Ideas for indoor activities for an employee party

April 3, 2013 3:42 PM

I'm in need of ideas for indoor activities for an end of the season work party for a large group of seasonal employees.

So far I have plans for a photobooth and possibly karaoke.
Biggest previous success was a mechanical bull (not feasible this year).

I would love to hear about your best suggestions for indoor games or activities that would be fun to partake in and fun for non-participants to watch. The weather forecast is crummy, but had it been good I was hoping to set up some dodgeball, soccer, capture the flag, etc...

Some details.
- Age range 16-75
- Alcohol tends to flow pretty freely for the over 21 crowd
- 50-75 attendees

posted by a girl and her dog to Grab Bag (8 answers total)

I was once at a company party where they had an indoor radio control car track set up in part of the room (it was a big ballroom). Really fun to both play and watch. No idea on the cost or how to find one, but I assume companies that rent out party games would know.
posted by primethyme at 3:58 PM on April 3, 2013 [1 favorite]

ping pong, dancing, limbo, Feats of Strength, arm wrestling ...

http://www.jubed.com/youth_ministry/search/indoor

http://www.ultimatecampresource.com/site/camp-activities/rainy-day-or-indoor-games.page-1.html

Some of these are for younger folk, but you might find something of interest.
posted by bunderful at 4:16 PM on April 3, 2013

For one of my wife's birthdays I rented out an indoor beach volleyball court. It was pretty fun. With 50-75 people you could have a pretty good tournament.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 5:25 PM on April 3, 2013

Casino games! Then have winners bid on cool stuff at the end of the party with their Monopoly money. My sister got LASIK and a Tempupedic bed from Casino Night. Plus casino games are hella-fun. Churches and hospitals can't be wrong.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 6:04 PM on April 3, 2013 [1 favorite]

is there a trampolining center near you? by bf's company did an offsite at one and everyone had a blast, then went to a bar after.
posted by koroshiya at 6:28 PM on April 3, 2013

nthing the casino games idea.

At a holiday party for [very large company] they had this. You'd get n amount of chips, and chips were redeemable for prizes. It was a lot of fun.

Also nthing koroshiya's trampolining idea. Another (smaller) company had a do at a trampolining gym, and much fun was had by all.
posted by colin_l at 8:44 PM on April 3, 2013

Rent an air hockey table - is that safe for drunk people? Ping-pong table?

Rent a Dance Dance Revolution arcade game?

Other carnival or Chuck E. Cheese type games?

Virtual golfing station?

Can you do an adult moon bounce thing indoors or that thing where people dress like sumo wrestlers and bump into each other? I guess if you had a mechanical bull before, I assume you have a good sized budget.

Where I live, there's a giant laser tag place with a bar and catering so adults can have parties there -- could just do that. My family had a birthday party at the laser tag place for my sister (our ages are like 16 to 60) and it was really fun. It also had some other bumper cars type game that seemed less fun to us.
posted by AppleTurnover at 1:58 AM on April 4, 2013

What about asking folks to share photos of their pets, and ask to match the pet with the person? You'd be surprised who owns a rabbit and who has a snake.
Guessing games? Jar full of jelly beans, or something related to your work -- if you make mini-widgets, then how many widgets can fit into a jar?
Iron chef exotic food tasting and guessing -- would you recognize a piece of jicama or capers without context? (be aware of allergies!)
Shadow puppet contests? There's usually someone who's good at this, and it's fun to try.
posted by crepeMyrtle at 1:32 PM on April 4, 2013