Fit To Burst

I would like to recommend several boxed games which you can buy and work well at parties. Believe me you will play them over and over again. My personal favourites are ‘Outburst’, ‘Articulate’, ‘Taboo’ and ‘Pictionary’.

SERIOUS WARNING!:- If you like quiet games then these games are not for you!  - ‘Pictionary’ is probably a bit more low key for most people (not our competitive lot though!) All of them are quick thinking, hilarious, hectic and extremely enjoyable. Check out the reviews – they won’t  disappoint.

Get A Notebook

If  you’re planning on having a games party it’s a good move to get a notebook to jot down ideas for games, prizes, guest list, food and drink, and any decorations you may need. Have a new page for each game and list anything you may need. Collect old newspapers if you’re going to do ‘pass the parcel’, a selection of pens for any pen & paper games you might have (there are never enough pens) and generally try to get as organized as possible. You will be grateful to yourself on the day!

The Tray Game

This is a children’s classic for birthday parties but great for all ages. Exciting, hectic and frustrating!

Put 20 common objects on a tray eg – matches, battery, badge, comb, nail varnish, tape measure, scissors, golf ball, plaster, coin etc. Cover with a cloth and bring into the room and place on a small table (or floor) in the middle of the circle of guests.

Remove the cloth and give everyone a minute to memorise the objects. After a minute is up cover the objects with the cloth and take the tray away. You will have already given all guests a pen and paper. People have got 2 minutes to write down as many objects as they can remember. The one who writes down the most correct objects is the winner.

The game can be adapted in many ways depending on the age of the guests and type of evening you are having. For younger children you can give them more time to study the objects and write them down or work in pairs with an adult and child. The objects could have a theme eg play the game at Christmas and have Christmas objects. Bear in mind with this one that it might make the guessing easier so you could limit the time to 30 -45 seconds for example. Each scenario needs to be thought about in terms of timings etc.

Team Names & Badges

It’s a good idea to put people in teams for games. What better than to come up with some topical, funny names to break the ice and make people laugh. I had a film based themed party – the team names were ‘HOLLYWOOD’, ‘BOLLYWOOD’ and ‘PINEWOOD’.

‘POPPY DOM’ was from a countries of the world themed party. Everyone was given a country in advance so that they could come in fancy dress and then the names were given out at the start of the evening as a surprise.

Types of badges can range from stick on ones with the names written on by hand or you can print out names and images on the computer and stick on card or laminate for durability. Attached a safety pin to the back and then you are good to go.

The Book Game

This game is great for the imagination! Each person has a turn to choose a book. This person gives the other players an idea of what the book is about by reading the synopsis on the cover. Each player has to then write down what they think could be the first sentence of the book. For example:- “Had it not been for James calling it might never have happened”. At the same time the person who has chosen the book writes down the correct sentence.

When all the players have written their sentences they are collected in and the person who has chosen the book gives each one a number and reads each one out. When all the sentences have been read out each player decides which is the correct one and votes for that number.

Points can be scored in 2 ways:-
A – 1 point to each player who correctly guesses the first sentence of the chosen book

B – 1 point to each player who has their sentence guessed by another player as being the correct one

Play continues until each person has had a turn.

Tips:-

·        this game works well in groups of 4 to 10

·        ask players to put their name on the top of the paper – just in case you can’t read the writing and have to ask them to clarify

·        don’t number and read them in the order they have been handed in – some people might spot this!

Cheap As Chips

The good news is that lots of games cost very little or nothing at all! The newspaper game ‘It’s All News To Me’ requires newspapers and sellotape. The ‘Umm Err Game' requires pens and scrap paper. A quiz just takes time to get together but it’s free.

If you’re having a games party it’s a good idea to think of items you might need well in advance. People often have things they no longer need which can be useful ( eg old magazines if you want to do a quiz for instance). If you do want to give prizes they needn’t be expensive. People are more pleased about winning than an actual prize!

It's All News To Me

This game is great fun and can become really competitive! The idea is for each team to build the tallest freestanding tower out of newspaper. Sellotape and scissors are supplied along with piles of newspapers. I suggest that you start collecting newspapers weeks in advance to be sure that you have enough supplies. Try to have at least 4 teams to get a collection (and hopefully) variety of towers. Put fewer people in each team if necessary.

If it’s a warm dry day this game can be played outdoors during the day or otherwise indoors if the weather is poor or at night. Suggested time to construct the tower – 20 minutes. It’s amazing how fast this time flies. The tower, once built must remain stable and upright for a given length of time eg 30 seconds, to be sure that it’s not a fluke and likely to topple over!

This game is often used as a team building exercise for companies. It is interesting to see who takes the lead, who comes up with good ideas and who is quick with rolling and sellotaping. It’s a great family game which gets everyone hot under the collar in a race against time to construct the tallest tower.

 

Have A Games Party!

The great thing about having a games party is that people mix in a fun and competitive way.  It gives your guests a focus and something to talk about, especially for the more reserved amongst us.
I have a wealth of tried and tested games ideas for you. This blog is in its infancy but please keep visiting because there is much more to come.

I’ve had so many parties and it never ceases to amaze me how much enjoyment friends get out of it. I love to make my own games up and once had a film evening which took the form of a film quiz including ‘guess the film musical’ from objects inside a box. Everyone dressed up as a film character.  Acting out a scene from a famous film was also part of it. More to come on this one ... 

 

Along with a colleague I have written several murder mysteries for adults and children. After playing quite a few of the boxed murder mystery dinner party games we were convinced we could write one ourselves. We decided to do this and at the end of the evening announced that we had written it. Everyone had been fooled so we were really pleased!

One of the main things about party games is to tailor the games to the number of guests at your party. Certain games work better in smaller and larger groups. One other thing is that you need to be aware of is that some people may need to cancel at the last minute, so try to organise your party so that you can cover such circumstances.