Party Games: Games to break the ice

Type: F

Players: Any number.

Equipment: Slips of paper.

Rules:
Before the party, think up a selection of unusual adverbs, and write them down on slips of paper, one for each guest. On arrival, the guests are handed their adverb, and must spend the rest of the evening talking in that fashion. This game can certainly set the tone for the party, as those, who have been given 'hideously' or aggressively', are likely to have made fewer friends than those with 'delightfully' or 'sexily'. At the end of the evening, by which time 'claustrophobically' has probably gone for a walk, and 'murderously' is helping the police with their inquiries, all of the guests try to decipher each other's adverbs.

Type: A

Players: Any number.

Equipment: Paper, pencils.

Rules:
Guests are asked to come to the party with something about them that suggests a lapse of memory, such as odd socks, one ear-ring (for a woman), a watch worn upside down, a shirt buttoned incorrectly, or, for the true exhibitionist, no trousers. As the players mingle, they write down the perceived errors. The winner is the one with the most correct answers within a time limit of 10 minutes.

Type: AB

Players: 4 - 10.

Equipment: Pieces of card.

Rules:
A good way of getting people into the swing of things is to play your own version of the popular board game. You need to prepare in the region of 30 cards, and illustrate them with picture writing that represents a phrase. For example, write a small letter 'b' and a small letter 'c' inside a large letter 'u'. This translates as 'Be seein' you'. Or write the word 'QUICK' immediately above the word 'DRAW' for 'Quick on the draw'. Make sure that you hold each card up high enough, so that all of the players can see. When someone shouts out the correct answer, move on to the next card. This can be played either as a competitive game, with a prize going to the player with the most answers, or simply as an enjoyable getting-to-know-you exercise.

Type: F

Players: Any number.

Equipment: A pack of playing cards, two wastepaper bins.

Rules:
The players are divided into two teams, each of which is issued with 13 playing cards of one suit. To make identification easier, it is probably helpful, if one team has a black suit, the other a red. The first player of each team stands over his respective bin, and holds a card in such a way that its long edge is touching the tip of the player's nose. From that position, he allows the card to fall downwards, in the hope that it will land in the bin. After the captains have dropped their 13 cards, they pick up those cards that have not fallen, and hand them to the next team members. The game continues until one team has safely binned all 13 cards. This is much more difficult than it sounds - unless your name happens to be Pinocchio.

Type: AE

Players: 12 or more.

Equipment: Pencils, pieces of card, safety pins or sticky tape.

Rules:
On arrival, guests have a blank card pinned or taped to their backs. As they mingle, they write a brief, two- or three-word description or first impression of each other on the card. Thus people will be walking around with comments like 'nice eyes' or 'terminal dandruff' pinned to their backs, although it is best not to be too insulting, particularly if you intend staying at the party. After 10 minutes, the host asks the players to read out the card of the person standing next to them.

Type: FNC

Players: 8 - 14.

Equipment: Blindfolds.

Rules:
Players are divided into pairs, boy and girl. Each couple agrees upon a distinctive ornithological call sign, such as "Tweet-Tweet", "Too-Wit-Too-Woo" or "'Squawk-Squawk". The male partners then leave the room to be blindfolded, and, on their return, have to find their mate as quickly as possible. With all the hens chirruping away at the same time, this is easier said than done. To help him, the female is allowed to make her call, but no more than three times. When the pair are finally united, it is the girl's turn to be blindfolded.

Type: FD

Players: Any even number.

Equipment: Pencil, paper.

Rules:
Based on the long-running TV series, this game can be played by partners, who are total strangers, as well as by those who have known each other for years. The players are split up into couples, and one person from each couple leaves the room. The remaining players are then asked a series of pre-planned questions about their partners, spouses or dates, and try to answer them in the way they think their partners would reply. These answers are written down. The missing players then return, and are asked the same questions. If their answer matches that given by their partners, they score a point. In the next round, the partners' roles are reversed. The winning pair are the first to reach 5 points. Although seemingly innocuous, this game can turn nasty, when couples, who have been together for years, disagree over fundamentals, such as 'Who snores the louder?'

Type: A

Players: Any number.

Rules:
There is no more forceful way for party guests to memorise each other's names than to play 'Next in Line'. The guests are seated in a circle, and are asked to call out their first names. The host, who is in the middle of the circle, suddenly points at one of the players, and demands, 'Who's next?' If the host points with the right hand, the player must immediately call out the name of the person to his right; If the host points with the left hand, it must be the person to the player's left. The second player repeats the process, pointing to someone else in the circle with either hand. The same rules of right and left apply. And so the game continues at a frantic pace. Any player guilty of going in the wrong direction, or forgetting a name, is disqualified.

