Mix Social With Antisocial – Have a Gaming Party

If you love video games, you are probably sick and tired of being told it is an antisocial use of your time. Whether it’s your mother when you’re a kid telling you to put down the controller and ‘get some fresh air’ or ‘go and talk to your friends’ or your friends when you are older who don’t get why you’d rather play video games than go to the pub or play five a side football with them, there is certainly an assumption among non-gamers that spending a lot of time on console or PC games is not healthy or sociable (although the very same people seem to think differently about hanging out at home reading books or watching movies, for some reason!).

Gaming Parties

Of course, if you play online games or MMO style games, you probably actually spend a lot more time than people think interacting with others, but that is an argument for another day! Here, we look at how you can make your ‘antisocial’ hobby into a legitimate social experience your friends will love by having a gaming party.

Party Style Games

While they are probably not the type of games you play by yourself when you are having a long evening gaming session, if you own a console like the Xbox 360, Xbox One or any version of the Nintendo Wii, you can find a huge range of games that are actually designed to be played at parties, using the physical control aspects of the Wii-mote or the Xbox Kinect. There are silly games that are funny to play (especially while drinking), sports based games, and games based around dancing, karaoke or quiz show type themes. These are sometimes suitable for all the family, but don’t assume you need kids in your group to have fun, most of the time they are even more hilarious (and actually challenging) for adults.

More Hardcore Gamer Parties

If the idea of a night of drunken Dance Central or Mario Party doesn’t appeal to you, maybe you need something aimed at more hardcore gamers. If you want to play cooperatively or head to head and have the infrastructure to do it at home (even if you may need your friends to bring over their own consoles, PCs or games), playing racing, fighting or RPG type games in a multiplayer mode can be way more fun when you are all in the same room, with snacks, drinks and other supplies to make it feel like a party. If this feels a little teenage and is unlikely to impress your less game inclined friends, then you can go all out and hire The Games Pod – a mobile games centre with all the latest consoles and games in a hi-tech environment built for parties.

If you want to plan a party, whether for your birthday or just to prove you really are a social person, then theming it around gaming is usually a great idea – it gives everybody a reason to interact and something to do at your party, and allows you to show your friends just how fun gaming can be!