3 Fun Group Games

next
Breaking down the Performance of Pampers Pure Diapers

It’s the season for get togethers, whether with friends or family, and group games are one of my favorite parts! I know some people aren’t big game people (I’m looking at you Justin!), but these are a few tried and true games that I’ve played at get togethers that usually lead to laughter and fun for everyone.

  1. Telephone Pictionary. There is no talking in this game. Everyone will be doing the same thing at the same time. Each person gets a stack of paper equal to the number of players in the game. For example, if there are 10 players, give each person 10 pieces of paper (flashcard size is good!). Start by asking each player to write down a phrase on the top sheet of paper within 30 seconds. If you are doing a holiday theme, it can be holiday phrases like “Dashing through the snow” or “Christmas cookies”. If it isn’t themed it can be anything that another person is able to draw. After 30 seconds has passed, tell each player to pass their entire stack of papers, with their phrase still written on top, to the left. The player to the left will read the phrase, then place it on the bottom of the stack, face up. The player is then supposed to draw whatever the phrase is in 30 seconds. When 30 seconds are up, the players will pass their entire stack of papers to the left, with the picture they just drew on top. The next player looks at the drawing, places it at the bottom of the stack of papers, and writes the phrase they think they were drawing. This process of drawing & writing repeats until the stack of papers gets back in the original players hands (so for 10 players, the stack would go to each player until it’s back to player 1. Then each player goes through the stack to see if the images + phrases match or if it got way off track somewhere down the line. This usually leads to lots of laughter because inevitably someone will misunderstand something about a drawing or a phrase and completely derail the original theme!
  2. Reverse Charades. Typically charades is played in a group of at least 6 people and one person acts out a phrase from a sheet of paper that other players submitted. In reverse charades, the group is split into 2 teams and the entire team less one person acts out the phrase. For example, if there are 12 people playing, there would be two groups of 6 players. Begin by collecting 14-20 phrases for people to act out. When it’s time to play, group 1 will send 5 people up to act out the phrase, leaving one team member behind to guess. Each group takes turns until the winner is determined by number of successful guesses!
  3. Killer. This is best played with a large group. One person will need to run the game so he/she will not be participating. In this game everyone sits in a circle. The person running the game tells everyone to close their eyes and walks around the circle a few times and selects a “killer” by tapping a player on the head. This person knows they are the killer but no one else should know. The game is played by everyone looking around at everyone else in the eye without saying a word. The killer, who is still anonymous, will “kill” by winking at players and if you get winked at you have to make an obvious display of your death. The goal of the game is to guess the killer before you get killed! If you think you know who the killer is you raise your hand to pause the game in order to say your guess aloud. If you are wrong you are still in, if you are right, the game is over and the winner gets to choose the next killer!This game usually goes by quickly and is a great way to kill time in the airport if your flight is delayed (pun intended!).

Of these 3 group games, Telephone Pictionary is my favorite. We’ve played it every single year at our Christmas party with our friends. It always ends with lots of laughter and completely skewed phrases or drawings by the end of the game!

Do you have any fun games you play during holiday get togethers? 

comments

Leave a Reply to Christine Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Greta says · 11.18.18

Bowls is a fun game. It’s described here. (http://www.greatgroupgames.com/fishbowl.htm) I’ve played it with rounds 2 and 3 switched (so first round is like catch phrase, 2nd is charades, and 3rd round you can only say 1 word).

Reply
Chelsea says · 11.18.18

There is actually a board game you can buy called Telestrations, which is essentially the same as Telephone Pictionary. It has a stack of cards with phrases on them and wipe clean notepads to use and pass! So much fun!

Reply
Connie says · 11.18.18

We love occupations. It’s easy for young and old.

Reply
Carrie says · 11.18.18

Killer: The killer can be selected by using a deck of cards. Whoever gets the ace of spades is the killer, then everyone can play!

Reply
Kate says · 11.18.18

oh good idea!

Reply
Megan says · 11.20.18

Yes! We played this game in high school but we called it mafia. We used a deck of cards. Ace was the killer, Jack was the runner of the game, King was the nights watch, and number cards (however many more people you have playing) are the townspeople. The runner of the game would tell everyone to go to sleep (every closes their eyes), runner of the game tells the killer to wake up, killer opens their eyes and then points to the person they want to “kill”. Runner of the game tells the killer to go to sleep and then tells the nights watch to wake up. The person that got the king opens their eyes and points at one person, trying to guess if they’re the killer. The runner will nod if they are correct. The runner then tells everyone to wake up and informs the person that was killed that round. Now everyone has to theorize who the killer is. The objective is to vote the killer out before all the townspeople are dead. You sling accusations and everyone votes on who to vote out. If they vote out the killer, the game is over and restarts, if they vote out the wrong person, the game continues and the killer keeps on killing. The nights watch tries to convince everyone who the killer is without letting it be known they are the nights watch. If they make it known, the killer will just kill them off the next round.
Super fun and people get way into it.
If you love murder mystery parties, you’ll love this.

Reply
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog says · 11.18.18

I love charades – definitely going to try the “reverse” version of it! Sounds even more fun! And Killer is always a must in my group of friends! 🙂

Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com

Reply
Kristin says · 11.19.18

A person here called this game “Bowls” , but I’ve not heard that before. We do all famous people and three rounds – catch phrase style, charades or acting like the person and you can speak, and then finally just one word clues. Super fun.

Reply
Tj says · 11.19.18

Our youth group loves to play Mafia!

Reply
Christine says · 11.20.18

This is a really fun game for a large group. It’s a like a mash-up of Catch Phrase and Charades. You start with two teams. Everyone should write down 10 words or phrases on small slips of paper and put them in a bowl.

1. The first round, one person at a time (and alternating teams) the designated person pulls out one piece of paper and describes what’s on the paper to their teammates. They cannot use the word in the description. The team gets a point for each correct answer. You have one minute. After all words/descriptions have been chosen, they all go back into the bowl.

2. The second round you pull them out and this time you have to act out the words to their teammates. No sounds or speaking. Same process and rules apply – all slips of paper go back into the bowl at the end of the round and count up your points.

3. The third round each person can only say one word to describe what’s on the paper. Same rules apply – one minute and a point for each correct answer. Add up points from all rounds and declare a team the winner!

Reply
Shareen Amershi says · 11.20.18

#1 is an actual game called Telestrations – it’s SO fun!

Reply