Catch Phrase

My extended family of all ages recently played something similar to Catch Phrase, and it was really fun. It promoted teamwork and collaboration. Group competition is better than individual competition for your purposes.

IMPE, Minute To Win It games are very fun. You can find many examples on the web.

I hosted a lobster bake last weeek for 16 we set up a few ladder ball sets and had a competion I thought only a few adults and the kids would play everyone partook.

We often play headbands with a scarf instead of the plastic things or heads up with a phone inside and again it usually well received.

Happy birthday to the birthday person!

I second Roarah's experience with a crowd enjoying Ladder Ball.. Bocce is a big favorite in my family also.

Haven't played them but i also think outdoor (large) jenga and chess look fun.

Otherwise, I am the (quiet and to myself) stick-in-the-mud with party games. I do enjoy our Christmas scrabble tournaments but that's really it.

I enjoy the kind where each person has a slip of paper on their back, and they have to figure out what they are by asking questions. They can be famous people, or events, or whatever, just not too obscure. This can go on as people mingle, rather than being an organized event.

Party games? Roll Eyes.

Try LCR, fun with a crowd.

We played the same game as aok stated above at my DSs wedding party. I printed a bunch of famous people's names on sticky labels and had the little kids put a label on each person's back. Then you ask the person you are taking to questions about who you are until you guess the correct answer.

Our party was right after the election so I made sure to not use any person who was even slightly political/controversial. A few I remember using were: Nicki Minaj, Mario Lemieux, The Road Runner, Marilyn Monroe, Arnold Palmer, Betsy Ross....

I like to have theme parties.

When I was 37 and getting my Interior Design degree at UT Austin, I gave a party for my Italian class, or rather the Italian department at UT. I told everyone to come dressed as their favorite Italian actor/actress and that they must wear sunglasses. My roommate was there to be the paparazzo and instructed him how to use my camera. I had a guest book/autograph book for everyone to sign when they arrived using their assumed names. I was planning to be Pasolini, and I had written a short script (in Italian) so that people could audition for parts in a new movie, in order to win door prizes. As a back-up, I handed out numbers for a drawing, in case the auditioning idea did not work.

It was way too difficult to control the crowd of Italians into auditioning for parts, and so I just had a drawing for prizes instead. First prize was a framed silk screen print that I had made in San Francisco, and second prize was an LP of popular Italian hits.

I gave another party in Austin in which I asked everyone to come dressed as their favorite sci-fi or comic book character, and I learned that it was much more difficult to get people in Austin to dress in costumes than it was in San Francisco. I redecorated the living room with planets (painted styrofoam balls) hanging from the ceiling and a few flying saucers. Unfortunately, the flying saucer that I attached to the ceiling fan did not stay attached and launched itself off fairly quickly. I made it out of paper plates, and so there were no injuries.

For a crowd in their 50s, I might consider a dance contest. BTW, people seem to love door prizes at parties, at least from my experience. You can make people earn the prizes or simply have a drawing.

25 is a lot for a game, so right away I think of teams. We like to play badminton, it it's a totally casual event. Do you have a net? Or volleyball?

We have an oversize outdoor jenga, too.

Or you could create "stations" with different games.

IME people roll their eyes but like to play anyway.

@mtnrdredux_gw how do your kids like the Jenga? Do they have fun with it? My 23 yo niece just bought a house and i want to give her a gift along with money. (along with a great collection of my gently used staub and all-clad pans-- which gave me an excuse to buy new!)

For an outside, physical game I recommend Kubb (aka Viking Chess, or Storm the Castle). I just bought a 2nd set (from Yard Games) for my vacation place. It’s tossing wooden dowels to knock over wooden blocks, and then tossing the dowels, by looking upside down between your legs, to knock over the Castle block.

For a non-physical game, I agree with Sushi’s rec of Left-Right-Center (LRC). It’s great for mixed ages, and kids particularly get a kick out of winning quarters (or dollars!) instead of chips.

LCR is best with at least 6 people, but I've been in a game of about 30 people. It can be played by 5 year olds and 95 year olds, It can be played by drunks, There is no learning curve because everyone will tell you what to do. There is no strategy. You are never "out" until the very end. And people come and go between games. Three more people might sit in on a game and one might take a break. Each player uses 3 tokens/quarters/bills per game, so for a crowd, I'd "buy" maybe $200 in ones or a few rolls of quarters from the bank that people can get change from you.

“It can be played by drunks.” ^ I’m in!! 😂😂😂

I think having more than one game option, and not cajoling people to play if they don't want to, is the way to go. Active game for active people, sit down game for some, and no game for others. Everybody wins.

Thanks for all the suggestions! This crowd isn’t a game crowd, so I dont think a set plan would work. But I can see having catchphrase or funny conversation starters sitting around might be fun. The party will be inside or on porches depending on heat.

I was also trying to think of an activity- like make your own sundae or smores.

But the easy game stations could work! No pressure to play.

There's also a 'human' scavenger hunt, where people are given a printed list of things to find out about other people. You can get premade lists on the web. Some are like a BINGO game. I found these by using 'human scavenger hunt' in an image search:

People love "make your own" foods.

Don't play any games that requires people to play i.e. the one with the name of someone on your back.

The human scavenger hunt looks fun. Participate or not.

many of us have been avoiding parties for over a year now. I'm sure people have lots to talk about w/o needing ice breakers.

I don't mind smaller games where people can break off into smaller groups (cornhole, jenga, food or craft stations - things that don't require a lot of attention), and where other people can step aside and just continue their conversations. I sometimes don't want to play games at larger parties and really hate it when I feel like I have to participate.

I do think that this depends on how well everyone knows each other. I am an introvert so I love to play games with people that I don't know too well. It gives me a purpose while at the same time interacting with people that I am not familiar with. I loath small talk and mingling with people I don't know. My DH OTOH is an extrovert and is perfectly comfortable interacting with strangers.

Family Feud.

I much prefer physical (outside games) to indoor games. For an indoor activity, the make your own food is a good idea. We were at a party a couple of weekends ago and corn hole and putt-putt (host have a small putting green) were a hit and it was teams, not individuals. The fire-pit area was a hit too and areas on the wrap-around porch to sit and visit. So my point is - no one felt like they had to do games, there were different activities. One group also made home-made ice-cream and then toppings were set out. The party pretty much took place outside (with food set up inside) although guests were welcome to eat/mingle inside or out. Fun and games was outside. It was a great evening.

I find one of the best parts of the Millennial crowd is how they have embraced the idea of games, doing SOMETHING at get togethers beyond sitting and gossiping and drinking. Be it board games or yard games, cards...they gather to DO SOMETHING.

I agree having something to do at a party is a plus, for those who choose to do so. I had to lookup LRC. I'm a dissenter and a wet blanket, sorry folks. I now realize this was something they played at a Bunco group once. I say once because that was exactly how many times I went. LRC and Bunco are just too, too mindless for me. I'd add that it'd be a shame to play LRC in the summer when you could be outside. Heck, even a set of horseshoes would be nicer.

I think I'm shellshocked because I have a lot of nerdy gamer friends, so the words "does anybody want to play a game" makes me want to run. usually with this set, it means a three hour board game so complicated, I feel like I can't socialize at all. I'm talking Cones of Dunshire here, lol.

LOL that is why I won't play Risk, at all.