20 fun games to play at a party

I know what came to your mind the moment you saw games to play at a party; Truth or Dare. I dare you to deny it… no! This is not part of the game! I was… see what I was talking about? Truth or dare has suffered in the hands of Nigerians, who see every party as an opportunity to get naughty. Truth or dare, then followed by maybe ‘Devil’s basket’ or ‘Never have I ever’. I shake my head for my country people.

Not every party is an avenue to see just how many pieces of clothing you can dare someone to take off, or how many of someone’s dirty secrets you can ferret out by daring them to tell the truth (really? if you knew you were this technical, why aren’t you a lawyer?). There are hundreds of entertaining games to play at a party that are just simply fun, because that is the primary purpose of a party; fun. Not revealing nakedness.

If you want nakedness, go and watch Spartacus or Game of Thrones.

Table of Content hide 1Fun games to play at a party 1.1Musical Chairs 1.2Charades 1.3Pictionary 1.4Don’t say yes 1.5Two truths and a lie 1.6Kiss Marry Kill 1.7Truth or dare 1.8Concentration 1.9Never have I ever 1.10Who am I? 1.11Murder Mystery 1.12Great minds think alike 1.13The Sticker Stalker 1.14Press conference 1.15React and act 1.16Story Starter 1.17Scrawl 1.18Jenga 1.19Hot Seat 1.20Rock, Paper, Scissors

Fun games to play at a party

Musical Chairs

Yep, we’re starting our list off with one that everybody knows and has played as children, when we didn’t even know what Truth or Dare was, or nakedness for that matter (wink-wink). The rules are simple; people dance around a circle of chairs, and once the music stops, they have to sit immediately. Only problem is, there’s one less chair than the number of dancers.

Oh, the good old days!

ALSO READ: 5 guaranteed ways to prevent Nigerian tailor disappointment

Charades

This is another one of the games to play at a party that has suffered in the hands of Nigerians, although it is a little more fun than its other counterparts. Charades is a game of pantomimes in which you have to “act out” a phrase without speaking while members of your team try to guess what the phrase is as quickly as possible. This way, if you’re one of those attracted to intelligence, you get to know the clever members of the party.

Pictionary

For those of you who failed fine arts in secondary school, here is your redemption, because this game has absolutely no need for technical drawing abilities. In fact, the worse your skill, the more hilarious the game is after people have struggled for ten minutes to guess what you drew, only to realize that what they took for a cucumber or a tuber of yam was always a skateboard. This makes it one of the fun games to play at a party.

Don’t say yes

I remember almost getting beat up by an MC once for this game, because no matter how hard he tried, I refused to say yes. Which is indeed the entire point of the game; no matter which question you’re asked, you’re not allowed to reply with yes or any variant of it. Losers can wear a sticker or a yarn necklace for the remainder of the party, and it is usually fun to see who is the most “decorated” guest at the end of the night.

ALSO READ: 5 reasons men cry at their weddings

Two truths and a lie

Two truths and a lie is another one of the games to play at a party. It can serve as an icebreaker for a party with guests that don’t know each other very well. A guest volunteers three pieces of information about themselves, with two being truths and one being a lie (it could be in any order). It is now up to the other guests to figure out which is the lie.

Kiss Marry Kill

The premise of kiss marry kill is simple; you choose three people, fictional characters, celebrities or even your friends for added fun, and then you decide among them whom you will kiss, marry or kill. Also known as KMK, it has a raunchier version known as Kiss Marry Smash, and the latter version is usually a prelude to… well, a lot of other things.

Truth or dare

Just because I took a stab at truth or dare earlier doesn’t mean it isn’t one of the fun games to play at a party; that was only because of horny youths and their tendency to make everything sexual. Truth or dare, in the right hands, can be the highlight of the party, because the only limit to the game is the guests’ creativity. And when that runs out, they can always consult the cards.

ALSO READ: 8 ways to become a slay queen

Concentration

You don’t want to be caught napping during this one, because that is what it tests, your concentration, along with the first person’s speed of thought. Someone drops a category along with the name of one of its subsets, like “names of English football clubs”, and all other participating guests have to also name football clubs in that category up until someone loses concentration.

