28 FUN PARTY GAMES FOR TEENS THAT THEY WILL ACTUALLY LOVE

Teens can be a tough crowd to entertain. So here is a list of 28 of the most fun party games for teens that they will actually love playing at birthday and other parties and you won’t find them rolling their eyes at.

FUN PARTY GAMES FOR TEENS? REALLY?!

Let’s face it, the teen years can be as awkward for parents as they are for teens themselves. Not least when the time comes for you to try and provide them with entertainment at a party.

It’s especially tough when your lowly party games are up against the non-stop dopamine hits of TikTok and endlessly messaging with friends – even when surrounded by friends in the actual same room.

But if you want to give your teenager a really memorable party, one where they and all their friends got to really kick back and have some pure, unadulterated fun, a few well chosen party games can go a long way to getting the party started.

Clearly the teenage years span a good few years and a newly minted 13 year old is a very different creature to a 19 year old. So for the purposes of this post I am focusing on games for those most awkward of teen years – 13 to sweet 16.

Pick and choose from this list to make sure you have the best party games for Christmas, New Years Eve, birthday and sleepover parties for teens.

Related: 43 Birthday themes teens will love

28 SUPER FUN PARTY GAMES FOR TEENS

1.WINK MURDER

Wink murder is an absolute classic party game that never gets old. It is a game of stealth and cunning that teenages love playing. 

• Number of players: 4+ 
• What you need: Paper for tearing into chits and pen
• How To Play:

• Create a set of paper chits so that everyone in the room can take one
• Write ‘murderer’ on one chit
• Fold the chits over and put them in a bowl
• All players form a circle
• Hand the bowl round for everyone to take a chit
• The game can begin once everyone has a chit and had chance to see if they are the murderer
• All the players must make eye contact with one another whilst keeping an eye out to see who the murderer is
• Meanwhile the murderer must take their opportunity to wink at a fellow player without anyone else seeing
• If a player is winked at by the murderer they must feign death. They can do this as quietly or as dramatically as they wish
• After a player has feigned death the other players have the chance to accuse. Only one person can be accused each round. 
• If the murderer is accused the rest of the players win, but if the murderer stays undetected they win!

2. JUNK IN THE TRUNK

Junk in the trunk is a game of movement and laughter that causes those who are really competitive to pull some serious moves! Perfect for flexible teens!!

• Number of players: 6+
• What you need: This game needs a little preparation ahead of the party. Attach an empty tissue box to a belt or rop to make it look like a waist bag/bumbag. You will need at least 8 ping pong balls, some good party music and the stopwatch on your mobile phone
• How To Play:

• Junk In The Trunk is a very active party game that involves a lot of dancing, shaking and moving around. 
• The game is played one player at a time
• Put the ping pong balls in the tissue box tied to the belt
• Ask the player to tie the belt around their waist with the box at the back
• The players get one minute to shake their body and get the balls out of the box
• Any player who manages to get all the ping pong balls out of the box wins a prize 

Watch a game of Junk in the Trunk in action…

3. WHO AM I?

Who Am I? Is a bit of a classic party game. You can buy Who Am I? games, but I really like the version with a pack of sticky notes. 

• Number of players: 4+
• What you need: 1 pack of sticky notes, pen for every guest
• How To Play:

• Decide if the game will have a theme. For example, 90s music stars, TV show characters, movie stars
• Give everyone a sticky note. Ask them to write the name of a well-known person on it and keep it secret
• Ask everyone to attach the sticky note to the forehead of the person sitting to their right, making sure that this person doesn’t catch site of the name on the sticky not
• Going round the guests, everyone then takes a turn of trying to work out who they are. The questions must have ‘yes/no’ answers, such as… ‘am I male?’, ‘am I alive’, ‘am I British’ etc
• A guest can keep going with questions until they hit a ‘no’ answer or until they guess incorrectly
  The winner is the first to guess correctly, but the game can continue until everyone has either guessed or given up

4. HEADS UP

This game has become a modern classic guessing game that is an extension of the Who Am I game. There is even a Heads Up app (iOS/Android) you can download

• Number of players: 4+
• What you need: Download the Heads Up app (iOS/Android) 
• How To Play:

• Choose from one of the Heads Up categories
• Heads Up will then generate a list of prompts relevant to that category
• One person holds up the Heads Up screen with the prompt on it in front of their forehead
• Everyone else has to describe what the prompt is
• Once the person has guessed correctly they must flip the screen to get the next prompt to appear
• The winner is the person who guesses the most correct answers before their time runs out

Watch the cast of Cobra Kai playing Heads Up!

