How to Host a Virtual Game Night
Game nights are a time-honored tradition that has been around for years. They’ve always been a great way to bring people together, have some fun, and get to know each other better.
With many of us working from home, some with families on different continents, and others with friends around the world, a virtual game night is the best option to have fun, connect, and share experiences.
While a virtual game night is a great way to connect with friends, family, and co-workers on the other side of the world, hosting one can be daunting.
Fortunately, we have gathered the best guidelines, tips, and ideas to help you host a successful virtual game night for any group of people.
Why should you host a virtual game night?
There are many benefits of hosting an online game night for your remote team, including:
A virtual game night is a great way to get your remote team to bond and have fun
They can be used for new employee team bonding or as ice breakers for new hires
Game nights can be used to create a sense of belonging, which will lead to better work performance.
How to host a successful virtual game night
Virtual game nights are a great way to play games with your team, friends, or family when you’re not in the same place. A successful game night is one in which the players are having a good time! This can be achieved by implementing the right strategies and bringing on the best team. Here are our step-by-step tips to make your virtual game night successful:
1. Set date and time
Before anything else, knowing the date and time when everyone will be available is a vital step to a successful virtual game night. With different time zones and working times, you want to ensure that you’re including everyone and taking into consideration each person’s schedule. To get this right:
Provide two or three dates and time options for participants to choose
Receive input from participants and use that to set an agreeable date and time
2. Send an invitation to all participants
Setting a time, date, and sending a brief invitation (by text or email) will offer everyone something to look forward to. Invitations can be sent out through email or social media, especially for friends and families. You can also use Slack or any other workplace chat platform to inform participants, especially your remote team, about the game night. When sending out invitations, here’s what you should consider:
It is important to make sure that everyone who is invited has the same game night experience. This means that everyone should be on the same platform and have access to the same games.
You can also create a Google Doc with all the information about your game night so that people can review it before they RSVP. This way, they will know what to expect and if there are any games or activities that they don’t want to participate in.
3. Choose the right app or platform to host your virtual game night
To get the most from your virtual game night, you need the right platform. One that has all the features and can be adjusted to go with your theme. Here are the best platforms you can use to host a virtual game night: the choice is yours.
Zoom: This is the standard software of choice for many teams working remotely. You can use Zoom for up to 40 minutes and connect up to 100 people for free. The problem here may not be about Zoom itself as an app, but about your own ability to host a virtual game night. While you have this platform at your disposal, it can be daunting coming up with game ideas, facilitating the event, making the rules, and keeping the entire session exciting. This is where a professionally hosted virtual game night company comes in.
Professional, live-hosted game night with Bar None Games: Bar None Games specializes in helping teams to plan and host virtual team building events. We offer many games for groups of all kinds, including everything from creative trivia to Scene & Song Bingo to exciting ice breakers. These games are perfect for any kind of event, no matter how big or small the group may be. We tailor these events to help you achieve goals as a remote team, whether that is building relationships, championing diversity and inclusion, celebrating Halloween or other holidays, or hosting a winter holiday celebration for the entire team. Plus, all of our games are live hosted by one of our professional hosts!
Google Meet: Google Meet is a video chat service that allows you to chat with friends and family. You can also use it for virtual game nights with friends or family. While it’s very similar to Zoom, you can play around with its features and look to see which you prefer.
4. Choosing your games
The best way to select virtual games is by letting your remote team contribute to the selection process. This will help them feel more involved and make them feel like they are part of the team. Here are some categories you and your team should consider when selecting games.
Role-playing games: In these games, players create characters and play as them in an imaginary world. They use these characters to complete quests and defeat enemies in order to progress through the game’s storyline. One example of this is a virtual murder mystery game.
Collaborative games: These are games that require teamwork and cooperation to be successful. The goal is for everyone on the team to work together in order to achieve something that no individual could do alone. This type of game often requires equal amounts of skill, intelligence, and strategy from all the players on the team. An example of this is a virtual escape room.
