I set up a public game night for a non profit organization. The event space has a bar on one side and Pizza and snacks are available. All ages are welcome as the bar side is segregated from where the gaming area is. We posted it in some FB local groups and I found some local subreddits and discord servers. I even made an Instagram account but it flagged my flyer as spam. It’s a smallish town with about 14k people but near a much bigger college town by about 30 minutes. I’m at a loss as what to do since I’m going to give it a go this week too. We discussed having a vintage video game competition such as an old arcade game. Am I missing something or are game nights just not that popular?
To be blunt, you advertised it instead of organizing it
Very few people are going to show up to a game night where they don’t know anyone. Especially if they don’t have a vibe check from hearing about it from someone they know directly
And if there’s only one person there when they show up, most people are going to feel very awkward. It’s likely they’d peek through the window and bail out
You need people to buy in. You need at least a core group that will be there before the start time so people will see a game night going on if they do show up, and to spread word that its a good time. It’ll grow organically from there if everyone has fun, and that’s the point where you can advertise if you want to keep growing
How you find that group I can’t help with, but it can’t just be like an RSVP on Facebook or something. You need to communicate with people directly what you’re trying to do and organize with them
I agree with this. I would go as far as the type of people that would like a game night aren’t exactly the type to put themselves out there even if everyone has something in common. It’s hard enough to get people on discord.