Trivia, word play, deduction, memory, and bluffing — games won with brains instead of speed.
Lay out paper on the floor in a grid. On a separate piece of paper, draw a path through this grid that only the game host can see. Teams take turns trying to go through the grid and guessing the correct path. If they step on a square that is not on the path held by the game host, they must start again. First team through wins.
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Make teams. Host of the game says a word. Teams must write down as many songs as possible that have that word in it within the time limit. Once time is up, alternate between teams as they sing songs from their list. Same song cannot be sung twice. Last team standing wins.
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Players get an amount of time to tie a knot. Switch with another player and first to untie the knot wins. Should probably use a thicker rope so that it is actually possible to untie.
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Outpost is a team game where players are separated into equal teams and given their own colored flag-football flags which are worn around their waist. The objective of the game is to get the other teams flags. Flags that do not have stars are worth 100 points, flags that have stars counts as 1000 points per star (people that have flags with stars are called generals and are usually hidden by their teammates each round to avoid the other team capturing them). The game starts with one group in a room where they cannot see the other team while the other group is everywhere else. The people outside the room have a slight advantage since they can hide their generals first without worrying about the other team spotting them, also they can do a surprise attack on the other team (groups change starting positions each game). When the bell rings (or whatever you use to initiate and end the game) both teams are now allowed to go after the other team and hide their generals. When you get a flag off the opposing player you will both walk back to the place where a leader is keeping score and tell them how many points you got for your team color, and then return the flag to the other player and go off again getting flags and finding generals. The player who was captured and gets his flag back then counts to ten out loud and puts his flag back on (during this time no one can capture him, he has time to get away and rest)
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End of the World, Make a large circle with the rope on the floor, have the group stand in the center of the circle. Now simply pull the ends of the rope thus making the circle grow smaller. The group must try to survive for as long as possible (They will fight for survival) I make a rule of no pushing, however team work is the key, getting people on your back, making a human tower etc. A person is out when they step over the rope.
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Divide your group into even teams. Designate an area for each team to use to build their tower. Provide each team with an even distribution of supplies - packing peanuts and toothpicks. Explain the rules of the challenge to your group - each team will get the same amount of time (5-15 minutes, depending on what suits) to build the tallest freestanding tower they can out of only packing peanuts and toothpicks. When the time runs out, teams must stop building their towers and let them stand freely on their own. If the tower falls down, that's too bad - the height is measured to its tallest vertical point. The team with the tallest tower wins!
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Use tape to create large boxes on the floor or ground. Each of these boxes is a deck. Students gather in one of these decks -- the poopdeck, quarterdeck and halfdeck. The leader calls out a "deck" and all the students move to the deck called out. The last student into the deck is out of the game. The game continues until two students are left. You can yell out commands too instead of moving them to another "deck." -- like "hit the deck" (everyone goes face down, last one down is out)… "swab the deck" (everyone on their knees) … very, very fun. Be creative!
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Based on the game for Kinnect or Wii, this is a simple fun, high energy group game for your students. Think a little of "Follow the Leader" meets the dancing video game..LIVE! You can honestly play in anywhere or any time you just have to have some music and a few students. It is great for an up front challenge, a full group game, or simple a time killer as you wait to get started. Have one person, leader or student stand up in front of the group to be the "dance avatar". Select 2-4 player or up to as many as you want to follow along. Put on a great dance song or beat and have your "avatar" bust out their best or craziest dance moves, while players try to follow along. The winner or winners, if you want to have one is the person/people who keep up the best with the "avatar". If you are doing an up front version you can have the crowd vote or if you doing a bigger group version you can have adult leader walking around "tapping" people out to leave the dance floor, dance marathon-style.
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Give each team a packet of spaghetti and marshmallows each. The team that builds the tallest spaghetti and marshmallow tower wins!
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Divide a Bible story picture into jigsaw puzzle pieces. Participants race to put the puzzle together as quickly as possible.
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The group stands in the middle of a room or between two markers, with one wall or marker designated TRUE and the opposite one FALSE. The leader reads a statement — "Bats are actually blind" — and on "Run!" everyone sprints to the side they believe is correct; staying in the middle is not allowed. Score it either way: first player to touch the correct side wins the round, or everyone on the wrong side is eliminated until a champion remains. Works with any subject matter — trivia, review questions from a lesson, or statements about people in the group.
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Make a room be able to go from pitch black to full light with the flick of a switch, and I'm serious pitch black. Cover up emergency lights and exit signs, unless it's illegal in your area. Shuffle and pass out a deck of cards. Make sure that there is only one Ace and one King in the stack. The student who draws the Ace is the wizard, and the student who draws the King is the police officer. When everyone has drawn cards, turn off the lights. The job of the wizard is to walk around among the students and put people to sleep by tapping both of their shoulders. Once a player is asleep, they must fall to the ground. If a player "runs into" a sleeping person they yell out "SLEEPER IN THE DARK." At this time the lights need to be turned on. If the person sleeping was the police officer, the game ends. Everyone should guess who the wizard is, and if the police officer chooses to reveal him/herself they can make one person show their card. They do not have to reveal their identity. If the guess is correct, the game is over. If not, the lights turn back off. The police officer only gets one chance per round. This repeats until all people are asleep, the officer is put to sleep, or the wizard is identified. When this is over, take up the cards, shuffle, and play again. Evidently there is no way to win. The game is incredible fun, and students usually end up playing for hours.
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Tag game where players must avoid being tagged. Once you've been tagged your arms and legs can be used to tag other people, except your bottom must remain on the floor. The last person to be tagged wins!
