Talking games
Guessing, bluffing and word games, mostly played sitting down.
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Charades
One player acts out a word or phrase without speaking while their team races the clock to guess it.
- 4+ players, talk game
- 20 min
- Ages 6+
- Lively
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Fishbowl
The same bowl of names is guessed three times: first by describing, then with one word, then in silence.
- 6–20 players, talk game
- 40 min
- Ages 10+
- Lively
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Mafia
A hidden few eliminate a player each night, and by day the whole group argues over who to vote out.
- 7–20 players, talk game
- 30 min
- Ages 12+
- Lively
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Telephone
A whispered sentence travels around the circle and comes out the other end as something else entirely.
- 6+ players, talk game
- 10 min
- Ages 5+
- Calm
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Two Truths and a Lie
Each player makes three statements about themselves and everyone else votes on which one is false.
- 3–20 players, talk game
- 15 min
- Ages 10+
- Calm
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Who Am I?
Everyone wears a name they cannot see and asks yes-or-no questions around the room until they work out who they are.
- 4–20 players, talk game
- 20 min
- Ages 8+
- Lively
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Wink Murder
A secret murderer picks off the circle one wink at a time while a detective tries to catch them in the act.
- 6–20 players, talk game
- 15 min
- Ages 8+
- Lively
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Would You Rather
Players choose between two equally tempting, or equally awful, options and then have to defend their choice.
- 2+ players, talk game
- 15 min
- Ages 6+
- Calm
Moving games
Races, relays and anything that gets people out of their chairs.
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Balloon Keep Up
Keep a balloon in the air without letting it touch the floor. Simple for one balloon, frantic with three.
- 2+ players, move game
- 10 min
- Ages 4+
- Rowdy
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Egg and Spoon Race
Racers carry an egg balanced on a spoon to the finish line. Drop it and you go back to the start.
- 4+ players, move game
- 15 min
- Ages 4+
- Lively
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Freeze Dance
Everyone dances while the music plays and freezes like a statue the instant it stops. Wobble and you are out.
- 3+ players, move game
- 10 min
- Ages 3+
- Rowdy
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Hot Potato
A ball or beanbag is passed around the circle as fast as possible. Whoever holds it when the music stops is out.
- 5–25 players, move game
- 10 min
- Ages 4+
- Lively
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Limbo
Players bend backward to pass under a bar that drops lower each round, without touching it or the floor.
- 4+ players, move game
- 15 min
- Ages 5+
- Lively
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Musical Chairs
Players circle a ring of chairs while the music plays and scramble for a seat when it stops. There is always one chair too few.
- 5–25 players, move game
- 10 min
- Ages 4+
- Rowdy
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Pin the Tail
Blindfolded and spun around, each player tries to stick a tail in the right place on a picture. Closest wins.
- 3–20 players, move game
- 15 min
- Ages 3+
- Lively
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Scavenger Hunt
Teams race to find everything on a list, hidden or in plain sight, before the time runs out.
- 2+ players, move game
- 30 min
- Ages 5+
- Lively
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Three-Legged Race
Pairs race side by side with their inside legs tied together, so the two of them have to move as one.
- 6+ players, move game
- 15 min
- Ages 6+
- Rowdy
Making games
Drawing, writing and building against the clock.
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Back-to-Back Drawing
One partner describes a picture using only shapes and directions while the other, facing away, tries to draw it.
- 2+ players, make game
- 15 min
- Ages 7+
- Calm
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Consequences
Each player adds one line to a story without seeing what came before, then the folded papers are opened and read aloud.
- 3–12 players, make game
- 15 min
- Ages 8+
- Calm
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Marshmallow Tower
Teams have a fixed time to build the tallest free-standing tower they can from dry spaghetti and marshmallows.
- 3+ players, make game
- 20 min
- Ages 7+
- Lively
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Mummy Wrap
Teams race to wrap one teammate from head to toe in toilet paper until they look like a mummy.
- 4+ players, make game
- 10 min
- Ages 5+
- Rowdy
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Paper Telephone
A sentence becomes a drawing, the drawing becomes a sentence, and by the end of the stack nothing is what it started as.
- 4–10 players, make game
- 25 min
- Ages 8+
- Calm
Thinking games
Trivia, memory and puzzles for the competitive ones.
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Baby Photo Match
Pin up a baby photo of every guest and let everyone work out who grew up to be whom.
- 6+ players, think game
- 15 min
- Ages 10+
- Calm
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Candy Jar Guess
Fill a jar with candy, let everyone write down a guess, and whoever comes closest to the real number takes the jar home.
- 4+ players, think game
- 5 min
- Ages 5+
- Calm
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Categories
Pick a category and a letter, then race to name things that fit before the rhythm or the timer catches you out.
- 2+ players, think game
- 15 min
- Ages 7+
- Calm
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Memory Tray
Study a tray of small objects for one minute, then write down as many as you can remember once it is covered.
- 2+ players, think game
- 10 min
- Ages 5+
- Calm
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Name That Tune
Play the first few seconds of a song and see who can name it first. The shorter the clip, the bigger the bragging rights.
- 3+ players, think game
- 20 min
- Ages 8+
- Lively
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Secret Santa
Everyone draws one name in secret and buys a single gift for that person, so the whole group exchanges presents for the price of one.
- 4+ players, think game
- 30 min
- Ages 6+
- Calm
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Twenty Questions
One player thinks of something and the rest have twenty yes-or-no questions to work out what it is.
- 2+ players, think game
- 10 min
- Ages 7+
- Calm
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White Elephant
Everyone brings a wrapped gift, then takes turns either opening a new one or stealing one that is already open.
- 6–30 players, think game
- 45 min
- Ages 12+
- Lively