Styles: Hardly Trivial Pursuits

"IN DOLLARS," announces Satish Pillalamarri, 29, over the din of Silver Spring's Mayorga Coffee Factory, "how much did a Washington, D.C,. judge sue a local dry cleaner for a lost pair of pants?"

Conspiratorial whispering commences among the roughly 40 players at Wits & Wagers night (the first Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m.). When all of the guesses are in, Pillalamarri — who invented the game with fellow University of Maryland business school alum Dominic Crapuchettes — writes them on a chalkboard. Each team bets on the answer, which turns out to be $65 million.

So it goes through the first round of this trivia-and-betting combo, which consistently draws a packed house. "I love that the game night is a very social event where one can meet lots of new people easily and have so much fun doing it," says Mary Halbe, 39, who organized the first event in 2005.

Adults playing board games — in public? Holy Chutes and Ladders! Believe it. While Irish pub trivia nights still rule social gaming, many D.C.-area residents are hedging their bets by hauling out the old-school stuff. And they're moving well beyond Monopoly.

When Bayard Catron started planning game nights in 2001, it usually meant a dozen or so close friends and Trivial Pursuit. But when the 38-year-old took over the Maryland/D.C./Virginia 20s to 40s Boardgames Meetup Group last April, that quickly changed. Each month, he helps a member host a party. When he posts an event on Meetup.com, it fills up in a day. There's even a waiting list.

While Taboo, Cranium and Scattergories are perennial faves, Catron recommends online research to find more unusual titles. Boardgamegeek.com is "a community of game lovers who rate and review games," he says. "There are forums, and it's good to get an overall feel for what's available." One of his more esoteric choices: Curses, in which players make others perform actions, preferably silly ones.

Christina Wu, 32, who heads the Reston 20s to 40s Game Night Meetup Group, prefers to rely on word of mouth. "I always encourage people to bring their own games," she says. That's how she found the star-studded guessing game Celebrity and the "whodunit"-themed Werewolf.

But if guests are bored or hungry, you might as well return to Go.

Potlucks are an easy route. Wu, however, steps it up a notch with elaborate meals for which each guest kicks in a couple bucks. At a British and Scottish fete, she wrote trivia questions for each dish. ("This is really Cottage Pie. What is Shepherd's Pie?") The leftover cash rewards correct guessers with $5 gift cards to Chipotle and Starbucks.

To keep guests engaged, use games with teams, not individual turns, says Wits & Wagers' Crapuchettes, 38. "If you have eight people, that means 7/8ths of the time you're waiting." And if a game takes more than 30 minutes, folks are likely to lose interest.

Sprawling groups can also kill a party. Wu usually has three or four tables going simultaneously: "There will be one in the living room, two in the basement, and one in the dining room."

Smooth party flow and a relaxed atmosphere will result, putting players at ease when it comes to getting to know that Clue-playing cutie across the board. Wu estimates she's met 100 people, and who knows? A Pictionary partner could become a soul mate.

When Victor Guerrero attended one of Catron's parties last January, the 37-year-old project manager met Lisa Kammerud, 32, — now his girlfriend of one year. "Within 10 minutes of talking to each other, I wanted to play games with her all night long," he says. "We ended up partners for the rest of the night." First there was Cranium and Balderdash, then an exchange of digits.

If the possibility of new pals or newfound love isn't enough to tempt one to play, Catron says there's always nostalgia.

"I think part of the attraction to the tradition of game night is something that starts in childhood," he says. "A lot of us in our 30s and 40s grew up with it. Now that we're on our own, we gravitate towards it because it's something that links us to simpler times."

» Let it Roll: Two Must-Play Options
Homegrown Board Games

Wits & Wagers
Like trivia games but can't remember the number of SUVs sold in the U.S. in 2004? (It's 4,623,960.) W&W isn't about knowing the right answer, but placing bets on it. Once a question is asked, players have 30 seconds to guess. Answers are sorted lowest to highest, then players bet. The farther the guess from the middle answer, the greater the payout — if you're right. ($30, Northstargames.com)

Don't Drop the Soap
It's Monopoly with a bad boy bent: Instead of a thimble, players choose criminal accoutrements, like a bag of cocaine. And it's from an unexpected, lawful source — John Sebelius, the 23-year-old son of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. Competitors advance from central booking and traverse the infirmary and the shower in a quest to reach a parole hearing. "You can pay to get to a location with smokes," says Sebelius. "You can also challenge another player to arm wrestling." Self-made shivs not included. ($35, Gilliusinc.com)

» Game On: Game night hosts offer up more insight on what to play and how to do it well.

Photos by Chris Combs/Express