We did a game truck for my son's 10th birthday. It parked in the parking lot close by, or it could have parked in our driveway, but barely!
Kids went in and out playing video games, and we called them to the house when it was time for cake.
Easy!

I did it for a birthday. Set up tables for pizza and cake in the garage and the kids hung out in the truck, the front yard and the garage. It was really easy. It might be fun in connection with outdoor laser tag, a photo booth, etc and kept everyone outside for most of the party. It would be like a fair.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1258 here. yes, we had a group of maybe 20-25 back at the house for casual dinner--platters from wegmans. just right for my introverted kid.

OP here. That is exactly what I want to do. DH doesn't want to though. I was actually thinking of the luncheon minus the game truck, but doing a casual dinner for family and gametruck for all the kids invited at that point (parked outside my house).

OP again. DH wants to rent a hall and do a Saturday night party. My child would run from that (that is actually what my younger child is going to want, but she is much more extroverted).

Anonymous wrote:1258 here. yes, we had a group of maybe 20-25 back at the house for casual dinner--platters from wegmans. just right for my introverted kid.

OP here. That is exactly what I want to do. DH doesn't want to though. I was actually thinking of the luncheon minus the game truck, but doing a casual dinner for family and gametruck for all the kids invited at that point (parked outside my house).

1258 here. yes, we had a group of maybe 20-25 back at the house for casual dinner--platters from wegmans. just right for my introverted kid.

Anonymous wrote:We have used the game truck for my son's birthday. The boys all loved it but it does mean that they are outside in a truck playing video games for the duration of the party. Also it has a finite capacity which is not very high - maybe 15?

I think the viability of a game truck depends on how many guests you're expecting and what vibe you want. You can also rent games to use indoors which might work better for you.

OP here. I've been doing web searches and all I come up with are mobile gaming. Do you know of a company that rents the video games that I can place around the room for the kids?

Anonymous wrote:I had one last year at my son's bar mitzvah. he did not want a DJ/music/long party. We had lunch after the service and a truck outside. Yes, many of the kids were in and out for the 2 hour event. The adults hung inside and talked. We did not open the truck for the first 1/2hour so the kids would eat. Very easy and I think everyone had fun. Worked for our low key event.

This is most likely the route I am headed. Not sure if my shul will allow the gametruck outside on the grounds or not (checking on that). Meanwhile, if you don't mind my asking....did you do anything in the evening as well (platters at your home or anything like that)? We will have a majority of out of town guests, so I didn't want to just do a luncheon right afterwards. Actually, I was thinking of doing a tour in DC of some sort (not sure if that would work or not though).

It's a good idea for a regular house party. Not a good idea for a bar mitzvah with 200 people, 75 of whom are kids, because such a small percentage of the kids will be able to play.

We have used the game truck for my son's birthday. The boys all loved it but it does mean that they are outside in a truck playing video games for the duration of the party. Also it has a finite capacity which is not very high - maybe 15?

I think the viability of a game truck depends on how many guests you're expecting and what vibe you want. You can also rent games to use indoors which might work better for you.

I had one last year at my son's bar mitzvah. he did not want a DJ/music/long party. We had lunch after the service and a truck outside. Yes, many of the kids were in and out for the 2 hour event. The adults hung inside and talked. We did not open the truck for the first 1/2hour so the kids would eat. Very easy and I think everyone had fun. Worked for our low key event.

I'm starting to plan my child's Bar Mitzvah. He wants a game truck there (he is the type who could care less about a DJ or any music). All I can find are game truck companies that park outside. I'm wondering how that works for a Bar Mitzvah party (in my mind it won't work because all the kids would be outside). I don't know anyone IRL that has been to anything with a game truck.