I periodically record the instructions for silly games that I came across, usually in the setting of a youth group. This game is called “Empire”. Each player starts off as the “Ruler” of their Empire (which consists of only them at the start), and tries to add other players to their Empire by correctly guessing […]

I’ve been jotting down some of favourite games that we play at youthgroup. Most of these are good for all ages, and have passed the test of time (several times a term for 2 or 3 years). There are some newer ones we’ve done once or twice, but which seemed good. Games with no equipment […]

Good explanation of this one on Uk Family and Wikipedia. The aim of the game is to make 4-of-a-kind, and pick up a spoon, OR to not be the slowest to pick up a spoon. Start with a deck of cards, between 3 and 8 players, and one less spoon than you have players. You […]

Requires a pack of playing cards. The aim is to lose all the cards in your hand. All the players sit around a table, so that they can all reach the centre. The cards are dealt out to all the players as normal. The person to the dealer’s left then puts his card into the […]

Sit everyone present around a table so that there are no gaps. Each person puts their hands on the table so that their arms cross over/under the people either side, so if we have five players, A=B=C=D=E, the order of hands will be: B-LH, A-RH, C-LH, B-RH, D-LH, C-RH, E-LH, D-RH, A-LH, E-RH Now decide […]

These are quite a good “getting to know you” games. There are many other variations. 2 true, 1 false Give each person a sheet of paper. They must write their name on the top, then they must write three things about themselves, two of which are true, and one of which is made up. Gather […]

Divide the group into teams. The leader shouts out a word that is commonly found in songs (“love”, “road”, “river”, “girl”, “baby”, “need”, and so on.) The teams must sing a song in unison (together) using that word. The first team to do it wins a point. Play as long as they like it.

All the players stand in a circle, facing one another, but looking down at their feet. When the leader says “now”, everyone looks up and at someone else’s eyes. If they make direct eye contact with someone (i.e. person A is looking straight and person B, and person B is looking straight at person A), […]

You need probably at least 6 players for this game, but this really is a case of the more the merrier. Nominate one player to be the “detective”, and send him/her out of the room. When the “detective” has gone, choose one of the remaining players to be the “murderer”. The murderer and all the […]

Another mad game that’s fairly pointless, but lots of fun and breaks the ice. There are no real winners and losers – it just runs on until everyone’s had enough! You need a large-ish hall for us, and probably at least 8 players. Put out two less chairs than there are players, scattering them around […]