Summer is the perfect season for gathering friends and family for a game night. Here are five tried-and-tested formats that our community swears by.
1. The Mario Kart Grand Prix
Set up a proper tournament bracket. Each round is a 4-race cup on random tracks. Keep a scoreboard on a whiteboard. Provide themed snacks (mushroom-shaped cookies, star-shaped sandwiches). Crown a champion at the end of the night with a silly trophy.
2. The Retro Relay
Set up multiple stations with different retro consoles. Teams rotate through stations every 15 minutes, trying to achieve the highest score or fastest time at each game. Classic NES and SNES titles work best for this since they’re easy to pick up and play.
3. The Smash Bracket
Double elimination, random stage selection, 3 stock, 7 minutes. Assign random characters for extra chaos. The loser of each match picks the next random character for the winner. It’s surprisingly competitive and hilarious.
4. Pokemon Card Draft Night
Everyone buys a few booster packs and drafts cards to build a deck on the spot. Then you play a mini tournament with your drafted decks. It’s a great way to introduce people to the TCG without requiring existing collections.
5. The Cooperative Challenge
Pick a co-op game like Overcooked, Snipperclips, or Super Mario 3D World and try to complete as many levels as possible in one evening. Order pizza, keep the energy up, and see how far you get. It’s less competitive but equally memorable.
Need supplies for your game night? We’ve got extra controllers, party games, and Pokemon TCG packs ready to go!
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