20 Questions
Ask questions to figure out what your friend is thinking of. To play 20 questions, one player will think of a person, place, or thing that they keep secret from the other players. Everyone else will then ask a series of 20 yes or no questions to attempt to figure out the answer. If the group can’t figure out the answer within 20 questions, the other player wins and gets to keep their role for the next round. If the group does figure it out, someone else will think of an object for the next round. This game can also be played in pairs. It also works well online or through text. Another version of 20 questions involves a pair taking turns to ask each other a series of 20 questions about themselves. This version is often used as a way to flirt with the other player, but it can be just for fun, as well.
Two Truths and a Lie
Get to know your friends better with this fun ice breaker. Gather all the players and have them sit in a circle. Come up with two truths and one lie about yourself or things you’ve done, then take turns sharing them with the group. Everyone will then try to guess which is the lie. Keep going until everyone has had a turn to share. This game can also be played online or through text. Try to come up with interesting facts about yourself. If possible, avoid basic facts like your favorite color or your favorite animal.
Never Have I Ever
Find out what exciting or scandalous things your friends have done. Never Have I Ever is a classic sleepover game. Have everyone sit in a circle and hold up all 10 fingers. The person throwing the party will start the game by saying “Never have I ever…” followed by something they’ve never done, like gone skydiving, for instance. Anyone who has gone skydiving would then put a finger down, and then the next person would ask a question. The game continues until only one person is still holding up at least one finger. If you want to add a dare element, think of a dare for everyone who has done the thing to complete. If you’re of age, make the game more fun by having people take a shot for each thing they’ve done. If you’re playing as a couple, throw in some suggestive questions to make the game more flirty.
Would You Rather?
Come up with funny scenarios to ask your friends. This game can be played in pairs or as a group, so it’s also a great option for couples. Take turns asking each other “would you rather…?” questions, like “Would you rather explore the ocean or space?” or “Would you rather never be able to eat or never be able to sleep again?” The more outlandish the questions, the funnier the game will be! For some extra fun, have everyone explain their answers. This could lead to some hilarious and heated debates! If you’re playing as a couple, feel free to make the game flirty rather than funny.
Dare and Dance
Make your friends laugh by doing silly dances. Grab a group of friends (the more the merrier), write down a bunch of silly dances (like the Robot or the Chicken Dance), and put them in a bowl. Start some music and have everyone dance. Someone will then call out the name of a player and that person will draw a dare from the bowl. After doing the silly dance, they’ll pick someone else, and the game will continue until everyone has been chosen. Each person gets one pass per game. This game is a great option for kids and teenagers, though it can be played at any age. For extra fun, set up a stage or dance floor for the person doing the dare. Turn on some colorful, flashing lights so it really feels like you’re at a dance club.
Spin-to-Dare
Play Spin the Bottle with dares instead of kissing. Spin-to-Dare is like a combination of Truth or Dare and Spin the Bottle. Gather a group of friends and have them each write down a dare and put it in a bowl. Someone will then spin the bottle and the person it lands on must draw a dare from the bowl. After performing the dare, they’ll return it to the bowl and spin the bottle so it lands on someone else. The game continues until everyone has performed at least one dare. Be sure to choose dares that are appropriate for your age range. If you don’t want to put all the dares in a bowl, have the person who spun the bottle come up with a dare for the person it lands on. EXPERT TIP Laura Bilotta Laura Bilotta Dating Coach & Matchmaker Laura Bilotta is a Dating Coach, Matchmaker, and the Founder of Single in the City, her dating and relationship coaching service based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With over 18 years of experience, she focuses on helping singles date more intentionally, encouraging them to let go of negative patterns so that they can attract the love that they deserve. Her experience, skills, and insights have led to thousands of successfully united over 65,000 singles through events and one-on-one matchmaking coaching sessions. She has been the host of The Dating and Relationship Show on Global News Radio 640 Toronto (AM640) for 6 years and is known as The Hookup Queen of Clubhouse; her popular singles club, Single in the City, has over 95.5K members who regularly join in weekly dating and relationship-focused rooms. Laura Bilotta Laura Bilotta Dating Coach & Matchmaker Establish boundaries. Before starting the game, discuss what topics are off-limits or uncomfortable for each of you. Focus on fun and playful dares rather than embarrassing or risky ones. If [someone] doesn’t want to do a dare, respect their boundaries and move on to something else.
