Party games are

game A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art ...

s that are played at social gatherings to facilitate interaction and provide

entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but it is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have deve ...

and

recreation Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for happiness, enjoyment, amusement, ...

. Categories include (explicit)

icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

parlour A parlour (or parlor) is a reception room or public space. In medieval Christian Europe, the "outer parlour" was the room where the monks or nuns conducted business with those outside the monastery and the "inner parlour" was used for necessar ...

(indoor), picnic (outdoor), and large group games.Frankel, Lillian; Frankel, Godfrey; and Anderson, Doug (2007). ''Party Games for Adults'', p.7. Sterling. .Sheila Anne Barry (1987). ''The World's Best Party Games'', p.3. Sterling. . Other types include pairing off (partnered) games, and parlour races. Different games will generate different atmospheres so the party game may merely be intended as an icebreakers, or the sole purpose for or structure of the party. As such, party games aim to include players of various skill levels and player-elimination is rare. Party games are intended to be played socially, and are designed to be easy for new players to learn.McGonigal, Jane (2011). ''Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World'', unpaginated. Penguin. .

Characteristics

The characteristics of party games tend to include: * A game can support a relatively large or undefined number of players, compared to more traditional

board game A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the ...

s or

card game A card game is any game that uses playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, whether the cards are of a traditional design or specifically created for the game (proprietary). Countless card games exist, including famil ...

s that require a small, set number of players. Some games, especially commercial games, have a set limit based on available equipment; others are limited by other mechanics of the game like time for each turn, while still others have no practical limit, like Appyshot App. * Team-based play in party games is common, but not required. Games that divide players into two, three, or four roughly equal teams, such as ''

Cranium The skull, or cranium, is typically a bony enclosure around the brain of a vertebrate. In some fish, and amphibians, the skull is of cartilage. The skull is at the head end of the vertebrate. In the human, the skull comprises two prominent ...

'',

Charades Charades (, ). is a parlor game, parlor or party game, party word game, word guessing game. Originally, the game was a dramatic form of literary charades: a single person would act out each syllable of a word or phrase in order, followed by the wh ...

or ''

Pictionary ''Pictionary'' (, , ) is a charades-inspired word-guessing game invented by Robert Angel with graphic design by Gary Everson and first published in 1985 by Angel Games Inc. Angel Games licensed Pictionary to Western Publishing. Hasbro purch ...

'' tend to allow for larger total numbers of players. By contrast, other games such as

Werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshifting, shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a Shapeshifting, therianthropic Hybrid beasts in folklore, hybrid wol ...

and '' How to Host a Murder'' are role-based, with each player being given a character or other role to play in the course of the game. The number of players is limited to the number of roles, but in many such games there are "generic" roles allowing for a high degree of flexibility. * Cooperation and interaction between players is encouraged. Both team and role-based play generally encourage this social aspect to the game; games that do not encourage this interaction generally make poor party games. * Multiple ways to play and contribute. For example, in ''

Fictionary Fictionary, also known as the Dictionary Game or simply Dictionary, is a word game in which players guess the definition of an obscure word. Each round consists of one player selecting and announcing a word from the dictionary, and other players c ...

'' not everyone needs to create plausible dictionary definitions; humorous submissions are welcome. In Charades, players can actively participate in guessing without taking a turn at acting. Sports often make poor party games as limitations in a player's physical abilities may preclude participation though some party games, such as: relay racing and Red light/Green light, involve a significant physical aspect and are especially suitable for groups similar in age and ability. * Players participate in gameplay frequently, sometimes on an impromptu basis. Games in which each player has their own independent turn generally make poor party games, especially if a turn takes a long time. * A game should also have entertainment value for spectators. Many party games involve at least some level of humor, whether inherent in the game or introduced by players. In this way, players not taking a turn can still enjoy the gameplay, whilst

party favors A party favor is a small gift given to the guests at a party as a gesture of thanks for their attendance, a memento of the occasion, or simply for fun. History While the term "party favor" is modern, the practice dates back to the classical ...

can embellish the party atmosphere. * Player elimination is rare. ''

Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...

'' makes a poor party game, because bankrupt players must sit out while the remaining players continue to the game's conclusion, which can take several hours. In contrast, no matter how far behind a team is in ''

'', all players can participate until the end. * The amount of specialized equipment needed is not dependent on the number of players. Games such as Liar's Dice make poor party games because each player needs a cup and five dice to start the game. By contrast, ''

Yahtzee Yahtzee is a dice game made by Milton Bradley (a company that has since been acquired and assimilated by Hasbro). It was first marketed under the name of Yahtzee by game entrepreneur Edwin S. Lowe in 1956. The game is a development of earlie ...