5. FORTUNE TELLER GAME

Fortune teller is a light-hearted look into the future for all the party guests. 

• Number of players: 6+
• What you need: Paper/ sticky notes and pens and four bags 
• How To Play:

• There are four categories – Marry, number of children, place, profession. 
• Each party guest writes down a name, place, number and profession on one of four pieces of paper
• Fold the paper up so the writing can’t be seen
• Put the paper into one of four category bags 
• Each player takes a turn to pick a piece of paper from each one of the bags
• That player then reads out their four category results
• The levels of laughter will depend how random the sentences are based on how random the details are on each piece of paper

6. SLEEPING BEAUTY GAME

This is a game to include if you really want to get the giggles going. The aim of the game is not to giggle – or show any signs of moving!

• Number of players: 6+
• What you need: Nothing needed 
• How To Play:

• A guest volunteers to be Sleeping Beauty
• They lie down with their eyes closed and as still as possible
• The rest of the guests must try to wake Sleeping Beauty by making them laugh without touching them

7. BLINDFOLD MAKEUP ARTIST 

This is a hilarious party game for teens that works best with two teams. It’s a great antidote to the social media induced need to always look perfect. 

• Number of players: 8+
• What you need: Lipstick, powder, nail polish, blusher, eye shadow… hair clips, hair brushes… basically anything that is hygienic to share (so avoid mascara and use lip brushes for gloss / lipstick). Two blindfolds. 
• How To Play:

• Divide the party guests into two teams
• Choose a make-up artist who will be blindfolded
• Choose a model who will have their make-up done 
• The rest of the team ‘guide’ the blindfolded makeup artist to create a look for the model
• Choose a winner based on either the best effort or the most hilarious effort!!

Watch the Haschak sisters play the blindfold makeup challenge

8. WOULD YOU RATHER

This is a fun way to ask teenagers some interesting questions.

• Number of players: 3+
• What you need: A set of funny, interesting and challenging questions appropriate for teens. You can buy a set of Would You Rather cards to make life easy. 
• How To Play:

• The party guests sit in a circle
• The first guest starts the ball rolling by asking the first ‘Would you rather…’ question to the person sitting opposite them in the circle
• Play continues until the teens have had enough!!

9. NEVER HAVE I EVER 

This is a great game for a group of teens that know each other really well. The fun is in getting to shock everyone! 

• Number of players: 3 – 6 (best kept to smaller groups)
• What you need: A big bowl of sweets/candy 
• How To Play:

• The first guest starts things off by saying ‘Never have I ever…’ followed by something they have never done 
• Give each kid some candy. Each teen takes a turn saying, “Never have I ever…” followed by something they’ve never done. For example… 
  • Never have I ever gone on a blind date
  • Never have I ever had a crush on a teacher
  • Never have I ever gone skinny dipping 
  • Never have I ever tried guessing someone’s phone password
• If any of their friends have done that thing, they eat a sweet/piece of candy 

10. TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE

This is a brilliant game for teens to play. It is both revelatory and also hilarity inducing. The aim is for a player to get the other players to believe the lie. 

• Number of players: 3 – 6 (best kept to smaller groups)
• What you need: Nothing 
• How To Play

• Each guest takes their turn to tell the rest of the party guests two things that are true and one lie about things they have done or things that have happened to them. 
• The rest of the guests must probe and ask questions to try and work out which is the lie

11. TWISTER

Twister is such a classic party game and it is perfect for teen parties when all the teens know each other pretty well. 

• Number of players: 4+
• What you need: A game of Twister 
• How To Play:

• Each party guest spins the spinner to find out which colour circle they have to place a hand or foot on
• Anyone who loses their balance is out of the game for that round

12. THE DONUT GAME

This is a modern classic party game that works well for kids of all ages. It involves eating donuts without the use of hands.

• Number of players: 4+
• What you need: Enough donuts for everyone to have a turn, string and a clothes line. 
• How To Play:

• Tie a clothesline or long string across the room/outside
• Tie a length of string around each donut and hang it on the line
• Make sure to set the donuts so that everyone has plenty of room to stand under their donut
• On the count of three each party guests has to put their hands behind their back and start trying to eat their donut
• The first one to finish wins
• You don’t have to stick to just one round of this!!

