I always presumed that Cheetos and Mountain Dew were the traditional snacks-of-choice whilst playing Dungeons and Dragons. Is that a manufactured memory, or is this really what the majority of D&D players were eating and drinking when they got together for game-night?Bridge Mix is, of course, the preferred snack while playing Bridge. For our Settlers games, we tend to have Peanut M&M's, Wine Gums, Jube-Jubes and Skittles at the table (drinks being barred after the great Coca-Cola flood of 2009). We generally avoid greasy snacks like chips during boardgame nights, as chip-grease is not pleasant on the playing pieces and cards.
So what are your traditional D&D snack-foods and drinks for game night?
Before every session we have a potluck dinner. There's always too much food for one sitting, so it get's consumed throughout the session. I guess that's our "snack."
ReplyDeleteTo night we're having eggplant curry (me), chili, fresh backed bread (me), grilled salmon, and pie. I can't wait.
Eggplant curry; sounds delicious. I recall making a vegetarian lasagna putanesca (which included grilled eggplant) but we didn't eat it until 10 pm as it took me several hours to grill all the veggies. Ooooops. That pushes game night into the wee hours of the morning...
ReplyDeletePotluck is a great way to do game night!
ReplyDeleteWe always do a pot luck as well. My wife usually takes care of the main course, but occasionally someone else will take a turn. I still drool, thinking about my friend Sean's Chicken & Sausage Gumbo.
ReplyDeletethese days it's fend for yourself and byob, but back in the day it seems like it was always pizza and Coke or Mountain Dew with a side of Doritos.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I've never actually seen anyone drink Mountain Dew at a game - I think it might be one of those urban-game legends.
ReplyDeleteFor me it was usually nacho chips and coke, but one group I played with did potluck - that was great; enough food to feed an army laid out on the snack table and folks would get up occasionally and fix a plate.
These days...nothing. My once-svelte figure is suffering from the decreased metabolism of middle-age, so I try to avoid chips and pop these days.
BITD, there was some Mountain Dew, but here in Texas it was predominantly Dr. Pepper and Jolt Cola if we could find it. Pizza or chili dogs when we were in HS, pizza or fried chicken in college.
ReplyDeleteThese days, Diet Dr. Pepper, and usually Thai or pizza pre-game. Then snacking during the game is crab dip (how did we decide that was healthy? lol).
Now I want some Cheetos!
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing like being all jacked up on Mt. Dew, greenish foam and cheetle covering one's face and screaming at the DM. "YOU BASTARD! YOU KILLED MY FAVORITE CHARACTER!!!"
ReplyDeleteUm, er, your mileage may vary...
Cheetos and Mountain Dew? Snacks must definitely be a "generation thing," as my old gaming group was strictly Doritos and Coke.
ReplyDeleteThese days, with a lot of my gaming being on-line from the comfort of my home, I'm drinking wine and/or beer.
: )
Old days--Pizza for supper, cheese curls and coke snacks, finishing with breakfast of pancakes or bowls of Quisp.
ReplyDeletePresent day--For our in-house group, I usually do something on the grill, typically fajita fixings. Tonight, I grilled burgers and dogs. When I play online, I always have a plate with grape tomatoes and baby carrots (befitting my age and doctor's orders).
Ah, Quisp, I have heard wild tales of that particular breakfast cereal!
ReplyDeleteLately, we have often served build-your-own-tacos before gaming. We used to have all-you-can-eat fajita-fests, followed by 10-hour games of Advanced Civilization, but our favorite fajita mix disappeared and we could never find another one that was as good.
@James: I love Gumbo. We used to have this hole-in-the-wall Cajun restaurant we'd go to that had the best Gumbo and Jambalaya.
ReplyDelete@ZeBulette: Pizza from Nick's was a feature of many a late night game. Nick's Special = Best pizza in Calgary.
@Sean: I used to able to eat like a horse and not gain a pound. Mountain Dew was not a feature at our games either, but someone's drinking it...?
@Anthony: crab dip - not healthy, but ambrosia in a bowl.
@BrutorzBill: my wife likes the crunchy ones, but i'm partial to the puffs.
@Christian: now that would be a sight to behold! I really must get down to LA!
@JB: My house is strictly BYOB, since beer at my place will go skunky for lack of anyone to drink it. I do have a great neighbors, who will polish off any liquor we have in the house, bless them!
The specific combination of Cheetos and Mountain Dew came (as far as I can tell) from a sketch by the comedy troupe "Dead Alewives". That said we certainly consumed a lot of Mountain Dew at our games back in high school - Jolt was not readily available and common wisdom as that the Dew had more caffeine than any other soda.
ReplyDeleteAll of my current games are BYODinner - especially the online one, since we've got one player over 1500 miles away.
Late to the discussion, but for us it was English Breakfast tea and biscuits. But then we are British. Perhaps it's a cultural thing.
ReplyDeleteMy only rules for snacks, in any kind of gaming, is to avoid anything greasy or coated in orange dust (unless there's a need to simulate a yellow mold infestation) and no drinks on the playing surface.
ReplyDeleteTrue story: I once left a Cheeto sitting on a sheet of copier paper over the weekend. When I got back there was a two inch diameter grease spot underneath it. That permanently killed my craving for them.
I don't remember my teenage gaming sessions being particularly replete with junk food, either, except for limitless refills of soda.
I always think of "Funions and Mountain Dew" based on that D&D song that's on Youtube.com. We tend to be very low maintenance. Sometimes we will break for a quick burger or take-out. I'm tempted to try some D&D recipes from that Part-Time Sorceress book.
