Dinner Party Games: 10 fun games for the table that need no prep

Two truths and a lie

3-12 players, 15 min, Ages 10+

1. Everyone shares three things about themselves. Two are true, one is made up.
2. The table votes on which one is the lie.
3. Whoever fools the most people wins the round.

Story relay

3-12 players, 10-15 min, Ages 6+

1. One person starts a story with a single sentence.
2. The next person adds one sentence, and the story goes around the table.
3. In the third round the story has to come to an end, and the last person gives it a final line.

Would you rather

2-12 players, As long as you like, Ages 7+

1. One person reads a dilemma out loud.
2. Everyone chooses at the same time by holding up one or two fingers.
3. One person from each side explains their choice.

Tip: You'll find more than a hundred dilemmas in the Would You Rather deck.

Guess who

4-12 players, 15 min, Ages 8+

1. Everyone writes a small, little-known fact about themselves on a slip of paper.
2. Shuffle the slips and read them out one at a time.
3. The table guesses whose slip it is.

Word chain

3-12 players, 10 min, Ages 6+

1. One person says a word, like "summer."
2. The next person says a word that starts with the last letter of the one before.
3. Anyone who takes more than five seconds or repeats a word starts a new chain with a new word.

The shared memory

3-12 players, 15 min, All ages

1. Someone names an experience that several people at the table were part of.
2. Each person tells what they remember best about it.
3. The table finds out how differently everyone remembers the same thing.

Who at the table

4-12 players, 10 min, Ages 8+

1. One person reads a pointing card out loud.
2. On three, everyone points at the same time.
3. Whoever gets the most fingers pointed at them tells the story behind it, or passes it on.

Tip: Keep it kind. The cards below are written to make people smile, not to tease.

Conversation cards between courses

2-12 players, As long as you like, All ages

1. Put the phone in the middle of the table.
2. Between courses, a new person draws a card.
3. Everyone answers, and whoever answers last draws the next card.

Three things in common

4-12 players, 10 min, Ages 8+

1. In pairs, find three things you have in common that aren't obvious.
2. Each pair shares their three things with the table.
3. The pair with the most surprising thing in common wins.

Five seconds

3-12 players, 10 min, Ages 8+

1. One person names a category, like "three ice cream flavors" or "three capital cities."
2. The person on their left has to name three things in five seconds.
3. Get it and you score a point, and then it's your turn to pick the category.