Best Party Games
Charades The classic game of Charades can liven up any party! Pass around paper and pens to each player and have them write silly, one-word acting prompts. Then, mix all the different prompts together; on their turn, each player must randomly pick a prompt and act it out while the rest of the group tries to guess what the word is! If you have a particularly large group, try splitting into teams. Then, the teams can take turns, with one team member acting out a prompt while the others try to guess what it is.
Fishbowl Fishbowl is a bit like Charades, but offers more options beyond just acting! Players must write out words or phrases and put them in a bowl or hat, then take turns drawing them and getting their teammates to guess the prompt. They can give hints by acting out the prompt, offering a vague clue, or using a single word to describe the prompt. If the player’s team correctly guesses their prompt, they get a point!
Wink Murder Set up a fun, easy murder mystery for the party by playing Wink Murder! Have all the players form a circle and hand out folded pieces of paper to each player; each piece should be blank except for one with a cross on it. Whoever gets the cross is the assassin, and they must try to “murder” other players by covertly winking at them. While the assassin attempts to secretly eliminate the other players, they must try to guess who the assassin is. Any player who correctly guesses the assassin wins the game—but if they guess wrong, they’re out of the game.
Team Trivia Split the players into teams and prepare a series of trivia questions to ask; you can keep the trivia random or come up with different categories. Each team must take turns drawing a question randomly (or being asked the question), and after that, they have a limited amount of time to work together and figure out the answer. If they answer a question correctly, they get a point! The team with the most points at the end of the game wins. You can decide how long teams have to brainstorm answers. For example, you might give them 30 seconds to a minute (or less to make the game more fast-paced). Trivia questions can cover any topic, from history to pop culture. If there are any common interests between the players, try coming up with related trivia questions.
Jenga Jenga is a popular party game that involves stacking a series of blocks and then taking turns removing a block from the tower without causing it to fall—and you can still do this in larger groups, too. And, if you want to play outside, you could set up a game of oversized Jenga (which simply has larger blocks) for the party instead.
Name the Song Gather the players and have them listen to a tiny snippet of a song. Then, have each player try to guess the song by writing down a song name on a piece of paper. Anyone who guesses correctly gets a point—and at the end of the game, the player with the most correct answers wins! Normally, this game is played using snippets of actual recorded songs, but if you prefer, you could do a version with whistling instead. In this version, one person must whistle part of a song of their choice, and the others must try to guess the song’s name.
Sardines Are you a fan of hide-and-seek but want to change up the rules a bit? Sardines could be the perfect game. Simply have one player hide while everyone else tries to find them. Once a player finds the person hiding, they must hide with them—and, as more players join the hiding spot, it’ll get crowded (hence the name “Sardines”). The last player to find the hiding spot becomes the next to hide!
Most Likely To With all the players sitting in a circle, have one person ask a question that begins with “Who’s most likely to…?” Count down from three, then have everyone in the circle point to the player they think is most likely to do whatever action was described in the question. The person with the most fingers pointed at them is out of the game! Keep going around the circle with each player taking turns asking questions until all but one player is voted out. However, if you want to keep the game going (without worrying about winning or losing) you can play without eliminating any players.
Would You Rather Have the players sit in a circle and pick one person to start. That player must ask the person next to them a question that begins with “Would you rather…?” That person must answer the question, then proceed to ask the player next to them a new one, and so on. Keep taking turns and answering questions until you want to end the game! To make the game interesting, ask “Would you rather” questions with challenging scenarios that don’t necessarily have a quick answer.
Sticker Stalker For this game, each player will need their own sticker sheet (with roughly 5 to 10 stickers on each), so pick up a pack of stickers beforehand. Then, to play, each player must try to covertly place a sticker on other party guests; the first person to use up all their stickers wins, and if a player gets caught planting a sticker on someone, they must get a sticker in return. This game is tons of fun and easy to play while mingling and chatting with party guests simultaneously!
