If you’re reading this, we’re going to take a wild guess that you don’t need us to tell you how cannabis can make any activity just a little bit—or maybe a lot—more fun. Games are no exception, and as we’ll see, they play an essential function in our lives.
There’s actually a good deal of science involved in game playing, and it serves a purpose. While physical activities tend to increase our performance, games increase our enjoyment.
Here at Green Goods, enjoyment is something we’re all about increasing. If you’re ready for an all-star list of fun best games to play while high—and why games serve such an essential purpose in our lives—today’s post is for you.
Keep reading to understand why games are important for our well-being and how cannabis can enhance them. Stick around for a curated list of seven of the best games to play while high, including strain recommendations to go with them. Ready? Let’s get rolling!
The Serious Science of Fun
If you’re at all interested in brain science—the way that infinitesimal amounts of neurotransmitters, hormones, and other organic chemicals alter our moods, perceptions, and reactions—you’ve probably heard of dopamine.
A powerful neurohormone that’s produced in several areas of the brain and in your gut, it’s a critical player in the functioning of our “reward center,” and it helps regulate such functions as:
- Memory
- Movement
- Motivation
- Mood
- Attention
Dopamine and Rewards in Gameplay
If the phrase “reward center” got your attention, you’re on the right track. That’s because with very few exceptions, all games are based on rewards—whether competing with others (or yourself) by reaching a goal first or in record time or demonstrating in some tangible way that you’ve bested an opponent. And rewards trigger, you guess it, dopamine production.
Many other things can trigger a dopamine release: Cooking, dancing, or sex, for example. And while there’s definitely such a thing as too much gameplay—there’s a condition known as “internet gaming disorder,” or IGD—studies have demonstrated that playing games can also improve cognitive performance in young people. When done in moderation, gaming—just like cannabis—can play a role in our overall health and well-being. As we humans have known for eons—and recent scientific studies suggest—when we enjoy an activity, we tend to do far, far better at it.
Enjoyment > Performance
It’s important to note that there’s a difference between increasing performance versus increasing enjoyment. It’s natural for us to work hard and want to succeed when we’re engaged in a serious task such as a job-related duty. But enjoyment is something far broader, and we’d argue ultimately more important. And that’s where games have a serious role in our lives.
Why? Enjoyment isn’t confined to personal or professional goals, but adds to our overall well-being and feelings of satisfaction. Besides the social aspect inherent to most games, engaging in something just for the fun of it is more than just a way to pass the time. As a recent and groundbreaking study from Oxford University shows, playing games can be good for our well-being.
Or perhaps we’ve actually known this all along. The oldest known board game—the so-called Royal Game of Ur, which combines a race of game pieces with fortune-telling—is believed to be roughly 4,600 years old. (You can actually play it online, something its creators certainly never dreamed of!)
Beyond the Game Board: Cannabis and Play
We’ve talked a little bit about dopamine, and how games can stimulate its release. There’s something else that does this, too: cannabis!
The cannabis plant’s ability to induce dopamine release is actually fairly well understood. In a very real sense, ingesting cannabis “turns up the volume” on the already palpable pleasures of competition inherent to game-play.
But cannabis does far more than trigger dopamine release. One curious aspect of cannabis ingestion is that it makes the familiar seem new again. Things we’d ordinarily dismiss as commonplace become fascinating all over again. According to an article published in Psychology Today:
“When cannabinoid activity is increased, the bar for recognizing a sensory stimulus as novel is lowered, and the zing is intensified. This results in lowering the bar for experiencing novelty.”
Which brings us back to the topic of games to play while high. Because being stoned means that even games we’ve played a thousand times feel like we’re trying them for the first time. And speaking of which, that’s the perfect cue to introduce our list of the best games to play while high.
Best Games to Play While High: Classic Board and Card Games
Take a break from screens with these oldies but goodies. Plus in a pinch, a game board can double as a folding joint-rolling station.
Monopoly
The (often uncredited) invention of a turn-of-the-20th-century feminist firebrand named Elizabeth Magie, this game remains one of America’s favorite board games. Simple to play yet demanding a bewitching grasp of strategy, there’s only one potential downside. If you don’t manage to knock out your opponents early, you may find yourself in a two-player deathmatch till the sun comes up.
