Game night invitations
I make custom game night invitations, personalised from an existing design for $65 or designed from scratch, then deliver everything as digital files.
Game night means three completely different evenings, and the invitation has to say which one you are having.
$65
Your details set by hand, usually back the same day. $145 to rebuild it in your own colours.
A card that just says game night is asking people to guess. Party games with eight people and a lot of shouting is one evening. One long strategy game that takes four hours and needs everyone to stay in their seat is another. Poker with a buy-in is a third, and it has money in it. The guest list for each is different, and so is the answer you get, so name the games on the card or at least name the type.
The two follow-on details are food and the finish. Snacks laid out on a table means people eat beforehand; a proper meal means they turn up hungry, and getting that wrong is the most common complaint about a game night. And if the long game will not be finished before midnight, say the finish time honestly. Half the people who decline a late night would have come to a seven-to-ten if they had known that was on offer.
The other thing worth putting in writing is whether beginners are welcome. Regular game groups build up a shorthand that reads as a closed door from outside. One line saying the rules get explained and nobody is expected to have played before is what brings in the friend who has been meaning to come for a year.
What changes for this one
Type-led with a small amount of play in it: a suit mark, a die, a meeple silhouette, drawn rather than pulled from a clip-art set. The list of games gets set as an actual list, and the start time and the honest finish time get equal weight. If there is a buy-in, that number sits with the times, not in the small print.
When to send
Two weeks out for a casual night, three if it is a long game that needs a committed group. A regular monthly night only needs a reminder a few days ahead once the first invitation has done its work.
Colours that work
Deep green and cream like a card table, or charcoal with a single warm accent. Warm and low-lit rather than bright, because this is an evening indoors under a lamp.
Questions people ask about game night invitations
Do we really need to say which games?
Yes, or at least the type. Party games, one long strategy game and poker attract different people and take different amounts of the evening. Naming them gets you a truer yes and far fewer people leaving early.
How do we handle food?
Say whether it is snacks or a meal. People decide whether to eat first based on that one line, and a table of crisps when everyone arrived hungry is the thing they remember.
Should we put the buy-in on a poker invitation?
Put it plainly with the times. Money is the one detail nobody wants to ask about, and an unstated stake means somebody turns up expecting a friendly game and finds a serious one.
Can you make a version for a monthly game night?
Yes. I design it once with the details that never change, and you get an editable digital file you can drop a new date and game list into each month.
720
US searches a month for game night invitations, measured rather than guessed.
- movie night invitation · 480/mo
- dinner party invitation · 1,900/mo
How to have this made
Digital and paperless invitations
Designed to be texted, emailed or posted. Not an Evite template.
From $225
Custom invitation design
Designed from nothing for one event. No template underneath.
From $285
Party printables and extras
Favour tags, envelope liners, stickers, banners, water bottle labels.
From $75
Start with a First Look
$45 for one finished concept designed for your event, back in three days. It comes off whatever you book, and if you do not love it you keep the file and owe nothing.