Never have I ever

Of course, it has to be included; it is one of the games to play at a party, after all. The rule is simple; someone says “never have I ever…” along with an action, like “jumped from a moving bus” or “made out with the Mother Confessor”, and anyone who has done the action in question is penalized based on the existing rules. There are several variations, and it is a great way for guests to get to know each other really fast.

Who am I?

This is a guessing game where a guest draws or acts like a famous person whom they draw on a slip of paper, and their teammates must guess who they are pretending to be. There are many variations of this game, and one favorite is to place sticky notes on the guests’ backs. It makes for a fun and easy icebreaker.

ALSO READ: 5 tell-tale signs that she’s a runs girl

Murder Mystery

Originally a Halloween game, Murder Mystery games can actually be played at any time of the year, making them one of the fun games to play at a party. In the game, someone plays dead, and along with character descriptions, clues, scripts and more, it is up to the guests to figure out who committed the murder. A single murder mystery game might be all you need to have a whole evening of fun with your friends, and see who is the Sherlock Holmes of the group.

Great minds think alike

Great minds think alike is another one of the fun games to play at a party that involves you trying to choose what you think everybody else will choose, and the people who get the same answers get more points. Scoring is simple, and the winner can be determined quickly.

The Sticker Stalker 

This is a fun party game that challenges your guests to place as many of their stickers on other guests as possible. Colors are assigned to each person or their name on their sticker, and the guest who has been able to place the most number of stickers on other guests throughout the course of the party wins. It is a perfect avenue to showcase your ninja skills, and it is best for a party where guests are wearing casual clothes so the sticker residue is not an issue.

ALSO READ: 15 Nigerian one-hit wonders you must have forgotten

Press conference

Press conference is a unique party game that can be fun for any size group of party guests. In it, someone holds a “press conference” and proceeds to answer questions from other guests. The catch, though, is that the person holding the conference doesn’t know who they are pretending to be, but the rest of the guests do.

React and act

This is another one of the games to play at a party that sees guests acting out and reacting to different scenarios and situations, such as getting fired or married, or winning the lottery. It is a perfect icebreaker, or for a party where you want to bring guests out of their shells.

Story Starter

Story starter is another of the extremely entertaining games to play at a party that can be fun if everyone already knows each other, but can also make for a wonderful ice breaker. The game starts with the beginning of a story, and a guest has to continue the story by writing a line. And thus the story continues, moving from one person to another. The end result is always undoubtedly a hilarious masterpiece that will topple the New York Times bestsellers list.

ALSO READ: Phone addiction: 10 signs you’re addicted to your phone

Scrawl

Another drawing game like Pictionary, Scrawl starts with a phrase, like (lost in Computer Village or Oshodi under-bridge on Monday morning) and a guest starts by sketching out their doodle. Once they are done, they pass it to the next person, whose job is to figure out what it is and write the answer on the board. The third person has to sketch the answer on the board, and so the cycle goes until it reaches the first person again.

The goal of this game is to have the first and last images be similar, but in truth, the fun part is seeing the last pic be completely off from the original, so you can also keep your fine art skills at home.

Jenga

Don’t leave your architecture and bricklaying skills at home, because they are definitely going to come in handy in this game, which is one of the most fun games to play at a party. The idea is to stack blocks in rows of threes, with horizontal and vertical layers alternating each other. Now, each player has to remove a block from the stack and place it on top, and unlike the Tower of Babel, IT MUST NOT TOPPLE!

Hot Seat

Have you ever wanted to appear on a TV show? Well, this game grants you your wish, but not in the manner you expect. To play this game, you sit in “the hot seat” for a round and you have to answer questions about yourself ranging from What is my favorite song? all the way to What has the power to instantly turn me on?

This is a good game to find out which of your friends knows you best, because before you answer, the other players also have to try and guess the question. Fame does come with a catch, and you should probably not play it if you have something to hide.

Rock, Paper, Scissors

Rock, paper, scissors doesn’t sound like it should be among the fun games to play at a party, but rather for conflict resolution, such as the war between Russia and Ukraine. However, it is a fun game that can be taken tournament-style for adults so it can be played with a group of people, even as large as 30 or more.

ALSO READ: Physical fitness: Types, importance, how to improve