The party has begun. Be careful not to have your friends staring at you awkwardly. Make sure you have a variety of games for teen groups. Get covered for any situation with simple games that require nothing to those that require more in-depth knowledge. Let’s play some games and have some fun.
Easy Teen Group Party Games
The only thing you need for these games are your friends and possibly some music. It is best to play them with 10 or so people, but they may work with fewer as well. The setup isn’t complicated, but you may need a large space.
Wink Assassin
Wink Assassin is a fun and easy game to play. A moderator must be chosen before you begin. This person will choose the assassin and ensure that everyone plays fairly. Assassins will then be chosen secretly by the moderator. The first thing you’ll do is move around the room mingling and making eye contact with each other.
After that, the assassin will wink at someone. Approximately five seconds later, the person being winked at will die dramatically and leave the game.
Dramatic is better. If the person is right, they will become the new moderator and a new game will begin. You’ll have to do another round if you don’t. If the assassin is not found, the game continues.
Mimic My Moves
Music can make this game more fun, but it is not required. Everyone should stand in a circle. The person throwing the party will start by doing one dance move (twirl, tap, shimmy, etc.). Their right hand will follow with one of their own. In this way, the circle continues until someone misses a move or makes a mistake.
As a result, that person is out. As you continue, you will only be left with one person. In the first round, it’s not uncommon to lose multiple players.
Truth or Dare
One of the oldest games in the book is Truth or Dare. It is not just possible to reveal secrets through dares, but it can also be a lot of fun. There will have to be someone who starts. It is possible to choose this person or to volunteer for the position. After that, you will have someone choose truth or dare.
When you use a truth, you will ask them a truth question that they must answer. Anything from eating something weird to running barefoot outside can be considered a dare. Add a unique spin to your truth or dare game if standard truth or dare gets boring.
Snap Crackle Pop
Snap crackle pop is a game where you imitate sounds. A group of teens stands in a circle. It is the first player’s turn to make some kind of noise with their hands or mouth (chosen or volunteer). Afterwards, the next person adds to the noise (e.g. claps). As long as someone remembers the order, the game continues.
The person will then go into the center of the circle and distract the other players. Until only one person remains, the game continues. Try to go as fast as you can to make it more fun.
Secret Charades
Basically, it’s like the old-school telephone game, but with body movements. There is a long line of people waiting for you and your friends. Everyone closes their eyes and faces forward. Next, the first person in line will act out an action for five seconds before turning to the next person in line. The next person in line will mimic the first person’s actions.
The process will continue until the last person is reached. It is up to the last person to guess what the action was. They go to the front if they guess correctly. Before starting again, do a scramble and mix up the line if they guess wrong.
Materials or actions for charades can either be based on a theme, such as animals, or can be selected at random.
Would You Rather
This game will be started by the party thrower asking a question to another player. You can either create your own questions or find different questions online. It is up to the player to decide which one they would choose. A player will ask a question of another player after answering.
A round isn’t over until everyone has been asked a question. Then you will have to start over.
Unique Party Games
Would you like to play a game that is more unique than truth or dare? It took some time and thought to come up with this list of games. Additionally, they require specific materials.
Text Message Telephone
In the old-fashioned game of telephone, one person whispers a phrase down a line to the next. What about modern technology? Have you tried it? Messages can be spread quickly by groups of any size, but can they be delivered correctly?
This modern twist on a classic game is a great way to bring youth groups into the modern age without compromising wholesome fun. It is more likely that the original message will get messed up if there are more players.
What You Need
- Every player should have a cellphone
- An A4 piece of paper
- The tape
- Set the timer
How to Play
- Players should be seated in a line.
- A two- or three-sentence message is written on a piece of paper by the group leader and passed to the first person in line. Before the leader takes away the message, this person has fifteen seconds to memorize it.
- As the first player writes a text message, he or she tries to make an exact copy of what they just read.
- Following that, the first player shows the second player the message on their phone for 15 seconds, then removes it.
- Next, the second player writes a text message, copying the message they just read and showing it to the next person.
- Repeat steps three and four until the last person has read the message. The message is read aloud by this person. A comparison is then made between the group’s texts and the original message.
By changing the size of the original message or the reading time limit, you can make the game easier or more difficult.
Guess That Picture
Can you make your teammates guess an object based on close-up pictures? It’s all about guessing the picture in Guess That Picture. For large groups, this game is perfect because you can divide into smaller teams that compete to identify the same object using different pictures.
What You Need
- There should be one camera or cell phone with a built-in camera per team
- The timer
- Pencil and paper
How to Play
- Divide the group into smaller teams of at least three players. Score sheets should have each team’s name across the top in different columns.
- One person from each team should be designated as the photographer. A member of the group will take four close-up photos of an object chosen by the group leader. For each round, pick an object from a bowl if you don’t have a group leader.
- All team members must close their eyes and cover their ears while the photographer takes pictures.
