- Play a funny party game like Wacky Duck, where you and your fellow players must quack like ducks while someone else tries to guess whose quack is whose.
- Try a board game like Clue, in which you and your friends must roll dice and collect evidence to see who can solve a murder the fastest.
- Play a classic party game like Would You Rather, where each player asks “Would You Rather” questions with 2 choices, and everyone else must pick an option.
Wacky Duck
Wacky Duck is a goofy game where players use fake voices to win. Sit in a circle, choose one person to be “it,” and sit them in the center of the circle, blindfolded. “It” must then feel around for people with a newspaper rolled up, and whoever they stop in front of must quack like a duck. If “it” can guess who quacked, they win. If they can't, they have to keep looking (and guessing) until they get one right! Try to play this game with at least 8 players to ensure it’s a challenge for the guesser to pinpoint who is quacking. After blindfolding the “it” person, you could also spin them in a few circles and rearrange the seating to ensure they don’t know who is sitting where.
Wink Assassin
Wink Assassin is a stealth game where players must catch a killer. Prepare a chit (a small slip of paper) for every player participating, labeling one as the “killer,” and have players pick chits to determine who the murderer is. Then, everyone must stand in a circle and look at one another. The murderer must try to secretly “kill” players by winking at them, and everyone else has to determine the killer’s identity. When the killer winks at someone, they have to count to five, then scream and pretend to die. To guess who the murderer is, a player has to say “I accuse.” Then, other players will have until the count of 3 to back up the accuser. As soon as two accusers point to the same suspect, and that suspect is indeed the murderer, the game ends.
Would You Rather
Would You Rather is a lighthearted game of choices and decision-making. Have all players arrange themselves in a circle and then choose someone to begin the game. That person must say a “Would you rather…?” prompt, asking a question with two options or scenarios. The person they ask has to pick one of the two choices. From there, you can continue playing until you have exhausted your questions. “Would you rather be an only child or have 12 siblings?” “Would you rather never play a video game again, or never use your favorite app again?” “Would you rather wear winter clothes or summer clothes all year long?” “Would you rather meet Lady Gaga or Taylor Swift?”
Balloon Blow
Balloon Blow challenges players to make balloons fly by blowing them. Start by dividing all the players into pairs and giving each pair a balloon. From there, the goal of the game is simple: keep the balloon in the air as long as possible by blowing on it. The pair whose balloon stays up in the air longest wins the game! This game is best played with at least 6 players (or 3 pairs). Remember to only blow on the balloon—no head butts, wrist bumps, or anything else—as you play.
Medusa
Medusa is a fast-paced game of chance to play with a large group. Have every player stand in a circle, arms around each others’ shoulders with their heads lowered. Then, on the count of three (or whatever number you agree on), everyone must look up at one another. If two players make eye contact, they have to scream and drop “dead,” and the last pair standing wins the game. Try playing this game with at least 10 players or more if possible.
Never Have I Ever
Reveal your craziest stories while playing a game of Never Have I Ever. This is best played by teens that know each other and are comfortable sharing a few secrets! First, give everyone a few pieces of candy and pick a player to go first. That player must say a phrase beginning with “Never have I ever…” and ending with something they’ve never done. If another player has done it, they must eat a piece of candy. “Never have I ever been out of the country.” “Never have I ever seen an R-rated movie.” “Never have I ever done something super embarrassing in the middle of class.” If you want to play for winners and losers, you could say the first person to eat their candy loses (or, conversely, the first person to eat their candy wins).
Sleeping Beauty
Players must try to make each other laugh in Sleeping Beauty. To play Sleeping Beauty, have a single person in the group of players lie down and close their eyes, pretending to be asleep. Then, it’s everyone else in the group’s job to make funny sounds and say goofy things to try and get them to laugh, all without touching them. As soon as “Sleeping Beauty” laughs, reset the game, and pick someone else to be Sleeping Beauty.
Speed Stacker
Speed Stacker challenges players to stack as many cups as they can. Begin Speed Stacker by arranging 50 or more plastic cups on a table and stationing every player around it. Then, each player gets 1 minute to try and stack as many cups as they can, all playing simultaneously, and whoever can stack the most cups wins the game.
Singing Bingo
Singing Bingo lets you listen to your favorite songs as you play. Start by creating a Bingo card (much like the classic game), where every space has a word that is commonly used in songs. All players must then listen to music on the radio; if they hear a song that uses a word on their Bingo card, they can mark off that space. The first person to declare “Bingo!” wins. Commonly overused words in songs include terms like “Oh,” “Babe,” or “Love.” Alternatively, make a set of flashcards with overused words to match your Bingo cards. Have players take turns picking cards and singing a lyric that incorporates whatever word is on the card!
