Get your first game night running

1. Set up as the host

The first launch takes under a minute.

1. Swipe through the three intro pages, or tap Skip.
2. Enter your name and pick an emoji, then tap Continue.
3. Allow notifications if you want reminders on the day of the evening and alerts when a game's time is up.

Good to know: NightNova prepares a draft evening for the coming Friday with three games, so you can see how everything fits before planning your own.

2. Plan an evening

1. On the Evenings tab tap +.
2. Tap the cover and choose Ready themes for one of eight illustrations, or Upload your photo to pick a picture.
3. Add a title, date, time, place and an optional note, then tap Save.

Calendar: the calendar button on Evenings shows the month with your nights marked. Pick a free future day and tap Plan an evening to start one with that date filled in.

3. Pick your guests

1. Open the evening and tap Guests.
2. Tick the friends who are coming. New face? Tap New friend, add a name and an emoji, then Save friend.
3. Tap Done. Everyone you add also joins your crew ranking.

4. Build the program

1. Tap Program, then Add games and pick from the library or your own games.
2. Choose the break between games: none, 5, 10 or 15 minutes. NightNova shows when the night should end.
3. Tap Edit to drag games into a new order.
4. Tap a game to read its rules, change its length for this evening only, or remove it from the program.

5. Bring & prep

In Bring & Prep note who brings snacks, drinks or a deck of cards, and keep a checklist for the host: clear the table, check the decks, pens and a score pad. The evening shows how much of the prep is done.

6. Share the invite

1. On the evening tap Invite.
2. Swipe to choose a Poster or a Ticket.
3. Tap Share invite and send the picture to any chat. Choosing Save Image asks iOS for permission to add it to Photos.

7. Run the night live

1. Tap Start evening. The first game starts with a ring timer.
2. Use −5 min, pause and +5 min as you play, and Moment to jot down something funny.
3. When the game ends, tap Finish game and enter the result: points, places or the winner, depending on the game.
4. If you set a break, it runs between games; Skip break moves straight on. The evening menu lets you skip a game, swap or reorder the next ones, or end the evening early.

8. Crown and share

1. After the last result, Champion of the night opens with the podium.
2. Tap See the summary for the full results and moments.
3. Share the night sends the Champion or Scoreboard card. Titles, wins and stars go to the Crew tab.

Troubleshooting

Quick fixes for the questions we hear most.