Playing games as an adult is hard. More often than not there's a lot of other much more pressing things you should be doing and gaming takes somewhat of a backburner. However, you need to take a break time and so finding time to play games should always be at the forefront of your mind.

For me, this became evident back in April. I moved out of a house with three gamer friends towards the end of last year and suddenly we weren't playing games as often as we once were due to geography and all sorts. So, I devised an idea that we coined Board Games, Beer & Baked Goods (B&B&B) and I reckon it's a good starting point for other groups to try and do something similar, especially if you just don't see your friends and game as often as you'd like!

Finding The Time

As a group of five, we worked out what day would suit us to get some gaming in. Monday nights landed as the time we'd all most likely be free and so that has become jotted into our calendars as Board Game Night. Now, this doesn't develop into some massive long gaming block for us either. Many of my friends are teachers so they like getting sleep! We run from around 6:30 through to 9:30 giving us three hours to play a given game.

Yes, that is a sprawling game of 7 Wonders with the great Armada expansion!

Because there's five of us we also will most likely have between three and five of us each week to play games and we make sure that ahead of each Monday we canvas who is going to be around so we can pick the right game to suit those coming along. This means, unlike with a roleplaying group, there's no need for everyone to come every week, making it flexible and allowing folks to carry on gaming without others feeling left out and/or holding up the fun for others.

Picking The Game; The Netflix Connumdrum

This leads us to the meat of the idea. Have you ever sat and scrolled through Netflix for about thirty minutes before deciding what to actually watch? Well, this happened to us a lot and so when it came to B&B&B so we decided to make sure that folks made a decision ahead of time and it was one taken by a single person.

Who would have thought herding cattle would be so incredibly entertaining!

It didn't matter if this game was favoured by everyone or just two or three people. When it was a certain person's week we'd play what game they wanted to play. This cut out a lot of the decision making and repetition as we 'settled' on the games we'd play week after week in the past. It has meant that we've had some curve balls and some solid returns to games that haven't seen the light of day in months!

Of course, each time one of us picks a game we try and make sure it's something we think people are going to enjoy but it means that everyone gets to be really super excited for a game every couple of weeks because they got to break it out of their collection again.

B&B&B is also a good reason for me to actually paint my board game miniatures...

I have been able to dive into a lot of games that either hasn't really been at the top of my list...or I've just not played for whatever reason. For example, Champions Of Midgard had sat in the box for two years before this April when I cracked it out and finally got a game of it!

Some new games have also popped up on the table as B&B&B is a perfect excuse for that new purchase to find a place on the tabletop. Big games like Underwater Cities popped up...

My first game of Underwater Cities and hopefully not the last.

...alongside smaller games like Flamme Rouge which is a wonderful racing game.

Come on, peddle faster damn it!

I even got to break out a favourite of mine, K2, which is an exercise in just how ruthless people can be when the weather is changing on a mountainside and you're determined to get to the summit before everyone else and stay alive!

There's only space for one winner on this mountain!

This format has meant that we've really scoured through our board game collection and found all sorts of gems thanks to people having left-field choices!

Beer (Beverages) & Baked Goods

As one person picked the game, each week another person in the group supplies the beer (or beverage) and the baked goods. One of the great things about board games is that you can sit and drink/eat as you go, plus it's a good excuse for us to take on sugar and alcohol. I may have had a WKD too at one point because...paaaaaarty!

...yes, I occasionally drink a WKD.

It has meant that we've been very much like a little beer club at times, working out way through the speciality range of 'hipster' beers at our local supermarket and occasionally a bottle of mead and some cider too!

That's not to forget that we've then also been able to indulge in some very delicious cakes, pastries, cookies and such too. Yum!

Try It Yourself!

I'm sure many people out there have found ways to get a weekly dose of gaming into their lives. That could be down at your local club or maybe in a pub! However, if you're at a bit of a loss maybe suggest to your friends that maybe they meet up once a week, choose a game and get stuck into that for a good couple of hours whilst also enjoying beer, tea, panda pops (who remembers those?) and most importantly each other's company.

Space is dangerous. Eclipse is also an exercise in diplomacy and 'Cold War' thinking...

That's what it's all about in the end really isn't it? Tabletop gaming allows us to create moments with people that stick in the memory. I mean, I'm still going to remember the time playing Eclipse where I became my friends willing subordinate and put on my best Grima Wormtongue impression!

In a hectic world where adulting is hard (cue memes), it's been good to have this time of the week to look forward to where I get to hang out with my old housemates, play games and catch up as well as play some gems from our collection.

If you fancy following along with our Monday outings you can check out my Twitter HERE and I'm looking to build a project here OnTableTop too! This week we played Escape The Dark Castle!

How do you get a dose of tabletop goodness into your life?