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HALLOWEEN PARTY GAMES THAT WORK FOR TEENS
Planning a cool Halloween party for your teens can be a task and a half; the days of trick or treating as cute kids are behind them, but they still want in on the fun. I’ve hosted many a Halloween party over the years and have evolved the games each year. To help you get ahead with your planning, I’ve put together a list of the best Halloween party games for teens that will keep them happily entertained.
9 HALLOWEEN PARTY GAMES FOR TEENS
As a parent of teens, you’ll know they tend to get bored quickly and can have very short attention spans thanks to real life competing for their attention against the gripping world within their mobiles. This roundup of games is guaranteed to have them enjoying Halloween IRL.
So, take a look at this list of the best Halloween party games to keep your teens hooked on spooky fun.
1. HALLOWEEN SCAVENGER HUNT
The wonderful thing about a scavenger hunt is that you can make it as simple or tricky as you like. A Halloween Scavenger Hunt is a great way to give spookily dressed-up teens a reason to get out and about without trick or treating.
What you need: A bunch of clues printed out on clue sheets for all the players.
How to play:
Brainstorm a list of clues. You can stick to straightforward clues or make the game harder by creating cryptic clues or riddles to solve in order to decipher the clue.
Divide the party guests up into teams, with at least two members per team.
Set a time limit for the hunt, then set them free to scavenge. Ask them to take photos of the things they manage to find if they can’t / shouldn’t actually bring them back with them.
When the time limit is up, and everyone has returned, you can tally up the scores based on which team managed to find the most things and declare a winning team.
IDEAS FOR HALLOWEEN SCAVENGER HUNT CLUES
Sure, here are the ideas for challenges or clues for a Halloween scavenger hunt for teenagers without the speech marks:
- I’m a Halloween decoration that’s often seen hanging from trees. Find me and take a picture with me. (Answer: a ghost decoration)
- This colourful Halloween treat is often given out in small packages and is made of sugar and gelatin. Find a package and bring it back to the starting point. (Answer: gummy candy/sweets)
- I’m a Halloween symbol that’s often associated with witches. Find me and take a photo with me. (Answer: a broomstick)
- I’m a winged Halloween decoration with little fangs and made of paper or plastic. Find me and take a picture with me. (Answer: a bat decoration)
- I’m a Halloween decoration that has a little light inside. Find me and take a picture with me. (Answer: a carved pumpkin)
2. COLD CASE MURDER MYSTERY
Get your teens playing detective with a Cold Case Murder Mystery game. While you can make up a murder mystery game, sometimes it is just easier to buy one. I really like the Unsolved Murder Case Files games.
What You Need: An Unsolved Murder Case Files game
How to play:
Choose from the selection of seven ‘cold case files’ and challenge your teens to become real-life detectives.
Each cold case file contains evidence ready to be studied and sifted through. Your party guest detectives will also need to use their phones to access further evidence online.
They will need to examine all the evidence and then, through a process of elimination, find the killer (warning: there might be more than one!).
3. EYEBALL PONG: TEST YOUR EYE COORDINATION
Eyeball Pong involves teens bouncing eyeballs at paper cups. Don’t worry, the eyeballs are fake!
What you need: A bunch of ping-pong balls, some Posca pens (or similar), sticky tape and paper cups.
How to play:
The first step is to make some ping-pong eyeballs. If you’re feeling creative or want to encourage your teen to get creative, this video shows how to make really creepy-looking eyeballs with ping-pong balls.
Next, tape six paper cups to the edge of a dining table (or other long table) so that they form pool table-like pockets.
Each player takes a turn to stand at the other end of the table and try and roll the eyeballs into the cups.
4. TP MUMMY WRAP
This game is an absolute classic Halloween party game. It works for kids of all ages. However, there is a way to make it super fun and engaging for teens by adding an element of dress-up and a race.
What You Need: Rolls of toilet paper (or you can use actual bandages). Plus, comedy props like hats, gloves, scarves, glasses, pens, and stickers in a central prop bag or bin.
How to Play:
Divide the party guests up into teams of at least two people per team. Each team must choose one team member to become the ‘mummy’.
The game is played against the clock in three stages.
The first stage is to race to get the most TP onto their mummy. Time limit: 3 minutes
The second stage is to make their mummy look as fancy as possible by adorning them with props from the prop bag/bin. Time limit: 2 minutes.
The final stage is to have the mummies race from one end of the room to the other, this will be tough as they will find it hard to move!
The team whose mummy wins the race wins a prize. You can have a second overall prize for the most fancy mummy.
5. MOVIE MONSTER MATCH
Challenge players to match the monster to the movie, TV show or book in this game of spooky trivia knowledge.
What you need: A list of monsters to print and share out. Plus a list of answers.
How to Play:
Create a list of monsters, ghouls, werewolves and assorted other creepy creatures.
Share out the list, set a timer and challenge all the players to work out which movie, film or TV series the creepy characters are from.