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It's similar to "Doggy doggy who's got your bone" but a little different. Get to group to sit in a circle. Put a chair in the middle. Choose one person to sit in the chair and blindfold them. Place a set of keys or an object under the chair in the middle. Then the game begins. One of the leaders who isn't playing will select a player sitting in the circle group to sneak into the middle and try to steal the keys. Meanwhile, the blindfolded player on the chair has to listen carefully to try to hear where the stealing person is. When they think they know where the stealer is, they must quickly point. If they point at the player, the player is now out and they swap around. However, they are only allowed to point 3 times. If the stealer manages to take the keys without being caught, they must return to their position and then the whole group chants "Man diddy watcher someone's got your keys." The middle player takes their blindfold off and gets three guesses as to who has their keys.
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Divide the group into teams and set up stations representing each of the fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control). At each station, participants complete a challenge related to that fruit before moving on to the next.
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The Mafia Game is a social deduction game where players are secretly assigned roles as either Mafia members or Townspeople. The Mafia's goal is to eliminate the Townspeople without revealing their identities, while the Townspeople aim to identify and eliminate the Mafia. Through alternating Night and Day phases, players discuss, accuse, and vote on who they believe is part of the Mafia until one team achieves its win condition. It's a game of strategy, deception, and deduction that requires players to bluff and outsmart their opponents.
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This game can either be done using a video camera and a TV, or just acted out on the spot. Split your group up into teams and give each team a random object which they will need to advertise and maybe something like a theme (i.e. "school" or "hospital") that they will need to run with. Send each team off to prepare their commercial then either get each team to individually film their ad, or just bring them all back to the hall and get them to act it out in front of each other. Maybe have some light-hearted judges on the side also?
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Discover Avalon, an immersive social deduction game set in Arthurian legend. Use strategy and deception as loyal servants of Arthur or minions of Mordred to complete quests and shape Avalon's fate.
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A simple bible quiz is a great way to help kids comprehend bible passages and stories. It can be used a tool for learning in small groups, an ice breaker for a big group or maybe as a round in a quiz night. The questions in the quiz could be general questions from all over the bible, or could be restricted to a particular bible story or passage. This is up to you to work out what will serve your youth group best. It works really well in the setting on an "introduction night" for the series/book you're about to start working through. It can be done at the end of the session to test and remind the kids of what has been discussed. The questions used in the bible quiz can be simple answer questions, multiple choice and true or false. Or you can get creative - maybe use a PowerPoint presentation to display some graphical questions as well. You could do the quiz as an "open bible" quiz which will encourage kids to be using their bibles to find answers as you go and is a good way to help kids "get to know" their bibles.
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The Chameleon Game is a social deduction game where players must figure out who the "chameleon" is based on their answers to a series of questions. Players sit in a circle or around a table. Each player is given a card that contains a list of related words or prompts, except for the chameleon, who receives a card with no information other than the word "chameleon." The game consists of several rounds. In each round, one player is selected to be the moderator, who poses a question or gives a prompt related to the words or themes listed on the players' cards. Each player, including the chameleon, takes turns giving a response to the question or prompt. The chameleon's challenge is to blend in with the other players' responses without revealing their lack of knowledge about the secret word or theme. After all players have given their responses, players discuss among themselves and vote on who they believe the chameleon is. If the majority of players correctly identify the chameleon, they win the round. If the chameleon successfully avoids detection, they win the round instead.
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Codenames is a word association game played on a 5x5 grid of word cards. Each team has a spymaster who provides single-word clues followed by a number, indicating how many words on the grid relate to the clue. The operatives, seated opposite the spymasters, discuss and guess the words based on these clues. Once an operative selects a word, the spymaster reveals if it belongs to their team, the opponent, is neutral, or is the assassin. Guessing an opponent's word ends their turn, guessing a neutral word ends the turn without penalty, and guessing the assassin results in an immediate loss. The game involves strategic thinking and careful word association, aiming to identify all words of one's team while avoiding the assassin. The team that successfully identifies all their words first, or avoids the assassin while making correct guesses, wins the game.
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Teams build and hold a system of pipes so that water poured into one end can flow into a bucket on the other.
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Divide into Girls and Boys teams. Alternative with trivia questions: Ask the girls questions that only boys would know the answer to, and ask the boys the questions that only girls would know the answer to.
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A camp-wide economy game. Split into small teams, each belonging to one of four categories. Teams travel between simple challenge stations, earning money for each one completed, and spend it on items at a central bazaar. Away from the bazaar, teams may challenge teams from other categories to steal their money — and roaming "bombers" can latch onto a team by tagging a member, blowing up after a set time and costing the team everything unless it passes the bomber on by tagging a different team first. Finish with a story read aloud by the leader: teams that bought the right items at the bazaar survive each chapter, and the team that lasts longest wins.
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All players stand in a large circle. One player is chosen as the detective. Detective leaves the circle as the rest of the players decide who the murderer will be. Detective rejoins the circle. Everyone in the circle can carry on having discussions, etc. If the player has the murderer wink at them, they die (and can do so dramatically for effect). Detective must identify who the murderer is within 3 guesses.
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Get the whole group together. The leader running the game calls out a category question (for example - what is your favorite color?). Everyone in the group would then have to start calling out their favorite color to each other and find the others in the group who have the same favorite color as them. When a player finds another player who has the same answer as them they then join together (by linking arms) and continue to go round the group looking for more people with the same answer. After a minute or so (completely up to the leader running the game) the leader can call "STOP". Each group needs to call out their answer. If there are two people/groups who have the same answer but are not linked together then they are eliminated from the next round. Or alternatively, to keep everyone involved, you can give each kid five wrapped lollies or popsticks to start with and they lose one each time this happens. Be creative with the questions you ask: - Favorite pizza topping - Favorite ice cream flavour - Favorite TV show - Favorite band - Favorite book of the Bible, etc.
