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Favorite Games at Holiday Parties?
An anonymous reader asks: "Somehow, I got volunteered to take care of activities for the adults at my company's holiday party. For those of you who actually go to parties, what games have you played that were a lot of fun both for the geek and just the average person?"
Wife swapping!
Anything that involves a lot of people screaming at each other usually goes down well at parties.
Charades, Pictionary, are good examples.
Also Balderdash goes down well also for smaller groups of people.
Why not get the real ultimate power?
I am the bastard of base minus 12! Turing was the ejaculate of my complete machine!
I would say that of all the holiday parties I've ever gone to, I've never even seen a game played - unless you count rampant gossiping, overdrinking and womanizing a game.
:)
What the other people in attendance do is their business.
G'luck!
if there's alcohol, a good game for later would be twister.
Er, unless "convincing the boss to give me more drink tickets" is a game, I don't think I've ever played a game at a holiday party.
I think the best thing for an adult party is good music, good food and unwatered down alcohol. The beer should be good and so should the rye. Make sure its not all guys (wives, gfs, inflatables, realdolls all welcomed).
Screaming people going down is always fun at parties.
The greatest party game in the world... I'm sure everyone has one tho... It involves logic and psychological games and I think it is great for geeks.
It works best with more than 5 people people - so lets say you have 8. Take 8 slips of paper, write the letter "M" on three of them and "C" on five. The "M"s are mafia and the "C"s are citizens.
Then, on instruction (choose a games-master for this), everyone closes their eyes and when the games-master says "mafia open your eyes", the mafia do just that and see eachother. Everyone then closes their eyes, and then everyone opens their eyes at the same time. The object of this is that the mafia know who is a citizen and who is not, and that the citizens have no idea and consequently live in fear.
Then the game begins. People talk and interrogate eachother until someone announces they beleive that someone else is mafia. They can then call a vote to "kill-off" that person, and if the vote is carried he/she is out of the game and they have to reveal whether or not they were mafia. The object of the game for the mafia is to kill all the citizens, and for the citizens it is to stay alive until all the mafia are dead.
Give it a go - it really works. Lots of tension builds up and all sorts of weird mind-games happen....
This game's pretty fun:
Give each person a piece of paper.
Everyone writes a name, folds it over so no one can read it, and passes it to the person next to them.
Then everyone writes an activity, folds it over, passes it on...
continue with a place, a time, a reason...
Then we read each one out to everyone. It gets pretty silly after you've done it a couple of times. Even geeks can have fun with it.
Are you making activities for a holiday party, or a company pep rally?
If it's the former, let all the "games" be optional. The holidays are stressful enough with vacations, shopping, planning, etc. The last thing most people want at the holidays is forced team-building.
For what it's worth, none of the company holiday parties I've attended have had games of any kind.
You got volunteered, huh? That sucks. Listen, this might sound like an easy/stupid job but you'd better put at least a little thought into making sure you don't screw up. I like to think I'm a fun-lovin' and sometime outrageous guy but I hold myself in check at office parties. You never know when you're going to do something that will give your co-workers a bad impression of you that will last for years. You haven't told us anything about the type of people who are working at this company except that it's a mix of geeks and non-geeks. If I were you, I'd play it safe and try to find out what games were played at previous holiday parties. Whatever you do make the games very non-threatening. No Twister or crap like that. Even if you think your co-workers would be cool with that, you never know when one of the prudish spouses of an employee will object and sour the party (or cause the couple to get into an arguement). The 'holiday spirit' (some people happy as can be, others depressed, and still others stressed out) and more traditional spirits (alcohol) can make a party unpredictable.
Honestly, I don't know where to start. I just wanna warn you that you better take the responsibility at least a little seriously.
Good luck. It's one thing to volunteer yourself to run a party. It's another thing to be volunteered. This person who nominated you doesn't have something against you, do they? This might be their attempt to get you to fail miserably in front of the entire office.
GMD
watch this
Doom - nothing quite like fragging the boss with a rail gun. (Although that might put a damper on the ole career path ?!?)
