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Group games for large groups

These games work for groups of 10 to 40 at parties, youth groups, camps and classrooms. Most need only an open space. Each entry says how many players it suits and how to run it.

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

14 classic group games

These 14 games all work with 10 or more players, starting with the ones most groups already know.

1. Mafia

Players: 8 to 20 per circleAges: 12 and upYou need: A deck of cards or slips of paper for roles

  1. Choose a narrator and deal roles in secret: about one mafia member for every four players, one doctor, one detective, and villagers for the rest.
  2. The narrator calls night and everyone closes their eyes. The mafia wake, silently agree on a victim and go back to sleep.
  3. The doctor wakes and points at someone to protect. Then the detective points at someone and gets a nod or a head shake from the narrator.
  4. The narrator calls day and says who is out. The group debates for a few minutes, then votes one suspect out.
  5. Play nights and days until the mafia are all out or they match the villagers in number.

With more than 20 players, split into two circles with a narrator each. In one circle that size, most people never get to speak.

2. Heads down, thumbs up

Players: 10 to 35Ages: 5 and upYou need: A room with desks or tables

  1. Pick seven players to stand at the front. With a smaller group, pick about one in four.
  2. Everyone else puts their head down on the desk with eyes closed and one thumb up.
  3. The seven walk around and each quietly presses down one thumb, then they go back to the front.
  4. Call 'Heads up, stand up'. The players whose thumbs were pressed stand, and each gets one guess at who chose them.
  5. A player who guesses right swaps places with their chooser. A wrong guess sits back down.

Have the choosers reveal themselves only after all the guesses are in, so later guessers cannot rule people out.

3. Four corners

Players: 10 to 40Ages: 5 and upYou need: A room with four corners you can number

  1. Number the corners one to four. One player stands in the middle with eyes closed and counts down from ten.
  2. Everyone else walks quietly to a corner before the count ends.
  3. With eyes still closed, the counter calls a corner number. Everyone in that corner is out and sits down.
  4. Repeat. When four or fewer players are left, each must pick a different corner.
  5. The last player standing is the next counter.

Let the players who are out stamp their feet during the count to cover the sound of footsteps.

4. Telephone

Players: 8 to 30Ages: 6 and upYou need: Nothing

  1. Sit in a line or a circle. The first player thinks of a sentence and whispers it once to the next player.
  2. Each player whispers what they heard to the next. Nobody gets to hear it twice, even if it made no sense.
  3. The last player says the sentence out loud, and the first player says what it started as.

With more than 15 players, run two lines with the same starting sentence and compare how each one ends up.

5. Human knot

Players: 8 to 12 per circleAges: 8 and upYou need: Open floor space

  1. Split the group into circles of 8 to 12, standing shoulder to shoulder.
  2. Everyone reaches their right hand in and takes the hand of someone who is not next to them.
  3. Do the same with left hands, each holding a different person's hand.
  4. Without letting go, the circle steps over arms, ducks under them and turns until the knot opens into a ring.

Let people loosen and regrip their hands as they turn so no one twists a wrist. Race the circles against each other for a winner.

6. Wink murder

Players: 10 to 30Ages: 8 and upYou need: Nothing

  1. One player, the detective, leaves the room. The rest sit in a circle and silently pick a murderer, then call the detective back to stand in the middle.
  2. The murderer winks at players one at a time while the detective is looking elsewhere.
  3. Anyone who gets winked at counts to three in their head and then dies as dramatically as they like.
  4. The detective has three guesses to name the murderer.

For 20 or more players, pick two murderers and give the detective four guesses to find both.

7. Simon says

Players: 5 to 40Ages: 4 and upYou need: Nothing

  1. One player is Simon and stands where everyone can see.
  2. Simon gives orders. Players obey only the ones that start with 'Simon says', such as 'Simon says touch your toes'.
  3. Anyone who obeys an order without 'Simon says', or is too slow on a real one, is out and sits down.
  4. The last player standing is the next Simon.

For older groups, speed up and do a different action from the one you call. People copy what they see.

8. Rock paper scissors tournament

Players: 10 to 40Ages: 6 and upYou need: Nothing

  1. Everyone finds a partner and plays one round of rock paper scissors.
  2. The loser becomes the winner's fan, stands behind them and chants their name.
  3. Winners find other winners and play again. Each time, the loser and all their fans join the new winner's crowd.
  4. The final is two players, each with half the room cheering behind them.

