Family Game Day.

Okay if there is one thing that you should take from the blog and implement into your lives, it’s Family Game Day.

In spring of 2019 I decided I wanted to put together an extreme family game day. This was one of my most genius ideas. I promise you, implement a family game day, and you will not regret it. In the success of the first year, we all decided that we would make it an annual event. Now, having two family game days under my belt, I can easily say it is one of my favorite days in the year.

This all began because I noticed that as my siblings and I got older, it was getting harder and harder to find dates that we are all available to come together to do something fun. We are a game-playing family, so I thought that it could be really fun to have a game day, but take it up a notch. It was really important to me that everyone could be there to partake in days events. After picking a day in the summer that everyone was free. . . months in advance, the planning began! I took it upon myself to do the planning and let it be a surprise to my family what the days events would hold. . . very good decision on my part.

Let me preface this by saying that I come from a very VERY competitive family. 2019 family game day was an individual competition. There were ways to earn points based on placings in each event. Each member had to complete a number of tasks, and the winner was usually determined on who could complete that task the fastest. At the end of the day, points were tallied and trophies were administered. I went with a first place trophy and a biggest loser trophy. At the end of the day’s events we all agreed that we wanted to make this an annual event, and thus the planning for the next year’s event began!

_{*Another post will be made to explain games used in FGD2019, so hold onto your hats.*}

After months and months of preparation, Family Game Day 2020 was nearing. I had waited until the week of the picked date to send out a text to everyone with the plan for the weekend so they could begin to get excited. This year I decided to team them up with a red team and blue team and, better yet, there was a theme. In the months leading up to this, and mostly during the height of quarantine, my family had decided to watch all of the Marvel movies. Having this fresh in everyone’s mind, I went with a Marvel theme. Everyone was assigned a character that they were to dress up and act as for the days events.

_{From left to right, top to bottom, we had Hawkeye, Valkyrie, Scarlet Witch, Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, Captain Marvel, The Wasp, and Black Widow.}

Sadly, Thor (Grady) was out on business for the time being, but he made sure to cheer on from afar :). After everyone was assigned a character they were divided into two teams. The red team consisted of Iron Man, The Wasp, Black Widow, and Hawkeye. The blue team had Captain America, Hulk, Scarlet Witch, and Valkyrie.

This year I had made a scavenger hunt for each team that would have them running all over our property. Of course, on the day we picked to have FGD, it was pouring. . . but in good McHugh fashion, everyone was eager to go out and compete anyways.

This is a perfect representation of how fun my family is.

They were willing to participate in a Family Game Day outside in the pouring rain.
They each came up with their costume, and committed to their character for the day.

Having them be so eager to participate made my job as “Master Game Keeper” super easy!

The day started with all of them upstairs in our loft, watching Marvel: Endgame to get them all hype for the day while I got everything set up outside.

Once the game was set up, I called them all down and split them into their teams. Each team assigned a stone keeper that would be responsible for the collection of the stones. The stones had loops where they could be attached to wire or string. The stone keeper was given a coil of wire to substitute as an infinity gauntlet. As the stones were collected, they were added to the wire.

After the stone keepers were assigned, each team was given their first clue. This would lead them to where they needed to complete their first challenge in order to receive an infinity stone and a clue to their next challenge. There were 6 challenges based on the stones.

Reality Stone – In order to receive the reality stone they had to get first place on Mario Cart’s Rainbow Road. After receiving the reality stone they would get a clue telling them where to go to find the power stone.
Power Stone – The clue leading to this stone had everything to do with money, as often, money is associated with power. In the largest money jar in our house, they would have to fish out the Power stone, along with a clue to leading them to the Time Stone.
Time Stone – In order to get this stone, they had to assemble a lego set in 90 seconds perfectly without instructions. This proved to be the most difficult task of the day. After the 90 seconds was up, the lego set was taken apart and they would have to start again. After completing this task, they would receive the time stone and a clue to find the space stone.
Space Stone – To find this stone they had to use their spatial awareness. The stone was hidden in a bucket full of soil, animal bones, and a few other nasty goodies. One member of each team needed to stick their hand into that bucket and pull out the blue space stone. After presenting the stone to one of the game keepers (my grandparents or myself), they were given a clue to find the Mind Stone.
Mind Stone – Each team received a clue leading them to the barn where they had to search for a puzzle. Once they had located the puzzle, they had to assemble it without instructions, or a picture to go off of. Once the puzzle was assembled, it was up to the players to find the secret message written on the back, telling them where the mind stone was hidden. In the same location as the mind stone was their next clue to find the soul stone.
Soul Stone – (My personal favorite) If you have ever seen the movie, you know that to retrieve this stone, you have to make a great sacrifice. Much to my enjoyment, the soul stone was floating in a jar in the middle of our pond. Each team had to sacrifice one member to jump into the water in full costume to retrieve the stone.

Once all six stones were retrieved, they had to find the Head Game Keeper (me) and present the gauntlet to me. Each team began at different places in the scavenger hunt, and had to complete all 6 challenges.

FGD 2020 was a Hulk smash hit to say the least. Everyone embraced the rain, did all the challenges with laughter and smiles, and maintained a positive attitude despite the poor conditions. Now I am sure you all are dying to know who won this year, and the Blue team took the trophy. Also, a big bonus this year was everyone walked away injury free!

In case you decide to implement a family game day, which I sincerely hope you do, I would advise a ground rules meeting at the beginning of the day. If your family is anything like mine, they will do anything to get a leg up. I found it helpful to remind them of the following rules.

You must maintain your character’s presence throughout the day.
You must keep a positive attitude throughout the day.
There will be no loophole searching of any kind.
Have fun!

Two years in, I would highly advise you to implement a Family Game Day. It has become one of the most exciting days of the year. Not only is it SUPER DUPER fun, but it also is a time where so many memories are made, laughs are had, and company is enjoyed. I could write pages about Family Game Day, but I think I should leave off here for now. Take the time to plan to spend time with your family. Whether it is a euchre tournament, a monopoly game, or a full on scavenger hunt, time spent with the people you love most is always worth it.