We usually eat variety of food (some classic party foods like chips but often also cheeses, hand made appetizers brought by guests and some main cooked by the host), enjoy boardgames and chat. That's about it.

I don't know if it's changed since, but when I was younger, the best parties were unplanned. If someone said they were having a party on Saturday night, guaranteed it would be forty people at a dull affair.

However, if fifteen people randomly ended up in one house with vast amounts of drink and drugs, the police would be called at some point and the local newspaper would finally have an interesting story

I think stay home and get drunk by yourself. It's the only way to guarantee you won't say something slightly embarrassing and then dwell on it for the next week

sex, drugs, and rock-'n'-roll

People say "party" but really it is an awkward conversation generator. Unpleasant.

I get bored easily, so I bring instruments and play along with the music or the other musicians. Or, increasingly, I am the music.

I also bring my spindle, or my sewing. Or I stand around the kitchen helping with the food. Find a thing you do well, whether it is barbecuing skewers on the hotplate or pouring drinks, and then it will be a thing to do with your hands making for less awkward. Be helpful. And don't get too drunk because drunk people aren't as awesome as they think they are.

Some great responses but not one (yet) mentioning attempts to hook up in some way? For me that was the whole point of going. To either play with some pussy that night or set something up for the future.

Edit: Being downvoted for chasing tail at parties? I must be getting old because I do not understand the younger generations at all.