Game night ideas: plan what to play
Most game night ideas lists give you themes. This page gives you a plan: tell it who is coming, how long you have and what is in the closet, and it suggests a running order from games that fit, each with rules and a score keeper.
Game night planner
Suggested running order
Yahtzee
Thirteen turns, up to three rolls each, and one box on the score card to fill every turn.
Farkle
Push-your-luck with six dice: keep scoring dice, roll again, and bank before you farkle.
Pig
Roll as often as you dare and add it up, but a 1 wipes out your turn. First to 100 wins.
Ship, Captain and Crew
In three rolls, find a 6, then a 5, then a 4; the other two dice are your cargo score.
Also fits your group
- Shut the Box
- Spades
- Euchre
- Liar's Dice
- Crazy Eights
- Golf (six-card)
- Egyptian Ratscrew
- Go Fish
- Hearts
- Rummy 500
- Cribbage
- Kings in the Corner
Why the plan has a warm-up, a main game and a closer
People rarely arrive at once. A short game that someone can join after a round, like Pig, Crazy Eights or Ship, Captain and Crew, keeps the early arrivals busy without making anyone sit out. Start the longer main game once everyone is at the table and has a drink, and end with something quick so the night stops on a high point instead of on whoever lost the long game.
The planner counts each game at its usual length for people who know it. If your group is learning a game tonight, add 10 to 15 minutes for the first play.
Teaching a game in three minutes
- Say how you win first. "Lowest score after 11 rounds" or "first to 10,000" tells people what every rule is for.
- Walk through one turn. Then stop. Exceptions can wait until they come up.
- Play the first round open. Everyone plays with cards face up and the teacher points out choices. Then shuffle and start for real.
- Keep the rules page open on a phone for the arguments. Each of our rules pages has a quick-rules box at the top for exactly this.
Big groups
Most card games stop working above six. With 8 to 12 people you have three good options: a game built for a crowd (Bunco is played at tables of four that swap partners every round), two tables playing the same short game with the winners swapping tables, or partnership games like Spades and Euchre, which turn eight people into four teams of two at two tables. The team generator splits a crowd fairly.
Keeping score without arguments
Pick one scorekeeper per game and say the target out loud before you start. Our score keepers run on one phone, save if the screen locks, and show who deals next, which settles most disputes before they start. For the start of each game, the who goes first picker saves the debate.
Looking for something narrower? See our card games for 2. Or browse the dice games, most of which need only a handful of dice.
Game night questions
How many games should we plan for a game night?
For a two to three hour evening, plan one main game and one or two short ones. Most groups play fewer games than the host expects, because teaching, snacks and talking take more time than the box says.
What is a good game night game for a big group?
Above about eight people, pick a game made for a crowd, like Bunco with tables of four, or split into two tables playing the same short game and swap players between rounds.
What games can you play with just a deck of cards?
Plenty: Gin Rummy and Cribbage for two, Spades, Euchre and Hearts for four, and Crazy Eights, Golf or Rummy 500 for mixed groups. Use the planner and tick only "a regular deck" to see which fit your group.