ReplyDeleteLike Daddy Grognard, we also get the tea and biscuits out, right at the point where people start dying.
ReplyDeletePrior to that it's usually way too many crisp and nut type snacks (last time I counted we got through 5 bags of tortilla chips before we had even started playing) and lots of beer and/or wine (probably too much sometimes), usually homebrew.
I find the food can be a distraction, especially crunchy food, you can't hear anything anyone else says.
Back in my highschool days it was definitely soda (including Mt. Dew, and various chips, cheesy poofs, and other unhealthy snacks.
ReplyDeleteIn my 3.x days we'd moved onto pizza, soda/water/tea/coffee, and pretzels.
Currently it's Doritos, lasagna, and water.
My foods that I prefer while gaming pretty much evolved independently of gaming.
ReplyDeleteI think Cheetos are nasty. And not really a fan of Doritos, though if I were starving I wouldn't turn 'em down.
I generally prefer Jalapeno chips and pizza and Mt Dew. All of my gamer friends hate Mt Dew, including my wife.
Word verification: laresca - an Italian dessert
I know I'm a day late, but I was actually gaming! Miracle! :) These days its Diet Coke and/or Microbrew(s) with snacks optional. Usually a cookout mid-game. When I was young, it was always Dr. Pepper and Doritos. Every week.
ReplyDeleteUsually for us it's pizza, chocolate, coke (or orangina), and on some occasions a pile of wonderful,wonderful bacon (I am one of those genetic freaks with abnormally low fat/lipids and cholesterol). Cheetos are good too.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think eating habits have changed all that much by looking at the waist size of the average gamer today vs. 30 years ago. It seems we just have a greater selection of junk food, pre-packaged snacks, and sugary beverages. We can also factor in the 24 hour quickie-marts, super-markets, and chain Cafés.
ReplyDeleteAt Gary Con 2 I witnessed gamers scarfing down pizza like there’s no tomorrow! Like zombies feeding on the brains of a fresh kill, this was very reminiscent of Saturday night basement gamers of the 1980’s.
Speaking of barring drinks from the table, my Moldvay basic book still shows evidence of the “Great Red Kool-aid spillage of 1983”! To this day I still strictly enforce the “no beverages on the gaming table rule”.
@drnuncheon: Is Jolt even on the market anymore? I think the power drinks drove it into extinction.
ReplyDelete@DaddyGrog and Dungeonmum: Tea and biscuits?! Really? That I never would have thought of!
@Roger: that's a disturbing Cheetos story. "Food" for thought indeed.
@Kiltedyaksman: I have no idea what Funions is. Take-out's the way to go (particularly if delivered, though I suppose you're interrupted either way).
@David: My son has just discovered Doritos. A year ago they would have been too spicy!
@Steelcaress: i'm really not a fan of Mountain Dew either, which is what originally prompted my post: Mountain Dew never really seemed to be part of our ritual.
@Jim: I can get behind Dr. Pepper, microbrews and cook-outs!
@Aos: Orangina, how's that differ from, say Orange Crush? I can always go for chocolate, though it is normally in coated, M&M or smartie form. As for bacon ... not at the gaming table, I hope. Perhaps with the burgers?
@huekim: gamers will be gamers. Any time free or shared pizza arrives, you can be sure the jackals will descend. It's amazing what one ruined book or game will do to a liberal drinks-at-the-table policy.
Orangina is much lighter flavor wise than something like orange crush and has like 10% real orange juice and a little bit of pulp in it as well.
ReplyDeleteI also like tonic water (sans gin).
And yeah, we've gone with bacon at the table before (we're fairly unruly at the best of times). My best friend and I will on occasion just eat it straight.
@Dungeonmum - homebrew sure sounds good to me, but unfortunately it was never an option back in the day as I was the group driver and had to drive 20 miles there and 20 miles back - sobriety and D&D make for an interesting combination. Mind you, our playing style created the illusion of intoxication anyway.
ReplyDeleteWe usually have dr pepper but some nights its mountain dew. Chips and peanut M&Ms are pretty common snacks but almost anything can show up.
ReplyDeleteI find regular M&M's too sweet, which is why we go for the peanut variety. Guess we're not worried about peanut allergies.
ReplyDeleteI don't really 'get' Mountain Dew, but maybe I havn't tried it enough.
I think I saw a poster for Mountain Dew here recently, prior to that I don't think it's ever been in the UK - is it like sprite or 7up or something?
ReplyDeleteIts funny, everyone has their habits and preferences when it comes to D&D and snacks. Over time with our group the focus has gone from the alcohol to the food, although playing without booze just seems totally alien somehow.
Booze is a popular social lubricant. It is rare that it does not appear as part of activities on the block!
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question about Mountain Dew, it is (if memory serves) a very sweet version of Sprite or 7-up, and contains caffeine, which Sprite and 7-up do not.
ReplyDeleteActually just had mountain dew and cheetoes at a game for the first time the other day as a joke.
ReplyDeleteThank god for chopsticks or our character sheets would be an orange smear.
We always have some vault, coke and mountian dew. And for snacks we use funions, pretzel sticks,munchies and some buffalo aniitizers or i have my dad fire up the deep frier for some fries.
ReplyDeleteWe once served Mountain Dew and Funions, just for tradition's sake. But most of the time I make something called Puppy Chow- 1 c. chocolate chips melted with 1/2 c. peanut butter and 1/4 c. butter. Stir in 9 c. of Crispix cereal until coated. Shake in a plastic bag with 1 1/2 c. powdered sugar. Chill. And then ready yourself for battle...
ReplyDelete