Favorite goofing off games
January 29, 2020 8:02 AM Subscribe
What are some of your favorite games you need only your self and some other people/person to play? Example: telephone, hand slap game, chicken game where you hold one leg etc?
I'm doing/leading a lot of family group activities so looking for playful "group games". I'm looking for them online, but I notice often the ones people have the most fun with are really simple and the lists they post online, in trying to make the lists longer seem to make up a lot of games that I wonder, does anyone play these and actually enjoy them lol? Specifically while I want the these to be kid friendly activities, I also want to bring out the playfulness, joy and laughter in adults as well. I'm also trying to avoid the sort of cringe feeling I have when you're at a school or corporate event and you realize you have to play "trust" games lol. Let's just goof off here... :D
So from the perspective of remembering silly boredom games like this that would get you laughing, what are some you remember actually enjoying, particularly that make people laugh?
I'm up for hearing some that need a supply or two as well if it's pretty simple.
Bonus: I'm also doing a lot of online interviews and online group discussions coming up and I would like to do games and silly questions in this contexts as well- so games you can play via online (i.e. try to answer this question without using the word "I" or "is") I would also love to hear! I'm making a list as I watch silly interviews online... Thanks everyone!
I'm doing/leading a lot of family group activities so looking for playful "group games". I'm looking for them online, but I notice often the ones people have the most fun with are really simple and the lists they post online, in trying to make the lists longer seem to make up a lot of games that I wonder, does anyone play these and actually enjoy them lol? Specifically while I want the these to be kid friendly activities, I also want to bring out the playfulness, joy and laughter in adults as well. I'm also trying to avoid the sort of cringe feeling I have when you're at a school or corporate event and you realize you have to play "trust" games lol. Let's just goof off here... :D
So from the perspective of remembering silly boredom games like this that would get you laughing, what are some you remember actually enjoying, particularly that make people laugh?
I'm up for hearing some that need a supply or two as well if it's pretty simple.
Bonus: I'm also doing a lot of online interviews and online group discussions coming up and I would like to do games and silly questions in this contexts as well- so games you can play via online (i.e. try to answer this question without using the word "I" or "is") I would also love to hear! I'm making a list as I watch silly interviews online... Thanks everyone!
Best answer: Improv Warm Up Games are particularly good for this. Examples include:
Stories, a Word at a Time - Arrange yourself in a circle. Someone says the first word of a sentence, the next person says the next word, etc. The goal is to tell a coherent story that has a beginning, middle and end.
Hashtag - A simpler version of the above. Instead of a story you are essentially composing a tweet or Instagram caption. Also when someone feels the thought is complete their "contribution" is the word "hashtag" which is the signal for the next person to append a hashtag to the story which could be a single word or in the style of hashtags a made up compound word.
Mind Meld - a slightly harder game but can be fun to see how people's minds work. Again, stand in a circle. Person 1 and Person 2 secretly think of a word and then on a count of three they yell out their words. They obviously won't match but that is the input for Person 2 and Person 3. They take these two words and secretly think of what the "median"* word between those two words are. At a count of three, they shout out their words. If they match, great, if not then these two new words are used as the input for the next round. And so on.
*An example of a median word might be "Mickey Mouse" if the two starter words were "cartoon" and "rat".
posted by mmascolino at 8:54 AM on January 29, 2020 [3 favorites]
Stories, a Word at a Time - Arrange yourself in a circle. Someone says the first word of a sentence, the next person says the next word, etc. The goal is to tell a coherent story that has a beginning, middle and end.
Hashtag - A simpler version of the above. Instead of a story you are essentially composing a tweet or Instagram caption. Also when someone feels the thought is complete their "contribution" is the word "hashtag" which is the signal for the next person to append a hashtag to the story which could be a single word or in the style of hashtags a made up compound word.
Mind Meld - a slightly harder game but can be fun to see how people's minds work. Again, stand in a circle. Person 1 and Person 2 secretly think of a word and then on a count of three they yell out their words. They obviously won't match but that is the input for Person 2 and Person 3. They take these two words and secretly think of what the "median"* word between those two words are. At a count of three, they shout out their words. If they match, great, if not then these two new words are used as the input for the next round. And so on.
*An example of a median word might be "Mickey Mouse" if the two starter words were "cartoon" and "rat".
posted by mmascolino at 8:54 AM on January 29, 2020 [3 favorites]
Slug bug? You have to be in a car but it meets your criteria.
(What is the chicken game?)
posted by HotToddy at 9:10 AM on January 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
(What is the chicken game?)
posted by HotToddy at 9:10 AM on January 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
Also arm wrestling and thumb wrestling!
posted by HotToddy at 9:11 AM on January 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by HotToddy at 9:11 AM on January 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
Duck duck goose if you have at least 6 people.
Jello with at least 4 people.
Jump rope games, double dutch.
20 questions.
posted by greta simone at 9:15 AM on January 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
Jello with at least 4 people.
Jump rope games, double dutch.
20 questions.
posted by greta simone at 9:15 AM on January 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
Ninja! If you've never seen it or played, watch a video or two to get a feel for it. It's pretty goofy.
posted by jquinby at 9:35 AM on January 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by jquinby at 9:35 AM on January 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon (or your preferred variant)
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 9:36 AM on January 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 9:36 AM on January 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
oh, uh, Ninja is played in-person. Wouldn't work very well online.
posted by jquinby at 9:37 AM on January 29, 2020
posted by jquinby at 9:37 AM on January 29, 2020
Skull and Roses was a lot of fun to teach folks on my last work trip. It's available as a retail package, but all you need is four (nearly) identical pieces of paper or card per person. I had a deck of cards with me, so I handed each person three number cards and one face card. If you have access to business cards, coasters, or something similar you can use those and draw an X on one of them.
posted by backseatpilot at 9:56 AM on January 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by backseatpilot at 9:56 AM on January 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
I've been wanting to play Are you there, Moriarty ever since reading about it years ago!
posted by LeeLanded at 10:04 AM on January 29, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by LeeLanded at 10:04 AM on January 29, 2020 [3 favorites]
Stinky pinky: think of a two word rhyme, define it using other words and have the other players guess the original. Easily "customized" for age group.
posted by Botanizer at 10:07 AM on January 29, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by Botanizer at 10:07 AM on January 29, 2020 [2 favorites]
My kids and I love playing "That's Where You Were Born" while we're traveling, which I think I learned about here on AskMe but I can't find it now. Basically you look around and point out the grossest, most disgusting spot and say (yell?) "That's where YOU were born!!!"
posted by cocoagirl at 11:48 AM on January 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by cocoagirl at 11:48 AM on January 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
Contact! I learned to play it last fall, it is super fun.
posted by zoetrope at 12:27 PM on January 29, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by zoetrope at 12:27 PM on January 29, 2020 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thank you all so much for the answers, I've really enjoyed them! Can try them out soon! :D
posted by xarnop at 4:52 AM on January 31, 2020
posted by xarnop at 4:52 AM on January 31, 2020
This thread is closed to new comments.
edit: Also known as telephone pictionary.
posted by Grither at 8:04 AM on January 29, 2020 [2 favorites]