Makeup Artist
Makeup Artist lets you test your makeover skills blindly on friends. Break all the players into two teams and choose a “makeup artist” for each team, blindfolding that person. Then, choose a player to serve as the makeup artist’s client. The makeup artist must try to apply makeup to their client while all the other team members try to guide them from the sidelines! Once both makeup artists are done (or, if you chose to time them, once time runs out) decide who did the better job and declare that team the winner.
Baby in the Air
Baby in the Air lets players toss water balloons—and get soaked! Fill at least 10 water balloons with water and have players stand in a circle, with one player in the middle. Then, assign each person a number. The person in the center must call out a number at random, throw a water balloon, and the person whose number was called must try to catch it. Anyone who drops the balloon is out. For example, if your assigned number was 8 and the person in the middle of the group yelled, “Baby in the air, I call number 8,” you’d have to run forward to try and catch the water balloon. At least 8 (or more) players are ideal when playing Baby in the Air. Play this game outdoors if you can; popped water balloons can get messy.
Scavenger Hunt
The goal of a scavenger hunt is to track down a list of items the fastest. First, create a wild and imaginative scavenger hunt list full of things for players to track down. Scout out the area for the scavenger hunt ahead of time to make your list and ensure everything your players will need is there. Then, hand out the lists and let the hunt begin! The first person (or team) to find and take pictures of everything wins the game. Items on a scavenger hunt list tend to vary by the location the hunt is held in. For example, if you have a scavenger hunt in a mall, you might ask players to find things like “the most expensive shoes in Macy’s” or “meat lovers’ pizza at the food court.” You could also create an Instagram hashtag (like #ValleyMallScavengerHunt or #AlexBDayHunt) for all the participants to use as they post their scavenger hunt photos.
Balloon War
Balloon Wars lets players duke it out by popping each other’s balloons. Blow up enough balloons for every player to get 3, and have them write their name on those 3 balloons. Then, each player must try to pop one another’s balloons however they can, using an object no sharper than a crayon. Each balloon symbolizes a “life,” and the last person standing with a balloon wins the game. Balloon War is a game of strategy! You can’t hide any of your balloons (they have to be on your person no matter what), but you can hide with them.
Emoji Pictionary
Emoji Pictionary challenges players to tell a story with emojis only. In essence, this is Pictionary with emojis instead of pencils and paper! Split into teams; when it’s your turn to “draw,” think of a book, movie, or TV show and try to spell it out with a string of emojis while your team guesses what it is. If they guess correctly, you get a point—and the team with the most points wins. If you have a Pictionary board game on hand, you can also use that for emoji prompts. Avoid prompts that can be depicted with 1 emoji, as those are too obvious; for example, a secret word like “banana” would be easy to guess.
The Caller
Find “the caller” in this fun (and creepy) version of Hide and Seek. First and foremost, make sure you’re playing this game at night! Start by turning off all the lights in the house or building, or begin the game in an unlit outdoor area. One person (The Caller) must hide while everyone else tries to find them. The Caller can call players to hint at their location but must keep moving around to evade them simultaneously. Once somebody finally finds The Caller, the game ends! This is a great party game to play inside or outside, so long as you play it at night for that exciting, mysterious, and slightly creepy vibe.
Mummify Me
Mummify Me lets you turn a friend into a homemade mummy. Begin the game by splitting into groups of 3. Each group gets a few rolls of toilet paper and must choose a teammate to be the “mummy.” Then, at the same time, the competing groups must try to wrap their teammates in toilet paper from head to toe, and the first team to finish their mummy wins. If you want to change the game, teams could win based on creativity rather than timing. For example, if one team made a decorative toilet paper bow or colored the paper with a marker, they could win points for originality.
Guess the Tune
Listen to music and find out who knows the lyrics best in Guess the Tune. Make a playlist or burn a CD with some popular songs that most of your players will likely recognize. To begin, play either the first few seconds, the last few seconds, or a brief snippet from the middle of the song. Then, let players try to guess the song title and sing a few lines from it. The player with the most correct guesses wins. When players are trying to guess the song, ensure they make their guesses one at a time. The person to raise their hand the fastest gets the first try, and if they don’t get it, someone else can choose to make a guess.
