29 Party Games for Adults for Energetic Fun

Make ordinary get-togethers entertaining with these fun (and sometimes challenging) party games for adults! Ranging from chill board games to fast-paced card games, you’re sure to find the perfect game to keep your guests entertained!

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And you know, all these are fun party games for adults without drinking.

1. Cups and Downs

Easy entertainment with cups!

Cups and Downs is an energetic game that can get chaotic. It is one of the exciting birthday party games for adults that you can play outdoors.

This is best played on a level ground. If you play it outside on the grass, the “downs” can have an advantage since putting the cups upside down on the unlevel ground is way easier.

Items Needed

• plastic cups

How To Play

• Place the cups in the play area, half of them upside down.
• Divide the group into the “ups” and the “downs” teams.
• The “ups”-team tries to turn cups the right way up and the “downs” upside down. Give them a minute or two to do that.
• Whichever team has the most cups their way wins.

2. Head Shoulders Knees CUP

Another fun active game you play with plastic cups. Head, Shoulders, Knees, and CUP is a great game for a large group.

Items Needed

• plastic cups

How to Play

The object of the game is to grab the cup when told to do so.

• Choose a “caller.”
• Ask the players to pair up and face each other.
• Each pair gets a cup that is placed between them.
• The “caller” shouts commands like head, shoulders, knees, toes, waist, back, and neck. At the end of the command list, the “caller” throws the word “cup.”
• The players try to grab the cup.
• Whoever gets the cup is the winner of that round. He goes and finds a new partner to play with. The others are out and sit down.
• The game goes on until you have only one player left.

3. Wizards and Werewolves

Perfect game for all fantasy lovers! This glow-in-the-dark game combines hide and seek, tag, and a scavenger hunt.

The Wizards and Werewolves game has three levels and will surely entertain those with lively imaginations.

4. Teeter Tower

A fast-paced and high-energy game that’s all about balance. The goal is to construct an ever-growing tower of dice and cards before it topples. Success depends on a little bit of luck and teamwork!

• 1-4 players
• Average playtime 20 min

Learn more about his funny game for adults: Teeter Tower.

5. Forbidden Island

Players team up to acquire and escape with all four elemental treasures before the island disappears beneath the water.

• 2-6 players
• average playtime 30 min
• teamwork required for survival

Take a closer look at Forbidden Island.

6. Jenga

Take turns removing blocks from the tower and balancing them on top of it without knocking the tower over. It’s a super fun and challenging game for adults!

• 1 or more players

Enhance your game collection with Jenga.

7. Text Message

Remember the game “Telephone”? This is like that but with texting.

What You Need

• cellphone for each player (or a stack of paper)
• timer

How To Play

• Sit in a circle or line or at the dining room table.
• The first person writes a two or three-sentence text message.
• He shows it to the person next to him, who has fifteen seconds to memorize it.
• Then she writes the text message on her phone and shows it to the next player, who has fifteen seconds to remember it.
• The last person reads the text message out loud.

Make the game more challenging by shortening the time for reading the message.

You can play the game without phones by writing the message on paper.

8. Exploding Kittens Party Pack

Fun and popular party game for adults! The gameplay involves drawing cards from the deck while trying to avoid getting an exploding kitten. Various action cards can be used to sabotage other players or protect yourself.

• 2-10 players
• Average playtime 15 min

Dynamite fun is waiting: Exploding Kittens Party Pack

9. Think ‘N Sync

Find out if you’re on the same wavelength as your friends with this fun and entertaining game. Score points by shouting the same word as the player you’re partnered with.

• 3-8 players
• Average playtime 20 min

Practice reading minds with Think ‘N Sync.

10. Rack-O

The first player to arrange all ten cards in numerical order wins the Rack-O points for that round. Whoever has the most points at the end of all the rounds wins the entire game.

• 2-4 players
• Average playtime 30 min

Grab the retro edition of Rack-O.

11. Five Crowns

A fantastic rummy-style card game. Create sets or runs to go out of the round and avoid getting points. The player with the lowest score at the end of all 11 rounds wins the game!

• 1-7 players
• Average playtime 45 min

Take a look at the Five Crowns.

12. Slapjack

This classic card game will liven up your party.

What You Need

• a deck of cards

How To Play

The goal of the game is to get all the cards, and you win them by being the first to slap each jack as it is played.

• Deal all the cards face down to the players. Some players might end up with more cards than others.
• Take turns playing one card at a time. Place the card face up on the center of the table.
• Once a jack is played, slap your hand on it.
• The one who slaps it first wins it, and all the cards under it. The player then shuffles all his cards and forms a new pile.
• Suppose more than one player slaps the jack. The one whose hand is directly on top of it wins.
• If a player slaps a card, that is not a jack. He must give one of his cards, face down, to the player who played the card.
• When a player has no more cards, he remains in the game until the next jack is played. If he loses that round, he is out.
• Continue playing until one player has all the cards.

13. Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza

Players take turns flipping cards and saying one of the five words. If the word matches the card, everyone tries to slap the pile. The last person to slap the pile ends up with all the cards. The first player to run out of cards wins the game.

• 3-8 players
• Average playtime 10-15 min

This hilarious game is great for taco and pizza nights: Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza.

14. Secret Squad

This is another fantastic game for larger group of friends. Try to figure out who’s on your squad by answering a series of yes or no questions.

• 3-10 players
• Average playtime 15 min

Let’s find out who is on your team: Secret Squad.

