No Effort Hack to be the Table Favorite
Everyone loves the person who brings food to game night. This is probably the easiest, lowest effort way to bond with your group, whether you are an established table or if you’re just forming up. We all gotta eat, and we appreciate when someone takes care of that for us.
There is, however, more nuance than just bringing a bag of chips to session. If you bring snacks to your game, you contend with a lot of unspoken questions. When you meet at someone’s house and crack a bag of chips, people might wonder if they need to go get bowls or napkins. Is the whole bag of chips up for grabs, or just a few chips for everyone? Should we all grab some and then play, or munch over the course of the game? Are people even hungry, or did they recently eat?
All of that is why I recommend buying pizza.
Level 1 - Buy them pizza
Buying pizza is a clearer purchase for the group. Pizza etiquette is clearer in office/school settings. People are free to grab a slice when they want, use napkins or plates if they want, it is easy to see how many people are at the table and if it is “fair” to grab a second or third slice.
Pizza is also a food that is hot and fresh. Socially, it a clear indicator that this was not a leftover food item, this was a specially bought gift for the group. The pizza is whole, and the other players at the table are being fed, so it tends to be received better. You may find that when you pull out a half eaten bag of chips or an opened box of cookies, people are a lot less inclined to accept the food. Pizza avoids all of this.
Level 2 - Buy them the pizza they like
A little less than 10% of the US population follows a vegetarian diet, 5% are pescatarian, and multiple religious groups abstain from eating pork. That means that when you have a gaming table with 5-7 people, there is a good chance that you will have a mixture of dietary restrictions. The classic pepperoni (pork) pizza may not work for everyone if you’re a meat eater and have never thought of this before. Likewise, if you are vegetarian, there is a good chance someone at your table would like some protein on their slice.
So buy two pizzas. One that you’re excited for, and one that they are excited for. And let everyone know ahead of session that it will be coming that way. It lets your fellow players know that they should save room for pizza (more people will accept your gift) and it also reassures people that everyone’s needs will be met. When folks have dietary restrictions, they are used to seeing “we’ll have pizza” and still hedging their bets, because it may not be something they can actually eat.
Level 3 - Buy them the pizza you both like
The one downside with buying a mixed selection of pizza for your group is that you can often fall into a habit of “this pizza is for the rest of us, and that pizza is for you.” In the US, a classic solution is getting a pepperoni pizza and a cheese pizza. The pepperoni pizza is the “better” pizza, and everyone only joins in on eating the cheese pizza as a last resort, once the “good” pizza is finished. And any vegetarians in the group never even get the option of a “good” pizza.
So spend a little bit of time, and see what fun flavors of pizza there are that everyone might be able to enjoy together. If pork is the issue, try ordering a chicken Alfredo pizza with white sauce! If all meat is an issue, try an oinion, peppers, and bbq sauce pizza or a frickle pickle pizza. This really makes everyone else feel appreciated, and not like they’re just being tolerated.
Sometimes, that’s all it takes.
Pizza is an easy win. You can save yourself time on meals on game night, plus you can score some brownie points with your table. If you have a membership to Costco or if there is a Little Ceasars nearby, you can even get pizzas for less than $10. Bring some food to your friends, and let them know you care!