'' needs only one cup and set of dice regardless of the number of players (the basic Yahtzee game does have other practical limitations). * The game usually does not involve spending real money as a prerequisite or consequence of playing. Games that require each player to purchase consumable items or specialized equipment are usually poor party games. Casino games are a notable exception. Examples include "casino nights" with a token door charge or buy-in for charity or to defray costs and poker tournaments with a similar small buy-in.

Common party games

Musical chairs Lawn Jam Our Community Place Harrisonburg VA June 2008

1000 Blank White Cards 1000 Blank White Cards is a party card game played with cards in which the deck is created as part of the game. Though it has been played by adults in organized groups worldwide, 1000 Blank White Cards is also described as well-suited for child ...

* 30 Seconds *

Apples to Apples ''Apples to Apples'' is a card-based party game originally published by Out of the Box Publishing Inc., and now by Mattel. Players start with a hand of seven "red apple" cards, which feature nouns. A player is selected to be the first judge, an ...

* Articulate *

Balderdash ''Balderdash'' is a board game variant of a classic parlour game known as Fictionary or the Dictionary Game. It was created by Laura Robinson and Paul Toyne of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The game was first released in 1984 by the Canada Games ...

Bat a rat Splat the rat, also known as bat the rat, is a simple variant on a bat and ball game that can be played at parties or fêtes. An open-ended metal or plastic tube or section of drainpipe is mounted on a board so that it is almost vertical. A r ...

Beer pong Beer pong, also known as Beirut, is a drinking game in which players throw a ping pong ball across a table with the intent of landing the ball in a cup of beer on the other end. The game typically consists of opposing teams of two or more player ...

Bingo Bingo or B-I-N-G-O may refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * Bingo, a game using a printed card of numbers ** Bingo (British version), a game using a printed card of 15 numbers on three lines; most commonly played in the UK and Ireland ** B ...

Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), better known as Sandro Botticelli ( ; ) or simply known as Botticelli, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 1 ...

* Buck buck *

Cards Against Humanity ''Cards Against Humanity'' is an adult card-based party game in which players complete fill-in-the-blank statements, using words or phrases typically deemed offensive, risqué, or politically incorrect, printed on playing cards. It has been co ...

Catch Phrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

Celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...

Chinese whispers Telephone (American English and Canadian English), or Chinese whispers (some Commonwealth English), is an internationally popular children's game in which messages are whispered from person to person and then the original and final messages are ...

Consequences Consequence may refer to: Philosophy, science and social sciences * Logical consequence, also known as a ''consequence relation'', or ''entailment'' * Consequent, in logic, the second half of a hypothetical proposition or consequences * Consequent ...

* Couch of power *

* Dixit *

Drinking games Drinking games are games which involve the consumption of alcoholic beverages and often enduring the subsequent intoxication resulting from them. Evidence of the existence of drinking games dates back to antiquity. Drinking games have been banne ...

(related to the commercial

) * Game For Fame * Gift Trap *

Mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...

(also known as Vampire or Werewolf) *

Murder mystery game A murder mystery game is a type of party game in which players investigate and solve fictitious murders. In many variations, a player secretly plays as a murderer while the others attempt to determine the murderer's identity. These games typica ...

s * Musical statues * Nerf War *

Never have I ever "Never have I ever", also known as "I've never.." or "ten fingers", is a drinking game in which players take turns asking other players about things they have not done. Other players who have done this thing respond by taking a drink. A versi ...

* Outburst (game) *

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man "Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man", "Pat-a-Cake", "Patty-cake" or "Pattycake" is an English nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 6486. Verse :Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man. :Bake me a cake as fast as you can :Pat ...

* Post Office (game) * The priest of the parish *

Psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

* The Resistance *

Scattergories ''Scattergories'' is a creative-thinking category-based party game originally published by Milton Bradley in 1988. The objective of the 2-to-6-player game is to score points by uniquely naming objects, people, actions, and so forth within a set ...

Scissors Scissors are hand-operated shearing tools. A pair of scissors consists of a pair of blades pivoted so that the sharpened edges slide against each other when the handles (bows) opposite to the pivot are closed. Scissors are used for cutting var ...