15. Blank Slate

Match your answer with another player’s answer to earn points! A great party game for adults; it works well for small groups and large groups of people.

• 3-8 players
• Average playtime 30 min

Fun word association game: Blank Slate.

16. Spot It

There are various fun and challenging ways to play Spot It. There’s always one matching symbol between any two cards. If you spot the matching symbol, call it out and then proceed to play according to to your game version..

• 2-8 players
• Average playtime 15 min

Get ready to Spot It.

17. Battleship

A classic turn-based strategy game for two players! Find and utterly destroy all your opponent’s battleships. Players take turns calling out coordinates to try and hit their opponent’s ships.

• 2 players

Take a look at Battleship.

18. Go

It’s easy to learn, but the actual gameplay can be very challenging and complex, making it one of the best strategy games for two players. And did I mention this game’s been around for 4,000 years?

Take over most of the board to win the game, and capture some of your opponent’s pieces while you’re at it!

• 2 players
• Average playtime 30-60 min

Have fun with the Game of Go!

19. Scrabble

Another classic party game for adults! Build words in crossword fashion and earn points based on how much each letter is worth. Strategic planning and an expansive vocabulary are necessary for success.

• 2-4 players

Fun game to play as teams: Scrabble.

20. Telestrations

It’s a fun spin on the classic kids’ game Telephone. You draw the word or phrase and pass the sketchbook to the next player, who must guess what the drawing is. The final reveal is the best part of the game because the original word or phrase has often been hilariously misinterpreted along the way.

• 3-8 players
• Average playtime 30-60 min

Get the always entertaining Telestrations.

21. Candy Toss

What You Need

• candy
• cup (one for each team)

How to Play

Players pair up and stand several feet away from each other. One holds the cup, and the other tosses candies into the cup.

Whichever team gets the most candies in the cup before time runs out wins!

22. Don’t Blow the Joker

What You Need

• a deck of cards

How to Play

Place the joker card at the bottom of the deck.

Blow away the entire deck of cards except for the Joker card. Participants can have as many attempts as necessary before one minute is up.

23. Mango Battle

Add some tropical excitement to your party and play Mango Battle. A fun game for any summer party or a luau.

What You Need

• mangos
• big spoons

Prep

• draw a 5 or 6ft circle on the ground

How to Play

1. Two players at a time enter the circle. They hold a mango on their spoon.
2. The goal is to knock down the opponent’s mango. If you drop yours, you lose. The players can’t touch the opponent, only the spoon.

You could play this in various ways, e.g., pair all the players, the winner of each pair stays in the game and faces another opponent.

24. Who Is Most Likely to

Write down a list of questions, like who is most likely to write a novel, eat snails, or return a shopping cart.

You could also take turns coming up with “who is most likely to” questions.

Give everyone a piece of paper and write down your answers.

You could give points based on how many people answered the same way. If

• 2 people have the same answer – 2 points
• 3 people have the same answer – 3 points
• and so on.

25. Fix the Eggs

How quickly can you work as a team to assemble the cracked eggs?

What You Need

• 10 plastic eggs per team

How to Play

• Play in teams of two.
•  Each team gets 10 plastic eggs that are cracked apart.
• The players work together to put the eggs back together. The challenge is that they each get to use only one hand.
• The pair that fixes their eggs first wins.

Minute to Win It Version

• Put together as many eggs as you can in a minute.
• You should have more than 10 eggs for each team.

26. Jelly Bean Sorting

You need quick hands for this activity.

What You Need

• jelly beans
• several bowls for each player

How To Play

• Give each player a bowl filled with jelly beans. And an empty bowl for each jelly bean color.
• Each player sorts their candies per color.
• The one who gets it done first, wins.

Minute to Win It Version

Sort as many jelly beans as you can in one minute.

27. Mystery on the Mayflower

Turn the party into a mystery dinner party!

Mystery on the Mayflower is for 12-30 players and the game time is about 1.5-2 hours.

28. I Did This – Who Am I?

What You Need

• Index cards
• Pens

Ask the guests to write on an index card something they did during this year. It could be something they bought, a place they visited, a party they hosted, an outfit they wore, etc.

Collect the cards. Read them out loud. The players try to guess who did each thing.

29. Collect the Candy

If you are good at memory games, then this is the game you’ll shine!

What You Need

• candy
• dice

It works best if you have 4 to 6 of each candy bar or whatever you are using.

How To Play

1. Sit in a circle.
2. Place all the candy in the middle of the circle.
3. Make sure everyone knows the names of the candy and the players.
4. Take turns rolling the dice. If you roll a 12, take one of the candies and hide it behind you.
5. Once all the candies are taken, decide how many rounds you’ll still play.
6. Now you’ll start taking candy from other players.
7. To do so, you must roll a double and state a player’s name and the name of the candy you want from them. If you get either one wrong, you are out of the game (optional: You are out, give half of the candy you have to the player you made a request, keep the rest.). Also, you are out of the game if you run out of candy.

Entertaining Party Games for Adults

Keep these delightful party games for adults in mind for effortless hosting and making cherished memories with friends.

With Relaxed Hostess’s huge collection of game ideas, from minute-to-win-it games to simple card and cooperative board games, your gatherings will be filled with fun and laughter.

To make things convenient for you, I have linked to the various additional game ideas from this post. Have a fantastic time exploring all the fun party games for adults.

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