Having spent the vast majority of the year in very close quarters with each other, and especially the early part of this year because of the new lockdown, I think most parents have rejoiced at the kids going back to school, just to get some space! We love them dearly, but there is a limit to how much we can tolerate constantly being on call, be it for snacks, to help with logging on to a website, because the WiFi isn’t working or, in our house at least, to resolve silly arguments about who’s blob of Blu-tac is whose!
I work in a school myself, so once the kids were back in full time, so was I. Which is great but we do feel it’s meant that my other half and I haven’t really had any relaxing time together. Like everyone else, getting a babysitter in isn’t an option, and even if it was, where would you go, exactly? So we have had lots of family Xbox nights, board game nights and movie nights. But wouldn’t it be great if you could have a ready-made night in delivered to you in a box – a real sense of occasion, with minimal planning and shopping needed? Well, that’s exactly what my other half and I have been lucky enough to have been able to try out this weekend!
Your Big Night In is a fully boxed and quickly delivered night in, in a box! You can pick from a movie night in, a puzzle night in or a karaoke night in, all delivered to you double quick in a lovely box with a vast array of nibbles and drinks! We opted for the puzzle night in because we love a bit of brain training, and were sent the version with wine (£45). It was delivered within 24 hours in a very funky looking box! Our box contained:
- 1 x Puzzle Post Puzzle (The Missed Flight)
- 1 x large box of The Kernal Salt and Sweet Popcorn
- 2 x bags of Indie Bay Pretzels
- 2 x bags of Cheesies
- 2 x bags of Well & Truly Crunchy Snacks
- 1 x Mama Loretts chocolate wafer bar
- 1 x Milliways chewing gum
- 2 x cans of Hun wine (you can choose from Rose and Sauvignon Blanc)
- 1kg box of Sweetie Pie Rainbow Mix Collection sweets (or you can choose Veggie Mix)
- 1 x Rakuten Movie Rental Voucher
- 1 x Staying in is the New Going Out tote bag
- 1 x envelope of vouchers for money off more nibbles
Our first thoughts were that we were very impressed with just how much we received in the box! There would certainly be plenty to keep most families sustained through the evening. I am used to not always being able to eat what everyone else is nibbling on, as I am coeliac and need to follow a gluten free diet, so I was really impressed and excited to discover that with the exception of the sweets and the pretzels, everything in the box was gluten free. So, after we ordered a takeaway, we set the kids up with a sleepover / movie night of their own by setting up sleeping bags on one of their bedroom floors, sending them upstairs with their pizza, a few nibbles, drinks and a new DVD and sat down to enjoy an evening of peace!
We cleared the kitchen table and sat down with a few slices of pizza and our nibbles to enjoy the Puzzle Post. I don’t want to give too much about the puzzle away, but I will say that we really enjoyed it. The idea of the game is to work together through a series of clues to unlock a hidden number that is then used to access a secret online message.
You really do need to work together on the puzzles, and for the one that we were sent at least, I would suggest that all of the participants would probably need to be around 13+ to be able to get the best out of the game. My eldest daughter is 11 and I know that she would have struggled to work out most of the clues, which can be infuriating to say the least! The answers are staring you in the fact the whole way through, but actually being able to see them isn’t as easy as you would think. Never fear though – if you do get really stuck, the online help and clues are really good at pointing you in the right direction without giving the game away entirely. Solving the puzzle took us pretty much a full hour and we did need to resort to the online hints for two of the clues.
After we had completed the puzzle (and barely made a dent in the nibbles!), we moved from the kitchen into the lounge to watch our Rakuten movie rental. Downloading the app is pretty simple, and it is available on most smart platforms – our smart tv had it built in, but if yours doesn’t, it is available on ROKU, Firestick, Xbox and more. The movie selection isn’t massive, but we found a few that we fancied and eventually settled on Johnny English 3 for a bit of a light-hearted and easy way to end the evening.
We really enjoyed all of the snacks that were included in the box. It’s fantastic that a good number of them were gluten free, and I loved how they had chosen to include products from companies we hadn’t heard of before, which added to the sense of occasion. It was lovely to be able to try new things rather than just munching on products we could easily have picked up from the local supermarket. The box of sweets is absolutely massive, and I think the kids will be munching on that all the way through to Easter, and the Cheesies were very different but totally delicious. We don’t drink alcohol in our house, so we passed the wine on to a neighbour who has reliably informed me that it was fabulous too.
I would absolutely recommend Your Big Night In to anyone who is looking for something just a bit different, and to make an occasion out of a bog-standard Saturday night in. We think that for the amount that was contained in the box, the quality of the products, the fun that we had with the puzzle and the added bonus of a film to watch afterwards, it represents great value and is certainly cheaper than a big night out, but is just as much fun!
Rating: 5/5
Costs from £25 to £50 depending on what theme you choose.
For more information or to order Your Big Night In, visit yourbignightin.uk.