I Am
Test your acting skills against friends in a game of I Am. Take turns impersonating someone everyone in the group of players knows, whether it’s a celebrity, a character in pop culture, a parent, a teacher, or even someone else in the room. Let other players try to guess who it is while you do an impersonation of them. The player with the most correct guesses wins! Since this is a game of acting skills, you could also give away a prize to the person who does the best (or funniest) impression.
Sock Wrestling
See how fast you can remove socks with no hands in Sock Wrestling. This game can be played with 2 players at a time; they must begin by lying on the floor near one another, wearing socks (but no shoes or other footwear). Then, at the same time, they must try to maneuver both socks off of their feet without using their hands at all. The player who does it the fastest wins the game! If the game starts to get old after a while, you could amp it up by changing the rules and having players race to put on socks using just their feet instead.
Clue
Clue is a mystery game where players must try to find a murderer. On your turn, roll dice to move around the board. When you enter a room on the board, you can ask a question (guessing the murderer, weapon, and room) and get a clue from a fellow player. To win the Clue board game, you need to discover 3 details of a murder plot: who did it, the weapon they used, and the room it took place in. You’ll play as one of the 6 possible suspects, exploring the mansion of the murder victim—Mr. Boddy—to collect evidence. Once you gather enough clues to solve the case, make an accusation and win the game. If you and your friends are in the mood for a classic “whodunnit,” then play a game of Clue and whet your mystery-solving appetite! Ensure you have a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 6 players for your game of Clue.
Uno Attack
Uno is a fast-paced game that lets you sabotage friends as you play. In the classic card game, players start with a hand of 7 cards and must take turns trying to empty their hand by matching a card in their hand to the top of the discard pile according to number or color. Players with 1 card remaining must immediately yell “Uno,” and the first player to get rid of all their cards wins. Uno Attack also adds a card machine that spits cards if you can’t find a match in your hand. With the addition of the Uno Attack card machine, the game becomes more exciting and challenging for everyone. Uno Attack can accommodate a minimum of 2 players and a maximum of 10 players.
Apples to Apples
Apples to Apples is a game of hilarious and clever comparisons. Each round, a judge is appointed from among the players, and they must draw a “green apple” card (which has an adjective on it). Then, the rest of the players have to play a “red apple” card (which has a noun on it), and the judge must decide which red card best matches the green. The goal of Apples to Apples is to win the most green cards before the game ends. For example, if the judge picked a green card that had, “Cute” for its adjective, and two of the red cards in your hand were “Flipper” and “Milk Duds,” you might play the Flipper card (since dolphins are often considered cute). Play Apples to Apples with a minimum of 4 players and a maximum of 10.
Catan Board Game
Catan is a strategy game in which you can build your own civilization. Play Catan by setting up an outpost on the board. Then, on each turn, roll the dice to determine which resource cards you’ll collect (if any) and use those cards to build towns, cities, and roads. You can also offer to trade with another player for resources you need. You’ll gain victory points for building your civilization, and the first player to get 10 points wins! Catan can ordinarily be played with 2 to 4 players, but there are also expansion packs that bring the total number of potential players to 6. EXPERT TIP Ashton Wu Ashton Wu Board Game Expert Ashton Wu is a Board Game expert at Shelfside. After delving into the Yugioh tournament community while growing up, Ashton launched himself into the board gaming community in 2014 and went into reviewing board games as a career full-time in 2019. His YouTube channel Shelfside has over 35K subscribers and over 4 million views, assisted by written reviews on the Shelfside website and BoardGameGeek.com. He also consults with gaming companies to build high-quality gaming products. Ashton is a tournament commentator, board game playthrough director, and host of the Shelfside Podcast, where he talks about board games with his business partner, Daniel. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in addition to the Technology Management Certificate. Ashton Wu Ashton Wu Board Game Expert Master your initial placement in Catan. Settle near high probability number tiles (5-8) and prioritize diverse resources around your settlements. This increases your options and sets you up for beneficial trades with fellow settlers. Building a strong foundation with immediate resource income is a magical strategy for conquering Catan!
5 Second Rule
5 Second Rule tests players to see how well they think on their feet. The rules of this game are simple: players must take turns drawing a card with a topic on it, and they’ll get 5 seconds to think of 3 things related to that topic and say them out loud. Since your time is so limited, most players end up blurting out the first thing they think of—which can make for some pretty surprising and hilarious results. You’ll need at least 3 players to play the 5 Second Rule game.
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