11 free games to liven up your parties

Having fun without it costing a penny is a winner!

The unmissable karaoke, the graceful Twister, the traditional Monopoly: this year, we are putting aside the games that remind us of the famous New Year's Eve at Aunt Claudette's to make way for creative and free activities to do with family or friends. Games that will appeal to young and old (and even my uncle Alain-le-grincheux)!

1. The magic carpet 

Comedy to perfection! First, the game master or designate must divide the players into teams. Each team will be given a towel or rug as a “magic carpet”. All team members will stand on it. The game master begins by telling the teams the following: “You are on a magic carpet, thousands of feet in the sky. But you're not going anywhere because your mat is upside down.” The goal? Flip the mat straight up without anyone falling. Players can use their hands. The team that manages to turn over their mat first without falling wins the game.  

Burst News
– Number of players: per team
– Duration of a game: 30 minutes
– Age: for all

2. Part charades, part drawings 

What better way to kick off the evening than with charades? Simple, but always appreciated, charades and drawings are a must! How do we play? We form teams, then each player writes a sentence on a piece of paper. Then, randomly and in turn, each person draws a paper and draws the sentence to make the players of his team guess and so on. The team that solves the most charades wins the game!  

Burst News
– Number of players: 2 or more per team 
– Duration of a game: between 30 and 60 minutes depending on the number of participants
– Age: for all

< strong>3. Who is it? 

We write the first name of each guest on a small piece of paper that we place in a bowl. Each person draws a paper and must then describe in four words the person whose name he has just drawn. The player has one minute to make the participants guess who it is. Laughs guaranteed!  

Burst info  
– Number of players: unlimited
– Duration of a game: between 25 and 60 minutes depending on the number of participants 
– Age: for adults

4. La boulette 

A popular game in recent years in Quebec families! Can't wait for the return of the gatherings to play the dumpling again! First, we write on small pieces of paper proper names, names of objects or expressions to guess, then we crumple everything to form small balls, which we place in a bowl. < /p>

This game has three rounds. A round ends when all the dumplings have been guessed. Each round has several rounds. A round lasts 60 seconds. In each round, one player per team tries to get their teammates to guess the most words. The player draws a dumpling, and as soon as he succeeds in a riddle, he draws another dumpling and so on. When their 60 seconds are up, it's the other team's turn. Each round, it's a new player's turn to guess the meatballs.  

It should be noted that in the first round the player can talk as much as he wants to guess the dumplings. During the second round, the participant can only say one word. It is in the third round that the game gets complicated: the players must then make them guess the contents of the balls by miming, still in 60 seconds! At the end of each round, the balls guessed are counted; each of them gives a point. Then return all the meatballs to the main bowl for the next round. The winning team is the one with the most points. 

Burst News
– Number of players: 2 or 3 teams of 3 or 4 people  
– Duration of a game: more than 60 minutes 
– Age: for all

5. The phone  

This game for everyone that will make young and old laugh! All participants are standing and queuing. The first player whispers a phrase once into the ear of the first person in line. She repeats what she heard in the ear of the person in front of her and so on until the last person in line. The goal? Guess the repeated sentence, which is often very different from the original version!  

Burst info 
– Number of players: unlimited
– Duration of a game: 10 minutes
– Age: for all

6. Homemade fury 

This is the perfect game to discover the Celine or the Beyoncé of the family… or not! To play it, nothing could be simpler: we divide the family into two clans, then the first player puts on the headphones, where he hears a song humming. He has 30 seconds to make his team guess the song. Mimes and gestures are accepted. An all-star game not to be missed! 

Burst news 
– Number of players: 2 teams of 5 players
– Duration of a game: between 30 and 60 minutes 
– Age: for all

< strong>7. TikTok me this! 

For young and old! Nothing better to include all generations of the same family than to introduce them to a TikTok dance! The aim of the game? Take a popular TikTok dance and have a tournament to see who does it the best from just one video watch.  

If not all the guests want to play, you can designate three judges for a round, so it is possible to involve all the guests. 

News burst 
– Number of players: unlimited 
– Duration of a game: 30 minutes
– Age: for all

8. Are you a gamer?

A game reminiscent of the famous Truth or Consequence! Version 2.0 is simpler and less annoying! In a bowl, we draw the name of a player, then, in another bowl, we draw a challenge from among those that will have been predetermined by the participants. Here are some good examples of you're not the gamechallenges to try: 

• Make a cliché declaration of love to the person on the left
• Brush another player's teeth
• Walk for 2 minutes in high heels

A fun way to entertain guests during your festive evenings !  

Burst News
– Number of players: per team
– Duration of a game: 30 minutes
– Age: for all

Photo: Unsplash

9. Tonight we dance!  

As soon as they arrive, the participants are warned by the host: as soon as they hear a song (for example Jingle Bell Rock), they must get up and dance no matter where they are in home or even outside! Losers are excluded and they have a consequence at the choice of the host! Nothing better to do the dishes in record time on New Year's Eve!  

Burst info 
– Number of players: unlimited  
– Duration of a game: all evening 
– Age: for all

10. Beer pong, champagne pong or gin pong 

A classic that varies according to the tastes (and budget!) of the participants!  Our suggestion? Test different Quebec gins during this friendly game! How to play? The two teams are located at the ends of the table. First, you have to determine the starting team to a coin toss. In turn, the participants of each team try to throw a ball into the glasses that are placed on the table. If the ball doesn't fall into the glass, it's up to the opposing team to take a sip! There are several versions of this holiday “table sport” and all variations are fun in moderation! 

Burst Info 
– Number of players: the same per team
– Duration of a game: 30 minutes
– Age: adults only

< strong>11. The Electric Shock

An original game for everyone that opposes two teams of ten people each with the help of a game master. In each team, all the players must hold hands. Only the first players of each team alongside the game master can watch the master's hands. When the latter shows the right color of cabbage (green to start the shock, red to create a diversion), everyone must shake hands in turn and quickly so that the electric shock goes to the other end of the room. Table. The last person on the team must grab the napkin first.

Each time a team wins a round, everyone squats one position to the right and the person at the end moves back to the first position at the other end of the table, where the game master is located. However, if the clash went to the end after the game master had shown the red cabbage, the team must drop back one position. The first team that makes a complete turn, that is to say when everyone returns to their original place, is the winner! Laughter guaranteed! 

Burst info 
– Number of players: unlimited, two teams of the same number 
– Duration of a game: 30 minutes
– Age: for all