Hot Seat
See how well you know your friends by playing Hot Seat. Write down a bunch of questions (like “What would I do with a million dollars?” or “What am I most afraid of?”) and put them in a bowl. Choose one player to be in the hot seat and have them draw a question. They’ll read it out loud and everyone will write down their answer, pretending that they’re the player in the hot seat. The player in the hot seat will then read all the answers and everyone else must guess which answer they think was submitted by the person in the hot seat. Anyone who gets it right gets a point. If you don’t want to come up with questions on your own, consider buying the Hot Seat party game.
What Are the Odds
Determine if you have to do a dare by saying a number out loud. What Are the Odds is like Truth or Dare without the truth. Take turns asking each other a question that begins with “What are the odds…” like “What are the odds you’ll prank call your crush?” Both players will then count down from 3 and say a number 1-20 out loud. If you both say the same number, you must do the dare. If you don’t, you move on to the next player.
Paranoia
Find out what your friends really think of each other with this game. To play Paranoia, have everyone sit in a circle. One person will then whisper a “who’s most likely to…” question into the next player’s ear. That person will say the name of another player out loud and flip a coin to determine whether or not they reveal the question. If it lands on heads, they have to say the question out loud, and if it lands on tails, the game moves on and the question is never revealed. Keep playing until everyone in the circle has had a chance to answer a question. For example, a question could be “Who’s most likely to end up in jail?” or “Who’s most likely to become a billionaire?” If you’re of legal drinking age, the person who answered can avoid revealing the question by taking a shot.
Spin the Bottle
Spin a bottle to see which player you have to kiss. If you’re with a group who are comfortable kissing each other, Spin the Bottle is a great party game. Have everyone sit in a circle and take turns spinning a bottle. Whoever spun the bottle must kiss whoever the bottle lands on. Keep going around the circle until everyone has had a chance to spin the bottle. If someone isn’t comfortable playing this game, don’t try to force them! Make sure no one is sick, or the other players could catch it.
Kiss, Marry, Kill
Decide which celebrities you’d kiss, marry, or kill. Kiss, Marry, Kill is a fun way to pass the time with your friends. Have someone choose three celebrities or characters. The other players will then decide who they’d kiss, who they’d marry, and who they’d kill. The more outrageous the options, the more fun the game will be! For example, have your friends choose between Shrek, Darth Vader, and Sonic the Hedgehog. It’s possible to play this game using people you know in real life, but keep in mind it could hurt someone’s feelings. It’s probably better to stick with fictional characters or people you’ll never meet. This game can be played in person or through text.
Pass the Bowl
Play an edgier version of Hot Potato. Gather some friends and have everyone write down some truth or dare questions to put in a bowl. Sit in a circle, turn on some music, and pass the bowl from player to player. When the music stops, the person holding the bowl must draw a question and answer the truth or perform the dare. Then, turn the music back on and continue passing the bowl around until it has made two rotations through the circle. Make sure you have a designated person to start and stop the music. This game adds an element of surprise to the traditional Truth or Dare.
Find the Truth
Figure out which of your friends is telling the truth. Grab some friends and some strips of paper—you’ll need one fewer strip than there are players (ex: if you have 8 players, tear 7 strips of paper). On all strips but one, write “lie,” and on the other, write “truth.” Put all the strips in a bowl and choose one player to be the guesser. Everyone else will then draw a piece of paper. If it says “lie,” they’ll tell a lie about themselves, and if it says “truth,” they’ll say something true. The guesser must then figure out which player is telling the truth. The person telling the truth will be the next person to guess. The game will continue until everyone has been the guesser.
