I Want to Bring Something to the Table...

The table.

At the Center of It All

Chances are, your tables get used a lot more than their intended purpose, serving as breeding grounds for errant magazines, cups, keys, and other quickly-accessible odds and ends. The read of a table can be quite telling of its user: the stains from past meals, stray letters, childrens' toys...it's the table's diary entry for the day, for the week sometimes. And we take its accessibility for granted so many times that we often forget to clean it once in a while.

The majority of board games out there require a flat surface to play on, preferably an elevated one surrounded by chairs for everyone's comfort. And unless you have a dedicated table purely for board games, dining and coffee tables are probably your go-to area for gaming. And what's the first thing you do before setting a game up? You clean the table.

Common Sense

Of course, right? You want to play on a clean table, so you take the extra time BEFORE getting a game started to clean the table, which can take anywhere from 2 to 10 minutes depending on how unclean it is.

During a game night, it's more socializing before game time. What about other times, when you just want to have some impromptu casual gaming? Cleaning can easily tangent off to more cleaning, to utter dismissal of ANY board gaming at all.

And all because you had a dirty table.

A Minor (but Important) Task

There's no denying the fact that most of the time, we don't get any board games to the table because of little free time, family, work, what have you. But when the time DOES come, will you have any excuse for no flat surface to play on? Which is why I say this with great emphasis:

Clean all your playing services EVERY day.

It's an extra daily routine to pick up, but it will become second nature soon enough. Not only will this take away any downtime you require to prep your games, but you'll just be left with clean tables for any impromptu gaming. Secret relationship tip: to your significant other, this is just additional cleaning you're performing around the house, which I'm sure is ALWAYS appreciated! I've had much more success suggesting a board or card game over a clean table than a dirty one, that's for sure.