Party games for large groups.
At fifteen people, most party games stall: a turn takes a minute, and the people at the far end start their own conversation. The games that survive are the ones where a turn is three seconds, or where everyone acts at once. Here are ten, with what breaks and how to run them.
1. The imposter word game, 3 to 20 (ours)
A turn is one word, so twenty people get round in a minute. Everyone knows the secret word except the imposters, who only know the category, and the vote is everyone pointing at once. From eleven players there are two imposters, and the clue passes drop to one so the round stays short. The rules.
- The host runs it from one phone with a TV showing the name of whoever is up, so the far end of the room can read it. Or a phone passed round, if it is a long table.
- Everyone on their own phone: a room with a link, each phone holding its own card and ballot, which is faster than passing one phone to twenty people.
- Twenty is the cap. Twenty-five people are two rooms of twelve and thirteen, and better for it.
Deal a round in your browser to see it, or start a room.
2. Werewolf
Seven to twenty, with a narrator who does not play. Roles on slips, nights with eyes closed, days of accusation. Long, loud and the right call for a group that wants one game all evening. How it compares.
3. Team quiz
Tables of four to six, ten questions a round, answers on paper. Scales to any size because the teams do the work. One quizmaster, one scorer.
4. Wink murder
One secret murderer winks people dead; a detective in the middle has to catch them. Needs a circle and a room quiet enough to hear people gasp.
5. Human bingo
A card of twenty facts (has broken a bone, speaks three languages); find a person for each. The only game on this list that works before anyone has sat down.
6. Categories
A letter and five categories, one minute, everyone writes at once. Points for answers nobody else had. Twenty people write in silence, then argue for five minutes about whether a quokka counts.
7. The name game
Every player writes three famous names into a hat. Teams take turns describing, then miming, then saying one word for the same names over three rounds. The second round is the good one.
8. Charades relay
Teams in lines, one word acted down the line like a whisper, the last person guesses. Everyone is doing something, which is the whole trick with big groups.
9. Who am I
A name on every forehead, yes-or-no questions, no turns: just mingle and ask. Works at any size because nobody waits.
10. The lie detector
Everyone writes one true and one false fact about themselves. The host reads them in a random order; the room votes true or false by show of hands. Fast, and it gets everyone talking to the person who grew up in a lighthouse.
Running a big group
- One host, standing up, with a voice. Explain in a sentence and start.
- Prefer games where everyone acts at once or a turn is three seconds. Anything with a minute-long turn needs splitting into tables.
- Big type on a TV beats a host shouting. Side Eye’s TV sign exists for exactly this.
- Names, not colours or numbers. Twenty people cannot remember who was blue.
Questions
How many people can play Side Eye?
Three to twenty, in every mode. Two imposters from eleven players, three at most with the Surprise setting.
What about more than twenty?
Two rooms. Each gets its own link, and the rounds run in parallel. Twenty-five people in one game is a long wait for a turn in any game.
How long is a round with twenty people?
About five minutes: one pass of clues, a minute of talk, the vote and the reveal. The app drops to one clue pass from nine players for that reason.