Mail Call Arrange several chairs in a circle, starting out with one less chair than the number of players. Then, have each player sit in the chairs, with the player who doesn’t get a chair standing in the middle of the circle. That player must say, “Mail call for everyone…” and then choose a descriptor. Each player with that descriptor must race to find a new seat! When players get up to look for a new seat, they can’t return to their original seat or pick the one next to them. At the same time, the player in the middle will also race to look for a seat after choosing a descriptor. Whoever is left standing at the end of each round must go to the middle of the circle and run the next round. Descriptors can be things like “wearing blue,” “with brown eyes,” or “with a pet dog.”
Karaoke Use a karaoke machine to play songs—or simply look up some karaoke tracks on YouTube or Spotify and play them to create makeshift karaoke at home! Have party guests take turns choosing songs and belting out the lyrics to each of them. While it’s not a competitive game, karaoke is tons of fun and easy to include in your party plans.
Straight Face Hand out pens and paper to each player and have them write out a few funny (and totally random or outrageous) phrases. Then, put each slip of paper with a phrase on it into a hat and have players take turns picking a slip. When a player picks a slip, they must read the phrase on it out loud and they (along with everyone else) must try not to laugh or smile! Anyone who laughs or smiles is out of the game, and it continues until every phrase has been read out loud (or there’s only one player left).
Freeze Dance This game is super simple (but tons of fun for any party guests who love dancing). Simply turn up the music and have everyone start dancing. Then, pause the music; when it stops, every player must freeze—and anyone who moves or makes a noise is out of the game. The game ends when there’s one player left! If everyone at the party is an adult over the legal drinking age, you can also easily make this a drinking game by passing out shots beforehand. Just be safe and make sure everyone is drinking responsibly.
Icebreaker Games
Two Truths and a Lie Two Truths and a Lie is an easy game that’ll help you get to know fellow party guests a little better! Have each player come up with two true facts and one lie about themselves and take turns presenting all three to the group without saying which are true and which is the lie. Then, have everyone else try to guess the lie. At the end of each round, the player presenting can clarify which is the lie and describe their true statements in more detail.
Categories Start the game by thinking of a category (like “types of fruit” or “things you’d find in a library”). Then, go around the group and have each player name something in the category. Keep playing until a player can’t think of something; then, that player is out, and you can come up with a new category to use.
Circle of Names Circle of Names is a fun way to help guests learn one another’s names (if they don’t already). Have everyone standing a circle and choose a player to begin the game; they must say their name and do something simple (like spinning in a circle or clapping once). Then, the next player must repeat the name and action before adding their own. Keep playing until every player has had a turn, repeating all previous names and actions before adding theirs. When a player messes up, you can either end the game or eliminate them and keep going.
Rock Paper Scissors Tournament Rock, paper, scissors is a simple game that only allows for two players—but you can expand it into a tournament to involve a whole crowd of party guests! Divide players into pairs and have them play 3 rounds of rock, paper, scissors. Then, pair up the winners only and have them do the same thing. Continue having the winners compete until there’s only one left! By hosting a tournament, you can have as many players as you want (as long as there’s an even number of them).
Post-It Note Game With a pack of post-it notes, write down the name of a famous person or character on each slip of paper and pass one to each player. Have players stick their note to their forehead (or back) without looking at what it says. Then, players must sit in a circle and ask one another yes or no questions to figure out the name on their note. Keep playing until every player has guessed their identity! You could also hand out prizes for the players who guess their identities first, second, and third. Alternatively, you could stop the game after everyone has guessed once, regardless of whether they’re right, and give prizes to anyone who makes a correct guess.
How’s Yours? Choose a player to be “It” for the round and have them leave the room. While they’re gone, choose a characteristic of everyone else playing the game (like hair, body parts, or clothing). Then, bring the other player back and have them go around to different people asking, “How’s yours?” Anyone asked the question must describe the characteristic with a one-word adjective. Keep playing until the player asking questions can guess the attribute everyone is referring to!
Camera Hot Potato Use one player’s phone for this quick, silly game, and set a self-timer mode for about 10 seconds (or a different countdown, depending on how tricky you want the game to be). Then, pass the phone around. Whoever has the phone must snap a picture of themselves, then give it to the next player within 10 seconds. At the end of the game, scroll through all the goofy photos in the camera roll!
