game nights. For one thing, they’re easy to plan and lots of fun to implement. Nowadays, it’s hard to find time to get everybody physically together. Work is challenging, family life is demanding, and pets are a constant source of concern.
One of the best ways to mitigate all these stresses is to simply plan a game night from home or on the go, wherever you find yourself. That way, there’s no need to prepare a cross-country trek, fight the rush-hour traffic, or endure all the expenses associated with pet sitters, babysitters, or other multitasking madness. Simply find a quiet place in the home, close the door, and enjoy the ultimate virtual game night.
No big commitment is needed. It’s easy-peasy lemon squeezy! These low-stress activities are the perfect tinctures. You don’t need to rearrange your home, clean the lounge, or put the dogs away for the evening. Enjoy all your comforts just the way you like them.
Believe it or not, you can still play all those classic board games like Monopoly, Deal or No Deal, Snakes and Ladders, trivia games, and charades games online. Many social gaming sites facilitate multiplayer functionality, or at the very least, online connectivity for anyone who wants to play the same game simultaneously.
Think of social gaming platforms where you can enjoy all the fanfare of Las Vegas entertainment on PC, Mac, or Mobile. When all your friends and family play simultaneously, you can get on a Zoom call, FaceTime session, or even log in to the same social live casino games to play in real-time with an authentic Las Vegas dealer. It’s the new way to play and is free, just like it is at classic game nights at home.
What are the Crowd Favorites?
The crowd favorites include a bunch of apps, games, and online social casino attractions:
- Trivia apps
- Social slots
- Word games
- Hybrid games
- Drawing games
- Strategy games
- Virtual bingo games
- Online social casino games
There are plenty of categories of games available to players nowadays. Fortunately, there’s no need for a one-size-fits-all approach to gaming anymore. You can pick and choose whatever attractions you feel comfortable playing. And with virtual game nights, it’s easy to change games at the click of a button.
Take social casino games as an example – you can play and enjoy slot tournaments, social poker games, or live social roulette games on the same platform with your friends, family, and coworkers. It’s casual fun without any of the stress of an in-person Vegas session of play.
Quick Steps for Setting up a Virtual Game Night
Don’t over-plan things. You don’t need to. Virtual gaming is so easy, comfortable, and convenient. You only need to worry about getting people to log in at the designated time. Send out Evites to the crew, Power up your Zoom or FaceTime session, and it’s game on!
- Choose games that the group is interested in playing – Social slots, social live dealer games, bingo, keno, strategy games, etc.
- Select your gaming platform (Zoom, Google Meet, FaceTime, Social Casino, etc.)
- Pick a chill time limit and stick to it – 30 minutes to one hour should suffice.
- Invite the gamers – that’s on you and your crew.
The Inherent Benefits of Online Game Nights
Everybody is super stressed nowadays. If it’s not inflation, politics, or work, it’s family and other stressors. Fortunately, a little time out works wonders. Game night is a fantastic way to bond with those people you enjoy spending time with. Maybe it’s tough to get together during the year, except for the holidays, so virtual game nights bridge the gap and keep everybody in sync with what’s going on with one another. It’s good for the heart and soul and lots of fun.
Game nights online are all about social connection, reducing anxiety, and sparking creativity. They make us feel better—that’s why we participate in these games. This is especially true for busy families or workaholics who cannot get together with friends and family, let alone enjoy a game night. Consider it a mini getaway that you can schedule between meal preparation, school pick-up, or work. Any time is teatime when it comes to virtual game time.
Now things can go awry – for example, the Internet may go out. This can be frustrating and cause a lot of anxiety. Everyone in the game night group should be mindful of these technical outages that may occur. But isn’t that part of the real deal appeal of virtual game night? It’s about teaming up with important people to go on a digital scavenger hunt, solve a puzzle, or spin a virtual roulette wheel. All of this is so exciting – there’s no downside. And any other positive externalities that result are icing on the cake!
