As a dinner party host, you’re probably a little bit stressed about keeping everyone entertained throughout the evening. Lucky for you, there are plenty of dinner party games you can play with your friends and family. Whether you want to play board games, card games, or parlor games, here are the 30 best dinner party games you should consider playing to have the best night ever.
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DINNER PARTY BOARD GAMES
These are our absolute favorite dinner party board games. These board games are great because they allow for multiple players and are simple enough that anyone can join in to play.
1. TABOO
- CLASSIC GAME OF UNSPEAKABLE FUN: Want a great party game that makes people...
- FOOD AND DRINK CARDS: This exclusive edition of the Taboo board game includes...
- TABOO GAME WITH ELECTRONIC BUZZER: If a player says a forbidden word on the...
Taboo is a game that requires some creative thinking, which can be difficult when you’re put on the spot. In this classic board game, divide the players into two teams. Then, players take turns grabbing a card and trying to get their team members to guess the word on the card without using any of the taboo words on the card! You can play this game with as many people as you want, which makes it ideal for larger dinner parties.
2. PICTIONARY
- Celebrate 40 years of the original classic family drawing game Pictionary!
- Sketch and guess your way to the finish line with this board game for family...
- Features 3 levels of clues, including Learn to Draw clues for younger players...
Another classic board game you should consider for your dinner party is Pictionary. However, instead of getting their teammates to guess a word, players battle to get their teammates to guess what they are drawing within a specific timeframe. When the player’s teammates guess correctly, the team can move their game piece on the board. And the first team to get to the finish line wins.
3. APPLES TO APPLES
- Filled with surprises and outrageous answers!
- From your seven cards, pick the closest “Apples to Apples” comparison.
- If the judge likes your comparison the best, you keep the Description card.
Apples to Apples is a super fun board game in which players are given a hand of 7 cards. Then, players simply take turns acting as judges by drawing a green card, which will have a word. All other players must then pick a card from their hand that they think best matches the green card. The judge picks their favorite card, and the winner wins the green card and a point.
Looking for a NSFW version of the game? Check out Cards Against Humanity and other games like it!
4. EXPLODING KITTENS
- HOW TO PLAY: Dive into the excitement of Exploding Kittens: Party Pack Edition,...
- WHAT’S INCLUDED: The Party Pack Edition features 120 cards with hilarious...
- WHO’S IT FOR? Designed for 2-10 players, ages 7 and up, this card game is a...
One of the best funny card games to play is Exploding Kittens. In this game, players take turns drawing a card from the deck with the goal of not drawing an Exploding Kitten card. If you draw one and don’t have a Defuse card in your hand, you’re out of the game! The last player remaining standing is the winner.
5. CODENAMES
- Work together to contact all of your agents before the other team
- A perfect party game experience for game nights
- 2-8+ player (in two teams)
Codenames is one of our favorite board games to play with friends. In this competitive team game, two teams play against each other, trying to guess the team’s codewords. In order to guess them, a designated spymaster from each team will give a one-word clue for each round that may correspond to more than one codeword on the board. The first team to uncover all of their codewords wins.
6. CLUE
- Ditch the TV, and re-ignite family night with the get-together amusement of a...
- Party it up, and surprise guests at your next event with laugh-out-loud game...
- Nostalgic tabletop gameplay meets interactive digital content for an immersive...
Murder mysteries are pretty popular for dinner parties, so why not play an appropriately themed board game like Clue? In this classic game, players must race to find the murderer, murder weapon, and murder location in a mansion before the other players. The first player to correctly guess wins.
7. WEREWOLF
- Engaging and Deceptive: Immerse yourself in the strategic world of hidden...
- App-Guided Gameplay: Enjoy a free app that seamlessly guides each game, ensuring...
- Thrilling and Inclusive: Play with 3-10 players, as you unravel the mystery of...
One of our favorite social deduction games is Werewolf. In this hidden role game, players are either on the village team or the werewolf team, but the twist is that no one knows who you are! It’s up to you to convince everyone you’re a villager and not a werewolf in order to avoid getting killed.
8. SCATTERGORIES
- A FAMILY FAVORITE: Bring back the joy of families and friends getting together...
- FAITHFUL REPLICA: This is a reproduction of the cherished 1989 edition including...
- THE PLAY: Choose a category card, slide it in your folio, roll the die to see...