Telephone With all the players sitting in a circle, start the Telephone game with one person and have them whisper a phrase or sentence to the player next to them—quiet enough that nobody else can hear what they’re saying. That player must then whisper what they heard to the next person until you’ve gone around the entire circle. Then, announce the final phrase out loud (and laugh at how much it’s changed!) You can also make the game more challenging by having players chat amongst themselves or playing music to create background noise.
Heads Up 7 Up You can play this old-school game with as many people as you like! Choose seven players, and have the rest put their heads down (with their eyes closed) and stick up their thumbs. Then, the seven players must walk around and push down some of the others’ thumbs. When they’re done, have everyone open their eyes and try to guess which player pushed down their thumb!
Oreo Challege Play a game and give party guests a sweet treat simultaneously! Give each player an Oreo cookie and have them balance it on their forehead (by tilting their head back). Then, on the count of three, players must try to move the cookie from their forehead into their mouths without using their hands—and the first player to do it wins. To make the game even tastier, consider getting a few different Oreo flavors if you have the funds to spare. That way, players can pick their favorite flavor!
Team-Building Games
Marshmallow Challenge Who doesn’t like marshmallows? For this tasty game, split players into teams of 3 to 5 and challenge them to build the tallest structure possible using 20 sticks of uncooked spaghetti, 1 yard of tape, 1 yard of string, and a single marshmallow (with the marshmallow on top of the structure). At the end of the game, the team with the tallest structure wins! In the process, they’ll have to collaborate and problem-solve to make their structure—and, at the end, everyone gets to snack on marshmallows.
One Word Method Try this game if you’re in the mood for some group storytelling! Have one player start by coming up with a single word. Then, go around the group and have every player add word after word until you have a sentence and eventually an entire mini-story. Along the way, you can enjoy all the wild turns your collective story takes! This is also an easily replayable game since no story will be the same when you play.
Blind Square First, split your players into teams and set a timer for 15 minutes. Then, have each player blindfold themselves. The goal of this game is for each team to make a perfect square using a length of rope within the time allotted—without being able to see what they’re doing. Thus, they’ll have to work together to get the job done! Declare a winner based on whose square is more even (or, alternatively, which team accomplishes their goal first).
Coat of Arms Creation While designing a coat of arms isn’t a straightforward game, it’s a fun activity that can make playing games more fun! Divine players and have them collaborate to draw up a unique coat of arms. Then, have each group present their design—and later, when you play other games, each group can represent themselves with their coat of arms. A great coat of arms should represent a team’s characteristics, goals, or values (and be something every team member can relate to rather than just one or two people). Optionally, you could give each team a theme around which to design their coat of arms (like “things you’re good at” or “your most positive traits.”)
Outdoor Games
Flamingo & Penguins For this game (which is similar to Tag), choose one person to be the “flamingo.” Everyone else is a penguin, and the flamingo must chase the penguins around, trying to peck them on the head. A player that gets “pecked” becomes a flamingo—and the last penguin left standing wins the game. The catch is that players must act like their assigned bird; the flamingo must mimic a flamingo’s movements (especially its legs and head), while penguins must try to waddle like a real penguin would!
Balloon Stomp Blow up lots of balloons in two different colors and scatter them in a designated area outside (or a large indoor space if you have one). Then, divide players into two teams and assign a balloon color to each. From there, the teams must try to pop as many of their balloons as possible within a particular time—ideally around 2 minutes. Time the teams and count the balloons each one managed to pop after. The team that pops the most of their own balloons wins the game!
Water Balloon Dodgeball On a warm day, an outdoor water balloon game might be the way to go! Divide players into two teams and give them each their own area to throw water balloons from. Then, start up a game of dodgeball—using water balloons as balls! Players must try to dodge water balloons while throwing them at others, and when a player gets hit, they’re out. The last team to have a player still in the game wins water balloon dodgeball!
