Group games with no equipment: just voices, gestures and at most one phone

What you really need to play with nothing

A game with no equipment runs on three things: a rule you can explain in one sentence, someone acting as referee, and a clear way of knowing when a round is over. Without that last one the game unravels, and ten minutes later nobody remembers who was winning.

So before you start, agree three things out loud: who goes first (the youngest, whoever chose the game, whoever is sitting behind the driver), what counts as a mistake, and what happens to whoever makes one. Straight elimination for short games, a penalty point for longer ones, so nobody is left watching for half an hour. If you have to explain the rules to a mixed group, the guide on how to explain the rules of a game has a few tricks for doing it in a minute.

Word games you can play out loud

Word chain

The first player says any word at all. The next has to say one that starts with the last letter of the previous word: apple, elephant, tiger, rabbit, teapot, tornado. It goes round the group, and the chain holds until somebody falls silent.

• Time: anyone who fails to answer within a count of five, said out loud by the next player, is out or takes a penalty point.
• Repeats: a word already used in the same game doesn’t count.
• Challenges: if someone doubts a word exists, the group decides by majority, without looking it up on a phone, or the game grinds to a halt.
• Harder version for older players: instead of the last letter, use the last syllable (rainbow, bowling, lingo, goalpost). Much tougher, and great fun to argue about.

The trap letters arrive quickly: sooner or later someone will end on fox or quiz just to put the next person on the spot. That is part of the game, and the reason it is worth keeping the penalty light.

Twenty Questions: guess the character

One person thinks of a character, either famous or known to everyone present. The others take turns asking questions that can only be answered yes or no: “Is it a woman?”, “Are they alive?”, “Have they been in a film?”. Whoever is thinking of the character keeps count out loud. If the group guesses within twenty questions the group wins; otherwise the person who thought of the character wins and reveals it.

Two rules head off arguments: a guess at the answer (“Is it Mr Bean?”) counts as a question, and if the honest answer is “it depends”, you say “I don’t know” and the turn isn’t used up. With children it works better with animals or cartoon characters; there are more ideas for them in the guide to word games for kids.

Memory, silence and stifled giggles

I went on holiday and I packed…

The first player says “I went on holiday and I packed my swimming costume”. The second repeats everything and adds an item: “I went on holiday and I packed my swimming costume and some sun cream”. The third repeats both items in the right order and adds a third. Anyone who forgets an item, gets the order wrong or hesitates too long drops out, and the suitcase carries on with the others.

1. Alphabet version: the items follow the alphabet (an apron, a bucket and spade, a cagoule…), which gives memory something to hold on to and lets even the youngest join in.
2. Silly version: you can only pack impossible things (a giraffe, the church tower, Big Ben), which are easier to remember because they make you laugh.
3. Themed version: instead of a holiday you go shopping or get ready for a party, and the category changes every game.

A tip: whoever comes last in the round has the longest list, so start each new game with the next person along. That way the hardest job goes round to everyone in turn.

The quiet game

This is the game every parent knows from long car journeys. On “go” everyone goes silent: anyone who talks, laughs or makes a noise on purpose is out. The last one left in chooses the prize, for example which song goes on next. To make it more fun, players who are already out can try to make the others laugh by pulling faces, but without touching them and without speaking.

It only works if the prize is small and the round is short: two or three minutes is plenty. If there is no end in sight, children soon get bored instead of concentrating.

Classic charades, with the standard gestures

Charades is the king of games with no equipment, because it works at any age and nobody needs to be able to write. Split into two teams. Each round, one team whispers the title of a film, a book or a TV show to a player from the other team; that player has to get their own team to guess it without speaking or making noises, within a time limit you agree beforehand, usually a couple of minutes.

To avoid getting stuck, you need a handful of gestures agreed before you start:

• Category: open palms like a book for books, cranking the handle of an old cine camera for films, hands moving like a singer for songs, a rectangle drawn in the air for TV.
• Number of words: shown on your fingers at the start, then you indicate which word you are acting out.
• Syllables: lay fingers on your forearm, one per syllable.
• Sounds like: tug your earlobe to say that the word rhymes with the one you are about to act out.

The most common mistake is choosing titles that only the person suggesting them knows. A simple rule: if at least half the other team has never heard of it, pick another.

When one phone replaces cards and an egg timer

Some games need something that you would normally scribble on a scrap of paper: a word only one person must see, a secret role, a time limit to keep. Here a single phone passed from hand to hand replaces cards, slips of paper and the egg timer, and PartyGames works offline too.

• Charades: the game above, but the app chooses the word and only the actor sees it. No teams whispering titles: each word guessed is worth a point, you can pass without penalty and the phone keeps time.
• Who Am I?: Twenty Questions turned round. The guesser holds the phone to their forehead without looking at it, the others see the word and answer only yes, no or maybe until they get it or the turn runs out.
• Impostor: the phone goes round to show each player their role. Everyone sees the same secret word except the impostor; in turn each gives a spoken clue, and at the end you vote.
• The Spy: the same starting idea, but with direct questions passed along a chain and a discussion timer. The differences from Impostor are explained in our guide Impostor or The Spy.
• Most Likely To: the phone shows the question, on the count of three everyone points at someone, and the person with the most fingers aimed at them earns a jokey title. The only equipment here is your index finger.

If the group is big and some people are left out of turn-based games, the guide to games for large groups lists the ones that involve everyone at the same moment.

Which to choose, depending on where you are

• In the car: word chain, Twenty Questions and the holiday suitcase. No gestures for the driver and no phones passed between the front seats.
• In a queue or a waiting room: Twenty Questions in low voices, or Who Am I? if there is a phone to hand and a bit of space.
• At the end of a meal: charades, or Charades in the app, if people can stand up; Impostor or The Spy if everyone stays seated and chats.
• With small children: the quiet game, word chain with the last letter, and the alphabet suitcase.

Alternate a quiet game with a noisier one: after a round of charades, a game of word chain lets everyone catch their breath without killing the mood.