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A game of social deduction where players are divided into two teams, the Resistance and the Spies. The Resistance's goal is to complete missions, while the Spies' goal is to sabotage the missions.
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1. Use a book to get the text for a larger section of scripture - maybe a whole chapter - that you are studying. 2. Copy that into the Wordle site and let it generate a Wordle for you. 3. Put the generated Wordle and your book passage onto a single page of paper. 4. Highlight the words in the passage that you want the kids to find in the Wordle. Although this would seem fairly simple, depending on the number of words and the layout of the Wordle, it can be quite difficult. 5. Use the normal incentives to keep the kids focused - first person to find a specific word gets a prize, first finished, work in pairs etc. This website allows you to generate cool 'wordles'. They are like a word cloud where the size of word is in proportion to its usage. The site allows you to generate your own Wordle in many different formats.
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Two Rooms and Boom! is a social deduction game where players are divided into two rooms, and a "bomber" must be found before time runs out. Players are divided into two groups, with each group assigned a different room. One room represents the Red Team, while the other represents the Blue Team. Each player is secretly assigned a role card, which indicates their team affiliation and role within the game. Roles may include members of the Red Team, members of the Blue Team, and special roles such as the President, the Bomber, and various other characters with unique abilities. The President is revealed in each room, while the Bomber remains hidden. The objective of the Red Team is to keep their President safe, while the Blue Team's goal is to find and identify the Bomber before time runs out. The game is played in a series of rounds, with each round consisting of a negotiation phase and an action phase. During the negotiation phase, players within each room interact, exchange information, and make deals to try to achieve their team's objectives. Players may share their roles, form alliances, bluff, and strategize to gain information about other players' roles. After the negotiation phase, players vote on which players to send to the other room during the action phase. The goal is to gather information and potentially swap players to gain an advantage or disrupt the opposing team's plans. Throughout the game, players must carefully consider the information they receive, the actions of other players, and the timing of their decisions to achieve their team's goals. The game ends when the timer runs out, at which point the players reveal their roles and determine the outcome based on the success or failure of their team's objectives.
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Each person writes down a random word on a piece of paper. The papers are collected and redistributed randomly. Each person must then tell a story that incorporates all the words they received.
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One person thinks of an object, and the others have 20 questions to guess what it is. Everyone ask the person a series of questions to which he or she can answer with a 'yes' or 'no'.
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Each player writes down the name of a movie on a piece of paper and places it in a bowl. Players take turns drawing a movie title out of a bowl and acting out a scene from that movie while the others try to guess what is the name of the movie.
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Pass the package = the package (a prize/gift) is passed around the circle and when the music stops, the person left holding the package unwraps a cape. In each layer there is a word from a sentence, which they have to memorize to put them together at the end of the game and discover the hidden phrase. Continue doing this until the end of the packet.
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One person describes an object, and everyone else draws what they think it looks like based on the description. The person who described the object then reveals the actual object, and the group compares their drawings to see who came closest.
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One person starts by saying "I went to the store and bought..." and names an item. The next person repeats the first item and adds a second item. Each person must remember all the items mentioned before their turn and add a new one. The round ends when the player fails to list an item in the correct order.
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Pick a category (e.g., animals, countries, foods) and start with the letter 'A.' Each person must name something in that category that starts with the next letter of the alphabet. The game continues until you reach 'Z.'
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Write out sentences or dialogues of a book, movie, song, etc. on different pieces of paper and scramble them up. Teams or individuals race to unscramble the sentences or dialogues and put them in the correct order.
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One person selects a word from the dictionary, and everyone else must come up with a definition for it. The person who chose the word reads out the real definition, and the person with the most creative or funny definition wins a point.
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1. If I went to Mars is a fun memory game where the game starts by one person saying their name and the sentence 'If I go to Mars I would take a', and end the sentence with object. 2. The next person begins their sentence by saying their name and then the following sentence, 'If I go to Mars, I would take (the first person's name and object) and name of second object. 3. Then, the third person then continues and says their name and includes the name and object of the first 2 people in their sentence and gives a third object. 4. This goes on till a player does not say the name and object in the right sequence. The player is then eliminated. 5. Game ends where there is only one player remaining.
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Pictionary is a couch game where we can create cards with scenes, characters, or stories for participants to draw while their team guesses within a time limit.
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Improv Storytelling is a couch game where one person starts a story with a sentence, and each person adds a sentence to continue the story. The story can go in any direction, and it's up to the group to keep it going.
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Commando is basically hide and seek meets red light green light. Choose a counter (preferably a leader/staff member). Their job is to regulate the game and call people out. Pick 5-7 checkpoints in a circular shape spread out around the start/finish zone. These points can be cones laid out or 'that garbage can near the light post' or 'that large tree'. The goal of the runners is to tag all the points and get back to the start zone without being seen by the counter. The counter must remain firmly in the same spot. The runners start running when the counter yells out a number. The counter will choose a number in their head (never less than five, usually never more than ten). He/she will then close his/her eyes and yell out that number very loudly followed by either 'fast', 'medium', or 'slow'. This dictates how many times the counter will say the word 'DOT' in between numbers. Fast = one DOT, Medium = two DOTS, Slow = three DOTS. For example, if the counter yells 'SIX MEDIUM', they will then yell out 'SIX DOT DOT FIVE DOT DOT FOUR DOT DOT THREE DOT DOT TWO DOT DOT ONE DOT DOT UP'
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Players take turns throwing bolas (two balls connected by a string) at a ladder-shaped target, trying to wrap the bolas around the rungs to score points.
