17 Fun Party Games That Are Perfect For Big Groups

Party games: the other social lubricant.

1. The Hot Seat, which lets you fulfill your fantasy of being a guest on a late night show (basically).

amazon.com

How to play: One person's in the hot seat each round, and has to answer a question about themselves (like "What's the strangest thing I've ever boought online?"). All the other players also have to answer as the person in the hot seat. Hilarity (and possibly hurt feelings?) ensues.

Number of players: 4–10

Promising review: "AWESOMELY HILARIOUS!!! Played tonight with our adult children. Just when you think you know who the obvious answer is... SURPRISE!!!" —michelle kumpe

Get it from Amazon for $19.

2. BuzzFeed's Social Sabotage, a game that rewards social media daring.

Social Sabotage

How to play: Players challenge each other to post or text truly embarrassing things (relatively tame example: Post on Facebook "I'm thinking about selling pics of my feet online."). The player with the courage to follow through on the most combinations is the winner (in the game, at least)!

Number of players: 3+

Get it for $7.99. Learn more at Social Sabotage.

PSST! BuzzFeed makes money if you buy this crazy thing!

3. Codenames, a game of word association and light espionage.

amazon.com

How to play: Two teams compete to figure out the assigned codenames of everyone on their teams, while avoiding guessing the names of the other team's agents.

Number of players: 2–8+

Promising review: "This is the most fun game our family has found in quite a while! We played it on Christmas Eve before opening presents, and I had a hard time getting everyone to stop playing long enough to get to the presents. They kept begging for just one more game. They were loud and raucous, totally involved. We have also played with only a few people, and this game is still fun. Highly, highly recommend Codenames!!" —Janet

Get it from Amazon or Jet for $14.88.

4. Superfight, the game that forces you to defend your firmly held beliefs about who would win in various fights.

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How to play: Combine a character card ("kindergarten class", "the Illuminati") with attribute cards ("is really hangry", "can fly if nobody's watching") to create the ultimate fighter. Defend your ultimate fighter in a head-to-head (or card-to-card) battle with another player. The rest of the players will vote on who made the best case, so there's high potential for screaming.

Number of players: 3–10

Promising review: "We gave this to our 16-year-old son for Christmas, but the whole family had a great time playing it. Excellent game for people who are verbally quick and witty, and maybe slightly mean. The point of the game is to argue about whose character would win in a fight to the death. One of my characters was a three-storey-tall pet rock with two extra legs. it was really fun to try to think up all the reasons my character was better than my opponents. Great game for teenagers, debaters, families, and groups of friends" —Chris Berg

Get it from Amazon or Jet for $28.99.

5. The Metagame, which bills itself as "the ultimate cure for awkward silences".

amazon.com

How to play: The Metagame is comprised of 200 culture cards ("featuring civilization's greatest achievements. Like the Mona Lisa. Or Ms. Pac­Man.") and 100 opinion cards ("that say things like 'Which feels like first love?' or 'Which is a sign of the apocalypse?'"). There are six separate games you can play with the cards, including Debate Club (where you have to argue for your card) and Massively Multiplayer Metagame (which can be played with an indefinite number of people).

Number of players: 2–50

Promising review: "Bought this game for my parents for Christmas. It's much less vulgar than Cards Against Humanity and so much more fun. We loved that there are different game types so once we got bored with one, we could just move on to a different one." —Joedrummer

Get it from Amazon for $15.13.

6. What Do You Meme, because chances are you'd rather be looking at memes than socializing at this theoretical party anyway.

amazon.com

How to play: Pair caption cards with photo cards to make the best meme (as judged by a different player every round).

Number of players: 3–20

Promising review: "This game is a priceless addition to game nights with friends. The cards included are witty and appropriately meme-ish. As a comment to anyone looking to buy this, this is definitely not a game for children (unless you take out some specific cards) and is at a same level of adult content as Cards Against Humanity. I thoroughly enjoy it and look forward to potential expansions of new photo cards if provided by the creator." —Alex Coppolo

Get it from Amazon for $29.97.

7. Joking Hazard, which lets you DIY highly dysfunctional comics.

amazon.com, Explosm Entertainment / YouTube / Via youtube.com

How to play: Complete hilarious and tasteless comic panels for the judgement of your peers.

Number of players: 3–10

Promising review: "No one likes the awkward holiday arguments over politics and "when are you getting married?" I avoided those conversations completely this Christmas by gifting Joking Hazard. My whole family (the grown ups, anyway) had a great time and laughed our asses off. Easy to learn and play, and no knowledge of the comic is required. " —Jenn

Get it from Amazon for $25.

8. Game of Phones, a game that lets you exercise your favorite appendage—your smartphone.

uncommongoods.sjv.io

How to play: The cards give you tasks you can complete on your cell phone—create Emoji art, find your best selfie, etc.

Number of players: 3+

Promising review: "My entire family enjoyed playing this game over the holidays. I have two high schoolers and they enjoyed the game as much as the adults." —Mama Bear

Get it from Uncommon Goods for $20.

9. The Game of Things, which combines creativity and friend-pigeonholing.

amazon.com

How to play: Everybody writes down their answers to questions ("Things you shouldn't do naked," for one), and then the group guesses who wrote what.