Telephone
Whisper into your friend’s ear and see if they can understand you. Telephone is a hilarious party game best played with a lot of people. Stand in a circle and have the first player whisper something into the next person’s ear. That player will then whisper what they heard into the next player’s ear and so on until you make your way back to the beginning of the circle. The final player will then announce what they heard to the entirety of the group. Usually, what they heard is completely different from the original phrase, which is what makes the game so funny!
Make Me Laugh
Take turns trying to make your friends laugh with this game. Divide your group into two teams and decide which team will try to make the other laugh. Then, choose one player from the other team and set a timer for 2 minutes. The first team will then do everything possible to make that person laugh. If the person laughs, it will then be their team’s turn to perform. If they keep a straight face, their team earns a point. It’s up to you to decide what counts as a laugh. Generally, though, the rule is if you show your teeth, it counts as a laugh. Keep things lighthearted. Don’t do anything mean or make fun of anyone in an attempt to make the player laugh. Don’t touch anyone from the opposing team, either.
Name That Tune
Try to guess songs as quickly as possible. If you’re looking for a fun game that doesn’t require much set up, this is a fun option. Have someone play the first few seconds of a song on their phone or computer. Everyone else must try to guess the song as quickly as possible. The first person to guess correctly wins a point. This game works best if you have a set number of rounds, like 10, so it’s easy to keep up with who has the most points. Try to choose songs that most of the players will know so it’s a fair game.
The Winking Assassin
Figure out who the assassin is before it’s too late. Choose one player to be the Godfather and have everyone else close their eyes. The Godfather will then secretly tap one player on the shoulder, and this player will be the assassin. Everyone will then open their eyes again, as the assassin attempts to eliminate them one-by-one by winking at them without anyone else seeing. When someone gets winked at, they must slump over and pretend to be dead. If someone successfully catches the assassin winking, the game is over. If no one catches the assassin, the assassin wins. If someone falsely accuses someone of being the assassin, the accuser is immediately out of the game. There are many versions of this game, so you might know it by a different name like Werewolf, Mafia, or simply Assassin.
I Can Tap This Stick Just Right
Try to trick your friends with this subtle game. Grab a stick, pen, or anything else you can tap on the ground. Subtly clear your throat, tap the object in a certain pattern, and say “I can tap this stick/pen/etc. just right.” Then, pass the stick to the next person and see if they can tap the stick correctly. Here’s the trick—it doesn’t matter if they follow the pattern correctly; they also have to clear their throat before they do so. See how long you can keep the game going before everyone catches on. This game is fun because everyone will be watching the position of your fingers or how hard you tap the stick. Unless they’ve played the game before, it’ll probably take a while before they realize they have to clear their throat. When it gets down to just a few people who haven’t caught on, start clearing your throat more obviously.
Fortunately, Unfortunately
Take turns creating an outrageous story. Have someone start off with the first sentence of your story, like “There once was a skunk who wanted to be a cowboy.” The next person would then come up with a sentence that begins with the word “fortunately,” like “Fortunately, he had a cowboy hat.” The next person would create a sentence that starts with “unfortunately,” like “Unfortunately, he didn’t have a horse.” Keep alternating between sentences that start with “fortunately” and “unfortunately” until you reach a satisfying ending for your story. This game can be played in pairs or as a group. It can also work online or through text.
Jelly Bean Roulette
Try to guess the flavor of gross jelly beans. For this game, you’ll need some jelly beans that contain a mix of good and bad flavors, like Jelly Belly’s Bean Boozled. Pass the beans around and take turns eating them without looking at the flavor. Then, try to guess what the flavor is. This game is fun because you’ll get to see all the funny faces your friends make when they get a gross flavor like dog food or moldy cheese. This game is fun for those who like doing gross dares when they play games like Truth or Dare.
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