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Have a group sit in a circle. Every player is secretly given an action they must do on a "trigger". For example, the action might be to cough whenever a certain player in the circle talks. The goal is for someone in the middle to guess all of the triggers.
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Medusa is a game where everyone sit around a table. Everyone will put their heads down and count down from three, then have everyone sit up and look at someone else in the circle. If you make eye contact with someone else, you're out. If the person you're looking at is looking at someone else, you're safe. Repeat until everyone is out.
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The Question Game is where two players must only speak in questions. If a statement is made, they are out. Perfect for quick-witted fun and group activity!
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The Fruits is an exciting game where each participant joins a group and embodies a fruit. They either stand in a straight line or lie down. When the announcer calls out a fruit, the corresponding participants run around the group. The first participant to reach the starting point earns points for their group, while the last to reach the starting point gets eliminated.
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Person stands in middle of a circle and points at people in the circle one by one. The person pointing has a pattern in mind. They answer either yes or no to whatever the people in the circle say, according to their pattern. People in the circle need to figure out what the pattern is. (Example: Only says "yes" if the guess is a food, only says "yes" if the answerer pauses before guessing, etc.)
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In the game "Sherlock," participants gather, and one person is chosen as the detective, called "Sherlock," for each round. The detective has 30 seconds to examine everyone before leaving the area. During their absence, a noticeable change occurs within the group, such as someone putting on or taking off a jacket, two people swapping places, or someone styling or undoing their ponytail. The key is that the change is easily noticeable. It can involve one person or multiple people in the group. For instance, everyone might untie their shoes for a round. Upon returning, the detective tries to guess the change within a minute. If they lack significant clues, the group can decide whether to provide a hint.
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Most Likely To is a game where we gather in a circle. Begin with one person asking, "Who's most likely to trip over their own feet?" (Or another scenario, attribute, deed, etc.) Count down from three (performing a drumroll with your hands is encouraged) and then have everyone point at who they think would be most likely to do said activity. Whoever has the most fingers pointed at them is out. Go around the circle asking a question until all but one person is out. You can skip the eliminations to make the game last longer. This fun party game is perfect for breaking the ice and getting to know each other better. Whether you're with friends or family, asking "Who's most likely to..." questions can reveal amusing insights and create lasting memories.
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Choose one player to be the psychologist and have them leave the room. Everyone playing is assigned a strange problem (example: they think they are on the moon, they are late for something, etc.). Psychologist comes back in and must guess each person's problem by asking them questions.
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Needs two groups, each group lines in on the opposite side of the hall/room. Get each person to take off one shoe and make a pile of their team's shoes. Get each person from one team to come and select a random shoe from the other team's pile and then find the person to whom the shoe belongs. Once they have found their match, have a question ready for them. Get the other team to do the same.
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In this game, most players stand in a circle and mimic the changing actions of a predetermined leader while another player in the center attempts to guess who's in charge.
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One person is "Simon" and gives commands to the other players. They must only follow the commands if "Simon says" before the command.
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In the game "Psychiatrist," players are divided into two roles: "The Psychiatrist" and "The Patients." The game is played in rounds, with one player as the Psychiatrist and the rest as Patients. The assigned player leaves the room while the Game Leader instructs other players to display a unique symptom, such as pretending there's a smell in the room. The other players maintain the same symptom throughout the round. The assigned player returns, freely questioning the other players to diagnose the shared symptom. Patients must answer truthfully; intentional misleading is corrected by the Game Leader. The round ends when the assigned player accurately diagnoses or gives up. Another Psychiatrist is chosen for the next round, and the game continues until everyone has had a turn or time runs out.
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Goal is to get 4 from the same team on the couch. There must be one less seat than there are people in the room. Divide into at least two teams and have everyone put their name in a hat. Everyone draws a name and that becomes their new name for the game. Everyone should keep their name a secret. The person to the left of the empty seat in the room calls out a name. The person who drew that name moves to the empty seat and switches names with the person who called out the name. Now the person to the left of the new empty seat calls a name. Continue. Try to call the right names to get your team on the couch.
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Zip or Bong is a fast-paced, attention-focused game where players form a circle and pass the turn using the words "Zip" or "Bong." The direction of the turn is determined by the word used. Players must respond quickly to keep the game moving, with any hesitation or mistake leading to elimination. The game continues until one player remains.
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Team game. A player from each team must draw something while the rest of the team tries to guess.
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Each guest has a name of a person, animal or object taped to their forehead or back. Each person gets to ask 20 questions of various guests to figure out who he is.
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Wheel of Fortune is an entertaining game where contestants take turns spinning a wheel to determine a dollar amount, then guessing the letters in a blanked out phrase. Correct letter guesses are worth money (example: if phrase has 3 T's and the spin landed on $100, the contestant earns $300). Only the player who correctly guesses the entire phrase gets to keep their money from that round. Play several rounds to determine a winner. Roll a die to determine money value if a wheel is not available. To guess a vowel, contestants must "buy a vowel" for $250.
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Players take turns counting up, starting with 1. Each player says either one or two numbers. If you say 10 then you are eliminated. Restart the count at 1. Continue until only one player is left.
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The game host decides on a certain amount of time. Using a watch, they set a countdown for this time when they say "Go". Players cannot communicate with each other in any way. Each player must decide when they think the amount of time has passed and indicate by raising their hand. The closest to the actual time wins. (Alternative: Have the stopwatch beep when time is up. Last player to put up their hand before time runs out wins)
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The classic gameshow game. If you don't have time to make a giant money wheel, consider rolling dice to determine the value of each guess.
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Classic trivia game where players are asked a question one by one. The difference is that each correct answer means you get to knock one life off of any other player in the game. Each player starts with three lives and the last one standing wins.