Number of players: 4+

Promising review: "Fun game for all ages. I have played it with a group of girlfriends and with family. We laughed until we cried. Good for all ages. You can control the content based on your answers. I'm very happy with this purchase." —Kelli Manford

Get it from Amazon for $22.95+ (available in two versions).

10. Drunk Stoned or Stupid, the game most likely call you and your friends on your shit.

amazon.com

How to play: The judge picks a card (they say things like "shame people for going to bed" or "sings but shouldn't"—no winning qualities here) and hands it to the person on their left, who gives the card to the player they think best embodies its characteristic. The person with the fewest cards at the end wins (at the game, and also maybe at life). Note: the game doesn't actually have anything to do with being drunk or stoned.

Number of players: The more, the better!

Promising review: "We played this at our department Christmas party and had a blast! We all laughed so hard and it was hours of fun. But, it is best when you play with a large group, who know each other very well, and aren't afraid to call each other out. I bought the expansion pack so that we have even more cards for next time." —Jennifer Lubbers

Get it from Amazon for $18.

11. CatchPhrase, a handheld game that benefits the quick-witted (and quick shouters).

amazon.com

How to play: Players divide into two teams. One player at a time tries to get their team to guess the word or phrase that appears on the game's little screen (without actually saying the word, obviously).

Number of players: 4+

Promising review: "The game made a big hit with the family. Teams can be as large as you want and of any age. We had all generations participate and had the most hysterically fun time playing. And, it has the great side effect of forcing you to communicate using real words and descriptions." —Amazon Customer

Get it from Amazon for $13.99 or Jet for $14.28.

12. One-Night Ultimate Werewolf, which will pit man against mythical beast, and friend against friend.

amazon.com

How to play: Every player is assigned a (secret) role (including Werewolf, Seer, and Troublemaker), and everyone falls into on of two teams: Villager or Werewolf. A free app walks everyone through the "night phase" (that's when the Werewolf stalks its prey), and then everyone tried to figure out who the Werewolf is.

Number of players: 3–10

Promising review: "This is one of the best party games in existence. Sure, you have to download an app on your phone to make it work, but the level of interaction between members and the varied differences in play make this a game to play over, and over, and over again. If you forced me to get rid of my board games collection and save only one game, this might be the one!" —fermat200pg

Get it from Amazon for $12.99.

13. Spontuneous, which requires singing—or shouting—but not musical talent.

amazon.com

How to play: Each round, players have to blurt out a song containing a given word. The fastest blurter wins.

Number of players: 4–10

Promising review: "This game has excellent, clear directions and is easy to play. We played last night with 8 family members and it was an easy party game with everyone staying actively involved. The description was great. I was expecting to have a list of words included but was surprised to find players make their own word list - I think that allows a LOT more flexibility in playing and the owner won't get bored playing the same word list over and over again! I'd recommend it!" —Elizabeth

Get it from Amazon for $29.99.

14. Double Ditto, which encourages synchronized thinking.

amazon.com

How to play: Each round, the Ditto Master (lol) reads out a card ("dog breeds," "candy bars," "things you see at the beach"), and players write two responses. The goal is write things you think another player will write.

Number of players: 4–10+

Promising review: "Creative game :) It's really fun to play with family and friends as shows how different your thinking can change according to your age/ background and stuff. It was really good! I'm not a native English speaker and I find this game easy to understand and play." —Amazon Customer

Get it from Amazon for $19.95.

15. Stipulations, the game that rewards creative Debbie Downerism.

amazon.com

How to play: Players try to rain on each other's parades as creatively as possible by adding stipulations to another player's superpower, occupation, lifetime supply, or dream (as specified on the game's cards). A judge chooses the funniest stipulation as the winner of the round.

Number of players: 2–10

Promising review: "Great game! Played with multiple groups of people and hilarious no matter the group of friends! It can be as clean or as gutter dirty as you make it. Great laughter will be had!" —Brett and Jenni Goodlin

Get it from ThinkGeek for $24.99.

16. Wits and Wagers, a trivia game that even the ignorant among us can enjoy.

amazon.com

How to play: Players try to answer (obscure-ish trivia questions), like 'what percent of bank robberies are committed by women'. You can bet on your own guess, or on the guess of another player you think is likely to know the answer. Closest answer without going over is the winner, and the wagers on that answer pay out.

Number of players: 4+

Promising review: "We played Wits and Wagers at our New Year's Eve party and our guests really enjoyed it. Everyone wanted to keep playing, so we went three full rounds. The game challenges not only your memory, but your deductive powers as well. The questions were interesting and a lot of fun. I highly recommend this game for a medium-size house party of 6 to 12 guests, and maybe even as many as 18." —Carol Ilten

Get it from Amazon for $24.88.

17. Cards Against Humanity, the gold standard of hilarious, tasteless party games.

amazon.com

How to play: Players each have a hand of white cards, which they use to fill in blanks or answer questions posed by black cards. Funniest answer wins. Guaranteed to get weird.

Number of players: 4+

Promising review: "This game has got to be the funniest game I've played in a while. I played it with friends at a BBQ and it was a huge hit. WOULD DEFINITELY not recommend playing around children though, the cards are funny, but not intended for little ones..." —Angel Lueras

Get it from Amazon for $25.

Please note: BuzzFeed holds no responsibility for any Jumanji-type scenario.

TriStar / Via giphy.com

The reviews for this post have been edited for length and clarity.

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Allison Krausman / BuzzFeed / Via BuzzFeed