Office gossip, the weather, politics and sports are fun conversations outside the office with co-workers…for about 15 minutes 😉 Board games are a great way to provide structure and guided collaboration for a social/networking event.
If the group has limited experience with board games or even just limited experience gaming with each other then someone needs to be the host. The host will plan and facilitate the gaming.
Tips for the host
- pick a couple short, basic games
- coach the group that errors will be made…and we’ll roll with it
- know how to play the games prior
- plan to spend at least 15 minutes learning even the simple games below
- like poorly run meetings, skipping your prework wastes your whole team’s time and sucks
- really THINK about how you will teach the game
- teaching/learning the rules is collaborative exercise in knowledge transfer
- expect questions
- expect you will not do well in the game
- you should be focusing on if others are “getting it”
Game options
Consider player count, duration, event time vs teach/play time, the serious/silliness of the game
- Skull – Amazon Affiliate Link
- almost purely a bluffing game – fun to call BS on your co-workers
- 10 minute teach, 5-10 minute rounds – great for a starter/ender
- 4-6 players
- Wits & Wagers – Amazon Affiliate Link
- betting/trivia gameshow feel, don’t need to be a trivia expert
- 10 minute teach, 45 minute game
- 5+, more is better!
- Codenames – Amazon Affiliate Link
- word association, can be thinky (i.e. less party-ey)
- need 6+ players – unlimited players
- Santorini tournament – Amazon Affiliate Link
- a two person knife fight that could be used tournament style…but probably too long/thinky/mean for most crowds 😉
- consider timed, speed games
- tournament rules
- 10 minute teach, 15 minute games