Type: A

Players: Any even number.

Equipment: A notice board, a sheet of white paper, magazines or newspapers, drawing pins.

Rules:
This adaptation of Pin the Tail on the Donkey is a novel method of pairing off unattached couples for party games. The host cuts out a selection of newspaper and magazine photos of glamorous celebrities (anyone from Pamela Anderson to Lassie), and gives them to guests of the appropriate sex. Each cut-out has a drawing pin through the head, and its guest's name on the back. In turn, each guest is blindfolded, swung round three times, and aimed at the sheet of paper on the notice board. According to where the cut-outs land, the nearest male and female pin-ups become partners for the following game... and, perhaps, the rest of the evening.

Type: AC

Players: Any even number.

Equipment: Balls of string.

Rules:
A string game that serves as a good ice-breaker is 'Puppet on a String'. The drawback from the host's point of view is that it involves turning parts of the house into a war zone, with lengths of impenetrable string wrapped around every conceivable item of furniture. You need one length of string for every two guests. The lengths should be wound around backs of chairs, table legs and so on, to form a vast web leading into an adjoining room. For the particularly adventurous, the second room could even be upstairs. Care must be taken not to create knots, however. The male guests go into the first room, and the girls go into the second, everyone taking an end of string. They then set about winding it up, until the pair with the same length of string meet somewhere in the middle with a kiss. The beauty of the game is that, if the string has been looped around cleverly, it is not until the last moment that you find out whom you are going to kiss. This may, or may not, be good news.

Type: FE

Players: 10 or more.

Equipment: Pieces of card, pencils.

Rules:
On small cards, prepare a series of clues, one relating to each guest. Each clue will offer vague details of a hobby or other highly individual trait of one of the guests. For example it might say, 'Plays in a band'. By talking to the other guests, the players, each of whom is given a card at the outset, attempt to fill in the name of the band and the person concerned. Then they try to find the answers to the remainder of the clues. The winner is the player with most correct answers in the given time.

If there are 10 players, the cards could read:

Plays in a band.
Name of band:
Name of person:

Has a terrible phobia.
Name of phobia:
Name of person:

Is a county sports champion.
Name of sport:
Name of person:

Has been on TV.
Name of programme:
Name of person:

Has a rare collection.
Type of collection:
Name of person:

Owns a sports car.
Make of car:
Name of person:

Has had a book published.
Name of book:
Name of person:

Once spent the night in jail.
Type of offence:
Name of person:

Lives next door to an undertaker.
Name of undertaker:
Name of person:

Left his wife for another woman.
Name of mistress:
Name of person:

At this point it is probably best to end the game.

Type: FCE

Players: Any number.

Equipment: A blindfold, a cushion.

Rules:
One player is blindfolded, and given a cushion in the centre of the room while the other guests sit in a circle around the outside. The game begins with the blindfolded player being turned around three times, to remove any last hint of coordination. He or she must then place the cushion on another player's lap, and sit on it. In doing so, the blindfolded player calls out "squeak, piggy, squeak", in response to which the person, who is being sat on, squeaks like a pig. If the blindfolded player identifies the owner of the squeak correctly, the two change places. If not, another lap must be found. Once a new person is blindfolded, the players all swap positions. This is an excellent way of getting your guests acquainted, and making fools of themselves at the same time.

Type: A

Players: Any even number.

Equipment: Small pieces of card or paper.

Rules:
What better way for your guests to get to know each other than by searching for their spiritual partners? Before the party, the host writes down on pieces of paper or card pairs of famous or infamous lovers, corresponding to the number of guests expected. When the guests arrive, they are handed their new identities, whereupon Napoleon immediately sets out to find his Josephine, while Minnie Mouse hunts down her Mickey. They do this simply by chatting away in character, although, if a male guest is seen swinging from the light fittings, it is a fair chance that Esmeralda is about to locate her Quasimodo. If there are more women expected than men, this can be balanced out by the inclusion of a Henry VIII or Warren Beatty. Similarly, if there is a surfeit of men, Liz Taylor or Patsy Kensit will prove invaluable.

Type: A

Players: Any number.

Equipment: Pieces of paper, safety pins.

Rules:
This popular ice-breaker is a good way of keeping the early arrivals occupied, while you're still waiting for late-comers. After writing clown the names of famous people on slips of paper, pin one on the back of each player. The players have to find out who they are by questioning each other, but these questions can be answered only by 'yes' or 'no'. Time permitting, the game continues until everyone has solved their personal identity crisis.

From 'The Ultimate Party Games Book'.
© 1997 Carlton Books.