Having some friends over and looking to organize some exciting activities? Organizing pastimes for a friend’s gathering can be difficult, as you’ll need to find fun games that everyone in the group can participate in and enjoy. So, if you are struggling to think up anything good, don’t worry! With so many different types of games out there, it can be a struggle for just about anyone.
So, to help you out, in this article, we will break down 30 of our absolute favorite games to play with friends, from easy indoor games to drinking games and even outdoor games for sunny days!
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INDOOR GAMES TO PLAY WITH FRIENDS
While most people would prefer to hang out with friends outside, the weather doesn’t always cooperate. So, here are a few good indoor games to play on rainy days.
1. 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)
One of the absolute best board games out there, Codenames is a competitive team game that you can play with large groups. In Codenames, divide your friend group into two teams and have each team designate a “spymaster.” The spymasters from each team will then give clues to their team, attempting to get them to guess specific codewords on the keycard. The first team to successfully uncover all of their codenames without uncovering the “assassin” word wins!
2. TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE
Two Truths and a Lie is a super simple but equally fun game that will really test your knowledge of your friends. In this game, each player comes up with three “facts” about themselves and states them out loud to the rest of the group. Two of these facts should be true, and the third should be a lie. The other players will then try to guess which of the three answers is the lie.
For some more inspiration for this game, check out our list of 100+ Two Truths and a Lie examples.
3. TRIVIA NIGHT
A trivia night is a perfect choice when choosing a game to play with your friends, especially if you are hanging out with a relatively larger group. First, divide all players into teams of 3 to 5 players. One player will need to volunteer to be the “quiz master” and will read out the questions.
Building a fun trivia night quiz is easier said than done. So, if you are struggling to come up with good questions, know you are not alone! Check out our ultimate guide with over 400 trivia questions for some awesome recommendations!
4. 20 QUESTIONS
20 Questions is a classic game that is perfect for road trips and other sit-down situations. It’s a very simple guessing game that involves one player thinking of something random for other players to guess. This random thing can be a thing, a person, or a place. The other players start asking “yes or no” questions in order to figure out what the thing is. But you must guess within 20 questions! The player who manages to guess correctly is the next player who gets to think of a thing, person, or place.
5. PAPER TELEPHONE
If you want to play a game that is sure to get everyone laughing out loud, play Paper Telephone. To play this game, you’ll need sheets of paper. But if you want to keep things paperless, you can play the online version, Gartic Phone. In this game, players each start by writing a phrase of some sort. Then, each player passes their peace of paper to the player on their left, who must draw the phrase. Then, the drawings are passed down with the original phrases covered so that the next players write down a phrase that best describes the drawing. Continue like this until a predetermined number of turns. Then, reveal how the original phrase changed from start to finish!
6. WEREWOLF
One of the best party games and one of the funniest card games is, no doubt, werewolf. Werewolf is a social hidden role game where players play a specific character. In this case, players are generally villagers or werewolves. Werewolves have the goal of killing all of the villagers, whereas villagers try to eliminate all of the werewolves before it’s too late. Throughout the game, players point fingers, kill, and deceive other players until one team wins!
7. MINUTE TO WIN IT GAMES
Some of the best games to play with friends are Minute to Win It games. They’re easy, fast, and super simple to set up, as you generally don’t need anything more than household items you should already have at home. You can play Minute to Win It games as individual or team competitions. Make sure to get a board ready to tally up the points as you tick off the games one by one.
Here are some of our favorite Minute to Win It games:
- Thread the Needle: Thread as many needles as possible in under a minute.
- Bubble Time: Blow a bubblegum as big as a pre-designated size.
- Rice Bowl: Move as much cooked or uncooked rice from one bowl to the other as possible using chopsticks.
For more ideas, head over to our post on 50+ awesome Minute to Win It games!
8. WOULD YOU RATHER
Would You Rather is a very simple game to play with friends that requires zero set-up—only some imagination. In this game, you simply pose a question to your friends, asking them to pick one of two options. Examples include:
- Would you rather be covered in fur or in scales?
- Would you rather tell all of your deepest and darkest secrets to your boss or to your parents?
Here are 300+ funny Would You Rather questions to get you started.
9. CHARADES
Charades is a classic parlor game that is a hoot to play with friends, no matter where you are. In this game, a player chooses a word or phrase to act out. They must act it out in front of everybody without using a single word. The first person to guess correctly gets to choose and act out the next word or phrase!
10. CARDS AGAINST HUMANITY
- A party game for horrible people.
- Comes with 500 white cards and 100 black cards for eternal replayability.
- Includes a booklet of sensible game rules and preposterous alternate rules.
Of course, no decent list of the best games to play with friends is complete without mention of Cards Against Humanity, one of the best party games for adults. If you haven’t played this game before, you’re missing out! Before you play this game with your friends, however, make sure no one is easily offended.
