Talking Games for Friends
Hot Takes To play this game, take turns sharing a “hot take”—a strong personal opinion that might be controversial or highly contested in the group. Each time someone calls out a hot take, the rest of the players can weigh in and share their own thoughts on the topic. It’s as simple as that! Example hot takes could include: Cats make better companions than dogs. You should pour your milk into your bowl before the cereal. The Percy Jackson series is way better than Harry Potter. Everyone should own at least one pair of Crocs.
High, Low, and Buffalo Have each player take turns sharing one “high” (something great in their life), one “low” (something that’s been bothering them), and one “buffalo” (something random or funny about their life). This game is a fun way to get more details from friends and family about their lives and share more about yours in return! For example: High: I got tickets to see my favorite musician in concert! Low: I paid too much for those tickets, which totally blew my budget. Buffalo: I’m thinking of getting a new rug. Do you think purple would look good in my room?
Would You Rather Come up with two scenarios and ask other players which one they’d prefer if they had to choose one—in the form of a question that starts with “Would you rather…?” See what everyone else says, and give each player a turn to devise their own scenarios, too! For example: Would you rather have smelly feet or bad breath? Would you rather live on a boat or in a treehouse? Would you rather have a photographic memory or the ability to read minds? Would you rather give up showering for a month or give up the internet for a month?
Two Truths and a Lie Share two true things about your life and one made up (without revealing which is which). Then, let the other players try to guess which statement is the lie! Anyone who guesses correctly gets a point for that round. At the end of the game, after everyone has had a chance to make up two truths and a lie, the person with the most correct guesses wins. Example statements include: I’m a vegetarian. I’m colorblind. I’m terrified of clowns. I’m an only child. My first pet was a turtle.
I Like You Because… Sit in a circle and take turns saying one thing you appreciate about the person sitting next to you (either on your left or right, your choice). Then, have everyone move around and change their seating places, then go around the group again so you can say what you appreciate about someone else. For example: I like you because you have great fashion sense. I like you because you’re super reliable. I like you because you’re honest no matter what. I like you because you’re a great listener.
What If? Take turns making up a hypothetical situation that starts with “What if…?” and pose the question to another player of your choice. That player must then say what they’d do in that situation and describe what would happen next. When they’re done, the player that came up with an answer can ask someone else a “What if…?” scenario. For example: What if you had superpowers? What if you could talk to your 10-year-old self? What if you could live forever? What if you could talk to animals?
Group Consensus Start by posing a question to the group or offering a hypothetical scenario. Then, the group must talk it over and come up with a single answer that everyone can agree on, debating their different perspectives and suggestions until they reach an understanding. Once the group has an answer, someone else can pose a new question! For example: If you could insult one famous historical figure to their face, who would it be? If you could travel in time, what decade and century would you visit? If you had to re-watch a movie once a week for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Alien Ambassador Choose one player to be the “alien ambassador,” an alien visiting Earth for the first time. The rest of the group is responsible for answering the alien’s questions and explaining the basics of life on Earth. Ideally, the alien ambassador will end up getting confused, forcing the other players to come up with creative (and silly) explanations for things!
Talking Games for Big Groups
Never Have I Ever At the beginning of the game, have everyone start with all ten fingers up. Then, take turns saying, “Never have I ever…” followed by something you haven’t done. If someone else has done that thing, they must put a finger down. The last person with a finger still up wins the game! Example “Never have I ever” statements include: Never have I ever broken a bone. Never have I ever met a celebrity. Never have I ever seen a ghost. Never have I ever been caught lying. Never have I ever stayed up all night.
Ten Things In Common In this simple game, the entire group must find ten things they all have in common. Talk amongst yourselves to find similarities—and remember that they have to be more specific than, “We’re all human” or “We need air to breathe.” You might be surprised by what you have in common with the rest of the group! If you’re worried about the group being too big, you can always break into smaller groups and have each one find ten things they have in common instead.
The Alphabet Game Choose a topic to start with. Then, have everyone take turns calling out a word related to that topic. The catch is that each word must start with a specific letter of the alphabet, going in alphabetical order (so the first word must start with “A,” then the next one should start with “B,” and so on). You're out of the game if you can’t think of a word. Topics or categories could include names (either men’s, women’s, or both), foods, celebrities, movie and TV show titles, or animals.You can always get creative without own topics, too!