* Scruples *

Seven minutes in heaven Seven minutes in heaven (or seven minutes in the closet) is a kissing party game mostly played at teenage parties. The game may also be played with a different duration. Game Two people are selected to go into a closet or other dark enclosed space ...

* Shout about movies *

Spin the bottle Spin the bottle is a kissing game, kissing party game stereotypically played by teenagers. The game was very popular among teenagers during the second half of the 20th century because it fostered "sexual" interactions between boys and girls. It ...

* Squeak piggy squeak *

Strip game Strip games or stripping games are games which have clothing removal as a gameplay element or mechanic. Classification There are two broad categories of these games: the first are sexualized, and getting other people to remove their clothes ...

s *

Taboo A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

* Time's Up! (game) * Treasure Hunt * Trip to Jerusalem *

Trivial Pursuit ''Trivial Pursuit'' is a board game in which winning is determined by a player's ability to answer trivia and popular culture questions. Players move their pieces around a board, the squares they land on determining the subject of a question the ...

Truth or Dare Truth or dare? is a mostly verbal party game requiring two or more players. Players are given the choice between answering a question truthfully, or performing a "dare". The game is particularly popular among adolescents and children, and is so ...

? and related games such as " Strip or Dare?" and "Drink or Dare?" * Twenty questions * Utter Nonsense! * What? * White elephant gift exchange * Would you rather * Zip and bong *

Zip Zap Zop Zip, sometimes known as zip zap boing or zip zap zop, is a game often used as a theatre preparation exercise and sometimes as an elimination game. The game structure is folkloric Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular ...

Zoom Schwartz Profigliano Zoom Schwartz Profigliano, also known as figliano, is a verbal " tag" drinking game with many variations. One player at a time is active ("it"). The active player states a command from a predefined set of words, which typically include "zoom," "s ...

Children's party games

Traditional children's party games include: * Blind man's bluff *

Duck, duck, goose Duck, duck, goose (also called duck, duck, gray duck or Daisy in the dell) is a traditional children's game often first learned in preschool or kindergarten. The game may be later adapted on the playground for early elementary students. The obj ...

Forty forty Forty Forty (also known as 123 Home, Forty Forty In, Mob Mob, Mob and other names) is a children's game combining elements of the games Tag (game), "It" and Hide and seek. One player is "on", or "It", and they must capture the other players by 'sp ...

Hide and seek Hide and seek may refer to: * Hide-and-seek, a children's game Film * ''Hide and Seek'' (1932 cartoon), a Fleischer Studios Talkartoon animated short * ''Hide and Seek'' (1963 film), a Swedish comedy film * ''Hide and Seek'' (1964 film), a ...

Hunt the thimble Hunt the thimble (also known as hide the thimble or hide the handkerchief in both the US and the UK) is a party game in which one person hides a thimble, or other small object, somewhere in the room, while all other players wait outside. (In some ...

(or slipper, or other object) * Mother May I? *

Musical chairs Musical chairs, also known as Trip to Jerusalem, is a game of elimination involving players, chairs, and music. It is a staple of many parties worldwide. Gameplay A set of chairs is arranged in a circle with one fewer chair than the numbe ...

* Musical statues *

Oranges and Lemons "Oranges and Lemons" is a traditional English nursery rhyme, folksong, and singing game which refers to the bells of several churches, all within or close to the City of London. It is listed in the Roud Folk Song Index as No 13190. The earliest ...

* Pass the parcel * Pin the tail on the donkey *

Piñata A piñata (, ) is a container, often made of papier-mâché, pottery, or cloth, that is decorated, filled with candy, and then broken as part of a celebration. Piñatas are commonly associated with Mexico. The idea of breaking a container fill ...

* Poor pussy *

Rock paper scissors Rock, Paper, Scissors (also known by #Names, several other names and word orders) is an Intransitive game, intransitive hand game, usually played between two people, in which each player simultaneously forms one of three shapes with an outstret ...

Sardines Sardine and pilchard are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring suborder Clupeoidei. The term "sardine" was first used in English during the early 15th century; a somewhat dubious etymology says it come ...

* Sleeping lions *

The Farmer in the Dell "The Farmer in the Dell" is a singing game, nursery rhyme, folksong, and children's song. It probably originated in Germany and was brought to America by immigrants.I. Opie and P. Opie, ''The Singing Game'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985) ...

