Searing for games for teens or young adults? Planning a youth retreat and need some fun games? Looking for icebreaker ideas? Party games create memories and are very entertaining. Here are some fun games that can help everyone loosen up, get to know each other, and have a good time.
Take a Hike
This is a fun game where everyone will be involved. It’s non-competitive (mostly) and helps participants to get to know each other a little better. It is also known as “Fruit Basket Turnover.” You need to have chairs, enough for everyone except one person.
Arrange the chairs in a circle. To play the game, one person begins by standing in the center. They then make a statement about someone’s characteristics, likes/dislikes, or past experience. It can be obvious or not so obvious. For example, they might say, “If you wear glasses, take a hike!”, or “If you’ve ever flown on an airplane, take a hike!”
Then everyone who meets the description, will get up and try to find another chair. The last person standing, who cannot find an empty chair, will then be required to stand in the center. He or she will come up with a statement, people who meet the description will get up and find a new chair, another person will be left standing and will be in the center and so forth.
Continue the game until time runs out, 15-20 minutes if a perfect amount of time for this game. If you need ideas on what statement to start with some to consider are: “If your birthday is in March, take a hike!”, “If you don’t like vanilla pudding, take a hike!”, “If you play a musical instrument, take a hike!”, “If you wear contact lenses, take a hike!”, and “If you’ve ever eaten sushi, take a hike!
This game is great for youth parties, retreats, college mixers, family reunions and more.
People Bingo
This is another entertaining game where participants get to know more about each other. Before the event, you will need to make a “bingo card” on the computer. (You can make a table in Word.) The size will vary depending on how many people are planning to attend, if you are going to have 30, you should make it 5 squares by 5. In each square, put a statement such as “Has been in a play”, “Hates to cook”, “Has been camping”, “Is Left Handed”, “Likes to Play Basketball”, “Has braces”, “Likes to Ski”, “Has two siblings” and so forth. For more ideas, please read “Sample Icebreaker People Bingo Questions” and “Fun People Bingo Questions for a Family Reunion.”
The goal of the game is to get a signature for each square. To sign the square, the person must meet the description. No one can sign a paper twice. Each participant will go around the room, asking other participants to sign their Bingo Card. Whoever has the card completely filled first, wins!
Who Am I?
This is a silly game but can be very entertaining. It works great as an icebreaker. Before the event, write down names on stickers. If it is for a church group, you can write down the name of Bible characters. For other events, you could choose famous people in history, movie stars, etc.
Each person will have a sticker on his or her back. The goal is to guess what the sticker says, or “who they are”. They must go around the room, and can ask one person at a time a yes or no question about the person, such as. “Am I male or female?”, “Am I dead or alive?”, “Am I a movie star?”, “Am I married?”, “Did in I live in the 1800’s?”, and so forth.
This could be a non-competitive game, where everyone tries to figure out who they are. You could also have a winner for the first and second person to correctly guess who they are.
Purse/Suitcase Scavenger Hunt
This is a great game for ladies retreats / events, or youth overnight retreats. If you choose the suitcase scavenger hunt, you will need to request that everyone bring their suitcase to the room.
Before the retreat, write down a list of items that might be in a suitcase or purse. Some ideas for a suitcase are contact solution or lenses, washcloth, blue (or another color) toothbrush, dental floss, lipstick, and mouthwash. For a purse, you might say a penny from the 1980’s, stick of gum, tic tacs, lip gloss, chap stick, baby related item, business card etc.
Divide everyone into groups of 3-5. Provide each group with a list. The first group that gets everyone on the list wins. If no one gets it, the first one to get all but one or two. Another way to play this game is to have it as a race. You could stand at the front of the room, and the first team to reach you that has each item wins. (It all depends on the personality of the event you are hosting.)
Photo Scavenger Hunt
A fifth fun game for young and young adult parties is a photo scavenger hunt. This is sure to create memories, and will provide each group with funny photos that make great refrigerator magnets. Read these articles here for full details. It’s a hilarious game!
Happy Partying!