Agree on the count before you start, for example throwing on 'shoot' after 'rock, paper, scissors'. It saves arguments in the final.

9. Fruit salad

Players: 10 to 40Ages: 6 and upYou need: A circle of chairs, one fewer than the number of players

  1. Sit in a circle of chairs with one player standing in the middle. Give every player, including the one in the middle, one of three fruits: apple, banana or orange.
  2. The middle player calls a fruit. Everyone with that fruit leaves their chair and finds a different one.
  3. The caller tries to take a free chair too. Whoever is left standing calls next.
  4. A call of 'fruit salad' makes everyone move at once.

Make it a rule that nobody may move to the chair right next to their own. It forces players across the circle.

10. Captain's coming

Players: 10 to 40Ages: 6 and upYou need: A hall, gym or field

  1. One player is the captain. Name the four sides of the space bow, stern, port and starboard.
  2. When the captain calls a side, everyone runs to it. The last to arrive is out.
  3. The captain mixes in actions. 'Captain's coming' means stand still and salute, and 'Scrub the decks' means drop to your knees and scrub.
  4. Anyone who does the wrong action or is the last to start is out. The last sailor left wins.

Add group orders such as 'Lifeboats, three!', where players sit in rows of three and anyone left over is out.

11. Who's the leader

Players: 8 to 30Ages: 6 and upYou need: Nothing

  1. Everyone sits in a circle. One player, the guesser, leaves the room.
  2. The group picks a leader, who starts a motion such as clapping or tapping their knees. Everyone copies.
  3. The guesser returns and stands in the middle. The leader keeps changing the motion and the group follows as fast as it can.
  4. The guesser gets three guesses to name the leader. Then the leader becomes the next guesser.

Tell the group to copy a player across the circle. If everyone stares at the leader, the guesser only has to follow their eyes.

12. Giants, wizards and elves

Players: 12 to 40Ages: 8 and upYou need: A field or gym with a center line and a safe line at each end

  1. Teach the poses: giants raise their arms high, wizards point their fingers forward, elves crouch and cup their ears. Giants beat elves, elves beat wizards and wizards beat giants.
  2. Split into two teams. Each team huddles and secretly agrees on one pose.
  3. The teams line up face to face at the center line, chant 'giants, wizards, elves' and strike their pose on the last word.
  4. The winning team chases the losers back toward their safe line. Anyone tagged joins the winning team.
  5. Huddle and play again until one team has everyone.

Have each team pick a backup pose in the huddle. If both teams show the same pose, they go straight to the backup.

13. Human bingo

Players: 10 to 40Ages: 8 and upYou need: A printed grid and a pen for each player

  1. Before the event, make a five by five grid with a different description in each square, such as 'has a younger brother' or 'can whistle'.
  2. Give everyone a copy and a pen. Players walk around looking for people who fit the squares.
  3. A person who fits a square signs it. Nobody may sign the same sheet twice.
  4. The first player with five signatures in a row calls 'Bingo' and reads out who signed what.

Write a few squares about your own group, such as 'has been to this camp before'. Players remember those answers longer than the generic ones.

14. Ninja

Players: 4 to 10 per circleAges: 8 and upYou need: Open floor space

  1. Stand in a circle an arm's length apart. On 'ninja', everyone jumps back into a frozen pose.
  2. Going around the circle, each player gets one smooth move to slap another player's hand, then freezes where they end up.
  3. The target may dodge with one move and must then freeze too.
  4. A hand that gets hit goes behind your back. Lose both hands and you are out.
  5. The last ninja with a hand in play wins.

Split a big group into circles of six to eight and send each circle's winner to a final.

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 a large group?
Four corners, Simon says and a Rock paper scissors tournament work with 40 players as easily as with 10. For a group that wants to sit down, Mafia and Heads down, thumbs up are the usual picks.
What group games need no equipment?
Telephone, Wink murder, Human knot, Ninja and Who's the leader need only people and some floor space. Mafia can be played without cards if the narrator taps shoulders while everyone's eyes are closed.
How do you run games for 30 or more people?
Pick games where everyone plays at once, such as Four corners or Captain's coming, so nobody waits for a turn. For circle games, split into groups of 8 to 12 and bring the winners together for a final.

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Updated November 2026.