Where to find trivia, game nights in Shreveport-Bossier City

A cultural movement is reshaping social outings one game piece at a time.

Modern technology has made games relatively easy to access with a quick download of an application on a smartphone. Players are connected to countless games and players around the world. However, the direct human interaction has taken a blow when it comes to social life.

Attend a party and you will likely see some guests with their heads down and fingers tapping the screens of their cell phone. Friends sit in the same room playing a game against each other without having to speak.

But hope for personal connection is not lost. Across the country, game nights are bringing the social aspect back into social gatherings.

Game Night Out on the Town

"We brought in games to keep people off their phones so they will talk to other people," Strange Brew bar manager Trey Carter said.

Trivia Night Tuesdays at Strange Brew in Shreveport's Highland-Stoner Hill area began in June 2014, bringing friends and strangers together for a fun and intense competition of the minds. Each week an average of 10 teams with four to seven players attempt to prove they are the masters of knowing all things pop culture.

Jim Reed, Trivia Master from regional company Know It All Trivia, hosts the weekly trivia nights. During one week of Trivia Tuesday, Reed introduced the first category to the crowd: Superman.

Question: How many Superman films starred Christopher Reeves?

Players discussed between themselves and wrote their answer on their team's answer sheet. At the end of the ten-question round, Reed called out the correct answer while checking the answer sheets.

Answer: Christopher Reeves starred in four Superman films.

Teams received one point for each correct answer. The team with the highest score in round one was announced and rewarded with a round of shots from the bar.

Ten rounds later, the winning team with the highest score from the combined rounds was announced and received the grand prize of shots and pitchers of beer. Terboris Posey, 28, and his team were the celebrated victors.

"This is fun. It creates atmosphere," Posey said. "It's better than going to a bar where there's nothing to do and everyone's on their phone and texting. It's a rule that you can't be on your phone at all during trivia, which is great."

Know It All Trivia is a company started in 2009 by Darin Lavender of Texarkana, Arkansas. Jim Reed, formerly of Texarkana, brought the branch of the trivia company to the Shreveport area and hosts at Strange Brew Tuesdays at 9 p.m. and Rotolo's Pizzeria on 70th Street in Shreveport on Sundays at 8 p.m.

"Darin is currently running three games in Texas and Arkansas," Reed said. There are now seven trivia masters with the group that hosts trivia games in Texarkana and Shreveport, including Texarkana Country Club and Pecan Point Brewing Company. "Even schools have joined in on the fun," Reed said. Know It All also is in discussion with Caddo schools to host educational trivia games, he said.

"We've all been to trivia nights where you read the questions on the screen, and you have you game controller to enter the answers, but it all seemed really impersonal," Reed said. "Our goal is to have a trivia game that was a lot more intimate. We try to be kind of funny, kind of clever, and have categories that no one else came up with."

The trivia location hosts also benefit from the increased business.

"The goal we originally set out for is not only for the trivia company to be successful, but for the bar to be successful," Reed said. "Tuesday nights at Strange Brew was not a big night so we wanted to come in, let the bar make some money, and let (Know It All Trivia) make some money."

Participating in a trivia game is free, but by driving in customers in turn means more money spent at the bar or on food.

Reed said an average of 10 teams participate at Strange Brew trivia nights and as many as 25 teams at Rotolo's. Rotolo's is a family restaurant allowing younger players to participate. Reed said a children's trivia event is in discussion for the location.

Trivia night is never predictable. Reed said categories and questions are regularly changed and could feature topics anywhere from Harry Potter to songs from Oscar-winning films.

"The questions are so obscure and very abstract," Posey said. "(Reed) let's you know what the categories are going to be before a round, and they may sound really easy at first, but once he starts asking the questions they are the most complicated questions. You can't be prepared. There's no studying."

"We don't want you to be intimidated by trivia," Reed said. "We want you to come out and have a good time. If you don't win, there's always next week. That's why we always take suggestions for future categories."

Carter said players are always happy to win the free drinks.

"There's no trophy, but trying to put together an event where the top winning team from each trivia location comes together and battles it out," Carter said.

This month Strange Brew hosted its first Bingo night. They will be every Wednesday at 9 p.m.

Classic party games also have become popular in bars and restaurants. Throw back a cold brew with friends while playing with a three-foot-tall tower of Jenga or giant Connect Four board. The larger-than-life sized games are at Sandbar in downtown Shreveport. In December, Strange Brew added board games to its entertainment options, including the traditional Scrabble, Connect Four, Bingo, and Jenga.

"Whatever people want, we'll end up buying," Carter said.

Great Raft Brewing in Shreveport added a bean bag toss to their tasting room last year. And Shreveport-based arts publication, Heliopolis, hosted a Cards Against Humanity game tournament last March that brought in more than 10 teams averaging four players each.

Arcades popular from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s have received a facelift with the addition of bars, food and other sources of entertainment. National chains such as Dave and Busters, GameWorks and newer competitor Punch Bowl Social (PBS) have led in this evolution. Punch Bowl Social, located in Austin, Detroit, Denver and Portland, offers "old school games" and entertainment including bowling, darts, billiards, marbles, ping pong, shuffleboard, vintage arcade games and private karaoke.

"(Game nights) are for anybody who wants to go out to a good bar, have good beer, and hang out with friends," Carter said. "Everyone comes out and stays off their phone and has fun."

Game Night at Home

Prefer a cozy night at home? Host a game night from the comfort of your living room.

Katie Martin is a collector of Monopoly sets, owning eight styles of the classic board game.

"I always played as a kid, and I liked them," Martin said. "My family got together to play them when it was a birthday or Christmas. People began buying them for me and that's how it all started."

Martin now hosts her own home game nights with her friends at least once a month.

"It's at the house of whoever invites everyone else over," Martin said. "Pizza is usually involved, with a movie or music playing in the background."

Martin said the group may play multiple games throughout the night, such as Heads Up, Cards Against Humanity, Apples to Apples, Clue and card games.

"Everyone has to participate and you get to know your friends even more that way," Martin said.

Beaven Blocker, 28, and friends gather to play the highly popular Dungeons & Dragons, a fantasy tabletop role-playing game. Blocker said his brother also joins the game from Washington through Skype.

"I was skeptical about Dungeons & Dragons, myself," he said. "I was a fan of games and I had played others, but I couldn't believe I had never tried playing D&D. It all seems ridiculous until you really get into it — the characters and the world."

Blocker said he also plays video games including Dragon Age: Inquisition and Destiny. "With video games there could be solo play or like Dragon Age: Inquisition or Destiny where it can be countless amounts of people," he said. "In Dungeons and Dragons you can have anywhere from three people to a dozen people."

Games aren't just for kids and the rise of adult game nights is proving it.

Game Locations/ Info:

Strange Brew, Tuesdays Trivia 9 p.m./ Wednesday Bingo 9 p.m./ Daily Board Games

235 Wall Street, Shreveport, LA 71101; 222-2337

Rotolo's Pizzeria, Sunday Trivia 8 p.m.

1409 East 70th Street, Shreveport, LA 71105; 220-8392

Sand Bar, daily games

415 Spring St, Shreveport, LA 71101; 212-1718

Buffalo Wild Wings, electronic trivia daily, Nationwide

Know It All Trivia, various locations, www.facebook.com/KnowItAllTrivia

Robinson Film Center with partners Moviesauce and Heliopolis, Blade Runner trivia, February 20 at 8:30 p.m. trivia and photo booth/ 10:00 p.m. movie

617 Texas Street, Shreveport, LA 71104; 459-4122