5 Fun Party Game Ideas for Adults

You're getting a group of friends together, there's always the eternal question: now what do we do? Party game ideas for adults can be hard to come by, but here's my thoughts on 5 games that will engage your friends and make them want to come back for more.

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1. Awkward Turtle

Play time - 15-30 minutes

The easiest option is picking up a pre-made game that's all ready to go. If you've played Cards Against Humanity or Taboo and loved either (or both), then Awkward Turtle is right up your ally. If you haven't played either, but enjoy word games or awkward moments followed by laughter then read on.

Materials Required

The Adult Party Game - Awkward Turtle

How to Play

The game is super simple - split into two teams of 2+ players each (4 players minimum total, we like 6 or more). Each team gets turns to guess the awkward or crude words on the cards that their teammate is giving clues for. Simple to pick up and play, enjoyed by a diverse range of ages and made specifically for groups of adults. You can pick up the game from us by clicking the link under "materials required." 

2. Sing Song Ping Pong

Play time - 20-40 minutes

If you're like me then you aren't always willing to admit it, but you watched Pitch Perfect and you loved the heck out of it. Especially the "riff off" in the empty pool where the a cappella groups are battling it out to see who's the best at improvising songs that continue off other team's lyrics. Well that's exactly what Sing Song Ping Pong is.

Materials Required

Good Imagination and or iPod/Cell Phone/Music Device

How to Play

• Decide whether you want to divide your group into teams or you want to play as individuals. Personally I find this game works great as a guys vs girls game if you have around even numbers or its a couples night. 
• To start the game pick a team to go first or you can flip a coin to decide. 
• The starting team/person can pick a song at random from their head to begin singing or I find sometimes it's easier to get the ball rolling by having that person/team use the shuffle feature on their iPod/phone/music player to jump start the game.
• The other team(s) or players can jump in at any time with a word from the current song and start singing their own song.
  • For example if you shuffled my iPod you might end up with Michael Jackson's Bilie Jean so we'd start in singing and get to

    • "She told me her name was Billie Jean, as she caused a scene
      Then every head turned with eyes that dreamed of being the one
      Who will dance on the floor in the round.."

  • ​Then the next team will jump in at at "dance" with Fall Out Boy​

    • "Dance dance, we're falling apart to half time
      Dance Dance, and these are the lives you you'd love to lead.."
       

  • And we could pop back in on "love" with Hozier's Take me to Church

    • "But I love it, command me to be well.
      Amen, amen, amen, amen.."

• And the game continues until one team or person can finish out their song. Usually I'll make a judgement call and stop the game if the song continues on and everyone else is stumped and can't jump back in even if the song isn't finished, but that's up to you to decide. At this point that team or person who was still singing is awarded a point.

• Play continues until one team or player reaches 5 or 10 points (this will depend on your group and how fast points rack up). 

3. Book Nerds

Play time - 20-30 minutes

For my fellow book lovers this is a great game for your adult party. Or if you've ever played the "Dictionary Game" then this is much like a variation on that. 

Materials Required

• Books or Book Titles (preferably popular titles for an easier game, go with obscure titles if you want to crank up the difficulty or creativity in alternate rules play). 

How to Play

• Gather together a selection of popular or well known books. Depending on your group of adults at the party it could be anything from Harry Potter to How to Win Friends and Influence People. 
• Show your group the title of one of the books you have selected. 
• Each player writes down what they think the first line of the book should be.
• Every player reads their line aloud.
• The original first line from the book is read and the closest line to the original wins the round. Decide on a point total to play to before the game depending on how many books you have available.

Alternate Play Rules - Apples to Apples style. 

• Instead of players winning the round by being closest to the original line you can play the game in "Apples to Apples" fashion. The book title is given by one player (either from your selection of books or they can pick one of their favorite books in mind) and all other players write down what they think the first line of the book should be. The player giving the book title chooses their favorite line after reading them all aloud and the player who's line it was gets a point for the round. 

4. Wink Assassin

Play time - 5-10 minutes

If you're into games of stealth, accusations and prolonged eye contact (and who isn't?) then Wink Assassin is definitely on your list for your next get together.

Materials Required

Normal Deck of Cards

How to Play

• Take one card out of the deck for each person attending your party. (I.e. If 5 people are attending, you need 5 cards). Make sure one of the cards is the Ace of Spades.
• Shuffle your small deck (in our example 5 cards) and hand them out randomly to your guests.
• Guests look at their cards - the player with the Ace of Spades is the Assassin. 
• Sit in a circle with everyone facing each other.
• The Assassin's job is to secretly wink at players. If you're winked at you are now dead. Place your card in the center of the circle. You can choose to either announce "I'm dead," to die in dramatic fashion or to simply fall over silently.
• At any time players may accuse someone of being the assassin. If that player is wrong they are now also dead and must place their card in the center. If that player is right they win.
• The Assassin wins the game if they successfuly kill (wink) everyone out of play besides themselves and one other player. 

 

5. The Kids in the Class Have a Mustache (a.k.a. Cracker)

Play time - Mixed in throughout the whole night

This last game can be considered a meta game if you're into particularly catchy designations, but the gist of it is that the game begins at the start of the party and is played the entire night. I renamed it for the sake that it was played in one of my high school science classes for an entire year and beyond. Although at the time I didn't know we were playing this game, it developed somewhat spontaneously. Read on to see why the game now has its new name. 

Materials Required

Imagination 

How to Play

• At the beginning of the night you inform all of your guests that you're playing this game. The first round you are the leader as the host of the party and must choose some action (for example - putting your finger up to your nose as a finger mustache). This can be accompanied by a phrase "The kids in the class have a mustache" or it may be done silently. 
• After a period of time (based on your choice) you will do whatever that action is (finger mustache, etc.) and the party guests need to notice and follow along by also doing that action (copying your finger mustache, etc.). The last person to respond to the action loses the round and receives a penalty (see penalties below).
• The next round can either be lead by you as the host or you can rotate leaders by allowing the loser of the previous round to lead or choosing in some other fashion. The game continues on for the entirety of the party until everyone has gone home and nobody is left to play. 

Possible Penalties

These are simply a few suggestions of penalties you can use. Your imagination can come into play again for your particular group of adults. You might change the penalties based on the theme of your adult party or the people you're playing with.

1. Kiss someone with glasses
2. The ever popular "take a shot/drink"
3. Sing a nursery rhyme
4. Act like a chicken
5. Speak only in rhyming sentences for the rest of the party. 
6. Etc. 

For more games, ice breakers, etc. check out the related articles section below.