TLDR; What are some good party games that encourage getting to know each other and are not centered around drinking?

A year ago I had a great party. I split all participants (maybe 16 people) into 4 teams and made a 3 game tournament which was very appreciated. This year I am hoping to replicate the good vibe we had, but I want new games.

I am now asking you; What are some good party games?

Criterias:

  • Low or no amount of randomness (to keep things competitive)
  • Reasonably easy to acquire the materials for
  • Possible to do as a team
  • Encourages interaction, either within the team, between teams or both
  • Should not be centered around drinking
  • TheTechyHobbit
    23·
    3 months ago

    TLDR; Use poker decks to clone 3 sets of Love Letter

    I’ll recommend some boardgames.

    Once you go over 7-8 players, the options are greatly reduced. The available genres become (mostly) limited to social deduction

    Social deduction, all about trying to figure out other peoples cards. And lying, lots of lying.

    • Love letter, 6 players, 20 cards, ~13 tokens, for points
    • Avalon, 7-10 players, ~30cards, tracking mat/paper
    • Secret Hitler, 7-10 players, ~30 cards, tracking mat/paper, has a print-at-home version.
    • Ultimate werewolf/vampire/etc, ~10-12 players, ~13-15 cards, phone app (for narration, free)

    *None of the above are very good for playing as teams (i.e. two ppl taking a single player spot)

    Group Games games that do well with teams

    • Codenames, various versions.
    • Forbidden Island/Dessert/Sky - co-op game for various number of players

    As a special mention, Challengers is a board game that allows you to create simple yet fun card drafting tournaments. There are two editions, each allows you up to 8 players, and if you have both they can be combined into 16ppl tournaments

    For your numbers, you’d need to buy 2-3 copies of the same game. Not ideal, even if you have the budget.

    I’d say, print yourself three copies of Love Letters, you can find the cards online, or just play with 2-3 poker decks. Its the best game in my library, simple yet deep. We’ve been playing it at least once a week for 3 years now. I’ve even managed to play once with a mob of disinterested teens ;)