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Family Game Night (FGN)

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Thu, 04/14/2016 - 23:03
questccg
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As a 41 year old male, who still aspires to find a wife and have a family (my own children), I have been thinking about what I call the "Family Game Night (FGN)".

As a parent, for those of you who do have children, would you encourage such a practice? To get your youngsters away from their Cell Phones, IPads and computers...

A night, maybe Thursday Night or Friday Night or even Sunday Night... An evening that is all about getting together an enjoying a game TOGETHER. I realize that the process might be a little bit expensive... But for my kids, I'd be willing to pay the extra expense.

Has anyone had such an experience with their children?

Do you think it's a good way to bring the family together and allow for a time of FUN... Especially where the adults don't really care who wins the game, it's maybe all about "finding the right game" for the next session... OR playing ONE (1) game a couple weeks in a row - to gain some experience. And maybe bringing out OLDER favorites that different members liked.

Maybe like a vote to see what game gets chosen next week... Some form of voting which teaches your children the value of their OLDER games not only the newest and latest ones...

Anyhow just wanted other Father's to chime in and tell me what they think.

I'd really like to know if you've done something similar - and share your experiences (good or bad).

Cheers!

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Fri, 04/15/2016 - 00:26
#1
HPS74
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Joined: 01/06/2009
Friday night is for

Football and beer :) while I'm still not a father!

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Fri, 04/15/2016 - 00:44
#2
Corsaire
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I have a ten year old son,

I have a ten year old son, and we have had a Friday night game night every week for the past three years or so. The choice rotates week to week. The "host" is responsible for makng sure the table is picked up and doing the game setup.

I'm just glad my son has finally learned Monopoly is not actually any fun. His skills and taste have improved.

It's always looked forward to.

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Fri, 04/15/2016 - 07:45
#3
gilamonster
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Joined: 08/21/2015
good if not forced

It is a great thing to do if your children develop an interest in board games naturally by watching you, and gradually join in gaming sessions of their own free will. That's how I discovered science fiction, which I still love to read; I asked what my father was reading, so he told me about it and it sounded really interesting.

Its not so great if it's like this:
Father: "Now children, you are all going to sit at the table and play games because this is a FAMILY event and we need to do this AS A FAMILY".
Child: "But dad! I wanted to go watch a movie at my friend's house! We arranged it..."
Father: "No Buts! FAMILY!.

If your kids like spending time with you, family game nights or any other fun family activities will probably just naturally happen. But if they sometimes want to skip a game night that should also be ok, because if they feel forced into it, it won't go down well, and they may end up disliking games.

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Fri, 04/15/2016 - 10:47
#4
JohnPace
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Choices and fun

I have a 8 year old son who loves to play games with the family. We do not have a set family game night, sometimes we play games and sometimes we do not. There are times when he will ask to play a game while other time we suggest it. He loves the family time as do we. There are times however that he decides he does not want to play a game and that is OK too.

I feel it is equally as important for his thoughts and desires to be respected as well. If we were to force him to play games he would quickly grow to hate not only games but family time as well. Part of his love games comes from seeing his mother and I play games and he wants to join as well.

It all really depends on the child's personality. Games can be a great way to bring a family together but so can family dinners or just being there for them when they need it. In a few years my son may no longer want to play games or think they are old fashion, and that is also OK.

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Fri, 04/15/2016 - 13:19
#5
polyobsessive
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Family gaming

I have a 9-year-old daughter who I play games with quite often (and I've been blogging about it for the last 5 years!) though the frequency of this varies greatly as she goes through phases of being interested and not interested in gaming. We don't really have family game sessions as my wife is not very interested in board games, though she does join us once in a while.

What we do do from time to time is to hook up with another family to have an inter-family games afternoon, and that usually goes down well.

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Fri, 04/15/2016 - 13:46
#6
radioactivemouse
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FGN

When I was in college, my roommates and I had "family" game night, which usually consisted of Risk or Magic.

When I married my wife, we would go to her parents house regularly for a family dinner, no games.

Now that my wife is expecting with our first child, I'm going to have family game nights for sure. In fact, I've chosen board and card games as my career (I teach game theory) and I've been buying tons of games in the name of "research" so that when my daughter comes of age, she will have a library of games to choose from.

The concept of a family game night isn't a new one, I believe that it's now becoming more popular due to the resurgence of board and card games.

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Fri, 04/15/2016 - 14:38
#7
Gabe
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My kids are 5 and 7 and

My kids are 5 and 7 and haven't really gotten into games yet. They love matching games and kick my butt in those, but that's the extent of their gaming for now.

My wife and I play games together somewhat consistently though. It's usually one of my prototypes, and she's usually glad to help me make the game better. God blessed me with a very patient woman as she soldiers through bad mechanics and designs at times.

She also usually beats me...at my own games...

I look forward to the day when the whole family can play games. Maybe in a few years.

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Fri, 04/15/2016 - 14:40
#8
questccg
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A friend of mine

He has three (3) girls, each different ages.

Now the thing is that they don't have a Television! Television is banned in their household.

We usually don't speak about games - but he knows that I am working on one and the topic came up. In his home, they play board games. But he admits that he does buy Video Games off of Steam. However we both agree that when someone plays a Video Game is is usually a SOLO session even if it might be an MMO or Multiplayer game. The rest of the family does not partake in the games being played.

Plus he said if he had to buy a computer for each of them - that too would be very costly.

So we both agree that Board Games are good for LARGER families since it brings the family together. Anyhow that's the impression that I get from both his perspective and my own opinion.

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Fri, 04/15/2016 - 16:25
#9
ruy343
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Joined: 07/03/2013
My experience

When I was 8 or so, my father decided to DM our first D&D adventure on a Sunday afternoon after church. from that moment on, every Sunday night was devoted to games with the family, video or tabletop. It really helped our family to feel closer together, and it helped to teach my older brother with Asperger's how to communicate with the rest of us without getting upset.

Also, I'm a Mormon (meaning, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). Something that our church teaches us to do is set aside a night every week to do something with the whole family (the typical recommendation is Monday night, but families are free to pick a night according to individual needs). Our family, being six people, would trade off taking charge of one of six activities, including the following: conductor (usually about 5 mins, topics varied), game, and treat. This gave the family a chance to come together to discuss important issues, and also play games together.

Playing games (and otherwise having fun) together as a family is absolutely critical as kids grow older. I highly recommend it.

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Fri, 04/22/2016 - 18:07
#10
JohnnyDavids13
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Joined: 04/16/2016
Corsaire wrote:I have a ten

Corsaire wrote:
I have a ten year old son, and we have had a Friday night game night every week for the past three years or so. The choice rotates week to week. The "host" is responsible for makng sure the table is picked up and doing the game setup.

I'm just glad my son has finally learned Monopoly is not actually any fun. His skills and taste have improved.

Very important lesson to learn. Monopoly is just a giant pain.

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