Let me set the scene: a smoky room, cigars and whisky, chips strewn across the green felt, and maybe even some soft jazz playing in the background. There’s something incredibly evocative about poker, a timeless image present in so many movies: from The Odd Couple to Casino Royale. It’s the classic game to play from home: clear out the kitchen, invite over some friends and stock the fridge.
But of course, as we all know, it’s actually incredibly difficult to round up all your friends and get them into one room. Everyone’s always busy. Just getting four together to play Texas Hold ‘em is a challenge, so poker nights can become a pretty rare event. This means when you throw a poker night, you need to get it right. You need to select the right chips, the perfect deck and the right kind of game for your group.
Despite the difficulties, a poker night done right is still the king of home gaming.
Pool
Next up, another classic, pool. Now you might be thinking that pool is more of a bar game, something that you have to leave the comfort of your own home to play. It’s certainly true that not everyone has the space to squeeze a pool table into their home. But if you do have the square-footage, it’s the classic centerpiece to any games room. And, if it’s your table, it’s free to play!
There’s something incredibly satisfying about pool. Few sports can match the feeling of calmly dispatching an opponent with a string of great pots. And of course, the stress relief of a perfect break is legendary. Practice enough and you’ll even be able to impress people with your arsenal of trick shots. Above all, as long as you can find someone to play against, you’ll never be bored with a pool table on hand.
Darts
Continuing the theme of bar games you can play at home, here’s one for those that maybe can’t fit a pool table into their lives. Darts is a game of skill and coordination, as well as some fast mathematics on the part of the scorers!
Darts is not too expensive, you can pick up a second hand dartboard fairly cheap, and it doesn’t take up much space. However, a word of warning: darts are pretty sharp and can do some serious damage to both you and your home. So, make sure you choose a place for your dart board that is safe, and away from expensive floors and newly decorated walls! The garage is a good spot.
Although there is a ‘standard’ game of darts, where players aim to get their score down from five hundred and one to zero by taking it in turns to throw three darts, there are many variations on the game. This is good, because the standard game can be incredibly frustrating for novice players, especially if they get stuck unable to hit a double to end the game.
Although the standard rules are designed for two players, variations like ‘Killer’ or ‘Around The Clock’ allow lots of people to play at the same time. This makes a dartboard a great way to entertain a whole party.
Cards Against Humanity
Finally, what list of games to play from home is complete without the modern classic Cards Against Humanity. Released in 2011, it was an instant smash hit, and now even boasts an online version of the game.
The premise is incredibly simple: each turn, one player reads out a card with a blank space in it. The other players then compete to make that player laugh by filling that space with the most appropriate (or inappropriate) card that they have. The cards are designed to encourage players to be as offensive and outright despicable as they can be. This is not a family friendly game, but that’s exactly why it is so fun.
Although the game is designed to be offensive, ultimately the aim is still to make someone laugh. In that sense, it is a great (albeit slightly risky) ice breaker. It makes for a perfect party game, because within a few minutes it will have everyone grinning.
