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Games to play with friends

These games are for teens and adults who are hanging out and want something to do. Most need no equipment, and two need a deck of cards. Each one has the rules in a few steps and a tip.

Play now on your phone:Would You RatherTruth or DareTriviaCharadesThis or ThatMost Likely ToNever Have I EverQuestions to AskRiddlesIcebreaker Questions

14 classic games to play with friends

The 14 games start with the ones most friend groups already know and end with a few that are worth learning.

1. Mafia

Players: 7 to 12Ages: 12 and upYou need: Nothing, or a deck of cards to deal roles

  1. One person narrates. Everyone else closes their eyes while the narrator taps two players to be the mafia, one to be the doctor and one to be the detective.
  2. Night: the narrator wakes the mafia, who silently point at a player to take out. Then the doctor wakes and points at one player to save, and the detective points at one player to check.
  3. Day: everyone opens their eyes and the narrator says who was taken out, unless the doctor saved them.
  4. The group argues about who the mafia are and votes one player out. Then night falls again.
  5. The town wins when both mafia are out. The mafia win when they are as many as the town.

Ask the narrator to invent a short story each morning about what happened to the victim, the sillier the better.

2. Two truths and a lie

Players: 3 or moreAges: 10 and upYou need: Nothing

  1. One player says three things about themselves. Two are true and one is made up.
  2. Everyone else may ask a few questions, then votes on which one is the lie.
  3. The player reveals the lie and tells the story behind the strangest truth.
  4. The next player goes. Give a point for each correct guess if you want a winner.

Make the lie boring and the truths odd. Friends who know you well will still pick the wild one.

3. 20 questions

Players: 2 or moreAges: 8 and upYou need: Nothing

  1. One player thinks of a person, place or thing and says which of the three it is.
  2. The others take turns asking questions that can only be answered yes or no.
  3. Count the questions. The group has 20 to work it out, and a direct guess counts as one.
  4. Whoever guesses right thinks of the next one. If nobody does, the same player goes again.

Start wide with questions like 'Is it alive?' or 'Is it bigger than a car?' before you guess anything specific.

4. Categories

Players: 3 or moreAges: 8 and upYou need: Nothing

  1. Sit in a circle and pick a category, such as breakfast foods or excuses for being late.
  2. Go around the circle. Each player has about three seconds to name something that fits.
  3. A player is out if they stall, repeat an answer or say something that does not fit.
  4. The last player left picks the next category.

Clap a slow beat and make every answer land on it, which knocks people out much sooner.

5. Spoons

Players: 3 to 8Ages: 8 and upYou need: A deck of cards and one spoon fewer than the number of players

  1. Put the spoons in the middle of the table and deal four cards to each player.
  2. The dealer draws from the deck one card at a time, keeps the ones they want and passes one face down to the left.
  3. Everyone does the same with the cards that reach them, always holding four.
  4. The first player with four of a kind takes a spoon. Everyone else grabs one as soon as they notice.
  5. The player left without a spoon gets a letter of the word spoon. Spell the whole word and you are out.

Take your spoon quietly and keep passing cards. It can be a while before anyone notices.

6. Hot seat

Players: 4 or moreAges: 13 and upYou need: A chair and a clock or watch

  1. One player sits in the hot seat for two minutes.
  2. Everyone else asks them questions, one at a time, as fast as they can think of them.
  3. The player in the seat answers every question honestly and gets one pass.
  4. When time is up, that player picks who sits next.

Agree on off-limits topics before the first round so nobody gets a question they dread.

7. Psychiatrist

Players: 5 or moreAges: 12 and upYou need: Nothing

  1. One player, the psychiatrist, leaves the room.
  2. The rest agree on a shared pattern. A common one: everyone answers as if they were the person on their left.
  3. The psychiatrist comes back and asks people personal questions, such as 'What did you have for breakfast?'
  4. If someone gives an answer that is wrong for the person they are playing, that person shouts 'Psychiatrist!' and everyone changes seats.
  5. The psychiatrist keeps asking until they work out the pattern.

For a second round, try this pattern: every answer has to start with the next letter of the alphabet.

8. Contact

Players: 3 or moreAges: 12 and upYou need: Nothing

  1. One player thinks of a word and tells the group its first letter, say C.
  2. A guesser thinks of any word starting with C and hints at it with a question: 'Is it a farm animal?'
  3. The word holder tries to name the hinted word: 'No, it is not a cow.'
  4. If another guesser gets the hint first, they say 'Contact'. The two count to three and say their word together, and if the words match the holder gives up the next letter.
  5. Carry on with words that start with all the letters shown, until someone hints at the secret word itself.

Hint with things only your friends would get, like an inside joke, so the word holder cannot block you.

