Dinner Party Games For Adults: 12 Ideas To Keep Guests Laughing

The best dinner party games need no board, no space and no explaining. You want something you can start between the main and the pudding, while everyone's still holding a glass.

Twelve below, grouped by how much table you've actually got.

Quick-fire games with nothing on the table

• Say it first - a fast word-association game where you're racing to blurt the answer before anyone else. Perfect between courses because a round takes minutes and everyone can join halfway through.
• The Chameleon - one player doesn't know the secret word and has to bluff. Six people, one small box.
• Herd Mentality - write the answer you think everyone else will write. Endlessly argumentative.
• Just One - cooperative word guessing, five minutes to learn, no losers to sulk.
• Wavelength - one dial in the middle of the table, and forty minutes of good-natured disagreement.
• Coup - five cards each, two-minute rounds, pure bluffing.

Games with no kit at all

• Two truths and a lie, but everyone must pick a story from the last year only.
• Would I Lie To You? rounds using real anecdotes written on scraps of paper.
• The name game - a name stuck to each forehead, yes-or-no questions only.
• Fishbowl: three rounds of the same slips - describe, one word, mime.
• Articulate without the board, just a timer and two teams.

If people want something longer

• Codenames - two teams, twenty minutes a game, suits a mixed table.
• Spyfall - eight minutes of questioning and a lot of shifty looks.
• A murder mystery box, if the dinner was planned around it rather than the other way round.

How to actually get a game started

• Have it in the room before guests arrive. Fetching it from upstairs is where momentum dies.
• Start it yourself rather than asking whether people fancy a game.
• Explain in under three minutes or pick a simpler game.
• Play one round, then offer to stop. Nobody ever wants to stop.
• Check the player count matches your table - plenty of 'party' games cap at six.

Shop funny cards

How to write it so it lands

• One game per dinner. Two is a games night, which is a different invitation.
• Keep the scoring loose. The moment someone gets competitive, the mood shifts.
• Have a non-drinking-friendly option so the games aren't tied to the wine.

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Frequently asked questions

What are good dinner party games for adults?

Quick-fire, talking-based games that need no board: Say it first, The Chameleon, Herd Mentality, Just One and Wavelength. All of them play around plates and glasses.

What game can you play at a dinner table without clearing up?

Word and card games. Say it first, Coup and Spyfall need almost no surface, so you can start while coffee is being poured.

How long should a dinner party game last?

Fifteen to forty minutes, with an obvious stopping point. Anything that commits people to ninety minutes tends to get politely declined.

What's a good icebreaker when guests don't know each other?

A fast word game where everyone plays at once. Say it first or Just One gets a table of strangers laughing within a round, because nobody has to perform alone.

Do you sell board games?

No. We make greeting cards, art prints, pin badges and party bits in the UK, so the games here are simply what we'd recommend to a friend. Some links go to other shops and may earn us a small commission, at no extra cost to you.