IDEAS FOR MOVIE MONSTER MATCH QUESTIONS
Sure, here are 13 questions for a game of Monster Match:
- What monster is a giant ape-like creature that lives in the jungle and falls in love with a human woman? (Answer: King Kong)
- What horror character is a supernatural serial killer who wears a hockey mask and wields a machete? (Answer: Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th franchise)
- What werewolf is a teenage boy who transforms into a wolf-like creature during the full moon? (Answer: Scott McCall from the TV show Teen Wolf)
- What monster is a giant lizard-like creature that wreaks havoc on cities and battles other monsters? (Answer: Godzilla)
- What spirit is a vengeful ghost that haunts a videotape and kills anyone who watches it? (Answer: Samara Morgan from the movie The Ring)
- What monster is a humanoid creature with blades for fingers that attacks people in their dreams? (Answer: Freddy Krueger from the movie Nightmare on Elm Street)
- What horror character is a vampire who can transform into a bat and is repelled by garlic and sunlight? (Answer: Count Dracula)
- What monster is a shape-shifting creature that feeds on fear and can take on the form of a person’s worst nightmare? (Answer: Pennywise the Dancing Clown from the movie It)
- What creature is a humanoid with a fish-like appearance and can breathe underwater? (Answer: the Creature from the Black Lagoon)
- What monster is a giant with horrifying teeth that terrorises beachgoers? (Answer: Jaws)
- What spirit is a malevolent entity that possesses a doll and terrorizes a family? (Answer: Annabelle from the movie Annabelle)
- What monster is a giant rotund puffed up being hell-bent on destroying New York City and the world? Answer: the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man from the movie “Ghostbusters”)
- What creature is a giant spider-like monster that lives in the Upside Down and terrorises the citizens of Hawkins? (Answer: the Mind Flayer from the TV show Stranger Things)
6. WORM FOOD
Worm Food involves players using their mouths to find the wiggly worms hidden in squirty cream.
What you need: Jelly worms, paper plates, squirty cream
How to play:
Prepare a plate for each of the players by hiding a bunch of worms (an even number in each) in a plate full of squirty cream.
Players have to race to be the first to find all the worms. The twist is that they can only use their mouths. Once they find a worm, they must place it by the side of their plate.
7. CANDY CORN GUESS
Candy Corn Guess is a game you can have as a little aside for everyone to have a try at during the course of the party.
What you need: A big glass jar with a lid and a bag of candy corn (or you could use any other Halloween-themed candy or sweets you fancy)
How to play:
Fill the jar with the candy corn, being careful to accurately count the number of corn going into the jar. Remember to note the amount, ready for the big reveal.
Place a sheet of paper (use my free printable below) next to the jar for party guests to write down their guesses.
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8. PUMPKIN BOWLING
This is bowling with a Halloween twist… using mini pumpkins instead of bowling balls. This is a great game for bringing a competitive element to the party.
What you need: Enough mini pumpkins for each player or team to use. You can use toilet rolls or empty soda cans instead of skittles. Or you can buy a set.
How to play:
Set up the skittles at one end of the room and line up the players to take a turn rolling mini pumpkins to knock down as many skittles as they can.
Use the standard scores for Ten Pin Bowling:
In ten-pin bowling, there are several different scores that can be earned:
A strike is when the bowler knocks down all ten pins with their first ball. When a bowler gets a strike, they earn ten points plus the total number of pins knocked down with their next two balls.
A spare is when the bowler knocks down all ten pins with their two balls in a frame. When a bowler gets a spare, they earn ten points plus the number of pins knocked down with their next ball.
An open frame is when the bowler fails to knock down all ten pins with their two balls in a frame. The score for an open frame is the total number of pins knocked down in that frame.
A split is when the bowler leaves two or more pins standing with a gap between them. It’s more difficult to knock down a split, so it’s worth more points than a regular open frame.
I really like the random faces on this set of wooden skittles. It might be for little kids, but they would work well for a game of Pumpkin Bowling at a teen Halloween party.
9. HALLOWEEN POP COUNTDOWN
Halloween Pop Countdown is essentially a way to get everyone loosened up and having fun by challenging them to do silly things.
What You Need: Orange and black balloons and paper to tear into strips.
How to play:
Write out a bunch of silly challenges on a bunch of paper slips, put them in the balloons and then blow the balloons up.
Ideas for activities:
- Do the Monster Mash dance
- Pretend to be Frankenstein
- Howl like a werewolf
- Sing a popular song in the style of Dracula.
The party guests each take a turn to burst a balloon and then obey the message inside.
BEFORE YOU GO…
Take a look at my roundup of brilliant ideas for easy Halloween party food for kids and teens, and if you’re looking for a fun activity, as opposed to games, for teens this 31st October, how about hosting a No Carve Pumpkin contest using my roundup of no carve pumpkin decorating ideas.
Luci is the founder of Mums Make Lists (Est. 2011). Over the last decade or so, she has used her experience as a mum to create useful guides to organising family life. During that time, she has found the most joy in creating lists of ideas and inspiration to make it easier for busy parents to plan and host kids’ parties and find great gifts. Read more.