Inside: The ultimate list of fun party games for teenagers!
Throwing a party for teens these days can be a little overwhelming. The world is so much different than it was even just ten years ago now that the internet is in full effect.
This generation of teens grew up with wifi, and that definitely changes a person. But change is normal as the decades go by, and all we can do is try and understand them the best we can.
So… what kind of party games do teens like? This might be something you have asked yourself during your party planning process. I am here to help you with that.
There are so many different things to think about when planning a party. From the food, guest, goodies, and GAMES! Lucky for you we have come up with the absolute best list of party games for teenagers!
Table of Contents
Best Teenage Party Games
These fun games are sure to bring a whole bunch of excitement and fun!
Pass the Fruit: This is a fun game that utilizes teamwork again. You grab a piece of fruit, whether an apple, orange, lime, or something else. The purpose of the game is to get that fruit from one player all the way to the other end of the line. What makes this so fun (and difficult!) is the fact that you are not allowed to use your hands in any way to pass the fruit. Great fun and results in tons of laughs.
Lip Sync Contest: Come up with a list of song, from old favorites to new hit! Let the teens draw a song and sing their heart out! This is such a fun party game for teenagers, a crowd favorite!
Dance Off: Let your hair down and have fun. I mean who doesn’t love a good dance-off, and with all these crazy dance trends this is a fun party game for teenagers!
Heads Up: I LOVE THIS GAME! I fell in love with it the second I first played it. Download the game on your phone or Ipad for fun with the teens anywhere you go!
I have gathered some of the most creative party games that will undoubtedly be a hit at your party. Not only are they simple to achieve but they are loads of fun. I guarantee your teen will have a blast.
So take a look at this list and pick the ones that you think they will like the most.
DIY Party Games
First, I thought I would show you some of my favorite DIY party games. These are super affordable and have gone viral on the internet once or twice, so your teen will love them even more. Take a look/
5. Skittles Palooza – For this game, you can write down a question for each of the different Skittles colors. Then you take turns with everyone as they pull from the bowl. Whatever color they get, they have to follow the instruction for the corresponding color. Of course, you have to pull from it with your eyes closed. If you don’t do the action, you don’t get a point.
6. Spin the Board Game Idea – So this one is a take on spin the bottle. Instead of having to kiss whoever it lands on, you spin the bottle on a paper with different tasks. Whatever it lands on, you have to do. It’s that simple! Simple games are always the best.
7. Toilet Paper Pull – For this toilet paper pull game, you take a cup of punch or soda and place it on the end of a rolled-out toilet paper roll. Then you have to try and roll the paper up to get the drink to you. The winner gets the prize. The trick is, you cannot stop rolling once you start. Good luck!
8. What’s in the Box – This is a super fun one. For this game, cut a cardboard box on one side so that you can see in from the front but not if you were standing over it. Now you place something inside the box and have players blindly feel them to try and guess what it is. The best part is the audience can see it, but the player cannot.
9. Peach Ring Kabobs – For this game, you will need a wooden long spoon and a bag of peach rings. Lay out 10 peach rings on the table and have players put the spoons in their mouth with the handle pointing out. Then without using their hands, they have to try and loop the peach rings onto the spoon.
10. Plinko Challenge – This game is super fun. Put your table on books at one end so that it is at a slight tilt, nothing too crazy. Then you can tape little cups at the other end and various obstacles throughout it. Have players sit at one end and try to get a ping pong ball to roll into one of the cups at the end.
11. Balloon Stack Challenge – For this one you will need red solo cups and uninflated balloons. Have each player go along a row of red solo cups and use a balloon to get them all stacked together without hands.
12. Fruit by the Foot Challenge – This one is simple; everyone gets a fruit by the foot and whoever eats it the fastest without using their hands is the winner.
13. Soccer Challenge – I think this video explains this game much better than I could. So take a look to see how to play this super fun, hands-on challenge.
14. Toilet Paper Ping Pong – The cool thing about toilet paper and ping pong balls is that the ball will sit perfectly in the center hole of the toilet paper roll. So for this game, take turns standing at one of end of the room and tossing a ping pong ball onto the toilet paper, trying to get it to land in one of the holes.
15. Red Solo Cup Obstacle Course – Set of an obstacle course on the ground and have players go through with a blindfold on.
16. Ping Pong Chop Challenge – Drop a ping pong ball from a chosen height, then as it bounces, slide your hand back and forth under it without getting touched. See how many times you can do this.