My Name, Your Name Try this game if you want to help a large group get to know one another! Start by sitting in a circle and have everyone say their names. Then, establish the following rhythm: have everyone slap their thighs twice, clap their hands twice, and finally snap their fingers twice. Once the group has that pattern down, play the game as follows: Get one person to start by saying their name during the first snap, then calling out someone else’s name on the next one. The person whose name is called must do the same thing, saying their name on the first snap and someone else’s on the second. Keep a steady beat as you play, and keep going until everyone’s name has been called!
Ask Me Anything “Ask Me Anything” is an easy game where players can ask one another any question, and the person they ask can answer or decide to skip it. Before you start, decide on a penalty for skipping a question. Then, have players take turns thinking of questions and choosing someone to ask—and give everyone a chance to go! There’s no winner or loser for this game (unless you decide the penalty for skipping a question is getting kicked out of the game). Other penalty ideas could be doing ten push-ups, eating something unappetizing (like a sliver of lemon), or contributing a dollar to a communal pile (which you use to get candy or ice cream after).
Accidental Expert Come up with a bunch of totally wild, fictional subjects. Then, assing a subject to each player. On their turn, that player must act like an expert in their assigned subject, introducing it and then answering everyone else’s questions about it, coming up with confident (and totally made-up) answers on the fly. For example, subjects could include: First-contact protocol for aliens How to teach cats to play jazz music Mastering the art of telekinesis
Talking Games for Couples
Between the Sheets If you’re looking for a spicier couples’ game, this could be it! Take turns asking one another romantic or steamy questions and see if your partner can guess the correct answer. Whoever gets the most correct answers wins, but the real win is learning more about one another and deepening the intimacy between you. Example questions include: Where’s my favorite place to be kissed? What do I love most about your body? What kind of flirting do I find irresistible? What’s the most sensual dream I’ve ever had?
The Dating Game Ready to share some of your funniest dating stories with your partner? To play this game, just take turns asking questions about the other person’s dating life and experiences before you met them. The questions must be about dating specifically—and not anything else! For example, you might ask: What’s the craziest thing you’ve done with an ex? Have you ever been ghosted by someone you were dating? What’s the silliest thing you’ve done to impress someone you were dating?
Dreams and Fears Sit down with your significant other and take turns naming one of your greatest dreams, followed by one of your biggest fears. This can help you get to know one another on a deeper level and share things you might not normally think to talk about! For example: Your dream might be living somewhere warm in a beachfront house. Your fear might be losing all your money, or losing your dream job.
Roses and Thorns Face one another and take turns saying three things you like about one another (or your relationship) and three things you’d like to improve or change about the relationship. There’s no winner or loser; the goal is simply to help you and your partner get on the same page about your needs in the relationship while making one another feel appreciated, too!
Dream Life The goal of this simple game is for you and your significant other to take turns describing your dream lives! Think about what your dream life would look like: your perfect job, house, wedding, and so on. It’s a great opportunity for you both to see what you have in common (and what aspects of your dream life you could realistically work toward).
Talking Games for Parties
Orange Flags Most people know about red flags (negative warning signs) and green flags (positive, desirable traits) in relationships—but what about orange flags? Orange flags are qualities that aren’t complete deal-breakers but could definitely make you stop and think. To play the game, take turns naming something you consider an orange flag. Then, let everyone else chime in with their opinion. Some players might consider your orange flag a red flag, for example, while others might not have a problem with it. Example orange flags could include: Having one really ugly household decoration they insist on keeping Sleeping with a fan on all the time, even during winter Always leaving half-finished drinks around the house Wearing socks, underwear, and other clothes with holes in them.
Most Likely To Also called “the superlative game,” the goal of this game is to find out what your friend group thinks of you! Take turns coming up with questions that begin with “Who’s most likely to…?” followed by a scenario. Then, the rest of the group must decide which player best fits the scenario in question. Just make sure your questions are general enough to apply to anyone! For example: Who’s likely to get lost on a road trip? Who’s most likely to become famous? Who’s most likely to marry someone they just met? Who’s most likely to be late?
Love, Like, or Leave Have one person begin the game by asking “Love, like, or leave?” and then naming three different fictional characters (or any other category, from celebrities to foods). The person they ask must then decide which option they love, which one they like, and which one they’d leave. From there, go around the group and let everyone answer! Example Love, Like, or Leave scenarios could include: Aladdin, Peter Pan, and Winnie the Pooh Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman
This or That To begin the game, come up with two options and have each player choose between them (phrasing it as a “this or that” question). Then, let each player come up with a “this or that” question of their own, and take turns finding out what everyone’s personal preference is. This is supposed to be a rapid-fire game, so go with your gut and answer fast! For example: Sunrise or sunset? Coffee or tea? Fiction or nonfiction? Sing or dance?
