There are few things I enjoy more than having a bunch of my good friends together and just passing the time by playing games together. And while most of the time when my friends are together, we gravitate towards bigger more serious games we have been known to pull out a party game or two when the mood calls for it and it’s never not a good time.
If you’re looking for something new to try next time you’re invited to a gathering with family or friends and just want to share some belly laughs, and awkward giggles while creating memories you’re sure to reference time and time again then this list is for you.
These are some of my favourite, lighthearted and easy-to-pick-up and play party games that, most importantly, aren’t 30 seconds. Enjoy.
What Do You Meme?
For Groups That Spend Far Too Much Time On The Internet
Players: 3-20
You’ll enjoy it if: You enjoy sharing a good meme among friends.
What Do You Meme? Is by far the easiest game on this list and the beauty of it lies in that simplicity. I’ve played this game with my meme-obsessed friends, but I’ve also played it with parents, aunts and grandparents, and the reaction has always been the same: pure joy.
What Do You Meme? is a card-based party game aimed at a generation who grew up and truly appreciate a good meme. In each round, one player will be the judge and play a card with a picture of a meme on it down to the table. Then each other player plays a caption card to complement the meme. The funnies pairing wins, and the game repeats.
I think the reason why What Do You Meme? is always such a hit is that you don’t need to know the origins of the meme to have a good time with the game. It’s as simple as looking at a funny picture and choosing a funny caption to go with it, and that’s it.
Say Anything
For Gamers Who Share A Close Bond With Their Family And Friends
Players: 3-8
You’ll enjoy it if: You enjoy games that test your observation skills and reward knowing the ones you love.
Say Anything was the first party game my friend group played together, and it’s one we’ve played countless times since. At its core, Say Anything is a game that exposes you and your group’s innermost thoughts, wants and desires.
The game follows a pretty simple format, one player will draw a card from the deck and ask a question on it to the group, for example, it could say: Who is the sexiest, smartest and funniest writer at NAG?
Everyone else will then write what they think YOU would answer and puts it face-up on the table to try and stump the rest, as no duplicate answers are allowed. The player who asked the question will then secretly choose and lock in their favourite answer (for the example given the winning answer would of course be Arielle) and everyone else starts betting on which answer they think that player chose.
Once the winning answer has been revealed, players who placed bets correctly will earn points, while everyone else will walk away with nothing but shame.
Cards Against Humanity
For Gamers Who Enjoy The Worst (Best) Kind Of Humour
Players: 4-30
You’ll enjoy it if: You and your group share similar dark humour and laugh at things that you know you shouldn’t.
Cards Against Humanity is dubbed as a party game for horrible people and honestly, that’s all you need to know about the game. The gameplay is very similar to the two games mentioned above.
One player will play a black card into the table, that card will have part of a joke that needs to be completed. For example: Yo mama so fat she ________.
The other players will then look through their hands of cards and chose one that they think will be funny, and play it face down on the table. Once all the cards have been played the starting player will then pick up all the cards and read them one by one, finishing off the joke.
Yo mama so fat she ________ on both sides of the family. That player then decides which answer card was the funniest, and the player who played the answer scores a point. The game continues until players say it’s over and that, at that point, whichever player has the most points wins.
There is no barrier of entry when it comes to skill and Cards Against Humanity; the only thing required is that everyone playing has a dark, devil-may-care sense of humour as the cards will poke fun at everything from religion, gender, poverty and every other social awkward or taboo subject you can imagine.
5 Second Rule
For Gamers Who Enjoy The Speed Of 30 Seconds But Not The Game
Players: 3-6
You’ll enjoy it if: If you enjoy fast-thinking games that put you on the spot and ridicule you for not knowing basic things, then this is the game for you.
Now I’ll be honest, I hate 30 Seconds. I wouldn’t say I’m a dumb person but I will say that my mind needs longer than 30 seconds to prove that it’s not dumb.
5 Second Rule takes the already there pressure of a game like 30 seconds and makes it even more chaotic by lowering the time to a mere 5 seconds and adding a memory aspect to it.
The premise is simple, everyone gets a card, and the card will say something like “name three South African foods starting with B” you then have five seconds to do so.
If you name all three foods correctly, you can then move forward on the board, however, if you fail to name even one, then the question passes on to the player to your right, and they must then answer it. However, they aren’t allowed to mention anything you already have, adding an interesting memory aspect to the game.
I enjoy 5 Second Rule as a fun and light-hearted alternative to 30 Seconds that also gets players up out of their seats and yelling answers in no time.
Where you can find it locally: Grinning Gargoyle Gaming
Unstable Unicorns
For Gamers Who Enjoy Betraying Their Friends
Players: 2-8
You’ll enjoy it if: You enjoy the thrill of building up a Unicorn army to replace all of your friends, one by one.
Unstable Unicorns is the most strategic and gamey game on this list. Players will start with a cute Baby Unicorn in their Stable. However, they shouldn’t get too attached because no unicorns, not even baby ones are ever safe in the game.
Going around the table, each turn is made up of four phases. The starting player will draw a card and then play a card. It’s that simple. However, each card has an ability that either lets players add unicorns to their army, or remove unicorns from their friend’s armies.
The player who can get 7 unicorns into their stable wins and will be forever known as the righteous rules of all things magical, until the next game begins.
Unstable Unicorns is a card-based game that can be taught in under 5 minutes and plays just as fast. If you’re looking for a game to play with a group but you’re not in the mood for your stereotypical party-style games then this is the game for you.
Also, it has unicorns, and who doesn’t love unicorns? Exactly.
Where you can find it locally: Grinning Gargoyle Gaming
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What are your thoughts on the games mentioned? Will you be pulling any of these out in the next group setting? Let us know down below.