LAN Parties 101

Admit it; you’ve been itching to invite your chums over for a night of endless headshots, laughter and shattered hopes for some, but weren’t quite sure how to start it all. Hosting a LAN (Local Area Network) party should be no more difficult than hosting a barbeque. With this seemingly intuitive guide, you should be well on your way to having a pretty decent LAN party – maybe even a perfect one.

 

                1. Figure Out the Venue

By far the most popular space to host a LAN party is someone’s house. It can be your home or your friend’s. Welcoming people to one’s humble abode is an age old past time that many respect. People can really appreciate the hominess and will usually be more inclined to behave themselves and make less of a mess.

Or you can rent out a space. No one really ever follows through with this option because, you know, no one really wants to spend any more money than they really need to. Plus, there may also be additional cleaning and damage fees should your LAN party get a little wild. But if you really want to spring for all the bells and whistles, you can certainly have a very extravagant LAN party in a rented space.

2. Decide on the Games

You obviously do not want to invite your friends over to watch you play Heavy Rain or Assassin’s Creed 2 because you think their narratives are really engaging. Pick out games that most people can pick up and start playing with relative ease or games you know your guests are familiar with.

Fun for two, but what about the rest of your guests?

The genres that will usually dominate LAN parties are: racing, shooters, fighting and real time strategy. Why? This is because these genres all typically have competitive multiplayer and that’s the core theme of any LAN party. Hosting a party with Viva Piñata as the spotlight game sounds like it could be fun, but just wait until you find your guests snoring as you and a friend build your gardens.

 

3. Inviting People & Keeping Track of Them

Among the first people to be invited to your LAN party are usually the people whom you play certain games with – the people on your friends list. This is great and you can have a great time with this group of people, but I like a little more diversity. You can treat this as any other party and have your guests bring plus 1’s, and invite girls (you’ll be doing everyone a favor). I think it makes for a far more dynamic social environment, but if you really want just a pure fragfest, go right on ahead and invite only your gaming pals.

A LAN Party Event Created via Facebook.

One platform I found to be particularly useful for hosting LAN parties and any other events for that matter is: Facebook. Just about everyone has an account on the networking site and they usually check in periodically. It is also nice enough to notify any invitees of changes to the event and that it’s coming up. The only thing I wish it had is the capability to add tables in event info for inventory, but that’s what Microsoft Word and Excel are for. Otherwise, Facebook is a very powerful tool that can connect everyone to the event with relative ease.

4. Inventory

An old LAN party travel box.

The most essential items you’ll need are: televisions, monitors, consoles or computers, controllers, copies of games, a router/switch, and ethernet cables. Tables, seats, electrical power strips and batteries should also be in your mind’s eye. All of these are usually and should be provided by host and guests.

As host, you should make an inventory list of: televisions, consoles or computers, copies of games, and controllers. Nobody wants to come to a LAN party and find that there are not enough controllers for them to join in on the fun.  This will let you know whether or not you need to ask guests to bring extra gear or if you need to buy them yourself.

So you’ve taken inventory of everything that you and your friends could muster and have come to find that you’re short a few things. Don’t panic and call everyone to cancel the party. If you’re missing a few ethernet cables and HDMI cables, don’t go running to the nearest Best Buy because you’re just burning a lot more money than you need to. Instead look to much cheaper alternatives such as Amazon.com or Firefold.com for those.

Worried about getting your precious belongings mixed up? Try slapping small stickers on them or use a marker to place a dot somewhere. Tell anyone who brings any gear to do so as well. It will save everyone a lot of trouble.

5. Providing Food & Drink

People are inevitably going to get hungry and thirsty after hours of laughter, frustration, and yelling. You don’t need to whip anything up fancy in the kitchen because, let’s face it, your guests just need something in their stomachs and you know that you’d rather not be toiling away in the kitchen. 

Pizza, a time proven veteran of LAN parties.

Ideally, you want food that takes little or no preparation at all. You want food that can just sit idle on a table so that guests can just swing by and refuel. Some food items I usually see are: pizza, fried rice, chow-mein, cookies and bread. Just think quick and easy.

“Food runs” can also be arranged as well. This entails sending people out to a nearby fast food restaurant and picking up loads of food and drink to bring back to the ready and willing gamers.

Alcohol can either break or make your LAN party depending on how fast it is consumed. Your party will typically climax and quickly die with fast consumption. Devise drinking games that can be paired with the current game that everyone’s playing. A simple one would be to have the loser(s) drink. Drink responsibly gamers.

6. Provide Other Games & Activities

No party host ever wants a guest to tell them “I’m bored” or “this party sucks.” Not everyone under your roof is going to be hooked on Halo 3 for hours so you should have a contingency plan. This is why you picked out more than a single game, right? You can even bring out your old board games because those can still entertain especially when alcohol is involved. Or you could just watch television. Provide other activities, otherwise people are going to leave.

Hopefully this guide has prepared you well and can see you off as you sail off towards a land of better LAN parties and Kodak moments. Happy LAN parties and enjoy yourselves, gamers.