Categories
Card Games Party Games

Spoons Game

Summary: A frantic card game in which players try to be the first to get 4 of a kind.  Once one player gets 4 of a kind, everyone quickly tries to grab a spoon from the center! The last person to realize what happened loses the round.

Ages: All.  Recommended # of people: 6-12.  Messiness factor: Not too messy.  Materials required:  A standard deck of 52 playing cards, and spoons (the total number of players minus one).  Recommended Setting: Indoors.

Categories
Party Games Stationary Games

Categories (a.k.a. Scattegories)

Summary: A quick thinking game of brainstorming unique items within categories!

Ages: All. Recommended # of People: Small groups of 5-10. Messiness Factor: No Sweat. Materials Required: Pens and lots of paper. Recommended Setting: Indoors in a not-too-noisy environment.

Categories (Also known as Scattegories)

Have you heard of the famous party game called Scattegories? You can play this on your own at parties or hanging out with friends.

Set-Up

  1. Prepare a list of categories.   This can include embarrassing items, sports, snacks, movie names, or anything else you wish.
  2. Give each player a writing utensil and a sheet of paper.
  3. Randomly choose a letter of the alphabet.  Note that the letters Q, U, V, Z, Y or Z are usually too hard, so you may wish to avoid those letters.
  4. Set a countdown timer for one minute.

Playing the game

You receive one point for every unique (not shared by any other player) word that starts with the given letter and fit into the given category.

Start the one minute timer.

Write down as many valid words (those that fit the category and start with the correct letter) for the category as you can.  When the timer ends, stop writing.  Go clockwise and have each player read aloud their words.  If someone else has the same word, both players cross out that word (no points are earned).

If a word is read that doesn’t seem to be a good fit for the category, the other players vote on whether to accept the word or cross it off. In the case of a tie, the word is disqualified.

Each word that remains is worth one point. The player with the most points wins!

If you prefer to buy the official Scattergories party game with prepared categories, alphabet dice, you can buy it from Amazon.

Categories
Action Games Card Games Ice Breakers Party Games

A Thousand Blank White Cards

Summary: A unique open-ended activity that lets players create the rules on white cards!

Ages: All. Recommended # of People: 5-6. Messiness Factor: You’ll move around. Materials Required: pens, blank white cards, an open space.

A Thousand Blank White Cards

How to Play

A Thousand Blank White Cards is a fun game that will ask players to make up creative rules.  Everyone starts with a wide open blank canvas.

The facilitator should prepare small stacks (7-8) of white index cards.  For about $10 you can large packs of cards online from Amazon.  Give each person a pen.

Instruct everyone on how to create a good card.  Each card should have (1) a title, (2) a consequence, and (3) a simple drawing.

For example:

  • A giant dinosaur arrives.  Everybody must scream in fear.  Everyone loses 1200 points.
  • Cookie Monster.  For each card in the discard pile, cookie monster eats these.  You get 100 points each.
  • Ghosts come alive.  Search the cards in the discard pile and take one.  Play it.
  • Exercise bunny.  While this card is in front of you, you must do 8 jumping jacks before you take your turn.
  • Pirate ship.  Speak like a pirate for one turn, then disc-ARRRRR-d this card.

Some cards can describe a way to win the game.  Other cards can react to that (an “Undo” card or a reaction card if someone seemingly wins, it can take away their win).  More explanation on that below.

Each player writes various cards, each with the 3 required parts as described above.  It should have the title, consequence and drawing.  It can be funny and involve silly actions as well.  Collect all the cards once they are written.  Place the deck in the middle of the room on a table or anywhere easy to reach.  There will also be a “discard pile” in the center for cards that have been discarded.

Playing the Game

Follow the following steps:

  1. On a player’s turn, he or she first draws a card from the deck.
  2. He or she then plays a card from their hand.  Place the card in front of any player or on the table.   For instance, a beneficial card could be played in front of himself or herself, or a negative card could be played in front of another player.  Some cards will be played in the center or perhaps impacts everyone.  Some cards will be discarded in the center after used.  All of this depends on the rule written on each card.
  3. After the first player has finished their turn, play continues clockwise, either until there are no cards left in the deck, or until some card effect has determined the end of the game.

If you’re not sure what to write on a card, just ask yourself what cards would be interesting to see in the game. This might be a reaction to another card — for example, if one player creates a card that says “When this card is played, you win the game,” another player could create an “Undo card” or a silly card that reads “Opposite day: If a player wins the game, play this card immediately. That player loses the game and exits this round”

At the end of a game, you can discuss as a group which cards were good and should be kept for play in future games. The fun of this game is not so much winning, but rather being creative in making unique cards that can be retained for future play.

Categories
Ice Breakers Party Games Stationary Games

Bowl Icebreaker Game

Summary: A rapid-fire guessing game in which players write many clues and place them in a bowl.

Ages: All. Recommended # of People: 10-20. Messiness Factor: No Sweat. Materials Required: Bowl, lots of paper, and pens. Recommended Setting: Indoors.

Categories
Party Games

Sticker Ninja

Summary: Sticker Ninja is a great party game involving skill and stealth! Secretly try to place all your stickers on other party guests.

Ages: 10 and up. Recommended # of People: 10-30. Messiness Factor: No Sweat. Materials: Sticker sheets. Recommended Setting: Indoors, during a party. Can be played over the course of a few hours, while guests are eating, mingling or doing other things.

Sticker Ninja

Purchase several sticker sheets. Each sheet of stickers should have an equal number of stickers (at least 5). Give a sheet to each guest (or cut a sheet into smaller sections if you wish).

How to Play

The goal of the game is to secretly stick their stickers on other guests at the party. If a player does not catch another player in the act, they must retain the sticker.

To win, a player must get rid of all of his or her stickers. He or she announces this to the others at the party.

You can also play this game in teams if you wish.

Categories
Party Games

Secret Santa Gift Exchange

Summary: A very fun group game for the holidays that involves giving a gift to a secret target person!

Ages: 12 and up.  Recommend number of people: 10-20.  Messiness factor: Not messy at all!  Materials: Gifts, tape, gift wrap.  Setting: Indoors.

Categories
Party Games Stationary Games

Powerpoint Game

Summary: A game about improvisation and performance!  Find a PowerPoint presentation on anything difficult, strange, complex, etc. and the other team must deliver a speech on it without any preparation!

Ages: 16+.  Recommended # of people: Teams of 2-4.  Messiness factor: No sweat!  Materials required: Laptops/computers to show PowerPoint slides.  A whiteboard or big piece of paper.  Optional: projector.  Recommended Setting: Indoors.

Categories
Ice Breakers Party Games

Autograph Bingo Game

Summary: Autograph Bingo is a simple icebreaker that asks people to mingle and find people that match interesting facts listed on a bingo card. The game is useul in that it causes players to discover interesting and humorous facts about each other.

Ages: 12 and up. Recommended # of people: Larger groups of 24+ people. Messiness Factor: No problem. Materials required: bingo cards prepared in advance and writing utensils. Recommended Setting: Indoors.