A video game club works the same way as a book club. A small group picks one game, everyone plays it over a few weeks, and then you get together to talk about it. It's one of the easiest ways to play games you'd never have picked yourself, and to actually finish some of the ones sitting in your backlog.
This guide covers how to start a video game club with friends: who to invite, how to pick games everyone can play, how long to give each one, and how to keep the conversation going once people have finished.
Keep the group small
Four to six people is a good size. Big enough that the conversation has a few different opinions in it, small enough that everyone gets a word in and nobody can hide.
It doesn't have to be people who play the same kind of games. Some of the best discussions come from someone who mostly plays shooters trying a slow narrative game, or a lifelong JRPG fan trying a roguelike for the first time. What matters more is that everyone is willing to play something they wouldn't have chosen.
It also helps to agree on one thing up front: it's fine not to finish. Someone who played three hours and bounced off has as much to say as someone who got every achievement.
Pick games everyone can actually play
Platform is the first practical hurdle. If half the group plays on PC and half on Switch, you need games that are on both. Multiplatform indie games are often the easiest fit, and many of them are short and cheap enough that nobody feels pressured by the price.
A few things to check before you commit to a game:
- Is it on everyone's platform? Check each version, not just the store page for one of them.
- Does it fit the time you've set? A 60-hour RPG is a hard ask for a three-week cycle. Look up a rough length first.
- Is the price reasonable for everyone? Games that are on sale, on a subscription most of the group already has, or under $20 keep things easy.
- Does it give you something to talk about? Games with a strong story, an unusual idea or a divisive ending make for better discussions than games that are simply fun to play.
Rotate who picks. Each month, a different person chooses from a short list or suggests their own game. It keeps the choices varied and means everyone gets to share something they love.
Set a schedule that survives busy months
A month per game is a comfortable pace for most groups. It's long enough for people with jobs and families to get through a 10 to 15 hour game, and short enough that the club doesn't lose momentum.
Shorter games suit shorter cycles. If you're picking something you can finish in a weekend, two weeks is plenty. For anything longer, you can split it: talk about the first half at one meeting and the ending at the next.
Put the meeting date on the calendar when you pick the game, not when you think most people are nearly done. A fixed date is what gets people to actually play.
Run the conversation
The discussion is the part most clubs worry about, and it's usually easier than expected. A few prompts that work well:
- What moment do you remember most?
- Where did you nearly stop playing, and what kept you going (or didn't)?
- What would you change about it?
- Who would you recommend it to?
- If you finished it, did the ending work for you?
Start with the moment everyone remembers. It gets people talking about specifics right away, and different people often pick completely different scenes, which is where the good conversations start.
It helps if everyone jots down a line or two while they play. A note about a boss fight or a line of dialogue that stuck is much easier to talk about than trying to remember a feeling three weeks later. Our guide on how to keep a game journal has some easy ways to do that.
Meeting in person or online
In person is great if you can manage it: someone's living room, a quiet corner of a café, or a board game bar. You can pass a controller around to show a favourite moment, which is hard to beat.
Online works just as well for groups spread across cities. A voice call on Discord or any video chat is enough. Screen sharing makes it easy to show a clip or a screenshot someone saved. Keep it to an hour so it doesn't feel like a meeting.
Between sessions, a group chat keeps people talking. Set one rule: flag spoilers, or keep them to a separate thread, so nobody who's behind gets the ending ruined.
Rate it together
At the end of each meeting, go round and have everyone give the game a rating out of five. It takes two minutes, and the spread is often the most interesting part of the night. When one person gives a game 5 stars and another gives it 2, you'll usually find out something about both of them.
Keeping those ratings over a year also gives the club a history. You can look back at what the group loved, what split it, and what everyone quietly agreed never to mention again.
Keep it going
Most clubs that fizzle out do so because a game dragged on too long, or because picking the next one felt like a chore. Short games, a fixed date and a rotating picker solve most of that.
If you want an easy way to keep track, a shared list works well. In Perthro you can follow friends, see what they're playing, and react to or reply on each other's reviews, which is a handy place to keep the club's picks and scores between meetings. For more on why playing games with other people matters, see our piece on how a game lobby becomes a third place.