Easy Games Teen Will Love
Nail Polish Spin: The best games for teenage girls always include Nail Polish Spin. This is another game based on spin the bottle and it is specific to all-girl groups. In order to play this game, you need some wild and crazy nail polish colors. Whoever is spinning chooses a nail polish bottle and spins that. Whoever it points at when done has to paint a nail the color in the bottle. Then she spins a different bottle for the next girl to paint onto a nail of her own. You can keep going until all nails are colored.
5 Second Rule: This fun party game is one that the teenagers are sure to love! It’s a fast-paced game that requires concentration and quick wit!
Balloon Blow: Have players pair off. Each pair gets one balloon and must keep it in the air by only blowing on it. Players are not allowed to make physical content with the balloons at all. The team that keeps their balloon in the air the longest, wins.
Ice Cool: This game is one of my all-time favorite board games! The teens will love it, that’s a PROMISE! Game your own here!
Ice Breaker Games
Check a few of our favorite ice breaker party games for teenagers!
Never Have I Ever: Here are a few fun questions to ask during never have I ever!
Group Knot: To get tangled with this fun ice breaker activity, gather your entire group and stand in a circle. Everyone should be facing inwards with their hands placed in the middle. Once this is done, everyone should grasp or hold a random hand. As soon as everyone is appropriately tangled, the game starts when the group has to start to disentangle this jumble of limbs.
Get To Know You Jenga: This is a fun twist on a classic game! Write down fun and silly questions on each Jenga piece. When each person picks a Jenga piece they must answer the games on the Jenga piece!
Gift Grab: This is a great ice breaker for any teen party! All you need is 5-10 small wrapped prizes and two decks of cards. Have everyone is in a circle and pass the cards from the FIRST deck out to everyone. Give each person a card till they are might, a few players might get more cards than other players do. Now take the second deck of cards and call out each card as you pull them from the deck. The player that holds the matching card as the one you call out, picks a prize.
Continue this until all the prizes are gone. (This part will only take about 5-10 card, depending on the number of gifts) Now the fun begins with the remaining cards in deck TWO! At this point, everyone can now STEAL gifts from each other. You can steal a gift from anyone else who holds a gift when your card is called.
When the complete SECOND deck of cards has been called out, then people with the gifts keep them!
Quick To Put Together Games
Next up, I thought I would add some games that you could simply buy, just in case you already have a lot on your plate. Plus, these games are nice because they already have all of the rules and instructions printed out.
25. Tell Me Without Telling Me
27. Ransom Notes
29. Liar Liar Game
30. What Do You Meme
31. Dart Board
32. Super Skills
33. Death by Caption
34. Original Exploding Kittens
Simple Games For Teens
I am a big fan of simple games; if you have read my articles before, you know this. I just think that complicated games with lots of instructions can take away from the fun.
You’ll be too focussed on whether or not you are following the rules rather than having fun.
So here are some great simple options!
35. Flicken Chicken
36. Jenga
37. Wordle Game
38. It’s Bananas
43. Ultimate Twister
44. Yard Pong
45. Limbo
Break the Teen Tension with these Games
Would You Rather: Here is a list have some really great and funny would you rather questions and the good news is there are no correct answers to have to come up with – just fun!
Two Truths & A Lie: This is a pretty simple game to play and is a great way to break the ice with a group. Go around the group and each player has to come up with two truths and a lie about themselves. The goal is for the other players to be able to figure out the lie!
Guess My Name: Ask each player to write down a few names and put them into a bowl. Names can be celebrities, characters from books, movies or even mutual friends or people in the room. Split the teen into two teams. Set a time for a minute and let each eat take turns trying to guess as many names as possible within that minute. The person who reads the name can give clues to their team without saying the written name!
Hilarious Party Games
Here I include some of the most fun games for teens that will leave everyone laughing. I think that the best games are the ones that are guaranteed to make you laugh. So check these out.
49. Shocktato Party
51. M&M Challenge
52. Paper Cup Stack
53. Balloon Catch
54. Money Scoop
55. Tic Tac Toe Pong
56. Balloon Pop Chore Challenge
Classic Games for Teens
You can’t forget about these classic party games for teenagers! They are always a crowd favorite even when played indoors.
Truth or Dare: I mean can you think of a better game for teens?! Truth or Dare is such a classic fun party game for teenagers.
Chubby Bunny: Grab a bag of marshmallows and get to stuffin’.
UNO: I love this fun card game! Any game that I can see everyone gathered around the table, laughing, and having fun is a favorite of mine.
Jeopardy: Although it takes a bit of pre-planning because a board with questions has to be made up, jeopardy can be great fun- especially when your friends are the type to enjoy a little healthy competition! Pick categories like celebrity relationships, Disney movies, One Direction, and other fun ones!
