Tips

How to Play More Board Games – 7 Easy Tricks

Wanting to play more board games? Fitting games into a busy family schedule can be a challenge. These simple tricks can help you get more games to the table so you and your family can spend quality time together.

Between our 6 children, careers, keeping a house in order, and running our blog and social media sites, it’s hard for us to fit in all the gaming we want to do as a family too!

Often the gaming we do most is with our kids — meaning that the date night games my husband and I love to play together fall through the cracks. We struggle to get the adult games we are really wanting to pay to the table. To combat this, we use these tricks to help make sure that we’re spending our time the way we want to.

1. Set out the games you want to play

You know what they say: “Out of sight, out of mind.” By intentionally setting out the game(s) you want to play you are making it that much easier to get the game to the table. It also removes the decision fatigue from answering “What game do you want to play?” because you’ve already answered it with your selections.

We recommend setting them out on a particular day. Perhaps you play games most often on the weekends, so maybe you’ll choose a game or two to set out Thursday evening. Choose a spot that it’ll be visible — perhaps your family room or a counter by the dining table. Somewhere you see frequently. We have a specific shelf that is just for games we are wanting to play in the immediate future. Whenever someone asks or we have time to play a game, we can look over at the shelf and choose one to play.

2. Unplug your TV

If you find yourself watching TV most night rather than playing a game, try creating an obstacle to the TV.

About 6 years ago I wanted to make an intentional shift in our family life. I didn’t want the TV to be an activity we chose anymore simply because it was convenient. I started unplugging the TV and a few things happened.

Turning on the TV wasn’t nearly as easy anymore so we just didn’t. Our kids stopped asking to watch shows, we stopped turning it on after a long day, and in general, we began forgetting that the tv was even there.

Creating even just a simple, though annoying extra step to watching TV reminded us that we actually didn’t want to watch it anyway. So we grabbed a game and played together instead.

This eventually led to 5 years of not having a TV in our home at all.
(Until just recently actually! You can read all about the TV we chose and why here.)

3. Buy a game you’re excited about

Few things will hinder getting game night started quite like being bored with what games you have available.

Much like you might buy cute workout clothes when starting a new program, give yourself permission to get that new game you’re excited about to help you meet your goal of playing more games!

When we were young and newly married, we worked into our (very) small budget enough to buy one new game a month and we’d play the heck out of it for that month guilt free.

4. Ease Your Pain Points

Think about what is stopping you from playing games most and then solve those problems.

Maybe you love to play games but you hate learning the rules. Try watching a walkthrough of the game rules on YouTube! One of the rules channels we love is Watch it Played. There is almost guaranteed to be a rules explanation video for your game if you search for one!

It can also be helpful to watch a play-through video of a game to see how a few rounds are played, especially if you are a visual learner. There are lots of channels that do play throughs, we really enjoy those put out by Jon Gets Games!

5. Put Game Night On Your Schedule

Make time for what you love! Put your game night on your schedule and treat it like you would any other event you’d look forward to.

Whether you’re wanting a once a month game night with friends or a weekly family game night, by scheduling it, you’ll keep that time slot open and be reminded when looking at your calendar.

6. Play Your Game First

If you’re like me, you might find yourself doing one thing after another trying to get the house in order before bedtime and suddenly the time is gone and it’s too late.

It’s okay to save the chores for later so you can get right to family game night.

When Adam and I have a date game planned, we play it first. Then we can get to whatever else needed our attention after we’ve finished.

7. Toss a Game in Your Purse

If you’re heading out, toss a game in your purse or car’s glove box. I love bringing along a short, quick game so that if I find myself in a waiting room or restaurant table and need to entertain my kids I can pull out a game and engage them quickly.

It’s also great if you’re heading over to a relatives house! I’ll always toss in a small card game that’s easy to teach. I’ve done it so often now that my family is excited to see what game I’ve brought each visit!

Bonus Tip 8: Small Games Count!

Don’t forget that small games count! Sometimes we get it in our minds that if we aren’t playing an overly involved board game then we aren’t really playing a game.

That is just simply not true.

Don’t undervalue the impact playing a quick 15 minute game has on your goal to play more games! Whether they’re easier to fit into your schedule or just your favorite type of games to play, getting into the habit of playing games consistently is the key!

For some fast family games, check out this post!