9. Ghost

Players: 2 or moreAges: 10 and upYou need: Nothing

  1. Players take turns saying one letter, building a string of letters together.
  2. Each letter must keep the string on the way to a real word. You lose the round if your letter finishes a word of four letters or more.
  3. If you think the last player has no real word in mind, challenge them. They lose the round if they cannot name one, and you lose it if they can.
  4. Each lost round earns you a letter of the word ghost. Spell it all and you are out.

Count ahead before you add a letter. With three players, steer toward words that would end on someone else's turn.

10. Green glass door

Players: 3 or moreAges: 10 and upYou need: Nothing

  1. One player who knows the secret says what can go through the green glass door: 'I can bring a kitten but I can't bring a cat.'
  2. The others take turns asking if they can bring something through, and the leader says yes or no.
  3. The secret rule is that only words with a double letter get through, like green, glass and door.
  4. Players who work it out keep quiet and start giving examples of their own until everyone has it.

Pair your examples so they point the wrong way, such as 'coffee but no tea' and 'a puppy but no dog'.

11. Black magic

Players: 4 or moreAges: 10 and upYou need: Nothing

  1. Two players secretly know the trick. One of them, the mind reader, leaves the room and the group picks any object in sight.
  2. The mind reader comes back. The partner points at objects one by one and asks, 'Is it this?'
  3. The mind reader says no each time. The partner points at something black right before the chosen object, and that is the signal.
  4. The rest of the group tries to work out how it is done. Anyone who thinks they know takes a turn as the mind reader.

Once people start to suspect the color, change the signal to something else, such as an object with four legs.

12. Cheat

Players: 3 to 8Ages: 8 and upYou need: A deck of cards

  1. Deal out the whole deck. The goal is to get rid of all your cards.
  2. The first player puts one or more cards face down and says what they are, starting with aces: 'two aces'. The next player plays twos, the next threes, and so on.
  3. You may lie about what you put down, and you have to if you hold none of the rank you need.
  4. Anyone can call 'Cheat!' after a play. Turn the cards over: a liar picks up the whole pile, and if the play was honest the caller picks it up.
  5. The first player with no cards left wins.

Bluff while the pile is small. Getting caught then costs you only a few cards.

13. Medusa

Players: 6 or moreAges: 10 and upYou need: Nothing

  1. Stand in a circle with everyone looking at the floor.
  2. On the count of three, everyone looks up and stares straight at one other player.
  3. If two players are looking at each other, both scream and step out.
  4. Close the circle and repeat until two or three players are left.

Ban switching your gaze after you look up. Everyone picks their person while their head is still down.

14. Chopsticks

Players: 2 to 4Ages: 8 and upYou need: Nothing

  1. Each player holds out both hands with one finger showing on each.
  2. On your turn, tap one of your hands on another player's hand. That hand adds your finger count to its own.
  3. A hand that reaches five or more fingers is out and goes behind your back.
  4. You can also use your turn to split: move fingers between your own hands, for example turning four and none into two and two.
  5. The last player with a hand in play wins.

For a longer game, play with leftovers: a hand that goes past five keeps the extra, so six fingers becomes one.

Games to play from one phone

Open one, pick who's playing, and pass the phone around.

Would You Rather

Pick one of two options, then see how everyone else voted.

478 questions

Truth or Dare

Choose truth or dare and the phone deals a card. Add players and it tracks whose turn it is.

539 truths and dares

Trivia

Read the question, let the table argue, then reveal the answer. Keeps score for teams.

605 questions

Charades

The phone shows what to act out and runs the timer. Tap when your team gets it.

599 ideas

This or That

Two words, pick one, next. Vote on each and see the split.

432 questions

Most Likely To

Read the card, count to three, and everyone points at someone.

438 questions

Never Have I Ever

Ten fingers up. Put one down for each thing you've done.

437 questions

Questions to Ask

Conversation starters for friends, couples, a crush or someone you just met.

480 questions

Riddles

Read the riddle, let everyone guess, then reveal the answer.

317 riddles

Icebreaker Questions

Questions that get a short story out of anyone, for meetings, classes and first dates.

260 questions

Tools for the host

Random team generatorPaste the names, choose how many teams, and get a fair random split.

Questions people ask

What games can you play with friends without anything?
20 questions, Categories, Contact, Ghost and Two truths and a lie need only people. They work as well in a car or a waiting line as they do on a couch.
What is a fun game to play with a big group of friends?
Mafia is the usual pick, and it needs at least seven players. Medusa and Psychiatrist also get better as the group grows.
What games can two friends play?
20 questions, Ghost and Chopsticks all work with two players. Two truths and a lie works too if you have not known each other long.

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Updated November 2026.