Throughout the holidays friends and families all over Chattanooga can reconnect over a friendly-albeit competitive-hand of cards or roll of the dice. No matter which way you roll it, the revival of the traditional “game night” transforms an evening inside into a win-win situation.
“It’s just fun,” says Southside resident Jena Beise. “It’s a way to hang out and do something we find fun. It’s competitive but you can socialize same time.” While she says a game of cross-couple Catch Phrase is the best way to break the ice when spending time with new friends, the card game of Spades is an old favorite for Jena and her husband Brian.
Try these popular games at your next gathering:
Left Right CenterThe stakes are high in this diverse dice game, which can double as a gambling game and a children’s game. Each player starts out with three chips, passing them to fellow players as each roll of the dice dictates. The winner is the player who ends up with all the chips, and depending on the stakes, he or she takes all.LogoTest your knowledge on famous logos, products and packaging-this is”the board game about the brands you love.” The game is perfect for the whole family and includes fun facts and challenging questions.Name 5Trivia is taken to a new level with Name 5. The game challenges players to give five answers to various questions, including “Name 5 movies Tom Hanks has starred in,” or “Name 5 things that can make a person sneeze.” One or two may be easy, but can you Name 5?Cards Against HumanityThis game is simple: during each round a player asks a question from a black card and everyone else answers with their funniest white card. Cry-laughing is a guarantee.
Their affinity for card games sparked inside train cars as they traveled during their European vacation from Paris to Oxford to Dublin, along with another couple.
The trip was in celebration of Jena graduating physical therapy school-a last hoorah before she settled into a full-time job. Upon each boarding, Jena says the group would always scramble to find four seats at a table facing each other.
“We could play a couple of hands on a long train ride, or one hand on a short one,” she reminisces. “Since we did a lot of traveling it would break up the day.”
And they continued the tradition in their Chattanooga home. Now Jena and Brian, with 7-monthold daughter Lilly lounging in their laps, gather with friends for a game night at least once a week. “It’s something that’s flexible and convenient,” Jena adds. “You end up talking the whole time, but you’re not just sitting around.”
So the next time you find yourself at a dinner party or family gathering, we’ve got two words for you: game on.