Simon Says Relay Remember the classic game “Simon Says”? Well, now you can turn it into a relay race! Divide your players into teams and have each time form a line. Choose one player to be “Simon” and have them stand in front of the teams a short way away. Then, teams must send one player at a time to Simon, who will then give a command. If the command begins with “Simon says,” players must follow it. If the command doesn’t start with “Simon says” and a player still follows it, they’re out of the game. Once a command is finished, players must return to their team and tag the next teammate to keep the relay going. The last player still in the game wins it for their team!
Ultimate Frisbee Ultimate Frisbee is an excellent field game for sports-loving players with lots of energy! Split players into two teams, assign each to one side of a rectangular field (with “end zones” marked), and give one team the frisbee. To play, teams must try to score points by catching the frisbee in their opponent’s end zone, and the team with the most points will win! The team with the frisbee must try to pass it between players, while the other team must try to intercept it. Players can’t run while holding the frisbee—only while trying to catch or intercept it.
Ring Toss Set up a pole or large peg to serve as the target, and have players stand a short distance away from it. Give each player a number of rings (depending on the amount of rings available) and have them take turns trying to throw their rings at the target. For every ring a player gets around the pole, they’ll win points—and the player with the most points wins! You can also assign points depending on how close a player’s throw is to the target. For example, a player whose ring lands next to the target might get 1 point, while a player whose ring lands around the target might get 3 points.
Active Games
Capture the Flag For this classic field game, you’ll need a pair of flags (which can be makeshift, like pieces of clothing or old dishrags). Split players into two teams and give each a flag. Then, position the teams in an open space, giving each one their own “territory” in which to place their flag. The goal of the game is for one team to steal the other’s flag (while defending their own). The team that can steal their opponent’s flag and carry it back to their territory wins the game! If a player steals a flag but gets tagged by the defending team, they’re out of the game until rescued by a teammate.
Tug of War All you need for Tug of War is a length of rope! Split your players into two teams and have each team line up to grab either end of the rope. Then, both teams must pull on the rope, each trying to drag it to their side and cause the opposing team to lose their grip. For some extra fun, have each time crack jokes to try and get their opponents to lose focus!
Scavenger Hunt Set up a scavenger hunt and see how many items your players can track down! Come up with a list of items for players to find within the area (and hide them so players will have to search). Then, give the list to players and let the scavenger hunt commence. The first player to retrieve every item on the list wins the scavenger hunt! For your list of items, you can include objects (like a piece of candy, a leaf, or something that makes a funny noise) and things that aren’t objects (like a photo or video of something).
Steal the Bacon In this competitive game, players must split into two groups and get assigned a number (for example, 1 through 10 or 15 on both teams). After that, the teams must stand opposite one another with a chosen object in the middle of the group. Have a moderator call out a random number each round; the players on each team with that number must try to get the object and bring it to their side. If you’re worried about the game getting rough (with players trying to grab an object from one another) you can always set ground rules beforehand for safety.
Giants, Wizards, Elves This is a little like a fantasy-inspired Rock, Paper, Scissors game! Split the players into two teams and have each group form a circle and talk about what character they’ll pick for the round. Then, the teams must line up facing one another and, on the count of three, simultaneously act out their chosen character (giant, wizard, or elf). Giants beat elves, elves beat wizards, and wizards beat giants! The team that loses the round (by picking the weaker character) must quickly try to run to a “safe zone” (chosen before the game starts). While they run, the winning team can try to tag players—and any player who gets tagged must join the winning team. From there, keep playing the game until there’s only one team left. To act out the different characters: Giant. Raise your hands above your head and roar menacingly. Elf. Place your hands over your ears to make them look pointed. Wizard. Wave your hands like you’re casting a spell and make a buzzing sound.
Apple, Orange, Banana For this simple game, have every player stand in a circle and put their hands on the shoulders of the player in front of them. Then, pick one person to run the game. When that person calls out "Apple," everyone must jump forward. When they call, "Orange," everyone must jump backward. When they say, "Banana," everyone must turn around. Make the game more of a challenge by combining different commands, forcing players to do several moves in a single round. To play for a winner, eliminate a player whenever they make the wrong move or act in the wrong order. The last player standing wins!
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