13. TASTE THE RAINBOW 

This is a deliciously fun party game for teens with a sweet tooth!

• Number of players: 4+
• What you need: A big bowl of Skittles, straws for every party guest, a cup for every party guest
• How To Play:

• Put the bowl of Skittles in middle of a table and give each party guest a straw and a cup
• Everyone must use their straw to suck up Skittles and then blow them into their cup
• Either the first person to collect a Skittle of each colour is the winner. Or you can have each player have to focus on a specific colour. Or you can do this against a timer and the winner has the most Skittles

14. WHIPPED GUMMY BEARS

This is where teens get messy in the name of sugar! 

• Number of players: 4+
• What you need: Paper plates, gummy bears, squirty whipped cream, cups
• How To Play:

• Give each party guest a plate that has a ten gummy bears hidden inside squirty whipped cream
• The party guests must place their hands behind their backs
• Then use their teeth to find the gummy bears
• Each gummy bear they find must be dropped into the cup
• The winner is the first to find all ten gummy bears
• There is a variation on this game where you place a single piece of bubble gum under the cream and the first person to find the gum and blow a bubble is the winner

15. COOKIE FACE CHALLNGE

This game is another absolute classic that works really well for teen birthday parties that involves getting a cookie from the forehead to the mouth. 

• Number of players: 4+
• What you need: A packet of cookies/biscuits
• How To Play:

• Everyone is given a cookie to place on their forehead
• Each person uses their facial muscles to try and move the cookie to their mouth
• The first person to successfully eat the cookie wins

16. STACK ‘EM UP COOKIE GAME

This is a variation on Cookie Face that involves even more skill. 

• Number of players: 4+
• What you need: A packet of cookies
• How To Play:

• Each party guest takes a turn to bend backwards and start stacking cookies on their forehead
• The winner is the guest who successfully manages to stack the most cookies

17. CHEESE BALL FACE

This is another messy and really rather silly party game for teens that will have them causing mayhem. 

• Number of players: 4+
• What you need: Cheese balls or cheese puffs. Squirty whipped cream or shaving cream 
• How To Play:

• Squirt the cream or shaving cream on the first party guest’s face
• Everyone else throws cheese balls/puffs at them. 
• The party guest who manages to have the most cheeseballs stuck to their face wins!

18. MARSHMALLOW CHUBBY BUNNY

The aim of the game is to see how many marshmallows the party guests can fit in their mouths while still being able to say the words ‘chubby bunny’.

• Number of players: 4 – 8
• What you need: Marshmallows 
• How To Play

• Put a big bowl of marshmallows in the middle of a table
• Each person in turn takes a marshmallow, places it in their mouth and says ‘chubby bunny’
• They must keep the marshmallow in their mouth until their next turn
• Everyone keeps going until there is just one person left still able to say ‘chubby bunny’ with a mouthful of marshmallows 

Watch Rosanna Pansino play Chubby Bunny…

19. KNEES AND ELBOWS

This is a game of teamwork and skill that is a great ice-breaker for a teen party. You can play it in teams for bigger gatherings. 

• Number of players: 8+
• What you need: Object/s to pass around. E.G a balloon, water-filled balloon, ball, watermelon
• How To Play:

• The party guests stand in a circle
• The first guest is given an object to hold between their knees
• The object must passed around the circle using only knees or elbows
• Make this into a competition by dividing the party guests into teams for larger gatherings

20. PASS THE PEANUT

You don’t have to use peanuts. Have your gang stand or sit in a circle or in two lines. Each person should hold a plastic spoon in their mouths. The person at the start of the line should have a peanut, cotton ball, M&M, or something light on their spoons. Without using hands, have them pass the item around.

• Number of players: 8+
• What you need: Bag of peanuts (check for nut allergies) or bag of M&Ms or Skittles. Enough spoons for every party guest 
• How To Play:

• Give every guest a spoon to hold in their mouth
• Give the peanut/candy to the first guest
• That guest attempts to pass the peanut/candy to the next party guest from spoon to spoon without the use of hands

21. SPIN A DARE

This game is a fusion between Spin the Bottle and Truth or Dare and is best for groups of teens who know each other pretty well. It can be pretty hilarious based on the dares and the willingness of the party guests to entertain each other. 