- After all photographers return to their teams, the leader taps players on the shoulder to signal them to open their eyes and uncover their ears, then yells “Start.”
- It is only allowed for each photographer to show their team the first picture within the first ten seconds.
- The teams have two minutes to identify the object. Once the initial ten seconds are over, they can choose to see the second, third, and fourth pictures together. The team that guesses correctly with one picture gets five points; the team that guesses correctly with two pictures gets four points; the team that guesses correctly with three pictures gets three points; and the team that guesses correctly with all four pictures gets two points.
- Continue steps 2-6 with a different photographer each time until all team members have been photographed.
Sock Puppet Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger hunts with a twist can be a lot of fun. Each team should have a sock puppet as its mascot. Divide teens into groups of five or six. The goal is to have teams complete a scavenger hunt by finding specific objects or locations and taking pictures of their mascot with their team at each site.
What You Need
- For each team, a clean sock must be provided
- Decorations for crafts – optional
- For each team, a camera or cellphone is required
- Lists and pens for scavenger hunts
How to Play
- Allow each team the opportunity to decorate their sock mascot if they wish.
- Provide each team with a list of items or locations. During school hours, an outdoor hunt might include a playground slide, tennis net, hurdle, bleachers, home plate, handicap parking sign, classroom number on the window, yellow flower and a ball. You should aim for ten to twenty items, depending on how long it takes players to complete the task.
- Each team must take a picture of its entire team and the sock puppet with each item on the list.
- After finding all the scavenger hunt items, teams return to the group leader for verification.
- With all correct images, the first team back to the leader wins.
Directive Dice
Get your friends from one end of the room or field to the other using a pair of six-sided dice. For groups of any size, Directive Dice is a fun indoor or outdoor game. You can make the game even more fun by being creative with your directions.
What You Need
- Each team receives two standard six-sided dice
- A large, open space such as a living room, a gymnasium, or a field
How to Play
- The group should be divided into two or more teams of seven players each.
- Roll the dice for the entire game with one player from each team designated as the Roller.
- Next, you need to write or print out the types of movements corresponding to each number on a die. Here are some examples:
- Army crawl = 1
- The second step is to hop on one foot
- Piggyback one other player
- A crab walks backwards at 4
- Walk on your hands if you are 5
- Rolls forward six times
- All players except the Rollers should be lined up at one end of the room. Each team should have players numbered one through six. Some players should be assigned two numbers if there are not enough lined up players to assign all numbers from one to six.
- Both dice are rolled simultaneously by each Roller. A die on the roller’s left indicates which player from their team moves. Three seconds are indicated by the die on the right.
- Immediately following a die roll, the Roller yells out “Player Number (whatever the left die says),” followed by movement instructions, and then immediately counts to three using the one, one thousand method. When a Roller gets a one and a four, their number one player crab walks backward.
- Only the directed movement can be used by the moving player to get to the finish line in three seconds. Upon expiration of the three seconds, the moving player stops, and the Roller rolls the dice again.
- There is a finish line on the other side of the room where all members of one team have to cross to win the game.
- It is the team that gets all of its players to the finish line first that wins.
Tumbling Towers
The goal of Tumbling Towers is for teens to build the tallest tower out of random household items. For each team, you will need three or four people, but you can have as many teams as you like.
What You Need
- Each team receives one coin
- A variety of square and rectangular household items, including books and pantry items in boxes
- Space without breakables that is large and open
How to Play
- The building materials should be placed in the center of the room.
- Each team should receive a coin. Each team flips a coin for directions on “Go.”. If heads, they must place one item horizontally, and if tails, they must place one item vertically.
- The players on each team flip the coin and follow the matching instructions.
- Teams must remove the top item from their tower if two players flip tails in a row.
- When the materials run out, the team with the tallest tower wins. Tie games are resolved by replacing all building materials in the center of the room and repeating the gameplay.
Kitchen Sink Badminton
Re-imagining badminton with household items, essentially everything but the kitchen sink, is hilarious. Creating teams is similar to playing badminton, so larger groups are best.
What You Need
- Using a tape line, jump rope, or line of socks as a “net”
- To use as the ball, roll a wad of paper
- Using a frying pan, fly swatter, rolled up newspaper or wrapping paper tube as a racket, each player uses a different item.
How to Play
- Make a line down the center of your playing area and place an equal number of players on each side.
- With a hit from their racket, one player serves the paper wad across the net. If the wad doesn’t cross the net, the other team gets to serve. The other team tries to return the wad to the serving team if it crosses the net.
- Regardless of whether the wad is returned, each team gets one point for getting the wad across the net. Serves are included in this.
- It is the team with the most points at the end of the game that wins.
Fun Starts With Imagination
In any kind of group setting, from classrooms to siblings’ homes on snow days, group party games help pass the time and create bonds among teens. Take inspiration from common recreational games and create your own fun using whatever materials and space you have. Try some teenage mad libs and share them with your friends for more fun.