Great for small groups! Discovered this game a couple of weeks ago, and am now officially obsessed.
Google it, or see the second entry on my homepage for a list of rules and materials.
Played this game until my sides hurt from laughing.
What were you expecting?
Might be too late for Xmas, but one of the games at http://www.cheapass.com is bound to be a hit. I've played 'Kill Doctor Lucky' and hear that the card games 'Agora' and 'LightSpeed' are both good. Best is, as the name promises, they won't break the bank. (Please tell me you aren't asking about computer games.)
Nuke War.
Gotta be Nuke War.
Got change for 25 million people?
www.eFax.com are spammers
No discussion of Cheapass Games is complete without metion of:
Unexploded Cow
Lord of the Fries
US Patent #1
Hats off to these folks, they're magically delicious.
What were you expecting?
I know my opinion really doesn't count much around here, but I think that this game made for one of the most fun times I have had in recent memory. I am a bartender at a local country club nestled in the foothills of the Ozark mountains, and we have played this a few times when the nights were slow or dull. It has gained some notoriety, and is really fun. Of course, to reinforce the points made a few points up by another, if you are unsure of the dynamic of the group, set some rules that prevent overly boorish or offensive behaviors. The game I play with my friends is more open than the game I paly with the guests in my bar. Just my opinion, but I hope that you guys try this one out!
is it that bad seein a hot chick again? if i see a hot chick walkin down the hall i dont say "repost"
This scales really well to groups of various sizes containing persons of
various ages. Just make sure that when you split teams you don't put all
of something one one team (e.g., all of the geeks, all of the sports fans,
all of the young people, whatever). Split all the demographics across
both teams, and it works better.
Here's how to play: Everybody writes names of famous persons on a bunch of
little slips of paper, folds them once, and throws them in a big bowl. These
can be names of current celebrities, historical figures, literary characters,
cartoon characters, whatever, as long as they're sufficiently well-known
that there's a decent chance several people in the room know about them.
Then you take turns: a person from the one team, then a person from the
other, and then another person from the first team, and so on. You get one
minute to see how many you can get, as follows: You draw a slip of paper out,
look at it, and then without saying any part of it yourself you must get
someone on your team to say the name that's on the paper. If you've never
heard of the person, it's too bad: you make a scrunchy face and try to get
it some other way. ("Okay, the first name is the same as Ellison's first
name, and he's something you make pickles from.") You cannot pass*. When
you finish one, you draw another. When time runs out, you put the one you
didn't finish back into the bowl without revealing any more about what it
was, count how many you got, and add it to your team's score.
This is way more fun than it sounds like. With the right group of people,
someone can draw "Marvin K Mooney", "Alan Greenspan", and "Huldrych Zwingly"
one after the other. Watching their face can be quite entertaining.
* Exception: In cases of utter illegibility, when you can't make out
the letters at all, a person from the other team can examine the slip
and confirm that it's illegible, and you can skip it.
Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
The greatest group video game ever. You live and die with every twist, turn, wormhole, and inadvertent hyperspace. Check it out here. As fun as it is for one player, it is infinitely more entertaining when you have a bunch of good players and one with really bad aim who always turns the power down to 20 and kills himself by accident.
And now, for a sig that's a complete copout.
Get a biggish bucket (pail) that has a flat top that can be covered, and fill it two thirds with water. Get a sweeping broom and a pair of portable ladders.
:-)
Climb up the ladders, hold the bucket against the ceiling, and challenge someone.
"I bet you can't take that broom, push it against the bottom of the bucket, and hold it there for ten seconds."
Of course, that sounds easy, so give them the broom and they do it while you let go of the bucket. Et voila.
Now the good part. Climb down the ladder, and carry them away.
