Stay Connected, Play Games, and Fight Winter Blues
“Hey, I miss you. Can we play Quiplash soon?”
“Hi! I’m hosting a virtual game night on Friday. I’d love to see you there!”
“Hey girlies my mental health is on the absolute fritz 🤪✌️pls come over for a game night!”
^ These are some icebreaker lines I wrote for you to steal when you’re feeling the winter blues and need some light-hearted fun with your people.
The winter blues are real. Seasonal Affective Disorder hits me like a brick every year, and it’s incredibly easy to feel isolated in the winter months. Please know you’re not alone.
It’s important to arm yourself with the tools necessary to combat this. In my case, it’s a little bit of sunshine every day (no matter how cold it is), therapy, and doing my best to stay connected with people. Jackbox Games is the perfect way to stay connected to your people, both near and far.
How to invite your friends to a winter game night
The winter blues can have you convinced that your bed is your only friend. That’s just not true.
Use one of my lines at the top of this blog to reach out to your high school friends, your buddies from college, or those neighbors you’ve been wanting to get to know better. If you live near each other and one of you is willing to brave the cold and host, great! If not, also great! No one has to clean their room to host a party on Google Meets.
Still don’t believe me that you don’t have any friends besides your bed? Well, I still don’t believe you. It’s easy to convince ourselves that just because there’s physical distance between us, or that time has passed since we last chatted, our friends don’t care about us anymore. It can be awkward to shake off the dust of our friendships, but Jackbox games are a great tool to re-break the ice and remind us of why we care about each other. If you’re in this scenario, try sending a message like this:
“Hey, it’s been a while! I’d really like to catch up. Are you free for a game night? I can’t wait to hear about what you’ve been up to lately.”
And if after all this you’re still like, “Michelle, I’m serious. Bed is my only friend,” I invite you to join our Discord. Our Discord community is full of people discussing their interests (including, of course, Jackbox Games) and inviting people to join their games.
Furthermore, we have a lovely community of Twitch team members who are regularly streaming games on their own channels and chatting with their viewers. Make some new friends! I believe in you!
How to set up your winter blues-crushing game night
Once you’ve invited your group to a game night, you’ll want to make sure you’re ready to host.
If this game night is happening remotely, make sure you’ve chosen a video conferencing tool that works for everyone in your group. Additionally, familiarize yourself with the game’s settings in order to make sure everything runs as smoothly as possible. Learn more about playing Jackbox Games remotely here.
If this game night is happening in person, download the game to your preferred platform and remind everyone to bring phones or tablets to use as a controller for the game. Take the burden off yourself to be the perfect host by inviting everyone to bring their favorite snack to share.
Whether in person or remote, it’s nice to establish a casual vibe where everyone can feel comfortable to laugh and relax. Invite your group to NOT dress to impress. Wear sweatpants, wrap yourselves in a giant blanket, and just enjoy each other's company.
Pick the right game for your group
Maybe you just want to reconnect with one friend. That’s great! We’ve got some excellent 2-player games to choose from.
Or maybe you’ve got the whole band back together and the band has like 4 bassists and 3 backup vocalists. First of all, weird band. I MUST hear. Check out our list of games by group size to pick some that accommodate your needs.
If it’s been a while since you’ve spent time with this group. Fibbage 3 and Fibbage 4 both have an “Enough About You” mode, which serves as an excellent icebreaker.
Playing with a group unfamiliar with Jackbox Games? The Jackbox Party Starter is the perfect pick. With three fan-favorite games in this pack, there’s something for everyone in the group. Test your trivia skills in Trivia Murder Party 2, laugh yourself silly while writing ridiculous answers to prompts in Quiplash 3, and end the night by making absurd t-shirt designs in Tee K.O.. Which brings me to my next suggestion…
How to keep things going
A single game night is wonderful, but just one tool of many in a toolbox to combat the winter woes. How do you keep a good thing going?
After you’ve played some games, check in with your group. How have they been feeling? Is this something you could do once a week, or once a month? Maybe they’re looking for some consistent community, too.
Follow up and let them know how it felt to spend time with them. Let them know if you’d like to do it again. Try these:
“That was great! I’d love to schedule a regular game night if you’re interested.”
“You absolutely destroyed me in Drawful. Same time next week?”
“Playing games with you is so fun! I’d love to try some new ones next time. They have one called Word Spud. What could that be?”
Or maybe your Jackbox game night was just a way to re-open this line of communication, and next time you watch a movie. Or build a snowman. Or build a shockingly lifelike recreation of the Jackbox head logo with gingerbread. Cute!
Whether you’re connecting with friends or family near or far, we hope Jackbox Games provides you with joy and laughter this winter. Share your favorite game night moments with us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok.
