Games for large groups: how to get 10 to 20 people playing

The real enemy is waiting

In small groups the time between turns is short. In a big group, a game where each person performs alone, one after another, leaves everybody else waiting: if each turn lasts a minute and there are eighteen of you, whoever has just played is back in the spotlight a quarter of an hour later. That is when the phones come out and side conversations start at the back of the room.

There are three fixes, and the best games for big crowds use at least one of them:

1. Play in teams, so everyone stays involved during other people’s turns too, because they are cheering, prompting or keeping an eye on the rules.
2. Play simultaneously: everyone writes, votes or answers at the same moment.
3. Split the group into two or three tables playing in parallel, perhaps the same game, then have the winners face off.

Everything else, from invitations to food and the running order of the evening, works as it would for any party: you will find the details in how to host a games night.

Which games really hold up with 10–20 people

Not every game is built for a big crowd. These are the PartyGames titles that go up to 16 or 20 players, and the reason each one still works when there are lots of you:

• Name, Place, Thing (2–20): everyone writes at once, so nobody waits. A unique answer scores 10 points and a duplicate scores 5, which means that in a big group originality really pays.
• Charades (3–20): one person mimes in front of everyone while the rest of the group shouts out guesses. On a single phone you can play every player for themselves or in teams (in an online room everyone plays individually), with turns from 30 seconds to two minutes.
• Forbidden Word (4–16): up to four teams, made automatically or by hand, with turns from 30 to 90 seconds. The ultimate team game.
• Doodle Guess (3–16): on a single phone, the person drawing sees the word and works on paper or a small whiteboard while everyone else shouts. A big sheet of paper taped to the wall turns it into a show.
• Who Am I? (2–20): on a single phone you can play individually or in teams, and the guesser holds the phone to their forehead in front of everyone.
• Most Likely To (3–20) and Would You Rather (up to 20): in an online room everyone votes in secret on their own phone and the result appears for everyone at the same moment.

Other games have a lower ceiling: Impostor goes up to 10 players, The Spy and Trio Sync up to 12. If there are more of you, there is no need to give them up: split into two groups of six to eight and finish with a play-off between the winners. Decide in advance, too, whether to play on a single phone or in a room where everyone uses their own: with fifteen people passing the same phone round to see their secret role, handing out the roles takes as long as the game itself.

Picking teams without the drama

Letting teams form by themselves is the quickest way to end up with the five oldest friends on one side and everybody else on the other. A neutral method works better:

• Numbering off: everyone stands in a circle, you count “one, two, three” round the group and each person joins the team matching their number. It automatically separates people who arrived together.
• The silly criterion: birth month, colour of your top, tea drinkers versus coffee drinkers. It breaks the ice before the game has even started.
• Open balancing: if there are children and adults, or colleagues from different departments, spread them out openly (“one grandparent per team”). Nobody takes offence when the rule applies to everyone.

The most comfortable team size is between four and six people: enough to make some noise, not so many that someone disappears. With eighteen guests, three teams of six work better than two of nine. Give every team a name and rotate who plays each turn, so the clue-giver or mime role doesn’t always fall to the same extrovert.

One extra tip: write the team names and members on a sheet of paper and stick it somewhere visible. In a big crowd somebody always forgets which side they are on after the break.

Noise, space and attention

Twenty people shouting answers make quite a racket, and that isn’t always a problem: in Charades the chaos is part of the game. It becomes one when people need to listen, for example to a clue, a question or the scores being read out.

• A signal for quiet, agreed at the start: a raised hand, a rhythmic clap. It works better than shouting “shh!” louder than everyone else.
• A stage: a clear space in front of the group, visible to all, for whoever is miming or drawing. Chairs in a semicircle, not in rows.
• Alternate loud and quiet games. After twenty minutes of Charades, a round of Name, Place, Thing or a series of votes brings the group back to a bearable volume.
• Outdoors, pull the circle tighter than seems necessary: voices drift off into the open air, and anyone on the edge soon stops hearing.

Appoint an MC, who doesn’t have to be the organiser: someone with a clear voice who announces the turns, reads out the scores and decides when a round is over. Without an MC, in a big group every decision becomes a debate with fifteen voices.

Involving everyone, not just the usual three

In every large crowd there are three or four people who take the stage and a dozen who watch. A few ways to widen the circle:

• Roles for those who don’t want to perform: scorekeeper, timekeeper, judge of the forbidden words. When Forbidden Word is played in a room there is also a guardian, with controls of their own: perfect for someone who would rather keep watch than talk.
• Games where everyone answers together: nobody has to perform alone, and the shyest person’s vote counts as much as the loudest.
• Compulsory rotation: every team member takes at least one turn in the spotlight before anyone has a second. Anyone who is struggling can choose the easier word or get help preparing their turn.
• Careful with games about people: in a big, mixed group, Most Likely To risks always targeting the same two people. Pick light questions and change game if the same target keeps coming up.

Parties, birthdays, office dos and group trips

Birthdays and house parties

Guests arrive in waves, so open with a game people can join halfway through, such as Charades with everyone playing for themselves. Launch the more structured team game once nearly everyone has arrived, and give the first turn to the birthday boy or girl. If there are children among the guests, keep the words simple and the turns short.

Office parties

The risk here is hierarchy: nobody wants to poke fun at their manager in front of everyone, or be singled out by them. Avoid games that vote on people and go for word games such as Forbidden Word or Name, Place, Thing, with teams that mix different departments. Watching the head of finance try to get her team to say “deckchair” without saying beach, sea or sun does more for team spirit than plenty of away days.

Day trips and coach journeys

On the move there is little space and the signal is patchy. What works are the spoken classics that need nothing, such as Telephone, word association or guessing a famous person with yes-or-no questions, plus the games that run on a single phone: in that mode PartyGames also works offline. For more ideas that need nothing at all, see games with no equipment; and if part of the group has stayed at home, read playing together over a video call.