Be Ready for Your Next Game Night with These Crowd-Pleasing Party Games!
It’s party time! We always make a point of crafting at least one gift guide that highlights this type of game. While we love showcasing family games, things for younger kids and games for older kids and adults, party games scratch an entirely different itch.
This list is filled with an assortment of titles all in this genre. Some accommodate more players than others. There are games that are meant to fill the room with laughter and others that will make you think. They also vary in the amount of time they take to play and the theme that surrounds them. There’s something for everyone. Don’t forget that the logo means we’ve written about it in more detail so click through if you want more information.
In the Palm of Your Hand
La Boîte de Jeu / Hachette Boardgames
In the Palm of Your Hand is a team-based game where you help your grandparent relive their memories. Do this by using 11 different 3D objects to mime the scene depicted on over one hundred beautifully illustrated cards! But watch out, because other teams will add red herring cards to confuse the grandparent when they open their eyes.
Glyphics
Big G Creative
Keepers
Van Ryder Games
Keepers is an interactive card game for 3-8, where players will try to outwit their opponents by playing a card from their hand after hearing only a single non-noun word. Players all vote on which card aligns the most (or the least!) with the word and whichever card gets the most votes is a KEEPER!
Smart Ass
University Games
Who’s the Smart Ass among your friends and family? Find out with this outrageous, fast-paced party game! This is the game for players who have been bursting to scream out the answer even when it’s not their turn. Each question has eight clues – the first player to yell out the correct answer wins the round and takes a step closer to becoming the ultimate “Smart Ass.” The player who reaches the donkey’s butt in the center of the board first wins the game.
Oh Really?
Randolph / Hachette Boardgames
In Oh Really?, players try to correctly guess the order of preference of other players among 5 completely different topics. The more accurately your guesses are, the more points you score. Enjoy laughter, discussions and small discomforts, all of which can be a great icebreaker for your dinners, parties or even on a date! With 200 different topics to choose from, each game will be unique and each choices can be hard to make.
Verses
Big G Creative
Life is full of moments…wild, rude, or downright cringe. Verses is the head nodding party game that gives these moments a beat! Players match Moment Cards with Song Cards – featuring the biggest pop bangers from the past few decades – hoping their choice is voted the funniest. It’s the party game that SLAPS! Verses…Perfect songs. Petty Moments.
Just Tell Me What to Do
Flying Leap Games
Just Tell Me What to Do is a *hilarious* party game about giving advice to help you and your friends make important life decisions like, “Should I jump into a pit of sharks for Youtube?” In each round, a Decision Maker reads aloud a Dilemma Card. Other players advise them using their hand of Advice Cards from famous comedians/authors/poets. Each player has 45 seconds to argue why their advice is the best.
Hello Neighbor: The Secret Neighbor Party Game
Arcane Wonders
Players take on the roles of one of the neighborhood kids, the treacherous neighbor or even a Secret Neighbor. BASED ON THE HIT VIDEO GAME SERIES! Step into the world of the Hello Neighbor/Secret Neighbor franchise in the real world. Includes 3 plastic replica keys from the video game and a code for a free in-game Spy Neighbor Skin!
You Who?! – The Battle of You Knows Who
EAP Toy and Games
You Who?! is the battle of YOU knows WHO, a fun game designed to challenge friends and/or family with 5 rounds of questions that go from silly and light-hearted to more thought provoking. If there’s debate regarding an answer, throw the baloney and state your case, because you may know people better than they know themselves!
PARTY FREUD
PARTY FREUD
A card game for people who probably need therapy. (Ahem, everyone!) PARTY FREUD is the bridge between a therapist’s couch and your best friend’s sofa. Players take turns pretending to be each other’s funny therapist. Plus! Group Therapy prompts like Symptom Charades, Rapid Response, Head Talk and Diagnose a Friend keep the game extra lively! Could you be the next funny Doc Freud? Play today and find out! (Ages 14+, 3-16 Players)
VENN
The Op
Introducing VENN, an award-winning, clever game where clues and art overlap! Race to find three secret words based on where a Clue Giver arranges unique Art Cards onto color circles. Set a timer or outguess the others to find the similarities, come to the right conclusions, and win! Go head-to-head as teams or work together through cooperative gameplay in this hands-on communication game that mixes friendly competition and fun.
Brilliant or BS?
Brilliant or BS?
How good is your BS Detector? Find out with the hilarious bluffing trivia party game that tests your knowledge and your ability to tell when your friends are trying to fool you! The rules are simple. Read a trivia question then hold court as the other players answer secretly and attempt to convince you that they know the correct answer without saying it. To win, be the best at predicting who’s brilliant and who’s just faking it!
Hellapagos
Gigamic / Hachette Boardgames
Hellapagos is a “co-opetition” game in which players struggle to survive on a desert island and build a raft to escape before a hurricane devastates them. While players need to work together, it’s not likely that everyone will survive this backstabbing negotiation game for up to twelve players. For a bigger island experience, the Hellapagos Big Box is available at Barnes and Nobles through the holiday session.
Judge Your Friends
University Games
Jewish Card Revoked
Flying Leap Games
Jewish Card Revoked is a funny game about Jewish culture that includes questions like, “What’s the most ostentatious thing at a bar/bat mitzvah?” From Broadway to bagels, this game will have you laughing and debating the BIGGEST questions facing Jews today. Each round, players vote on their answers to subjective multiple choice questions, then representatives from the majority and minority opinions take turns defending why THEIR answer is best…in 45 seconds or less.
Allow Me to Mansplain
For Why Games
Allow Me to Mansplain is a conversational party game made in the USA that places an emphasis on the words that men say before they mansplain. With light elements of improv and roleplaying, players must mansplain topics to their teammates. The team with the most correctly guessed mansplained topics wins.
Hues and Cues
The Op
What hue do you think of when we say “apple”? Hues and Cues is a vibrant game of colorful communication where players are challenged to make connections to colors with words. Using only one and two-word cues, players try to get others to guess a specific hue from the 480 colors on the game board. The closer the guesses are to the target, the more points you earn. Since everyone imagines colors differently, connecting colors and clues has never been this much fun!
See what I mean that there’s a lot of variety? Hopefully you’ll be able to check someone off your shopping list with something(s) from this list. And if you’re lucky, they’ll invite you to play when they receive it. If there’s something you really want to try, put it on your own wish list. We’ve provided links to some online resources, but we always encourage you to ask your local game store about availability.
As we’ve mentioned in our other guides, some of these items will be included in our holiday giveaway promotion so be sure to check back daily until the end of the year to find out what!
Which of these party games do you want to break open and play at your next gathering?
The only game on this list I have played is Hellapagos. Had fun playing that one.
Looks like lots of fun!
Would like to try Smart Ass.
OMG! I would love to play Smart Ass with my family! I bet it would make for a great night of laughs!
Great name for a game lol.
Can’t wait to play!
love it
Wow, these are some really creative games! I like the mystery games like Hello Neighbor.
we need a new game for christmas
Hellapagos sounds pretty awesome. I love semi-cooperative games. Not knowing who you can trust always adds to the gaming experience
Looks great
Some very good looking games.
Hello Neighbor: The Secret Neighbor Party Game looks intriguing.
They all look fun
Hello Neighbor: The Secret Neighbor Party Game
Hello Neighbor: Hellapagos
Thanks for sharing this list of crowd-pleasing party games. I really appreciate it. And some of them look like they would be so much fun to play, especially Smart Ass and Hues and Cues.