Remember those outrageous parties in college? Even if the details are fuzzy, most of us probably share those hilarious, downright ridiculous experiences from our early twenties.
But it seems like the further we drift away from our college days, the less creative we get with our drinking and, in general, time spent socializing. We’ve grown up, and our tastes have refined. So what if we’ve outgrown watered down beers and mass produced training wheels (about time!) and moved onto craft beers? This doesn’t mean that we have to sit around stuffily drinking with our friends, talking about the same things night after night.
Playing games as a group is a fantastic way to help people get past surface-level pleasantries and partake in more meaningful conversation—the real reason we gather together in the first place!
We love Sparked, a new game for women consisting of 250 cards printed with unique discussion starters. The goal of Sparked is to help women bond with and encourage each other while having fun.
The cards are grouped into six categories: love, passion, opportunity, happiness, adventure, gratitude, inspiration, and generosity. Players use a ‘Magic Wand’ to randomly select a card. There will be a question to answer, an activity to complete, or something that the whole group must do together. You’ll be sipping on your beer and most definitely won’t be bored. Can men enjoy this game too? Have some fun finding out.
Throw a ‘Suits and Six Packs’ party and play the Beer Flavors Game. It gives you an excuse to dress to the nines…kind of like fraternity toga parties used to allow you to wear nothing out in public but a tie-dyed sheet. Men wear suits, and women get all glammed up.
Have everybody bring a six pack of different craft beers. Pour a sample for everyone, and have them write down three descriptive words about the beer. It can be anything – “hoppy” to “creamy” to “sweet.” Give players points when their adjectives are identical to others. If two people write the same word, they each get two points, if three people use the same adjective they get three points, and so on. Only (and only) when you’ve tasted the entire selection can you add up the points to declare the winner. Bonus? Send them home with the leftover beer, if there is any.
So what if you’re a little older and more mature…don’t limit yourself to dull, repetitious night after night of the same thing! Your friends will thank you for it.