It’s far too often that we look for things to entertain us outside of our own headspace. We’ve been taught over the years that entertainment is only entertainment if it’s outside our heads. If it’s something that we can grab and mould with our hands. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that kind of entertainment. It’s great to be able to grab something and mash it around.
But we definitely don’t need to have something physical. We can work within our own creative kingdom at home.
Your Ever Ignored Board Games
You know and I know that you have a bunch of board games laying around somewhere. Whether they’re in a closet or locked away in the attic, they’re there- ignored and waiting for someone to love them again.
Put a new flair on old board game favorites by reinventing the rules. Settle down with your players and go over the rules, as if it’s the first time you’ve ever played the game. Then whip out a white board and start to rewrite the important ones. Not only will you have a whole new experience, you won’t spend a dime doing it.
Home Bound Movie Nights
Redbox and various streaming services make it easy to have a snuggle night with your favorite person or pet. If you don’t subscribe to the various streaming services, most of them offer free trials that make a perfect go-to for a date night at home. Just remember to delete or cancel your subscription before the trial period is over so you aren’t charged.
But you aren’t going to watch this on your television. Oh, no. You’re going to drag your laptop to the floor, throw a bunch of squashy pillows down and make yourself a pillow or a blanket fort. Serve dinner under there and have a living room picnic with a fun movie in the background. It’s the perfect thing for every season and best of all, there’s no itchy grass or bite-happy bugs to ruin your evening. And it’s completely free, or very nearly so if you rent from Redbox.
Role Playing Games
This may seem a bit silly, but role playing games are an excellent way to stretch your imagination without spending a penny. There are several organizations that encourage this, such as the Society for Creative Anarchism (aka, the SCA). We’ll come out and say that you absolutely can spend a fortune buying hand carved staves and real swords at role playing game events, but none of this is required to play.
This goes for games like Dungeons and Dragons as well. All you need is a character sheet, pencils and some dice for basic games. It’s very easy to find legal copies of the dungeon master books at thrift shops or second hand stores if you want them in print and even easier to legally find a run down of rules and roll charts online. There are hundreds of websites devoted to helping you create campaigns free of charge and even more that offer high end services for a small fee.