TableNight/Guides
Guides · For hosts
Guides for the evening
Three pages written for whoever puts the evening together: how many people you actually need, how to keep a distractible group together, how to play when half the table is three hundred kilometres away, and what technically happens when you play without installing anything.
The quick answers
If you have no time to read all three, these are the four things people ask most.
How many people do you need?
Seven to twelve is the range where any game works. Below six, deduction games are over too quickly; above thirteen you need teams, otherwise four people talk and everyone else looks at their phone.
How long does an evening really take?
Take each game's advertised duration and add fifty per cent: between rounds there is always somebody fetching a drink and somebody rehashing the last game. If you have two hours, plan two games, not four.
What should I prepare beforehand?
The big screen on and already connected, the wi-fi password written down somewhere, a charger in sight and — the detail almost nobody thinks of — the first room already open, because the first launch of the evening can take up to a minute.
Does everyone need their own phone?
For the quiz and Cronos, no: one device per team is enough. For Full Moon, yes, because the role is secret and it lives on each person's phone.
Where to start
If this is the first time you are hosting an evening like this, the most useful reading order is: how to host the evening first, to work out how many people and which games; then what you actually need, so you know what to prepare. The remote play guide only matters if somebody is joining from elsewhere.
If you are simply trying to decide what to play tonight, each of the three game pages has a section with the recommended player count and the real running time.