Stacking Balloon Cups
14–20 players 10–15 min Minimal materials
Prepare 5 to 10 plastic cups and place them in a row on the table. The player will then be given an uninflated balloon. Your task is to inflate the balloon INSIDE the plastic cu…
312 games
Games for 20 People
Twenty is where running a session alone gets hard. You can still do it, but you will lose sight of half the room during any activity that spreads out, and a second person who knows the rules is worth more than any amount of preparation.
Volume is the practical problem. Twenty people playing anything energetic are loud enough that you cannot give an instruction over the top of them, so agree a stop signal before you start — a raised hand, a whistle, lights off — and practice it once. It sounds fussy and it saves the session.
Twenty splits well: four teams of five, two of ten, or five of four. Four teams is usually better than two, because two large teams means most players are spectating while a few play.
The ordering puts games built for twenty first, ahead of small-group games with a high upper limit.
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Stoolball
11–22 players 10–15 min Minimal materials
A match shall be played between two teams of not more than 11 players. Each team shall play under a captain, who shall toss a coin for the choice of first innings. The game is l…
Bad Bite
14–30 players 10–15 min Minimal materials
Bad Bite is a hilarious and challenging team game that tests your agility, coordination, and teamwork. You split into two teams and use only your mouth to pick up and hold onto…
Balloon Defense
10–30 players 15–20 min Minimal materials
Balloon Defense is a capture the flag variant where teams must compete to pop the other team's balloons.
Bench Ball
10–30 players 20–30 min Ball, Gym bench
Each team defends a court half, with one teammate — the catcher — standing on a bench at the far end behind the opposing team. Players throw the ball over the opposing team, try…
Blindfolded Obstacle Course
10–20 players 10–15 min Minimal materials
"Blindfolded Obstacle Course" is a thrilling team-based game where participants navigate a traditional obstacle course, but with a twist: one member of each team is blindfolded.…
Dots and Boxes
10–20 players 10–15 min Paper, Pens or pencils
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…
Electricity
10–30 players 10–20 min Small object to grab at the line’s end (coin, small trophy)
Two teams form lines holding hands, everyone facing away from the referee — except the two players at the head of each line, who watch the referee flip a coin. On heads, the hea…
Forest Soccer
10–22 players 60–70 min Minimal materials
Regular soccer rules, wildly irregular field: play in a forest, on a slope, or anywhere full of natural obstacles. Mark two goals a good distance apart — a gap between two trees…
Matball
10–30 players 30–60 min Kickball, Gym mats
Kickball's big-gym cousin, beloved in schools. Bases are large gym mats, and any number of runners can stand on a base at the same time — so a whole team can pile up on second w…
Medusa
10–20 players 10–20 min No equipment needed
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 circl…
Most Likely To
10–20 players 15–20 min No equipment needed
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.)…
Pass packet memory
10–20 players 20–40 min Minimal materials
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…
Poison Pole
10–20 players 10–30 min No equipment needed
You have a pole (a broom will suffice) and you place the pole on a stool. Everyone needs to gather around the pole and hold hands. The aim is to try and get OTHER people to knoc…
Red Rover
10–30 players 10–20 min No equipment needed
Two teams form lines facing each other about 30 feet apart, holding hands firmly. One team calls "Red Rover, Red Rover, send [name] right over!" The named player runs and tries…
Spider Soccer
10–22 players 20–30 min Minimal materials
Let's Play Spider Soccer! Soccer, except everyone is crawling like spiders or crabs on their hands and feet. Players skitter across the field, using both hands and feet to prope…
Squared Off
10–20 players 15–20 min Floor mat grid or chalk-marked squares
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,…
Telephone Whisper
10–25 players 20–30 min No equipment needed
1. Get players to sit in a circle facing inwards. 2. Pick a player to start. Tell this player to come up with a sentence or phrase and then whisper (or "pass it on") to the pers…
Tug of War
10–20 players 10–15 min Minimal materials
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 p…
Barter Puzzle
9–24 players 30–45 min Jigsaw puzzles (one per team, similar difficulty)
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 alon…
Bat and Moth
8–20 players 10–15 min Blindfold
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 "…
Blanket Volleyball
8–24 players 15–30 min Two large blankets or tarps, Ball, Net or rope
Each team holds the edges of a large blanket or tarp stretched flat. A ball sits in the middle of the serving team's blanket; on "three!", the whole team snaps the blanket to ca…
Broken Telephone Charades
8–25 players 5–10 min No equipment needed
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 f…
Crab Soccer Group
8–20 players 30–60 min Minimal materials
We're playing Crab Soccer! It follows soccer rules, but with players sitting on the ground, using both hands and feet to move. Teams defend their sides, freely entering the oppo…
Four on the Couch
8–20 players 20–30 min Minimal materials
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…
Hula Hoop Pass
8–30 players 10–15 min Hula hoop
The group joins hands in a circle with one hula hoop hanging on someone's arm. Without anyone letting go of their neighbors' hands, the hoop must travel the whole way around the…
Make it out of a chair
8–24 players 25–30 min No equipment needed
First, you split up into groups of 3-5. You should have at least three teams to play. Each team gets a chair and the caller chooses any random tangible-object noun. Each team is…
Salt and Pepper
8–30 players 15–20 min Sticky notes, Pens
Write famous pairs on sticky notes — salt/pepper, Batman/Robin, thunder/lightning, peanut butter/jelly — and stick one note on each player's back without letting them see it. Pl…
Ultimate Frisbee
8–20 players 30–60 min Flying disc
Two teams advance a flying disc up the field purely by passing — the player holding the disc cannot run, only pivot, while teammates cut into space. Score by catching the disc i…
Beach Ball Icebreaker
6–30 players 10–20 min Inflatable beach ball, Permanent marker
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 closes…