To play this game, players take turns acting as the Card Czar. The Card Czar picks a black card from the pile and reads it out loud. All other players must pick one white card from their hand of 10 that best suits the prompt. The Card Czar then reads each of the white cards out loud and picks their favorite one. The winner from this round keeps the black card and earns one Awesome Point.
Check out these other games like Cards Against Humanity for more funny card games like this!
DRINKING GAMES TO PLAY WITH FRIENDS
Some of the best games to play with friends happen to be drinking games. If you want to get a bit tipsy with your friends, these are the best games to play!
11. SOTALLY TOBER
Sotally Tober is a drinking card game that anyone can play. Players simply take turns drawing a card from the deck. The player must do as the card says or risk taking a shot and earning a point! The player with the fewest points and shots taken wins the game.
12. WHAT DO YOU MEME?
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Who doesn’t love memes? Why not create your own with the help of the funny card game What Do You Meme? In this game, all players start with a hand of seven caption cards. Then, players take turns acting as the judge, just like in Cards Against Humanity. The judge picks a Photo Card. Then, the other players must pick a caption card from their hand and allow the judge to choose their favorite one. The player who wins the most Photo Cards wins the game!
To turn this into a drinking game, give out a drink to anyone anytime you win a Photo Card!
13. HORSE RACE
If all you have is a deck of cards, you’re still in luck! Horse Race is one of the most entertaining card games to play with friends. To play this game, take out the four aces and place them on one end of the table. These are the four horses every player will bet their drinks on. Then, place 8 cards face down on the table perpendicular to the four aces.
The dealer flips over the eight cards one by one, with the four horses advancing one step at a time according to the suit of the card flipped. Keep flipping over the 8 cards and then the deck until one horse wins the race!
14. MOST LIKELY
Most Likely is one of our favorite ice breaker drinking games that you can easily play amongst friends. To play this game, players simply take turns asking a question starting with, “Who is most likely to…?” Examples include:
- Who is most likely to black out tonight?
- Who is most likely to leave tonight without saying goodbye?
- Who is most likely to kiss a random stranger?
- Who is most likely to earn the most money in 10 years?
When a player asks a Most Likely question, everyone must point at the player they believe the question best applies to. Everyone drinks the number of sips according to how many fingers they have pointed at them.
15. LIAR’S DICE
A dice drinking game, Liar’s Dice is a game similar to Texas Hold’Em. In this wagering game, players take turns rolling five dice inside an opaque cup and either telling the truth or lying about what they have hidden underneath their cup. The hand rankings are the same as in poker. The second player can then challenge the first player if they want. If they are wrong, that player must put a chip in the pot and drink. If the challenger was right, the liar must put a chip in the pot and drink. However, if they do not challenge at all, the cup is passed onto the second player, who must roll the dice and announce a hand ranking that is higher than the previous ranking. Keep playing until someone challenges another player!
16. PIZZA BOX
One of our favorite drinking games to play with friends and even strangers is Pizza Box. To play this game, you’ll need, you guessed it, a pizza box. But if you don’t have one, a large piece of paper will suffice as well. On the box, everybody writes down their name and circles around their name. Then, to play, players take turns flipping a coin onto the pizza box. If the coin lands in a circle with someone’s name on it, that person whose name it is must take a drink. If the coin lands in an empty spot, the player who flipped the coin must write down a rule for that empty spot and circle it.
Rules can be anything like:
- Kiss the person on your left
- Take off a piece of clothing
- Play Two Truths and a Lie
- Play Never Have I Ever
Players keep going around flipping coins, giving out drinks, and playing games as they go.
17. NEVER HAVE I EVER
Never Have I Ever is a classic drinking game for a reason. You’ll be able to get to know your friends at a much deeper level with the help of this game.
To play, everybody starts with 10 fingers up. Then, go around a circle with each player saying something they have never done. Here are some Never Have I Ever examples if you’re not sure what to say. Whoever has done it must put a finger down and take a drink. Keep playing until someone has no fingers left. This person must finish their drink!
18. TRUTH OR DARE
Another fun drinking game to play is Truth or Dare. Everyone’s played this game at some point in their lives, perhaps at a sleepover or a college party. To play this game, everyone simply sits in a circle, and each person is asked, “Truth or Dare.” If they pick truth, they must answer a question. And if they pick dare, they must do a dare. If they are unable to answer the question or do the dare, that person must take a shot or drink!
Here are some fun Truth or Dare ideas if you’d like to help get the ball rolling.
19. RAGE CAGE
Rage Cage is a super fun drinking game to play in any setting. To play, you’ll need 2 ping pong balls and several plastic cups. Put all the cups in the middle of the table and fill them up a part of the way with an alcoholic drink of your choice. Give two random players a ping pong ball each. These two players quickly grab a cup from the middle, drink the contents, and then try to bounce their ping pong ball into the cup. Once the ball is in the cup, pass the cup to the person on their left.