Now everyone gets a laugh as someone is stuck holding a broom with a heavy bucket of water on top. How to get it down? No other way except get drenched
mogorific carpentry experiments
My brother snuck off last year during the holidays to "work" on the computer. When we finally retrieved him to our surprise he hadn't been wasting time on /., but instead had typed up a custom list of holiday terms for Pictionary. Unfortunately Grandpa had no idea what "Dah-Who-Doray" meant when he pulled it out of the hat.
Lasers Controlled Games!
Hours of fun :)
Rus
Cheap UK and US VPS
Bohnanza is a German card game. You have to plant fields of beans and try to make the most coins. The best part is the funny bean pictures on the cards. :-) The coffee bean is hilarious.
And of course, UNO is as good as ever. For the regular deck: spades, hearts, rummy.
If it's got to be electronic, I'd suggest video game tournaments. Racing games are good for this.
If you have any kind of budget, get a kareoke set up with the classics, sinatra, the doobie brothers, Nas, whatever the people in your office know.
As someone else mentioned, the office party is for gossip, debauchery, and indiscriminate photocopying, not sitting down for a game of perquacky, or Smash Bros.
The nice thing about Kareoke is you just need one or two brave souls to get the ball rolling. After that, it's cakesauce getting others to step to the mic.
Particularly if booze is on tap.
"Inattention makes clowns of us all" -Bean
If you've got the budget, I recommend hiring a fake casino. It's a diversion if people want it, and it's neat ambiance for everyone else. When else will you double-down on your $1000 bet?
We had prizes for the biggest winners, but that led to some collusion. Instead, let people buy raffle tickets with their winnings, and raffle off the prizes.
...with baby oil.
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We had an office party and played Red Faction. I took great pleasure in attaching det packs to my boss and then blowing him up after a few seconds. Unfortunately when lay offs came I was the first to go. It was still fun though.
If you want to play FPS at an office party then I recommend Serious Sam, Diablo or some other game with a co-op mode so no one has to kill the boss.
Don't get me wrong, taking your boss out (especially creatively) is a lot of fun during a game, just not good for your career. Sometimes the stress relief is worth it. You may think you boss has a good since of humor (I did) but you need to decide if it is worth the risk.
"Anything is possible with enough programmers, time and pizza." (Substitute caffeine for time as needed.)
Here's how it works: Everyone brings one gift that cost something under a pre-determined price limit (our department is doing a $15 limit, my mom's book group that doesn't read usually does $10). You write out numbers on slips of paper from 1 to n where n is the number of people in the game. 1 goes first and picks a gift from the pile and opens it. 2 can then steal 1's gift or pick a new one from the pile, and so on up to n. If your gift is stolen, you have the option of stealing one from anyone else or of picking from the pile.
Additional rules: You can't steal back the gift that was just taken from you, and we often have a limit on how many times a gift can be stolen.
Not only is this a ton of fun, it can also fulfill all your holiday obligations to your coworkers (as is the rule with ours at work).
If you have too many people coming for it to be practical, you could always split people up into any number of smaller groups to play.
How about Tabloid Teasers? They unfortunately dont make it any more, but it is still a good game if you can find someone who has it
It's a fun game, takes ten minutes to learn, and goes *great* with alcohol. It's endless fun, really.
Yes, one of the coolest things I've found is that different groups make a totally different game of it.
It's fascinating from a game design standpoint to watch the dynamic.
But it's more fun to play the Compassionate Conservatism card on someone, or Scatalogical Bonus Round. Or Zebras...};^)
What were you expecting?
Both of these are card games which are sort of like Uno, but more complex and interesting. I've played Fluxx much more, so these comments relate to that. Fluxx is a great game because if you are familar with it and good at it, you can plan some good strategies, however, if you're a novice, there it is still possible to win. So, both skill and chance come into play. Games can range from one minute to over thirty, and it's good to play from two players to four or five.
There's even a Palm version, called MicroFluxx. It seems like the developers created and were distributing it without the knowledge or consent of Looney Labs, but the matter has since been settled.
Enjoy!
Todd
-- !todd erases a red dot! I steal music on the internet.