Twister Twister most commonly refers to a tornado. Twister or Twisters may also refer to: Aviation * Pipistrel Twister, a Slovenian ultralight trike * Silence Twister, a German homebuilt aircraft design * Wings of Change Twister, an Austrian paragli ...

Wink murder Wink murder is a party game or parlour game in which a secretly selected player is able to "kill" others by winking at them, while the surviving players try to identify the killer. The game is also variously known as murder wink, killer, murder i ...

Video games

Party video games are commonly designed as a collection of simple

minigames A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements and is often smaller or more simplistic than th ...

, designed to be intuitive and easy to control, and allow for competition between many players. Some games are played on simulated game boards, like the ''

Itadaki Street is a party video game series originally created by ''Dragon Quest'' designer Yuji Horii. It is currently owned by Square Enix. The first game was released in Japan on Nintendo's Famicom console in 1991. Since then, new installments in the serie ...

'' series, ''

Mario Party is a series of party video games created by Hudson Soft and owned by Nintendo. It features List of Mario franchise characters, characters from the Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise in which up to four local players or Artificial inte ...

'' series and '' Sonic Shuffle''. ''

BYTE The byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable un ...

'' in 1981 called the

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

game ''

Olympic Decathlon ''Olympic Decathlon'' is a sports video game written by Timothy W. Smith for the TRS-80 and published in 1980 by Microsoft. In the game, the player competes in ten track and field events. The gold medalist for decathlon in the Montreal 1976 Summ ...

'' (1980) "the first true party game for

microcomputer A microcomputer is a small, relatively inexpensive computer having a central processing unit (CPU) made out of a microprocessor. The computer also includes memory and input/output (I/O) circuitry together mounted on a printed circuit board (P ...

s". Another early example is Starpath's '' Party Mix''. Modern examples include ''

Tower Unite ''Tower Unite'' is a virtual world Party video game, party game and sandbox game developed by PixelTail Games. It was first released in early access on Steam (service), Steam in April 2016 and received a full release in April 2025. The game is s ...

'' (2016), a virtual community party game played online, and ''

The Jackbox Party Pack ''The Jackbox Party Pack'' is a series of party video games developed by Jackbox Games for many different platforms on a near-annual release schedule since 2014. Each installment contains five games that are designed to be played in groups of ...

'' series which offers minigames that can be played both online and with people in the same room.

Large group games

Large group games are played by many participants and are often used as planned activities in structured environments, especially as educational activities. They are similar to party games, except that large group games are typically planned for larger numbers (perhaps even hundreds) as part of an event. Large group games can take a variety of forms and formats. Some are physical games such as Buck buck. Some are modeled on the TV

game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...

format, offering points for teams who can answer questions the fastest. Trivia-type games might have questions posed from the stage and each tabletop writing their answers to be collected and scored. Others may take on some of the qualities of Open Space environments and allow participants to wander in a less structured way. Some are modeled on TV reality shows such as ''

The Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality competition franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. ''The Amazing Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselv ...

'' or ''

Survivor Survivor(s) may refer to: * one who survives Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Survivors, characters in the 1997 KKnD series#Armies, ''KKnD'' video-game series * ''The Survivors'', or the ''New Survivors Foundation'', a fictional ...

''. Participants compete as individuals or in teams to complete challenges that move them towards victory in a competition spanning the entire party. The TV shows on which such parties are based are normally competitions involving elimination, so such events require significant planning to avoid exclusion or boredom. There are also now electronic party games such as Cards Against Humanity or Appyshot App that can be played on the phone or computer. Group

board games A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the ...

can take on the design of small groups of players, seated at tables of 4 to 6 people, who work together on a problem. There can be large numbers of people (and thus many tables). If properly designed, these scalable exercises can be used for small groups (12 to 20 people) as well as very large events (600 people or 100 tables). Generally, for these larger exercises,

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as Text (literary theory), writing, Sound, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. T ...

projectors, large screens and microphones are required for instructions and communications. A search for team building events can turn up millions of links to exercises, companies, and various offerings ranging from paintball competitions to fire walks to outdoor climbing or whitewater adventures. The impact on actual team building can vary widely - a golf outing for corporate executives does not generally accomplish much in the way of organizational improvement while a business simulation might be directly focused on linking the play of the game to issues for corporate improvement. Holiday groups use a gift exchange party game such as white elephant gift exchange for socializing and sharing gifts. New online party games, based on these holiday games, allow larger groups to gather on the internet to save travel expenses.

References