The goal is to try to stack the cup on top of the other player’s cup, so move quickly! If you stack the cup before the other player manages to bounce the ping pong ball into their cup, the losing player must take a cup from the center, drink the contents, and then try again. Rage Cage can be a bit more complicated than your standard drinking game, so head over to our page on the Rage Cage drinking game rules!
20. BEER OLYMPICS
Want to play a series of drinking games with your friends? In that case, the best thing to do is to organize a Beer Olympics! A Beer Olympics does require more preparation, but you’re in luck, as we’ve got the games set up for you already. Just head over to our post on the top 22 Beer Olympics games!
OUTDOOR GAMES TO PLAY WITH FRIENDS
If it’s a nice sunny day, why not take advantage of the weather? Head outside with your friends and play some of these games to have a great time!
21. GIANT JENGA
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Everybody loves Jenga. But why not kick it up a notch and play Giant Jenga? You play this game just like you would play the standard size. So, start off by setting up the Jenga tower, placing three blocks together, then another three blocks together perpendicular to the row beneath it. Keep stacking until you run out of blocks.
Players take turns removing a block from the tower and placing it at the top. The person who causes the tower to fall is the loser!
22. KAN JAM
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One of the best lawn games is Kan Jam. If you’re familiar with cornhole, you’ll know how to play this game. Two teams play against each other, with the two Kans placed around 50 feet away from one another. The teams throw and deflect discs with the goal of hitting or landing the disc inside the Kan. The first team to get to 21 points wins!
23. CROQUET
Another great outdoor game to play is none other than the classic croquet. Nine wicket croquet is the standard game, but as long as you have the materials, feel free to play however you want! Simply place the wickets on the lawn and use the mallets to pass the ball through the wickets. The player to score the most points wins!
24. BOCCE BALL
A very simple lawn game you’ve got to play with your friends is bocce. In this game, divide everybody into two teams. Then, one team throws the smaller white ball called the pallino. The other team then throws one of their balls toward the pallino, after which the second team gets a turn. Now, instead of alternating turns, a team continues to throw their team’s balls toward the pallino until one of their balls is closest to the pallino. Continue playing until all 8 balls are thrown.
The team with the ball closest to the pallino wins. The winning team must count points according to how many balls they have closer to the pallino than the losing team. The first team to reach 12 points wins.
25. BEER PONG
A classic game everyone will enjoy playing is Beer Pong. On either side of a long table, set up 10 cups in a pyramid formation. Fill these cups up ⅓ of the way with beer. Then, two teams of two play opposite one another. The first team starts by throwing the two ping pong balls one by one, aiming for the opposing team’s cups. Then, the second team gets a turn to do the same. Keep alternating.
If, at any point, a ping pong ball sinks a cup, that team must drink the contents and remove the cup from play. The first team to sink all of the opposing team’s cups wins!
26. CORNHOLE
An absolute classic of an outdoor game, cornhole is super easy to play and set up. All you need are two cornhole boards and some bean bags. Place the boards around 27 feet away to get started. Then, players take turns throwing their team’s beanbags into the opposing team’s cornhole board. Each bag that remains on the board is worth 1 point, and each bag that goes inside the hole is worth 3 points. The first team to get to 21 points wins!
27. SPIKE BALL
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A fast-paced version of volleyball, Spike Ball is a team game, so divide 4 players into teams of 2. Everybody stands around the net and takes turns serving by spiking the ball into the net. The goal? Spike the ball in a way so that the other team cannot bounce the ball back into the net. If the other team is unable to spike the ball back, the team wins one point. Keep playing until a team wins 21 points.
28. CAPTURE THE FLAG
If you’ve got a rather large friend group, one of the best outdoor or camping games to play is Capture the Flag. Divide everybody into two teams, with each team hiding their team’s flag somewhere on their side of a designated playing area. The goal of the game is to capture the other team’s flag and bring it back safely to the other side. But try not to get tagged! If you’re tagged, you go to jail until a teammate can tag you back.
29. SOCCER
How seriously you play soccer is up to you and your friends, but you can play with all the rules or with as few rules as you’d like. But the premise remains the same. Two teams play against each other, using their feet to dribble the ball across the field and into the opposing team’s goal. The team that earns the most goals by the end of an allotted amount of time wins!
30. LADDER TOSS
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Ladder toss, also called ladder golf or Norwegian golf, is a super fun game to play outdoors. Two teams play against each other, trying to get their bolas (balls attached by a string) to land on the steps of the ladder. But each step of the ladder corresponds to a particular number of points, with the top step worth 3 points, the second worth 2, and the bottom worth 1. The first team to get to exactly 21 points wins!
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