This contest is meant to spark memories of fun games nights, playing Scrabble at home or visiting an arcade, with family and friends. In this rapidly evolving world of AI generated social clickbait clamouring for our every waking minute of attention, you can easily get more « human-time » by playing one of the great social past-times of our youth. Board games guarantee hours of fun with … people! Real—sometimes in your face, but always laughing, cheering, and having fun—people. Even arcades were best when shared with friends. There is no better time of year for a contest like this than now with the amazing Play at Best Buy event happening. Read on to learn about the prizes in this contest and what Play at Best Buy is all about.

Gaming is universally socially acceptable

Last year for both of my twenty-something daughters’ birthdays, I bought them each a board game. The reason was simple: playing board games is very popular with them and their friends. In fact board game cafes are catering to all ages in cities all across Canada, providing the space, food, and drinks (some are even licensed for alcohol) so friends can gather and play. Families too are rediscovering that a simple game is all we need to rediscover each other. It’s hard to socialize and empathize when we all have our heads buried in a screen. Board games don’t just bring us back to a simpler time, they focus our attention on each other. We see each other, we listen to each other. It’s not a new concept, just one many people, families, even friends, have lost.

A recent essay about board games published on April 6, 2023 in the The Atlantic Monthly, stated that, “Board games are hostage situations.” I agree to an extent because you are settled in for the duration of the game, like it or not. However, most of us know that if you pick the right game, and the right co-hostages, everyone can have a great time. Even discovering together that a game is not to your taste is a bonding experience. Gaming is better than just conversing by bringing out personality and anecdotes organically, without pressure: the point of being there is to play … learning about each other is the pleasant by-product.

Organize a games night in your home

The trick is the choose the right game. If five friends are coming over, you most likely can find something more inclusive than chess. My wife loves Scrabble, but many people are not as into words as my wife (an English teacher) and myself (Editor in Chief at Best Buy). One approach, especially if you are about to host a games night for the first time with many of your guests, is to pick a game that’s quick to learn, easy to master, and quirky and fun. Additionally, you could select a game that is new to everyone who will play: there are tons of great YouTube videos to learn from … and you can all quickly learn together! The prize packs we are giving away in this contest each include a range of nostalgia (Hasbro favourites like “Game of Life” “Clue” “Connect Four”) and new adventures (like Skull, Werewolves, and a fantastic variation on the escape room adventures called Unlock!). Winners are sure to get something for a perfect games night. Oh and there is one added bonus in each prize pack—an Arcade1Up arcade experience that you won’t want to miss.

Gaming month is now: are you game?

We have our amazing Play at Best Buy gaming event with the best video gaming contest on the planet during the month of June. This is gaming month because many of the new games for each year get announced in June. For example, the new Mortal Kombat 1 was recently announced. To commemorate that we have included some Arcade1Up Collectorcade Mortal Kombat arcades in two of the prize packs of this games night contest as a nostalgic homage. The other two prize packs include another classic: Pacman!. Do you prefer the nostalgic games or the newer games available at Best Buy? If you were holding a games night, which game would you choose from the ones we are giving away? Are you game to participate in this contest? Be brave, be bold, take a chance and enter now!

How to enter

Entering this contest will be fun and you can enter in two different ways:

  1. In a comment below: tell us which game we are giving away in this contest would you select to play at a games night in your home and what is it that makes that game the best choice.
  2. Social post: For one additional entry, create a public post on a social media channel sharing with your friends and followers which board game available at Best Buy that you have never played before would you most like to try. Show a screen shot of the game from Best Buy’s website, and include the hashtag #BoardGameContest, so we can find your post. Then return here and tell us in a comment below on which channel you posted it and the name of your channel (since many people use pseudonyms) so that we can check and verify your entry. You can use any social media channel (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, etc.), but the post must be public so we can verify it is there.

What you can win

At the end of the contest, we will randomly select four (4) winners from all eligible entries. These winners will be randomly assigned to the four prize packages shown here so each winner will get one of those four prize packages.

Prize 1Werewolves Of Miller’s Hollow Card Game / Hasbro The Game of Life /Hasbro Scrabble / Pacman Collectorcade 
Prize 2Hasbro The Game of Life/ Hasbro Clue Board Game/ Unlock! Mythic Adventures Card Game / Pacman Collectorcade 
Prize 3Skull Party Board Game / Habro Scrabble / Hasbro Yahtzee / Mortal Kombat Collectorcade
Prize 4Hasbro Clue Board Game / Mortal Kombat Collectorcade / Unlock! Mythic Adventures Card Game / Hasbro Connect 4

This contest runs from June 3rd to July 5th.

Remember you can enter two times as mentioned above. Contests are a type of game really. And you don’t have a chance at winning if you don’t play. And playing is more fun when you have more people, so tell your friends to enter too.

Win an amazing game night prize pack

Good luck.

Martin Renaud
Martin Renaud
Editor in Chief
Martin loves working with the talented editors and writers on the Best Buy Blog as Editor-in-Chief. During his spare time he is either working on his next novel, cooking up a masterpiece in the kitchen, or adding some smart tech to his new home on Mayne Island in British Columbia.
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633 COMMENTS

  11. I would choose PacMan. A classic to bring in to our family and would bring back alot of fun memories for me.

  17. We would definitely go with Pac Man. We regularly play board games and are not too keen on the current video games. Pac Man is more our speed and skill level

  19. I think we’d play the Hasbro Clue Board Game since it’s a classic and will assist in helping my niece and nephew apply critical thinking.

  21. The Arcade 1-up would be my choice for games night which would be my game of choice as it would make for great retro nights.

  31. The Arcade1Up PacMan game would be a real hit in our house. My husband and I could relive our childhood days, while our kids try to beat our top scores!

  33. Hands down pac man! We just had a serious competition at a local indoor playground that had an old pac man game and I tell ya it would be sooo awesome to bring our family game nights to a whole new level!!

  36. I would love Pac Man! Love this game and would be reminiscent of years ago when I played this!

  39. Yahtzee has always been a family favourite – even the youngest children can play and compete. We always have a little treat for the winner and my granddaughter would beam if she won a small chocolate bar or a little pack of smarties.

  40. Yahtzee we played it a lot and any age and skill level and number of people can easily play.

  45. I would love to play Unlock at games night because we love puzzle games and escape rooms.

  47. The game I would select to play at a games night is Pacman because I don’t remember playing it before. Maybe I played a little a long time ago but I just can’t remember.

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