If you’re a big fan of word games, you’re going to love playing Scattergories at your dinner party. In this game, players must write down a word for each category that starts with a specific letter of the alphabet. But you only score points for unique words — that is, no one else in the game must write down the same word as you, so be creative!
9. TACO CAT GOAT CHEESE PIZZA
- PLAY IT ANY TIME ANY PLACE- Convenient take anywhere size game.
- SIMPLE AND HILARIOUS- Fast paced laugh out loud fun for any get together.
- WILDLY POPULAR- Perfect for all-ages.
Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza may be a mouthful, but it’s fairly easy to play. In this variation of the popular card game Slapjack, all the players take turns laying down a card from their face-down hand saying “Taco”, then “Cat”, then “Goat, “Cheese”, and finally, “Pizza”. If the word that is said matches the card that is revealed, everyone must slap their hand in the middle! The last player to slap takes all the cards. The first player to get rid of all their cards wins.
10. JOKING HAZARD
- Joking Hazard is an EXTREMELY not-for-kids party game from the minds of Cyanide...
- Three or more players compete to build funny and terrible comics about...
- 360 panel cards (including 10 add-your-own-words cards) combine to form millions...
Joking Hazard is a game like Apples to Apples or Cards Against Humanity, but instead of matching a card, you try to complete a comic strip! Just like other similar card games, in Joking Hazard, one player acts as the judge who picks their favorite card from everything the other players lay down. The first player to get three points wins the game.
DINNER PARTY CARD GAMES
Don’t worry if all you have is a deck of cards, as there are plenty of card games you can play at a dinner party with some cards – or even multiple decks of cards.
- STANDARD INDEX PLAYING CARDS: Enjoy the ideal balance of size and functionality...
- TRUSTED BICYCLE QUALITY: Experience the feel of perfection in every game with...
- VERSATILE GAMING: These cards open the door to countless games of skill and...
11. SPOONS
Spoons is a fast-paced game that everyone will enjoy playing. To play this game, you’ll place a spoon for each player minus one in the middle and give each player four cards. Then, the dealer picks up a card from the remaining deck and removes one card from their hand so that they have five cards again. The player next to the dealer then picks up that card. Soon enough, basically, everyone should be grabbing a card and discarding a card. The goal? Get four cards of the same value. When this happens, all players race to pick up a spoon! Whoever is left without a spoon loses the round.
12. CRAZY EIGHTS
Crazy Eights is a simple family card game that you’ve got to play at your dinner party. You can easily play this with up to 10 players. The objective? Get the lowest score. Deal each player 5 cards for this game and take turns discarding cards and drawing cards. You can only discard a card if the card is the same value as the one at the top of the discard pile. And remember: 8 is a wild card. When someone runs out of cards, the round is over, and that player gets 0 points, while everyone else must tally up their score according to the cards left in their hand.
13. RUMMY
Rummy is a classic card game that will be a big hit at the dinner party. There are many ways to play this card game, but in the classic game, players simply take turns creating melds of sets and runs. Players can create their own melds and place them on the table or place cards on other players’ melds. The first player to get rid of all their cards wins.
You should also check out these other rummy games.
14. GO FISH
Even if you’re not big on card games, you’ve likely played Go Fish at some point in your life! In this game, players start with five cards in their hand while everything else is face down in the middle of the table. Players then take turns asking other players for a specific card rank in order to collect all four of a kind, also called a “book”. The player who creates the most “books” wins.
15. GOLF
The golf card game can be played in many different ways, with variations ranging from solitaire golf to four card golf, six card golf, and so much more. The rules for this card game differ according to which variation you want to play, but we’re personally huge fans of four card golf, also known as cambio. You can play this game with up to 8 players, making it a great dinner party card game. But don’t worry if you have even more people playing, as you can play with more people if you combine a second deck.
This is a memory game where players compete to get the lowest score possible by a combination of tricks, sabotage, and more.
16. SLAPJACK
If you want to play a card game that’ll get everyone’s hearts racing, you’ve got to play Slapjack. In this fast-paced game, players take turns flipping over a card from their upside-down stack, laying the cards face-up. The faster you move, the better. But if a jack is flipped over by a player, everyone must slap it! The first person to slap gets to keep all of the cards. The player to win all of the cards wins the game.
17. BLACKJACK
One of our favorite card games for adults is Blackjack. In this gambling card game, players play against a dealer. The objective of the game is simple: get as close to 21 as possible in terms of face card value. But if you go over, you’re out! This game involves some blackjack strategy and a lot of luck.