Perfectly Perfect, But… Similar to Orange Flags, this game involves coming up with flaws for an imaginary partner and seeing how everyone else reacts. Start by saying “They’re perfectly perfect, but…” and then naming a single flaw for this otherwise ideal partner. Then, let the rest of the group chime in and say whether they’d be okay with that flaw, or if they’d find it unacceptable. For example: They’re perfectly perfect, but they pick their nose. They’re perfectly perfect, but they end every sentence like a question. They’re perfectly perfect, but they refuse to watch any movie made after the year 2000.
Team Trivia Break up your party guests into small groups (ideally with 3 to 5 people) and have one person host the game. The host must then ask teams a series of trivia questions, and each team can take amongst themselves to try and figure out the answer. The team that answers correctly first wins that round—and at the end of the game, the team with the most correct answers wins! Trivia categories can include any subject from pop culture, movies, and entertainment to sports, world history, and scientific facts.
Micro Story How fast-paced are your storytelling skills? To play this game, come up with a few different prompts for a story (like “slaying a dragon” or “treasure hunt”). Then, give each player a prompt and have them take turns turning their prompt into a 10-second story on the fly. The story must be quick, yet have a clear beginning, middle, and end! When everyone has told a story, you can vote on the best story, or just talk about your favorite stories and compare all the different tales created.
Team-Building Talking Games
Brainstorming Relay If you need a team-building game to play with colleagues at work, try Brainstorming Relay! Divide the players into teams and give each one a work-related challenge to solve. Then, each group must collaborate to brainstorm a solution to their challenge. After a certain amount of time, rotate each team to a different problem and have them build on the previous team’s solution. You can decide how long to let the teams brainstorm their solutions. For example, you might give them 5 to 10 minutes before their problem (and solution) is passed to a new team.
Project Pitch Split the players into teams and have each one develop a product concept to present like a business pitch (in the vein of Shark Tank). Teams must make their pitch to a panel of “investors” (other players), who listen to each pitch and give feedback on them. If you want to make the game competitive, the team with the most compelling pitch wins!
Interview Swap This is more of an informal game designed to help colleagues get to know each other better. Simply split your players into pairs and have them “interview” one another, asking questions about their backgrounds, work history, and interests outside of work. Both people in each pair should have the chance to interview and be the interviewee!
Word Association Chain Begin the game by coming up with a random word related to the company or workplace. Then, have players take turns calling out the first word they can think of in relation to the previous word said. Keep the chain going until a player hesitates or repeats a word; then they’re out of the game, and you can start a new chain!
Appreciation Exchange This game is very easy, but great for building connections and stronger working relationships between colleagues! Pair up your players and have them take turns expressing appreciation for their partner. Each person must come up with something they appreciate about the other—a personality trait, workplace achievement, or some other quality. If you want to keep the game going, you could have players continually find new partners after going through the steps above.
Talking Games for Road Trips
One Line at a Time This is an easy conversation game to test your collaborative storytelling chops. Have one player start by coming up with the first sentence of a story. Then, have players take turns adding to the story, contributing a single new sentence on their turn. Keep going until the story reaches a natural ending—and be as creative as you can!
Just a Minute Come up with a few random (but not too obscure or difficult) topics and give each to a player. When it’s their turn, players must try to talk confidently about their topic for a minute straight—and if they stop or repeat themselves at any point during their speech, they’re out of the game. You can play this game with topics that most players would know, or go in the other direction and choose topics nobody knows about! Example topics could include: How to ride a bike Why dogs are the perfect companions What will the world look like in 100 years? The most essential qualities in a good movie protagonist
Would I Lie to You? For this game, have one player make a statement about themselves. It can be true or false—their choice. Then, everyone else can ask two questions about the statement, which the first player must answer. Using those answers, each player must decide if the statement is real or a lie! Whoever guesses correctly gets a point—and the player with the most points after the game wins.
I Spy I Spy is a quick and easy game for all ages! Have one person choose an object they can see, then say “I spy with my little eye…” followed by a vague descriptor of the object. Everyone else must try to guess what they’re describing, and the person who guesses correctly wins that round! For example, if the object you choose is someone’s shoe, you might say, “I spy with my little eye…” then, “...something the color black” or “...something beginning with ‘s.’”
Twenty-One Questions To play this classic game, have one person think of a specific person, place, or object (but keep whatever they’re thinking of to themselves). Then, everyone else must come up with “yes” or “no” questions to ask that person, with the goal of figuring out what they’re thinking of within twenty-one questions. Generally, the easiest way to play this game is by starting with broader questions and then getting more specific as you narrow down the possibilities.
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