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In the game of Tug of War, two teams compete by pulling on opposite ends of a rope. Each team tries to drag the other across a central line. The team that pulls the other team past this line wins the game. This outdoor game tests strength, teamwork, and strategy.
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Two Truths And A Lie, In each round of this game, participants will share two things about themselves that are true, as well as one thing that is not true. The job of the other participants is to try to guess which item is the untruth.
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Everyone knows how to play rock, paper, scissors, right? In this game, the Giants crush the Wizards, the Wizards attack the Elves and the Elves bite the ankles of the Giants and bring them down. The way to play is to line up opposite your opponent and together count "1-2-3-Go!" and on "Go", both of you represent the chosen character. Giants raise their hands above their heads to smash and roar. Wizards extend their hands as if shooting lightning and laugh like maniacs. Elves crouch on the ground while pretending to bite, claw and scream in a high-pitched voice.
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Teams stand behind a line and take turns tossing something (such as bean bags) at a board, target, etc. A good variation to consider: have a board with different squares to land on, like Connect 4 or tic tac toe, instead of just having one bullseye.
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One blindfolded guest is led to the middle of the circle of guests. When the host shouts, "GO!" the center player must reach out and grab someone from the circle, asking, "Who is it?" That guest answers in a disguised voice. If the center player can guess who it is, the discovered person becomes the blindfolded player in the middle.
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Player is given an item and then has to try to "sell" the item infomercial style and keep talking for a set time limit. Would be funny to do guys vs girls (e.g., a guy is given a purse)
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Multiple choice trivia questions. Mark each corner of the room with one of the answers. Players must run to the corner that has the answer they think is correct. Continue until all players are eliminated.
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Multiple teams. Scatter letters all over a given area (can be written on paper, Scrabble pieces, etc.). On "go", players from each team race one at a time to collect letters within the time limit. Must retrieve a letter then bring it back and the next player runs. After the collecting time is up, teams must use their collected letters to form a word or words (depending on the game format). Most or longest word wins.
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(From James Corden's show. Search Youtube for vids) Team vs Team challenge where blindfolded players have to face off and race to identify an item first by nuzzling it using only their faces. Examples from show include cotton candy, a turtle, football helmet, a snake, etc
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Two players stand on a support, chair or pedestal. They are both holding a length of rope that is longer than the distance they are apart, so that there is slack. Players must try to pull the rope strategically to knock the other player off-balance so they fall.
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Start with a large collection of paired objects. Objects are arranged into a grid and covered with something (bucket, basket, etc.). Players take turns uncovering two items. If they match, player earns a point and player takes another turn. If not, player must cover up both items again. Player who makes the most matches wins.
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Give every player or team paper, a pen, and a theme — the funnier or more specific, the better ("an ode to the office microwave"). Set a ten-minute timer. When time is up, everyone reads their poem aloud to the group, and the leader or a round of applause decides the winner. For an extra twist, require three specific words to appear somewhere in every poem.
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Start with a large, even grid of dots. Players take turns drawing a line from one dot to a horizontally or vertically adjacent dot. Count one point to players who complete a box when they draw their line. Player with most points once there are no moves remaining wins the game.
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All players stand on a giant board of squares. Players move in turns, stepping from their square to another. They can only move vertically and horizontally. After players move, they flip over the square they were standing on after their turn and that square cannot be used anymore. Continue moving in turns. If a player cannot make any legal moves, they are out of the game. Continue until one player remains.
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Get volunteers who are musical. They must sing a song when the host puts the microphone in front of them. Cannot sing the same song as before. The host will move the microphone quickly between players. Too much hesitation or singing the same song means the player is out.
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There is one person (Chooser) who thinks of a word and reveals the first letter. Then one participant thinks of a word and tries to describe it in a way that the Chooser does not understand it. If another participant understands the word that is described he/she says CONTACT and then says the word aloud on the count of three. If they say the same word, the Chooser reveals another letter in the word. If not, the participants have to try again with another word. Once the Chooser has revealed the second letter, participants have to try to describe a word that has those two letters in it.
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The "shoe from behind", among all those who want to play, a draw is drawn to determine who gets the shoe. One comes out and keeps the shoe and the rest, holding hands, form a circle on the floor while sitting. The one who has the shoe begins to go around the circle and sing this song (or another similar one): "To the shoe from behind, tris-tras. You don't see it nor will you see it, tris-tras. Look up, beans are falling. Look down, chickpeas are falling. Go to sleep, go to sleep, the Three Wise Men are coming!" When the song ends everyone must close their eyes and count to a number, ten for example. The person wearing the shoe must leave it in the back for someone. After a few seconds they open their eyes and check who left the shoe. The one who has it must grab it and run after the person who left the shoe to try to touch him with the shoe. If at 3 laps (or as many laps as agreed upon) he cannot catch it, he loses. Then he will be the one to start the game again.
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Create a quiz according to the feast theme or audience. Can participate as a team or individually.
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The aim of the game is for a team to capture the opposition's flag. A team achieves this by finding the flag and bringing it back to their home base safely. When a player is in their defensive half, they can tag a player from the opposition team. The tagged player must walk back to their team's home base before being "in play" again. If a player is carrying the flag, the opposition team can tag them in either half. Once tagged, the opposition team must return the flag to their base straight away. The tagged player must walk back to their team's base before being back "in play" as per normal. Points decide the winner.
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Each player on a team gets a letter around their neck or on a printed t-shirt. The group needs to arrange themselves to make as many words as possible. Add difficulties or obstacles, such as having the whole team on a plank of wood and they lose points if a team member falls off.
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Dealer vs Players. Deal cards and bet. Each player aims to beat the dealer by getting a hand total closer to 21 without exceeding it.