18. TEXAS HOLD’EM
The most popular poker game is Texas Hold’em. If your dinner party guests like to play some cards, chances are they’ve played some form of poker before, most likely Texas Hold’em. In this game, players must try to get the highest possible hand of five cards with their two cards and five community cards. But you can bluff your way to the top!
Here are poker rules for beginners if you’re new to poker games.
19. SPADES
A classic trick-taking game, Spades is perfect for smaller dinner parties of up to 7 players. In this game, players must make bets on how many tricks they can win and then try to achieve that number. Keep in mind that the spade suit is the trump suit! Strategy is key in this game, and playing with a partner can introduce a whole new level of complexity to this game.
20. BULLSHIT
If you’re a fan of games like Liar’s Dice, you’ll love playing Bullshit. In this card-shedding game, players must discard their cards by getting rid of aces, then 2s, then 3s, etc. But players may lie about what they’re getting rid of. If they are caught, they must pick up the pile of cards. And if the person who calls them out is incorrect, they must pick up the cards. Play until someone runs out of cards – the winner!
DINNER PARTY PARLOR GAMES
A dinner party is not complete without a few rounds of your favorite parlor games. These are the best games you’ve got to play.
21. TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE
Two Truths and a Lie is one of our favorite games to play with friends so that everyone can get to know each other a little better. Players must simply introduce themselves and say three facts about themselves, one of which is a lie. The rest of the group must try to figure out which is the lie.
22. MURDER MYSTERY
There’s a reason murder mystery dinner parties are so popular! If you want to get everyone super excited for your party, announce a murder mystery that all of your guests need to solve. Each player plays a character that is somehow involved in the crime and must find the murderer. There are plenty of themes to play around with, and to amp up the fun, ask your guests to dress up for the occasion!
23. WHO AM I?
One of the best party games for adults is Who Am I. To set up this game, have everyone write down a person, real or fictional, dead or alive, on a Post-it note and stick it on the forehead of the player on their left. Once everyone has a Post-it on their forehead, players must try to guess who they are by asking yes or no questions.
You can also turn Who Am I into a drinking game.
24. NEVER HAVE I EVER
Never Have I Ever is a very easy drinking game to play at any dinner party. Players start with 5 or 10 fingers up. Then, players simply take turns saying something they have never done. And if anybody in the group has done it, they must take a drink and put a finger down. If no one has done the thing, the person who announced the thing they have never done must take a drink. Whoever runs out of fingers is out of the game!
Here are some Never Have I Ever ideas to get everyone started.
25. HOT SEAT
Want to get to know your friends better? Play a quick round of hot seat, where players take turns sitting in the “hot seat” where they must answer any question they are asked! If they refuse to answer a question, they must take a shot as punishment!
26. 20 QUESTIONS
A popular road trip game that can easily played in a dinner party setting is 20 Questions. Players take turns thinking of a thing, person, or place. Every other player must try to guess what they are thinking of by asking yes or no questions. But, as you may have guessed, you can only ask 20 questions, including your guesses!
27. THE MINISTER’S CAT
The Minister’s Cat is a super fun word game you can play with no supplies. In this game, players must complete the sentence: “The minister’s cat is a ______ cat.” The word before “cat” must be an adjective that starts with A. Then, the second player must add to this with an adjective that starts with B, and so on. Whoever cannot think of an adjective or cannot remember a previous adjective is out!
28. CHARADES
One of the most classic parlor games you’ll play at dinner parties is Charades. This game is simple, and anyone can play. You simply act out a word or phrase that everyone else must try to guess.
29. CELEBRITY
Celebrity is similar to Charades but with a twist. To begin, players must write down 5 celebrity names on slips of paper and place them in a hat or bowl. Then, divide everyone into two teams. A player from each team takes turns trying to get their teammates to guess the celebrity in the following manner:
- Round 1: Using as many words as possible to describe the celebrity.
- Round 2: Using a single word to describe the celebrity.
- Round 3: Miming the celebrity.
The team to guess the most number of celebrities wins.
30. WINK MURDER
The best parlor game to play if you’re hosting a larger dinner party is Wink Murder. The premise is simple: One player is the murderer, and one is the detective. The detective stands in the middle of the circle and must try to find the murderer who murders players by winking. But to make the game more difficult, players will only die 5 seconds after being winked at!
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