14 party games for small groups

Ghost

Players

2 to 6, best with 3

Minutes

10 to 15

Ages

9 and up

You need

Nothing

1. The first player says a letter.
2. Each player in turn adds one letter to the end, keeping a real word possible but trying not to finish one.
3. A player who completes a word of four or more letters loses the round.
4. Instead of adding a letter, a player can challenge the last player to name the word they had in mind. If they cannot, they lose the round.
5. Each lost round earns a letter of GHOST. Spell GHOST and you are out.

Bulls and cows

Players

2

Minutes

10 to 15

Ages

8 and up

You need

A bulls and cows sheet and a pencil for each player

1. Each player secretly writes a four-digit number with no repeated digits.
2. Take turns guessing the other player's number.
3. For each guess, the other player says how many digits are right and in the right place (bulls), and how many are right but in the wrong place (cows).
4. Use the answers to narrow it down. The first to guess the exact number wins.

Without a printer: Rule columns for the guess, the bulls and the cows on any paper.

Open the material: Printable bulls and cows sheets

Word ladder race

Players

2 or 3

Minutes

10

Ages

9 and up

You need

A word ladder sheet and a pencil for each player

1. Pick a start word and an end word of the same length, such as CAT and DOG.
2. Each player changes one letter at a time, making a real word at every step: CAT, COT, COG, DOG.
3. Players work on their own sheets at the same time.
4. The shortest ladder wins. Compare routes at the end, since there is often more than one.

Without a printer: Write the start and end words on any paper, with a line for each step.

Open the material: Printable word ladder worksheets

Pig, the dice game

Players

2 to 6

Minutes

10 to 20

Ages

7 and up

You need

One die, and paper to keep score

1. On your turn, roll the die as many times as you like, adding each roll to your turn total.
2. Stop whenever you choose and add the turn total to your score.
3. Roll a 1 and you lose the whole turn total, and play passes on.
4. The first player to reach 100 wins.

Without a printer: Use a die from any board game.

Open the material: Printable dice net

Kemps

Players

4 or 6, in pairs

Minutes

20 to 30

Ages

10 and up

You need

A deck of cards

1. Before the game, partners agree on a secret signal, such as a wink or a tap of the ear.
2. Deal four cards to each player and four face up in the middle.
3. Everyone swaps cards with the middle, one at a time, trying to collect four of a kind. When nobody wants the middle cards, the dealer deals four new ones.
4. A player with four of a kind gives their partner the signal. The partner calls 'Kemps' and the pair scores a point.
5. If an opponent spots the signal first, they call 'Stop Kemps' and their pair scores instead.

Contact

Players

3 to 8

Minutes

15 to 20

Ages

10 and up

You need

Nothing

1. One player, the keeper, thinks of a word and says its first letter, such as P.
2. Another player thinks of any word starting with P and gives a clue to it, such as 'a bird that can talk' for parrot.
3. Another guesser who knows the answer says 'contact'. Both count down from three and say the word together.
4. If the keeper names the clue word before the countdown ends, the contact fails. If the two guessers match, the keeper reveals the next letter of their word.
5. Guessers keep going until someone names the keeper's word, and that player becomes the next keeper.

Liar's dice

Players

2 to 6

Minutes

15 to 30

Ages

10 and up

You need

Five dice and a cup for each player

1. Everyone shakes five dice under their cup and looks at their own dice only.
2. The first player bids on how many dice of one face are on the whole table, such as 'three fours'.
3. Each next player must raise the bid, with more dice or a higher face, or call 'liar'.
4. On a call, everyone lifts their cup. If the bid was true, the caller loses a die; if not, the bidder does.
5. A player with no dice left is out. The last player with dice wins.

The dictionary game

Players

3 to 8

Minutes

20 to 30

Ages

12 and up

You need

A dictionary, slips of paper and pens

1. The reader finds an unusual word in the dictionary, says it and spells it.
2. Everyone else writes a made-up definition that sounds real. The reader copies the true one onto a slip.
3. The reader collects and shuffles the slips, then reads them all aloud.
4. Players vote for the definition they think is real. A right vote scores 2 points, and each vote for your made-up definition scores you 1.
5. Pass the dictionary to the next reader.

Consequences

Players

3 to 8

Minutes

10 to 15

Ages

8 and up

You need

A long strip of paper and a pen for each player

1. Each player writes a character's name at the top of their strip, folds it over to hide it and passes it on.
2. On the strip they receive, each player adds who the character met, then folds and passes again.
3. Continue with where they met, what the first one said, what the other replied and what happened next.
4. Unfold the strips and read the stories aloud.

Story dice

Players

2 to 6

Minutes

10 to 15

Ages

6 and up

You need

A set of printed and folded story dice

1. Roll all the story dice.
2. The first player starts a story that uses the picture on one die.
3. Each player in turn adds a sentence using another die, until every die is used.
4. Roll again for a new story, starting with the next player.

Without a printer: Write 12 story words on slips, such as key, storm and dragon, and draw them from a cup instead of rolling.

Open the material: Printable story dice nets

Letter category race

Players

3 to 6

Minutes

15 to 20

Ages

10 and up

You need

Paper, pens and a two-minute timer

1. Agree on six categories, such as a food, a country, a job, an animal, a film and something in a kitchen.
2. Pick a letter by opening a book at random and pointing at a word. Skip Q, X and Z.
3. Everyone writes one answer per category starting with that letter, within two minutes.
4. Read the answers aloud. An answer nobody else wrote scores a point; a shared answer scores nothing.
5. Play five letters and add up the points.

Two truths and a lie at dinner

Players

3 to 8

Minutes

15 to 20

Ages

10 and up

You need

Nothing

1. Each guest thinks of two true things about themselves and one invented thing, such as three jobs they have had or three places they have been.
2. Going around the table, each guest says their three.
3. The others ask up to three questions, then vote.
4. The guest reveals the invented one, then tells the story behind a true one.

Open the material: Two truths and a lie ideas

Hot seat questions

Players

3 to 8

Minutes

15 to 30

Ages

10 and up

You need

A list of light questions

1. One guest takes the hot seat for two minutes.
2. The others take turns asking light questions, such as 'What would you add to a public park?'
3. The guest answers quickly, or says pass with no reason needed.
4. When the time is up, the guest to their left takes the seat.

Open the material: Conversation starters for groups

Table logic puzzle

Players

2 to 6

Minutes

15 to 20

Ages

10 and up

You need

A printed logic grid puzzle and a pencil

1. Read the clues aloud to the whole table.
2. Each player in turn explains one deduction, such as 'Clue 2 means Lea is not at 9.'
3. The group agrees before the pencil marks it.
4. Finish the grid, then read the worked solution to check.

Without a printer: Read the clues from a phone and draw the grid on any paper.

Open the material: Logic grid puzzles with solutions