Classic Party Games
Here is a list of classic party games for teenagers that I just had to finish us off with. These are the best games to play at high school parties, and though they are older, they are timeless.
64. Truth or Dare
65. Would You Rather
66. Hide and Seek
67. Kiss, Marry, Kill
68. Egg and Spoon Game
69. Hot Potato
70. Pictionary
71. Charades
72. Never Have I Ever
73. Board Games
Outdoor Games Teenagers will Love
Flashlight Tag: This game is fun for late-night parties and is best in a big backyard or another outdoor place. Pick someone to hold the flashlight and choose a base that everyone knows. Everyone without a flashlight runs off while the person with the flashlight counts down from sixty seconds. When the time is up, the one wielding the flashlight sets off to find the others.
Watermelon Pool Race: This is the best party game for teenagers if you have a pool! All you have to do is cover two watermelons with loads of petroleum jelly. Divide into two different teams. Then place the two watermelons in the water and have the teams race across the pool with the melons. First one across, WINS.
DIY Yard Toss: This DIY yard toss game is perfect for an outdoor game for all your teens. It is cute to make and so fun – play until there are only 2 people left!
DIY Yard Yahtzee: I love a good game of Yahtzee, and a game of yard Yahtzee is even better – See how to make your own DIY game!
Group Games for Teens
Scavenger Hunts: Scavenger hunts can be fun for all ages, and tweens are included in it. Put the group of kids into teams and give them a list of things they must find. You can have them bring things back, take photos on their phone, or otherwise prove their finds at the end. The team who checks the most off of the list is the winner.
The Bowl Game: This is such a fun party game for teenagers, see how-to here!
Pass The Peanut: I’ve seen this game done the old fashion way by passing a peanut around the back part of a circle.
The group should be in a circle facing each other, with hands criss crossed in the back they should pass the peanut around. The trick here is to not be caught with the peanut when the music stops. Like hot potato! You can even move your circle to the beat to make this game more fun.
Or… the more teen way of passing it from one mouth. The goal this way is also not to be caught with the peanut when the music stops.
Murder in the Dark: This game involves slips of paper and a great sense of imagination. Prep is simply writing “murderer” on a slip of paper, “detective” on another, and “suspect” on all the rest. Everyone takes one but does not show it to anyone. The game starts with lights going out at which point the murderer finds people in the dark and taps them on the shoulder. That murdered drop to the ground, complete with dying noises. This continues until the detective is “dead”. At that point, the lights come on and the detective must decide who the murderer was. It’s hard but fun for tweens and those in the age range.
Minute To Win It: What a fun game! Here is a list of some awesome minute to win it games that your teens will love!
Board Games:
82. Watch Ya Mouth:
This game is hilarious. Ellen Degeneres plays it a lot on her show with her guests. This game can be for up to ten people that put a mouthpiece and have to say funny phrases. The mouthpiece makes it difficult to say certain words or sounds, so others have to guess what they are attempting to say.
83. 5 Second Rule:
Five seconds to list three things that are on a card your partner pulled. Some teens are quick, and some can give some crazy responses.
84. Telestrations:
This game is a mix of charades and telephones. One person illustrates the word the picked then passes the illustration to the next person. That person then has to guess what the illustration is, write it down on the next page and pass it. The third person would only see the most recent word and illustrate it. And so on. Finally, when you get your storyboard back, you flip through and see how far off it got or how close it was (which is very rare).
85. Not Parent Approved:
This game is similar to Cards Against Humanity, but age-appropriate for teens.
86. Been There, Done That:
Take turns being put on the spot! This game is great to get to know each other, or maybe even things that you didn’t know about your best friend.
87. Awkward Moment:
This party games for teenagers twist is a game puts players in the most awkward social situations possible. Players have a hand of “reaction” cards to place for an awkward moment card placed. Each player takes a turn as “the decider” to pick the winning reaction to the awkward moment. Players try to impress the Decider by submitting the best response from their hand of cards!
Indoor Party Games for Teenagers
88. Two Truths and a Lie
Every guest writes down three facts about themselves, two true facts and one lie.
Next, read aloud each guest’s facts, and the other party guests need to figure out the lie.
89. Would You Rather:
Create a jar full of questions of two options to the question “would you rather…”.
Options can be realistic or not, and the only rule is that the players must choose one of the two options to the question.
90. Truth or Dare:
Parents, I’m sure you know this game!
91. 15 Questions
The number can be however old the birthday boy or girl is turning. They make a list of questions about themselves, and all the attendees fill it out. This is the game of who knows them best.
92. Heads Up:
This is another game that is frequently on the Ellen Show. players take turns guessing the word on the card that is on their head from the other player’s clues all before the timer runs out.
