Eleven games adults can play at a party without a board, an app or much setup. Most need nothing but the people in the room; a few need paper and pens. Each game below lists how many players it suits, what you need and how a round works. The questions above are grouped by the game they fit.
Before the first game
Agree on two things out loud. Anyone can pass on any question or turn, and no one names a person who isn’t there. Keep phones out of the games: no reading messages aloud, no posting answers. If people are drinking, drinks are never a rule or a penalty.
The games
Most likely to
Players: 4 to 20. You need: nothing.
Read a “Who here…” question, count to three, and everyone points at one person. Whoever gets the most fingers can tell a short story about why, or just take the vote and pass. There’s a longer list on the most likely to questions page.
Hot seat
Players: 4 to 10. You need: a phone timer, used only as a timer.
One player sits in the hot seat for two minutes. Everyone else takes turns asking questions, from the list above or their own. The player answers in a sentence or says “pass” and the next person asks. Then the seat moves on. See the hot seat questions for more.
Would you rather walk
Players: 6 to 30. You need: room to move.
Read a choice and point to one side of the room for each option. Everyone walks to their side. Ask one person from each side to argue their case in a sentence, and let anyone switch sides. It works well early in the night, before people have sat down. More choices are on the would you rather and this or that pages.
Defend your answer
Players: 4 to 12. You need: nothing.
One player reads a question from the debate list above and answers it in a sentence. The player to their left argues the other side for 30 seconds, even if they secretly agree. The first player gets 30 seconds to reply. Then the room votes with a show of hands on who made the better case, and the winner reads the next question. Keep it to opinions about things, not about people in the room.
Guess who wrote it
Players: 5 to 15. You need: small cards, pens and a bowl.
The host reads one question. Everyone writes a short answer without signing it and folds it into the bowl. The host reads the answers one at a time and the group guesses who wrote each. Blank cards are allowed, and anything a writer doesn’t want read aloud stays in the bowl. This is a good game for a room of people who don’t know each other well.
Two truths and a lie
Players: 4 to 12. You need: nothing.
Each player says three short statements about themselves: two true, one made up. Everyone else votes on which one is the lie, then the player reveals it. Small, specific truths (“I once rode a camel in Ohio”) make better rounds than big confessions. The two truths and a lie page has more on how to build a good set.
Celebrity
Players: 6 to 20, in two teams. You need: slips of paper, pens and a bowl.
Each player writes three to five well-known names, real or fictional, on separate slips. Teams take turns sending one player to draw slips for one minute while their own team guesses. Play three rounds with the same slips:
- Describe the name in as many words as you like, without saying it.
- Use exactly one word.
- Act it out without speaking.
Count the names each team guesses in each round. By round three everyone knows the slips, which is where the laughs come from. You’ll also hear it called salad bowl or fishbowl.
Charades
Players: 4 or more, in two teams. You need: slips with movie, book or song titles.
A player draws a title and acts it out without words while their team guesses within a minute. Agree on signals before you start: fingers for the number of words, a tug of the ear for “sounds like.”
Who am I?
Players: 4 to 12. You need: sticky notes and a pen.
Each player writes a famous name on a sticky note and puts it on the forehead of the person to their left, without showing them. In turn, players ask the group yes or no questions to work out who they are. It plays like 20 questions with everyone guessing at once.
Paranoia
Players: 5 to 12, in a circle. You need: a coin.
Whisper a “Who here…” question to the person on your left. They answer out loud with a name only. The person named can flip the coin: heads, the question is told to the group; tails, it stays secret. Whisper only questions you’d be happy for the named person to hear. The paranoia questions page has a list built for this.
Mafia
Players: 7 to 15, plus one person to run it. You need: a deck of cards for secret roles.
Deal roles face down: two mafia (three for bigger groups), one doctor, one detective and the rest townspeople. Each night, everyone closes their eyes. The moderator wakes the mafia to point at a target, then the doctor to pick someone to protect, then the detective to point at one player and get a silent thumbs up or down. Each day, the moderator says who was “out” overnight, unless the doctor saved them, and the group argues and votes one player out. The town wins if it removes all the mafia; the mafia win when they equal the number of townspeople. A game takes 20 to 40 minutes. Some groups know it as Werewolf.
Picking a game
- Big or mixed group: most likely to, the would you rather walk, celebrity or mafia.
- Friends who know each other well: hot seat, two truths and a lie, defend your answer or paranoia.
- Guests who have just met: guess who wrote it, charades or who am I?
If you’d rather get people talking than playing, the party questions are written for mingling. For more question games, try never have I ever or truth or dare.