Product Pairing: If you’re going to be up all night, you’re going to need some energy. Break out some 1937 Hellcat flower for a spicy, citrusy, and hoppy sativa that will have you buying and selling up a storm like a true real-estate mogul.
Cards Against Humanity
Is Cards Against Humanity the darkest (but funniest) card game of all time? Each round, the card czar asks a painfully awkward question (“Daddy, why is mommy crying?” or “What do old people smell like?”) and the other players’ best answer wins. Or loses, depending on your perspective. Warning: You may laugh so hard broccoli comes out of your nose.
Product Pairing: Pineapple Express Distillate Cartridge by 1937. Supremely funky but extraordinary tasting, this is just the thing to skew your perspective before a game of C.A.H.
Clue
Another stone(d)-cold classic, Clue demands you solve a diabolical murder using just a handful of hints. Typically less manic than Monopoly, it also has the advantage of lasting far less long.
Strain Pairing: With Lemon Cherry Gelato as one of its parents, you know Red Velvet from Boundary Waters is going to deliver a powerful, cerebral euphoria grounded by a mellow and relaxing high. Just the thing to get your thinking cap on and solve some crimes….
Rummy
More engaging than War, less complicated than Bridge, Rummy is a classic card game where the point is to match cards of the same number, sequence, or suit. It’s the perfect blend of challenge and chill, and all you need are a deck of cards and a friend or three.
Product Pairing: With an even balance of energizing sativa and relaxing indica effects, White Wedding by Vireo is designed to please both sides with a high-THC wallop. Maybe shuffle the deck before imbibing.
Cutting Edge: The Best Video Games to Play While High
Let’s cut straight to the chase: While video games are great any time, they become incredible when you’re high! Here are a few of our faves.
Grand Theft Auto
The highest-grossing game of all time is like an all-you-can-eat buffet. You can drive ridiculously fast, create a drug empire, or just chill with your friends. Like real life, only better? Plus, you can play this classic video game online with up to 30 of your friends.
Product Pairing: A classic game calls for a classic strain. Pick up a few Gary Payton pre-rolls by 1937 for some over-the-top fun.
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
For OG Zelda players and newcomers to the franchise alike, Breath of the Wild is a beautiful and expansive game you could get lost in for hours. Exploration and an immersive quest pair up beautifully with your favorite leafy green.
Product Pairing: You’ll want to pick up some Vireo Black Currant Nano gummies for a quick onset that will get you right into your mission of saving Princess Zelda.
Jackbox Party Pack
With a knack for creating sure-fire party-starters, this best-of game pack includes silly drawing games, racy fill-in-the-blank word games, and multiple-choice trivia games where you earn in-game money (and you can trick opponents into answering incorrectly). Add THC, and you’re in for a wilder night than you imagined.
Product Pairing: Ready to get silly? Duct Tape pre-rolls from 1937 deliver a truly unique flavor profile—think spicy chocolate and diesel fuel—along with serious potency. We ain’t playin’!
Get Your High Game On
No big surprise that we crave fun games to play when high. Games, after all, are probably as old as humanity itself: A relaxing way to unwind with friends while engaging in a challenge that, ideally, doesn’t involve life or death (you’ll notice we didn’t include chainsaw juggling in our list of best games to play while high).
How does cannabis change the equation? Because it stimulates our brain’s reward center, it can make things we love even more enjoyable. And because it has the effect of making the ordinary seem fresh and novel, even the most uncomplicated games take on a refreshing newness. Not that you need it. After all, even if you don’t partake, there’s not much better than hanging with friends and family and cracking up over game night.
As one of the nation’s favorite families of dispensaries, Green Goods is all about sourcing the very best, locally produced cannabis products we can find, and pairing them with the kind of exceptional customer service you just can’t find anywhere else.
If you have other questions about games to play while high, how cannabis partners with our brains—or any other cannabis-related topics—just drop us a line. We’re here to help!