Similar to the idea of "Steal a Gift", but encourage folks to bring something used from home to give away. Most folks bring something normal or silly. There's always someone sadistic in a crowd, though. I've seen used baby diapers, table scraps, and sofa legs.
If you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right. (Adapted from Henry Ford)
I guess you could bet on points instead of cash, and the winner can get a prize.
Sanity is the trademark of a weak mind. -- Mark Harrold
52 card pick up?
there are 2 kinds of people. those who divide people into 2 kinds, and those who don't.
A good party game is The Pit by Winning Moves (or Parker Brothers).
The Pit is a commodities trading card game that involves 5 to 10-12 people trying to collect all the cards for a particular commodity. The trick is that everyone is trying to do so at the same time by exchanging 1-8 identical cards (face down) and trying to get someone else to exchange an unknown set of the same number of cards with you. Given that everyone is trying to make trades at the same time, games typically involve lots of yelling, handwaving, and laughter. Great for parties, particularly if you just make the game about trying to collect all the cards for a commodity (corner the market) rather than keeping score.
You could always try the card game Mao. Unfortunately the only rule you're allowed to tell people about Mao is that you're not allowed to explain the rules. So without someone who knows it to play with, you're stuffed of course :-)
Matthew @ Bytemark Hosting
I read in another one of your postings that you work for a defense contractor. I did too, worked for Litton until we were bought out by Northrop-Grumman and let the layoffs fly... I've also been stuck arranging the amusements for the office Christmas party.
You got volunteered, huh? That sucks. Listen, this might sound like an easy/stupid job but you'd better put at least a little thought into making sure you don't screw up. I like to think I'm a fun-lovin' and sometime outrageous guy but I hold myself in check at office parties. You never know when you're going to do something that will give your co-workers a bad impression of you that will last for years.
Completely! You have to be very careful at the office Christmas party. It's one thing if you're just a party-goer; you can hang around with your friends, but be careful to mingle. On the other hand, if you're arranging the entertainment, you have to mingle to make sure everyone is having a good time. And you have to be the life of the party, but still maintain dignity and respect. Avoid the alcohol.
You haven't told us anything about the type of people who are working at this company except that it's a mix of geeks and non-geeks. If I were you, I'd play it safe and try to find out what games were played at previous holiday parties. Whatever you do make the games very non-threatening. No Twister or crap like that. Even if you think your co-workers would be cool with that, you never know when one of the prudish spouses of an employee will object and sour the party (or cause the couple to get into an arguement).
Twister has to be just about the most sexually-charged game on the face of the earth.
What I did for the office Christmas party:
Fire and Meat. Yummy.
My experiences with the game indicate that anyone who suggests that it be played should be immediately beaten about the head and torso with a stick approximately the size of a broom handle. Actually, broom handles work very well for this purpose. Make sure that you use an all wood model rather than metal clad or metal threaded. You don't want to do permanent damage, just teach a very serious lesson. Save your time and your sanity. Don't play Mao. Beat the crap out of your so-called friend.
The best game is always trying to flirt with someone else; even if it's just innocent, which it doesn't always turn out to be.
minutes of fun.
I like microcars
I must say, I'm pretty damn disappointed in everybody's choice of "games" for a company party! You guys are acting like it is like a junior high slumber party. Why don't you play:
I can't picture playing any of these games at a company party, and I am in a very relaxed workplace, with very relaxed co-workers.
YOU'RE WINNER !
Another lame blog
As long as your company isn't too big, get a big whiteboard, some new dry erase markers, and play pictionary. For an All Play, draw a line down the center and each team gets half.
Another good one is Catch Phrase. Sort of a combination of verbal charades (get your opponent to say "spaghetti" and then get rid of the device asap.) There is an electronic version and manual; either is fine.
Stupid people will be persecuted to the fullest extent allowed by law.
Would you go into the same room as a Candygirl? They come in underaged and varieties. How about a Fantastic Doll, they're anime style. Thank you WaiWai for demonstrating yet again how insane modern Japan is. (main sites here and here)