Competitive games: Competitive games require two or more teams competing against each other in order to win. The goal is for one player on each team or an entire team to beat another team or player by using their respective skill sets and abilities. This type of game often requires equal amounts of skill, intelligence, and strategy. It also helps teams bond, think strategically, and create fun moments. An example of a competitive game is a TV Game Show-down.
Educational or training games: These virtual games are used for improving skills like time management or conflict resolution.
Strategic and creative thinking games: These games are focused on generating moments for brainstorming, problem solving, and innovation.
All of these types of games, whether educational, strategic, role-playing or collaborative, can come in different forms. Some games are more suitable for specific use cases and types of teams, while others are more general and can be played with any team. Here is a list of the different games you can play with your team:
Board games like chess, checkers, and word puzzles
Card games like poker or solitaire
Video games such as Minecraft or Mario Party
Virtual team building games like trivia or a set of mini games
Our favorite virtual game night ideas
We’ve rounded up some of our favorite game night ideas for you to try with your friends and family this holiday season. Whether you want to play a classic game like Monopoly or Cards Against Humanity, or try something new like online “Guess Who?”, there’s something for everyone in this list.
1. Scattergories
Scattergories is a game where participants have to list words from nine different categories in the form of acronyms, with each letter representing a category. The first letter of each category represents the first letter in the corresponding word. The second letter represents the second letter, and so on until all nine letters are accounted for. Scattergories is a game that requires quick thinking and creativity. It can be played by teams of two to six players, and it is a game that will get your remote team members to be creative.
2. Virtual Bingo
This game is played with the help of a virtual bingo board which has many squares. The bingo caller will then call out different numbers, which correlate to squares on the board. The players will then need to mark off the corresponding letters and numbers from the board (if they have them on their board!) in order to try to complete a “Bingo!”. A bingo line is a row of 5 squares, which can be vertical, horizontal, or diagonal. If they successfully complete a bingo, they will win the round and earn points..
3. Charades
Charades is a game of acting out words, phrases, and sentences. It is a guessing game where one player acts out the words or phrases for their teammates to guess what has been acted out. The most common way to play charades is in teams of two or more players. One player acts out clues while the other players on the team take turns guessing what they are acting. The team who guesses correctly wins the round and gets to act out clues for the next round.
4. Cards Against Humanity
Cards Against Humanity is a card game in which players compete to come up with the most amusing combination of words. The game is played by one person drawing a black card with a prompt, reading it aloud, and then asking everyone else present to provide the funniest answer they can think of from their white cards. The answers are then shuffled and read out again, before being voted on by all players.
5. Monopoly
Based on the economic concept of monopoly, the game Monopoly is a board game that you can play with your remote team, friends, or family. The game takes place in a fictional, large city in which players compete to become the wealthiest player through buying, renting and selling properties. The goal of the game is to be the first player to amass $1,000,000 in personal wealth. Players can achieve this by obtaining money from other players through trades and property purchases or by collecting rent from properties they own.
6. Scavenger Hunt
A scavenger hunt is a game in which players are given a list of items to find, usually with a time limit. The game is played in groups of two or more people. A scavenger hunt is an interactive way to get people out of their comfort zone and exploring their surroundings. These games are often used for team building exercises and corporate events. They can also be used as ice breakers at parties or other social gatherings. You can even turn this completely virtual by sending players on a hunt through the Internet for clues!
7. Catchphrase
Catchphrase is a game where players take turns drawing cards from a deck and trying to come up with an appropriate phrase for the card. The game starts by drawing a card from the deck and reading the phrase aloud. The player then has to think of their own phrase that matches the same category as the one on the card.
Host a virtual game night for your remote team
As a company with teams spread around the world, it’s important to find ways to build relationships – and virtual nights are perfect for this. Virtual game nights are a great way to bring your remote team together. It’s also a fun and easy way to break the ice, get to know each other better, and have some laughs.
Bar None Games has created a diverse set of virtual team building games you can use for a virtual game night with your remote team. This will allow them to have some fun and get to know each other better without even having to leave their computers. Plus, with a professional, live host, everyone will be able to sit back and enjoy while we take care of the logistics. So, what are you waiting for? Game on!