93. Balloon Pop (With a Twist)
This game is where you sit on a ballon to get it to pop. That version would be too boring for teenagers so let’s add a twist! Each balloon will have a funny activity that the popper must do!
Examples of activities can be:
Dance like a chicken until the next balloon pops.
Floss until the next ballon pops.
Spell your name with your pop until the next balloon is pops.
By the time the last balloon pops, everyone will be rolling on the floor laughing!
Game for Teens to Play Inside
94. Selfie Hot Potato
To play the hot potato game have everyone sit around the room and place someone in charge of the music. Remember hot potato from when you were young? Instead of passing a potato around, you pass your phone. Everyone has to take a selfie as they go. When the music stops, whoever has the phone in hand must post the selfie they just took. It would be extra fun to make a party hashtag to go along with the game.
We all got a kick out of watching our friends pose their own selfies (I mean isn’t that always hilarious?!?). Would you try it? Your friends might want to punch you, but it’s seriously a hoot.
95. Gift Grab
This is another excellent icebreaker to start a party.
- Start with five to ten small gifts wrapped and two decks of cards.
- Sit in a circle.
- Pass the cards from the first deck out to everyone, giving everyone one at a time until all the cards are gone – a few might get more cards than others do.
- Now take the second deck of cards and call out each card as you pull them from the deck.
- The person that holds the matching card from the first deck of cards stand up and pick a prize, continue until all the prizes are gone (this will take 5-10 cards depending on the number of gifts).
The FUN begins with the remaining cards of deck two! Everyone can now steal the gifts from each other. You can steal a gift from anyone else who holds a gift when a card you hold is called. When the complete second deck of cards has been called out, the people with the gifts keep them.
Outdoor Party Games for Teenagers
96. Yard Toss
The game was really simple to make. We used 15 – 1 x 1/2 inch wooden stakes, and two small fence posts that we had cut to size at our local home store. There are 15 spokes on the game varying in size from about 2 ft to 4 ft long.
Once all the wood is cut, pick out a selection of bright colors and paint each of the spokes. We painted the fence posts as well (after the fact). Next time I will do all the painting first – much easier that way!
To create the toss game, nail each of the colorful wooden spokes into the fence posts. Nailing some in front and a couple in the back of each post is what creates the great game depth. Set the toss game on a small table, or directly on the ground for a great way to start any yard party off right.
97. Balloon Pop:
This game requires a large space to play. Each person has a blown up balloon on a string attached to their foot, keep the string about two feet long. Once the game begins, all players must try to pop the other player’s balloons without getting theirs popped. The last person with an unpopped balloon is the winner.
98. Glow in the Dark Ring Toss:
This games has to be played at night. Stick straight cracked glow stick into the ground as stakes. Next use glow stick necklaces as the rings to be tossed. Now you have yourself a night ring toss game.
More Fun Outdoor Games
Here are a few more of our favorite outdoor party games for teenagers!
99. Pool Noodle Ring Toss:
Out of pool noodles make different sized rings and connect them all together. Then use either pool noodles as javelins, soccer balls, or frisbees to throw through the rings. To add an extra challenge assign different point values to each of the rings.
100. Cornhole
Grab a partner and take turns throwing bean bags to the cornhole board. If a bag lands on the board, you score one point. If the bag goes in the hole, you score three points. The first team to twenty-one points is the winning team!
101. Ladder Ball
This is one of my favorites!
The concept of the game is trying to land bolas–essentially foot-long pieces of rope with golf balls attached to both ends–on a series of crossbars from 25 feet away. The top blue bar is worth three points, the middle red bar is worth two points, and the bottom white bar is worth one point. The game continues until one player or team reaches 21 points.
102. Yarts
Lawn + darts = Yarts!
Lawn dart sets are sold in stores like Target or online.
The goal of the game is to throw the dart into the target on the lawn. Sounds easy, right? Test your accuracy skills and find out!
103. Finding the Gummy Bears
Think of the game bobbing for apples. However, instead of a bucket of water, you use a plate of whip cream and instead of apples, use gummy bears. And similarly to bobbing for apples, players must have their hands behind their backs.
I hope you loved this list of the best party games for teenagers. I know how hard it can be to put together a party for this new generation, but at the end of the day, it is more simple than it seems.
Just listen to your teen about what they want!
If you need some more party-planning ideas, then I have your back on that front as well. We have many different tips and tricks for throwing a teenage party from minute to win it games for teens with a straw and a cup to more elaborate dance charades party ideas. So take a look at these to keep the party planning fun going! I think the best party of throwing a party starts with planning.