Birthday party games for grown-ups
Games that get a mixed crowd laughing, from the first guests arriving to the cake, with a running order you can steal.
Grown-up birthday parties have a particular problem: the guests come from different parts of the birthday person's life. Work friends, school friends, a sibling, a neighbour. They're all nice, they just don't know each other, and nobody wants to be the one who suggests a game.
So be that person. A couple of well-chosen games turn a room of separate little groups into one party, and the birthday person gets to enjoy it instead of introducing everyone all night.
What makes a good birthday game
- Easy to explain in one sentence. If it needs a rulebook, half the room will drift off.
- Short games. People arrive and leave at different times; something that's over in five minutes lets them join the next one.
- The birthday person is the star, not the target. Celebrate them; don't put them on the spot for an hour.
- Saying no is always allowed. Our games put a Skip button under every dare, and the same goes for anything you make up yourself.
When the first guests arrive: a race
The first half-hour is awkward, because the room is half empty. Pick something that works with three people and grows as more arrive.
A Pair Rush race is ideal: each person takes one turn on the same phone, flipping cards to find pairs before the clock runs out, and the best score wins. A turn lasts a minute at most, so a guest who walks in halfway can be added to the next race straight away, and the phone going round the room gives people something to talk about besides how they know the host.
Once everyone's here: the whole room plays
Imposter
For a room of half-strangers, Imposter is the game that mixes the little groups together: to catch the faker, you have to listen properly to people you met twenty minutes ago. On one phone, the host chooses the category, so hand that job to the birthday person and let them pick from the twelve, from Animals to Celebrations.
The birthday hot seat
A gentle Truth or Dare with a twist: the birthday person sits in the hot seat, and everyone else asks them one truth question each. Keep it to fond, easy questions ("What's the best birthday you've ever had?", "Who here have you known the longest?") and let them pass on anything. Then carry on with a normal round, so the spotlight moves on before it gets awkward.
The middle of the party: a bit of suspense
The Dare Wheel
Load the Dare Wheel with our Silly & Ridiculous dares and let guests take turns to spin. The slowing spin and the tick of the pegs get the whole room watching, and whatever lands, the spinner does. Better still, let a few guests type in a dare of their own before you start: each one goes on the wheel as an extra slice, up to twelve in all. The wheel won't land on the same slice twice until every slice has had its turn, so nobody's dare gets left out.
Dare Dice, Speed Round
Speed Round is the Dare Dice game for a party: three fast rounds of beat-the-clock challenges, like naming five sea creatures in ten seconds. Someone keeps time, everyone else counts along out loud, and each challenge is over before anyone has time to feel put on the spot.
After the cake: the tower
Dare Tower is the finale. Pass one phone round the circle: each guest slides a block out of a 3D tower and it goes back on top, until someone's pull brings the whole thing down. Some blocks hide a dare, and whoever topples the tower takes a forfeit. As it gets wobblier, the room gets louder, and the moment it falls is the loudest of the night.
Tip Have everyone stand round the person holding the phone for the tower. Half the fun is the advice nobody asked for.
A running order you can steal
- Guests arriving: Pair Rush races.
- Everyone's here: Imposter, three games in a row.
- Before the cake: the birthday hot seat, then a round of Truth or Dare.
- After the cake: Dare Tower.
- Late in the evening: the Dare Wheel with the guests' own dares.
You won't get through all of it, and that's fine. A party isn't a schedule: if people are deep in conversation, the games can wait.
Things to skip
- Anything that embarrasses the birthday person for real. Fond teasing, yes; their old secrets, no.
- Games that need the whole room for an hour. People want to talk, too.
- Dares that cost money, involve phones or photos, or touch anyone. Keep them to small performances, and everyone will play along.
Some guests far away?
Guests who can't make it can only join games played in an online room, so if they're important to the night, move the party into one: everyone joins on their own phone, up to eight people, with the far-away guests on a video call. Imposter, Truth or Dare, Pair Rush, the wheel, the dice and the tower all play in a room. Our guide to party games on a video call has the details.
Play it here
Free, no sign-up. One phone is enough — or one each.