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Multiple-choice trivia game where each player is standing on the first in their own line of squares. For each correct answer, players can take one step forward onto the next square. There are eight squares total in each row, two in each of four colors. Last player left on each color is eliminated. First one to the end wins.
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Make some simple codes with numbers, letters or symbols that teams need to solve.
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Split into teams and call out a word — "rain," "love," "fire." Teams take turns singing a real song lyric that contains the word, going back and forth until a team repeats a song, sings a lyric without the word, or stalls past a ten-second countdown. That team drops out of the round, and the survivors get a new word. No instruments needed, and off-key counts — the game rewards memory and nerve, not talent.
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The host chooses a word, writes it on paper and gives it to the participants. The twist is, one participant will get a paper that says imposter. Now, the host chooses one player to start drawing. Each participant draws one line at a time, but must try not to make it so obvious. The imposter needs to pretend to know what he/she is drawing. Everyone draws twice (two turns) and then the group gets to vote who they think the imposter is. If the imposter tricks the other participants, he/she wins the game.
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Divide into teams. All players have a flag tucked into their pocket. They are captured when that flag is taken, regardless of where in the area of play they are. Players must return to their base and get a new flag if theirs is stolen. Stolen flags can be returned to a player's own base for points, or can be held on to at the risk that another player will steal them. Capturing the flag is worth a certain amount of points. Winner is decided on points.
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Blindfold players, have them wear oven mitts, then ask them to recognize objects by touching them.
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The contestant or team with the highest total at the end of Final Jeopardy is declared the winner. The game is known for its unique answer-and-question format, where the host presents the clues, and contestants respond by framing their answers in the form of a question. The game combines knowledge, strategy, and quick thinking, making it a beloved and enduring quiz show.
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Call up two people who are close friends. Give each a picture of themselves and their teammate. Ask questions like "who is more likely to...". Teams get points when they answer the same.
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Arrange players into a line, with all players looking away from the stage so they can't see what is happening. Whisper an action to the first player in line. They act this out for only the second person. The second person then acts out what they saw for the third, etc. The last person has to guess what the action was.
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A volunteer is blindfolded and then asked to touch several objects and guess what they are.
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One member of the team removes their blindfold and directs their blindfolded teammates to perform various tasks. These tasks can include arranging themselves into a specific order or forming a particular shape on the ground using a piece of string.
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Slappers, Best played at night. One player is "it". They cover their eyes and count down from 15. All players have to "slap" them and then hide. The player uncovers their eyes and can take three steps. If they can't find anyone, they cover their eyes and start counting down from 14. All players must run out of their hiding places, "slap" the player who is it, then hide again. Every time, the player who is "it" counts down from a smaller number. Continue until everyone is out. WARNING: PEOPLE OFTEN GET HURT BY RUNNING INTO EACH OTHER IN THIS GAME.
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Charades, Players must act out an action or word without talking for their team to guess.
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Show various country flags and teams must correctly answer the name of the country.
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Players sit in a circle. One player is "it". They walk around the circle patting people on the head saying "Duck". When they say "Goose", they race the player who was tagged around the circle. Players run opposite directions. Last one back to the spot is "it" for next round. (Variation: Try with multiple people who are "it")
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Teams use the resources available to make their own catapult within a time limit. Team that shoots a ball the farthest wins.
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Buy a random collection of items (toothpaste, batteries, etc.). Have contestants guess the price. Closest correct guess that is under the actual amount wins. Guesses that are over the correct amount cannot win.
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Team trivia game where getting a wrong answer results in increasingly difficult "punishments" (start with 5 push ups, then 10, then running to somewhere and back, etc.)
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Get everyone to huddle in a group in the middle of the room and join each hand with someone across the circle. Once everyone has joined hands, let them know their task is now to untangle themselves. To make the game interesting, make sure there are some chaotic hand joins going on - get players to weave their hands up and over other arms. This ice breaker game can work really well as a team competition - split the group into a few different even-sized teams and get each group to tangle themselves then make it a race to get completely untangled. It might help to have a leader watching each team so there is no cheating going on!
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A combination of OC and Risk, teams compete at stations to win "armies" which can be used to conquer the various regions of Israel. The regions have different values, Golan having the greatest value (number of points). The goal is to have the most points at the end of the game by conquering the regions (and thereby defeating other teams). All stations must be completed once before the team can repeat a station in order to get more armies. Headquarters closes at a set time, after which it is impossible to bring more armies to the war. Strategy: Can only turn in 3 armies at a time.
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Teams compete at stations to win "gold coins". They can "sell" these to the bank. Police walk around the area and can take gold coins from teams if they touch one team member. Teams can also sell gold coins to goldsmiths who are walking around for less money than they would get from the bank, but some of these are undercover police. Teams can use money to buy weapons, which can be used to challenge other teams to steal their gold coins.
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Hide and seek in reverse scale: one or two hunters, everyone else hides across a large agreed area. Hunters count to fifty at base, then search. Tagged players either join the hunters (classic) or go to a jail where teammates can free them with a tag (extended version). Set firm boundaries, a time limit, and a signal to call everyone in. The last player to remain free wins. Works brilliantly in the dark with glow sticks marking the base.
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The classic swimming pool chase. The player who is "it" closes their eyes and calls "Marco!"; all other players in the pool must immediately answer "Polo!" Using sound alone, "it" swims toward the voices and tries to tag someone, who then becomes the new "it". If "it" suspects a player has climbed out of the water, they can call "Fish out of water!" — if correct, that player is automatically "it". Always play with a lifeguard or adult supervising.