• Number of players: 6+
• What you need: A bottle. Paper and pen. A bowl. 
• How To Play:

• You can either write the dares yourself or ask the teens to write out a bunch of dares
• Place the dares in the bowl in the middle of the party guests
• Each party guest takes a turn spinning the bottle and the guest who the bottle points to must take a dare and then act on it

22. ESCAPE ROOM 

Escape room games are huge at the moment and with good reason, they are really engaging and super fun, perfect for teens. What is particularly great about escape room games is that they can take up the duration of a party. 

• Number of players: 6+
• What you need: An escape room kit. Etsy has a whole bunch of escape room kits. Or if you have the brain bandwidth come up with a set of clues and rules yourself
• How To Play:

• Set up the escape room according to the kit 
• Set the party guests off trying to work out the escape room!

23. BALLOON STOMP

This is a great game for parties with lots of guests. It can get very hectic and competitive, but is also lots of fun. 

• Number of players: 8+
• What you need: Balloons and string 
• How To Play:

• Blow up the balloons and attach string to them
• Each party guest ties a few balloons to their legs (make sure the string isn’t too short, you don’t want broken ankles!)
• All the party guests have to try and stomp on the other guests’ balloons
• The winner is the last guest with blown up balloons surviving

24. KARAOKE COMPETITION

This is a great game for teens with dreams of becoming popstars!

• Number of players: 8+
• What you need: Karaoke machine or app Smule gets good reviews (iOS/Android)
• How To Play:

• This doesn’t really need a lot of explanation!
• Set the teens up with the karaoke machine or app and set them free to sing their hearts out
• You could make this into a competition complete with votes, but that might be a step too far

25. WHAT’S IN THE BOX?

This game can be as tame or as gross as you want to make it. Who dares wins!!

• Number of players: 8+
• What you need: A big box with a whole cut out of it. A selection of items to hide in the box
• How To Play:

• Put an item in the box without the party guests seeing 
• Each party guest takes a turn to try and work out what they are feeling when they put their hand in the box

26. TP MUMMY

Why are TP games always so much fun? Is it toilet humour at work?! Whatever, TP Mummy is a super fun game for teens to play, clearly it’s a great game for teen Halloween parties!

• Number of players: 6+
• What you need: A stack of toilet rolls
• How To Play:

• Divide the party guests up into teams
• Each team is given a bunch of toilet rolls
• One player from each team must volunteer to be TPd
• The winning team is the one with the most covered mummy by the end of a set amount of time

27. MEDUSA

This is a super simple yet super entertaining game for teens. It is best played with a gathering of at least ten. 

• Number of players: 10+
• What you need: Nothing 
• How To Play:

• The party guests stand in a circle with their arms around the person next to them
• Everyone puts their heads down
• On the count of three the party guests look up at another player
• If two guests look at each other they scream and fall down
• The game continues until there are only two people left 

28. WHAT’S UP TEXT

This is like the classic game of telephone brought into the 21st century. You could play this game with WhatsApp or Snapchat but it’s best to use text if you want all teens to be able to join in. 

• Number of players: 8+ (the more people the funnier this game gets, but too many and it’s dull for those waiting for the end)
• What you need: A mobile/cell phone for each party guest. A timer. 
• How To Play:

• The party guests sit in a circle
• The first guest writes a two or three sentence message
• The guest shows the message to the person next to them
• This second guest then has 15 seconds to read and memorise the message
• The second guest then writes out the message and shows it to the next guest
• The game goes on until everyone has taken a turn
• The last person to receive the message must read out their version of it, usually hilarity ensues
• You can do an analogue version of this game if you are particularly keen to keep the party screen free.

TEEN PARTY GAME TIPS FOR PARENTS

Here’s a few tips to keep in mind when putting together a list of party games for teens.

1. Involve your teen in the party planning and let them decide from a short-list of games – or come up with their own. Ultimately you want them to be comfortable with the games and they will be a good guage of how the games will go down with their teen friends
2. Get all the props, prizes and game instructions ready to turn over to your teen and their friends so that they have everything they need to get playing and having fun
3. Once you’ve set everything up step back and let the kids get on with it. No teen wants someone’s parent hovering over them when they’re trying to have fun

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