Party game

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Party games are games suitable to entertaining in social gatherings. Though the definition is not strictly set, party games tend to include many or all of the following traits:

• The game supports a relatively large or undefined number of players, compared to more traditional board games or card games that require a small, set number of players. Some games, especially commercial games, have a set limit based on available equipment; others are limited by other mechanics of the game like time for each turn, while still others have no practical limit.
• Team-based play in party games is common, but not required. Games that divide players into two, three, or four roughly equal teams, such as Cranium, Charades or Pictionary tend to allow for larger total numbers of players. By contrast, other games such as Werewolf and How To Host A Murder are role-based, with each player being given a character or other role to play in the course of the game. The number of players is limited to the number of roles, but in many such games there are "generic" roles allowing for a high degree of flexibility.
• Cooperation and interaction between many players at once is encouraged. Both team and role-based play generally encourage this social aspect to the game; games that do not encourage this interaction generally make poor party games.
• Multiple ways to play and contribute. For example, in Fictionary not everyone needs to create plausible dictionary definitions; humorous submissions are welcome. In Charades, players can actively participate in guessing without taking a turn at acting. Sports often make poor party games as limitations in a player's physical abilities may preclude participation; however, some popular party games like relay races or Red Light/Green Light involve a significant physical aspect and are especially suitable for groups similar in age and ability.
• Players participate in gameplay frequently, sometimes on an impromptu basis. Games in which each player has their own independent turn generally make poor party games, especially if a turn takes a long time.
• The game has entertainment value for spectators. Many party games involve at least some level of humor, whether inherent in the game or introduced by players. In this way, players not taking a turn can still enjoy the gameplay.
• Player elimination is rare. Monopoly makes a poor party game, because bankrupt players must sit out while the remaining players continue to the game's conclusion, which can take several hours. In contrast, no matter how far behind a team is in Pictionary, all players can participate until the very end.
• The amount of specialized equipment needed is not dependent on the number of players. Games such as Liar's Dice make poor party games because each player needs a cup and five dice to start the game. By contrast, Yahtzee needs only one cup and set of dice regardless of the number of players (the basic Yahtzee game does have other practical limitations).
• The game usually does not involve spending real money as a prerequisite or consequence of playing. Games that require each player to purchase consumable items or specialized equipment are usually poor party games. Casino games are a notable exception; a "casino night" with a token door charge or buy-in for charity or to defray costs can be popular, as can poker tournaments with a similar small buy-in.

Common party games

• 1000 Blank White Cards
• Apples to Apples
• Articulate
• Bat a rat
• Balderdash
• Beer Pong
• Botticelli
• Bobby's World
• Buck buck
• Black Magic
• Bugs
• Catch Phrase
• Categories (related to the commercial Scattergories and Facts in Five)
• Celebrity
• Charades
• Consequences
• Couch Of Power
• Drinking games
• Cranium
• Fictionary (related to the commercial Balderdash)
• Fuck, Marry, Kill
• GiftTRAP
• Mafia (also known as Vampire or Werewolf)
• Murder mystery games
• Outburst (game)
• Pictionary
• Psychiatrist
• Scissors
• Scruples
• Seven minutes in heaven
• Shout about movies
• Silent football
• Spin the bottle
• Strip poker
• Squeak Piggy Squeak
• Taboo
• The Priest of the Parish
• The Resistance
• Treasure Hunt
• Truth or Dare? and related games such as "Strip or Dare?" and "Drink or Dare?"
• Trivial Pursuit
• Twenty questions
• White Elephant Gift Exchange
• Zip and bong

Children's party games

Not all of the above are suitable for children's parties. Traditional children's party games (some of which are also popular with teenagers and adults) include:

• Blind Man's Bluff
• The Chocolate Game
• The Farmer's In His Den
• Hot Potato
• Hunt the Thimble (or slipper, or other object)
• Musical Chairs
• Oranges and Lemons
• Pass the Parcel
• Pin the Tail on the Donkey
• Pinata
• Poor Pussy
• Wink Murder
• Duck Duck Goose

Party video games

The party game has become a genre of video games — arguably in 1982, with Starpath's Party Mix. Currently, the most well known example is the Mario Party series. These games are usually best played in multiplayer mode. The games are commonly designed as a collection of simple minigames, designed to be intuitive and easy to control. Some of the games (most notably the Mario Party series) are played out on boardgame boards.

Other examples of party video games include:

• Crash Bash
• Dance Dance Revolution
• Doraemon Wii
• Everyparty
• Eye Toy
• Fuzion Frenzy
• Guitar Hero
• Micro Machines
• Rayman Raving Rabbids
• Rock Band
• Singstar
• Smash Bros
• Sonic Shuffle
• WarioWare
• You Don't Know Jack
• Buzz!
• Getter Love!!
• Mario Party

Large group games

Large group games are those which are played with a large number of participants and are often used as planned activities in structured environments, especially as educational activities. They are similar to party games, except that large group games are typically planned for larger numbers (perhaps even hundreds) as part of an event.

Large group games can take a variety of forms and formats.

Some are physical games such as Buck buck.

Some are modeled on the TV Game Show format, offering points for teams who can answer questions the fastest. Trivia-type games might have questions posed from the stage and each tabletop writing their answers to be collected and scored. Others may take on some of the qualities of Open Space environments and allow participants to wander in a less structured way.

Group board games can take on the design of small groups of players, seated at tables of 4 to 6 people, who work together on a problem. There can be large numbers of people (and thus many tables). If properly designed, these scalable exercises can be used for small groups (12 to 20 people) as well as very large events (600 people or 100 tables).

Generally, for these larger exercises, multimedia projectors, large screens and microphones are required for instructions, communications and debriefing.

A search for team building events can turn up millions of links to exercises, companies, and all kinds of offerings ranging from paintball competitions to fire walks to outdoor climbing or whitewater adventures. The impact on actual team building can vary widely - a golf outing for corporate executives does not generally accomplish much in the way of organizational improvement while a business simulation might be directly focused on linking the play of the game to issues for corporate improvement.

Holiday groups use a gift exchange party game such as white elephant gift exchange or Yankee swap for socializing and sharing gifts. New online party games, based on these holiday games, allow larger groups to gather on the internet to save travel expenses.

See also

• Drinking game
• Parlour game
• Minigame
• Casual game
• Casual gamer
• Cuddle party