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One player is Mr. Wolf and stands with their back to the group, who wait on a start line. The group chants "What time is it, Mr. Wolf?" and the wolf answers a time — "Three o'clock!" — so everyone takes three steps forward. When the group gets close, the wolf may answer "Dinner time!" and spin around to chase them back to the start line. Anyone caught becomes the new wolf. Sneaky wolves keep the group guessing about when dinner time will come.
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The group forms a tight safety circle. Inside it, one blindfolded player is the bat and two or three players are moths. The bat hunts by echolocation: every time the bat calls "Bat!", all moths must instantly answer "Moth!", and the bat homes in on the sound. The circle gently redirects anyone about to walk out of bounds. When a moth is tagged, they join the circle and a new bat or moth rotates in. A brilliant quiet-but-tense game that also sneaks in a science lesson.
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All you need is a wall and a bouncy ball. Players take turns throwing the ball against the wall; it must bounce once on the ground before the next player catches or returns it. If you fumble the ball, touch it without controlling it, or miss the wall, you must sprint and touch the wall before another player hits it with the ball — get beaten and you earn a letter. Spell out a word (or collect three letters) and you're out. Last player standing wins.
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Golf, but throwing a frisbee. Play an official course with chain baskets, or invent your own: pick a target — a tree, a bin, a post — and count how many throws each player needs to hit it. Each new throw starts where the disc landed. Lowest total across nine "holes" wins. Designing the course is half the fun: send throws around buildings, over streams, or under branches. A single disc per player and a park is all it takes.
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Plant two stakes about 30 feet apart (closer for casual play). Players take turns pitching two horseshoes at the far stake. A ringer — the shoe wrapping the stake — scores three points; the closest shoe within a hand's width of the stake scores one. Only one player scores per round: cancel out matching throws, then count the difference. First to 21 wins. Use rubber horseshoe sets for indoor or family play. Keep bystanders well behind the pitcher.
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Teams of two or three get two rolls of toilet paper and three minutes. One teammate stands as the mummy while the others wrap them head to toe — face uncovered — as completely and neatly as possible before time runs out. Judge on full coverage, costume quality, and dramatic mummy pose; broken paper strips count against you. Then swap roles and wrap the next victim. Cheap, hilarious, and the group photo afterwards is guaranteed gold.
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Deal the whole deck out. Players take turns discarding cards face down while announcing them in rising order: "two threes," "one four," "three fives." The catch — you may lie. Any player who suspects a lie calls "Cheat!" and flips the discarded cards: if the claim was false, the liar picks up the entire pile; if it was true, the accuser does. First player to empty their hand honestly (or dishonestly) wins. A brilliant introduction to bluffing for family groups.
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Pose an impossible choice: "Would you rather be able to fly, or be invisible?" Everyone must pick a side — no fence-sitting — and defend their choice. For big groups, make it physical: point to opposite walls for each answer and have everyone walk to their side, then let each camp argue its case for thirty seconds. The debates are the game. Prepare a list of dilemmas ranging from silly (fight one horse-sized duck?) to revealing (live without music or without movies?).
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Set up two rows of chairs facing each other. Pairs get two minutes to talk, guided by a question the host announces each round — "What's the best trip you've ever taken?" or "What skill would you love to learn?" When the bell rings, one row shifts one seat down and a new round begins with a new question. After eight rounds, everyone has genuinely met eight people. The single best opener for events where most attendees are strangers.
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Write twenty short getting-to-know-you questions all over an inflatable beach ball with a marker. Toss the ball around the circle; whoever catches it answers the question closest to their right thumb, then throws it on. Because the ball chooses the question, nobody can prepare and the answers stay spontaneous. Refresh the ball with new questions for repeat groups, or theme it — team goals for a work retreat, favorites for a youth group, story prompts for a classroom.
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Pass a bowl of colorful candy around and tell everyone to take as many pieces as they like — but not to eat them yet. Then reveal the catch: each color is a question category (red = something about your family, green = a dream or goal, yellow = an embarrassing story, and so on), and you must answer one question for every piece you took. The greedy handful someone grabbed becomes ten stories. Finish each answer by eating the candy.
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Pass a toilet paper roll around the group with a single instruction: "Take as much as you think you'll need." No further explanation. Once everyone is holding their wad, reveal the rule — for every square you took, you must share one fact about yourself. The person who grabbed thirty squares becomes the star of the session. Simple, self-inflicted, and reliably funnier than any icebreaker where the facilitator sets the stakes.
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The scenario: you're stranded on a desert island and may bring only three items. Each player reveals their three choices and defends them — is a knife smarter than a satellite phone? Is a guitar a waste or the key to sanity? For a team-building twist, have small groups negotiate a single shared list of five items, forcing debate about what actually matters. There are no right answers; the reasoning people give quietly reveals how they think and what they value.
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The theatre warm-up that wakes up any circle. One player claps and points at someone, saying "Zip!" That person immediately passes it on with "Zap!", the next with "Zop!", and the cycle repeats — zip, zap, zop — at maximum speed. Hesitate, say the wrong word, or fumble your point, and you're out (or the group simply restarts, in the friendly version). As the circle masters it, ban pointing at your neighbors or add a second traveling zip going the other way.
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Sit in a circle, each player's right hand resting palm-up on their neighbor's left palm. As the group chants the traditional rhyme — "Down by the banks of the hanky panky…" — each player claps their right hand onto the next person's palm, passing the beat around the circle. Whoever would be slapped on the rhyme's final word must yank their hand away in time; too slow and they're out. Circles shrink until two players face off in a tense two-hand duel.
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Set the rhythm in a circle: slap thighs twice, clap twice, snap right, snap left. Once the beat is locked in, the leader chants "Concentration… category is… fruits!" and on each following snap-snap, the next player around the circle must name a fruit exactly on the beat. Repeat an answer, miss the rhythm, or blank out and you're out — and the survivor picks the next category. Movies, capital cities, cereal brands: the beat turns easy trivia into pressure.
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Give each team a jigsaw puzzle of similar difficulty — but before handing them out, secretly swap a handful of pieces between the boxes. Teams race to finish, and somewhere along the way they discover the awful truth: their missing pieces belong to rival teams. Now they must negotiate — trade pieces, barter helpers, form alliances, or drive hard bargains. First completed puzzle wins. A sneaky simulation of inter-department cooperation that reliably exposes who hoards, who trades fairly, and who forgets the clock entirely.
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The group stands in a tight circle, everyone facing the back of the person in front, toes nearly touching heels. On the count of three, all players slowly sit down at the same moment — each person landing on the knees of the player behind while supporting the player in front. Done together, the circle holds itself up with no chairs at all; done raggedly, it collapses into a heap of laughter. Once seated, ambitious groups attempt the legendary next level: walking in sync. Works with ten people or a thousand.
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Lay a line of paper squares on the ground — one more square than there are players. Two teams stand on the squares facing each other, with the single empty square in the middle. The goal: the two teams must completely swap sides. The rules: you may only move forward, by stepping into an empty square or passing around one opposing player onto an empty square. No backwards moves, no passing your own teammates. One illegal move resets the puzzle. It's solvable — but only when the group stops shouting and starts planning.
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The group sits in a circle, or better, scattered with eyes closed. The mission: count to twenty out loud as a group, one number per voice, with no order agreed in advance. Anyone may say the next number at any moment — but if two people speak at the same time, the count restarts at one. No pointing, no signalling, no pattern-setting. Early attempts collapse at four; the room slowly learns to listen, wait, and sense each other. The silence between numbers is the actual game.
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One player becomes the world's leading expert on a subject the audience invents on the spot — underwater bicycle repair, the history of left shoes, competitive napping. A host interviews them for three minutes, and the expert must answer every question with total confidence and a straight face: hesitation is the only way to fail, because nonsense delivered with authority is the entire joke. For the team version, three players answer one word each in sequence, forcing the "expert" to be a single mind with three mouths.
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One player steps forward and starts a simple repeating motion with a sound — a piston arm with a "chk-chk," a spinning wheel with a whistle. One by one, other players attach themselves to the growing contraption, each adding a connected motion and noise, until the whole group is a single absurd machine. The facilitator can then adjust the controls: run it at double speed, in slow motion, or wind it down to a stop. For teams, assign machines to build — a toaster, a car wash, a printer — and let the others guess.
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Every player writes a phrase at the top of a paper — "a giraffe learning to skateboard" — and passes it left. The next player draws the phrase, folds the writing out of sight, and passes it on. The next sees only the drawing and writes what they think it shows, folds the drawing away, and passes again. Alternate drawing and describing until each paper returns home, then unfold and read the full mutation chain aloud. The reveal is reliably the loudest ten minutes of any game night.
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Everyone draws the same columns on their paper: name, place, animal, food, movie — pick five or six categories. A letter is chosen at random and all players race to fill every column with a word starting with that letter. The first player finished shouts "Stop the bus!" and everyone must drop their pens. Score ten points per valid answer, but only five if another player wrote the same word — so "Paris" is safe and worthless, while "Podgorica" is a gamble for glory. Highest total after five letters wins.
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Players build a word one letter at a time around the circle — with one rule: never be the player who completes a real word of four or more letters. Each added letter must still be heading toward some real word, though; if you suspect a bluff, challenge — the bluffer takes a letter if they can't name their word, but you take one if they can. Completing a word earns you a letter of G-H-O-S-T, and five letters kills you off. Pure spelling brinkmanship needing zero equipment.
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Around the circle at speed: each player says the very first word triggered by the previous one. "Beach" — "sand" — "castle" — "dragon" — "barbecue." Hesitate for more than two seconds, repeat a word, or explain your logic and you're out. The game accelerates as the circle shrinks, and the strange leaps a tired brain makes are the best part. For the harder version, ban obvious pairings — anything a teammate can justify as "too predictable" gets voted out.
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The group counts upward around the circle — but every number containing a seven or divisible by seven must be replaced by "Buzz!" So: five, six, buzz, eight… thirteen, buzz, fifteen… Say the forbidden number, buzz at the wrong time, or stall and you're out, and the count restarts. When the group gets smug, add "Fizz" for fives at the same time and enjoy the carnage around thirty-five. A pocket-sized brain-melter for lines, bus rides, and restaurant waits.
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Two teams, each with a guesser. Both clue-givers see the same secret word and alternate giving one-word clues to their own guesser: for "ocean" — "salty…", "waves…", "blue…". Teams alternate until one guesser cracks it, scoring more points the fewer clues used. Forbidden: multi-word clues, gestures, and any form of the word itself. The tension between a clue that's too obvious (the other team's guesser hears it too!) and too clever is what makes the game sing.
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One player sits in a chair facing away from the board or screen where a secret word is revealed to everyone else. The group shouts descriptions, definitions, and desperate charades-adjacent clues — anything except the word itself or rhymes — while the hot-seat player fires off guesses against a sixty-second timer. Score a point per word cracked, then rotate the chair. Run it as a team-versus-team tournament for real noise. The best vocabulary game for large groups that own nothing but a marker.
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Two players count "Three, two, one…" and simultaneously say any word. Then, thinking about both spoken words, they count down and speak again — each trying to say the word that connects the previous two. "Snow" and "holiday" converge on "Christmas"; the meld is complete when both players say the same word at the same moment. No talking between rounds, no repeating earlier words. Play it in pairs, or circle up and let the whole group chase one collective meld. Weirdly euphoric when the words finally collide.
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