Appoint your own Lord of Misrule to add a bit of Mischief & Mayhem to your social gathering, with these ideas for party games.

 

Hi Henry

Gather everyone who wants to play and get them to sit in a circle. Before you start, carefully burn the end of a wine bottle cork (make sure it’s real cork not plastic) so that it turns black (or use lipstick / eyeliner). The chosen Lord of Misrule starts by saying “Hi Henry” to the person to his right, who replies “Hi Henry” then Lord of Misrule says “tell Henry”. the person to his right says “Hi Henry” to the person to his right who replies “Hi Henry ETC, and so it goes around the circle until someone muddles their words. They then get a blacken spot on their face with the cork and become “One Spot”. The game carries “Hi One Spot” on with increasing number of spots added and the skill is to remember how many spots each person has and not get your words muddled.

 

Spoons

Also known as Pig. Players quickly pass cards around the table in this wild, fast-paced card game. Don't be left without a spoon!

Spoons can be played with up to 13 people. Players take turns trying to collect four-of-a-kind and once someone does, everyone tries to grab a spoon. If you’re the player without a spoon, you’re out!

You will need a standard deck of cards (no Jokers), and spoons, one less than the number of players.

Start the game by arranging all the spoons in the middle of the table. The dealer deals four cards to each player. The dealer should keep the remaining cards in a pile on the table.

At the beginning of each round, the dealer takes a card off the top of the deck (to have five cards in his hand), he or she then removes one card from their hand and passes it face down to the player on their left. This continues around the circle of players with each player taking a card from the person on their right, chooses whether to keep it and passes one card on to the next player. Each player discards to the person on their left.

The last player places his discarded card into a discard pile and the next round begins when the dealer picks up a new card. If at any time the draw cards run out, pause to reshuffle the trash pile and keep going.

Play continues quickly until someone gets four of a kind. At that time, the player takes a spoon from the center. Once the player with four of a kind takes a spoon, anyone can take a spoon. The player left without a spoon is out the game. The player who reaches four of a kind first has a variety of ways he can take the first spoon. A sneaky pull exposes those paying too close attention to their cards. A demonstrative grab leads to a wild free-for-all. Either way, it’s hilarious.

The winner is the last player remaining.

After Eight Game 

Give everyone around the table an after eight chocolate. The winner is the quickest person who can get the chocolate from their forehead, down their face into their mouth without using their hands.

 

Mystery Word Game

This is a great game to start at the beginning of a dinner party. Everybody has to put their own name into a pot, and a ridiculous phrase / word / sentence into another pot. Each person around the table then pulls a name and phrase out of the respective pots (hopefully not their own!), and then has to work that phrase into conversation with the chosen person, without being called out for it. For example, if one person pulled out 'I applied for Love Island' and 'Sarah', they'd have to find a way to tell Sarah about their ITV2 application without her suspecting.

 
Human Cluedo

A great game to play over the course of a weekend. Everybody involved writes their own name down and puts it into one pot, and then a household item to put into another large pot. Finally, you write as many locations as there are people down (i.e. kitchen, bathroom, garden) in a third pot.

Everyone picks a person, item and location. Over the weekend, each person is tasked with giving their chosen person the thing in the location. If someone does it to you, you're dead and out of the game, so can't try and do it to someone else. For example, if someone manages to give you the pepper grinder on the balcony.

Last person standing wins.

 
Laughing Game

Everyone must form a circle so it is easy to see all other players.

All the players at the same time must say: "Ha," "Ho," and "Hee"!

Keep observing others so they do not cheat and do not start to laugh.

The winner is the last one not laughing!

 
Forfeits

Playing forfeits as a game in its own right is good after a big dinner, as little physical activity is required. It works best with large groups of well-fed people who won't be moving for half an hour or so.

Determine who must perform a forfeit by spinning the bottle of Lord of Misrule.

You could write forfeits on pieces of paper and pick them out of a hat when required or write them behind numbered doors on an advent calendar. If you are hosting a big evening, impress your guests by constructing a wheel of fortune, draw on a paper plate and attach a spinning arrow with a paper fastener.

Some of the following may not be suitable for children. We trust you to judge which.

• Be spoon-fed a trifle / dessert by the person opposite you, who must perform this blindfolded.
• Spend the next half an hour tied to the person whose birthday is closest to your own.
• Sing a song in the style of a different band chosen by the group. Think ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ by the Sex Pistols, or ‘Let It Go’ by Jay-Z.
• Fashion a newspaper outfit for the nearest male.
• Kiss everyone in the room whose name begins with the same letter as your own.
• Put lipstick on the nearest person - blindfolded.
• Sit blindfold while three unidentified people kiss you one at a time. Rate each kiss out of 10.
• Swap clothes with the person on your left.
• Tie an apron on another player at the same time as they try to tie one on you.
• Go round the room and give everyone a piece of advice.
• Recite a poem.
• Say the alphabet backwards (NB cheat by saying "the alphabet backwards").
• Put your forehead on the top of a broom and walk round it five times, keeping your head in place. Then try to walk in a straight line to the door.
• Pick up a potato from a chair with your buttocks/thighs. Walk over to a bowl with it still firmly gripped and drop it into a bowl.
• Eat three dry crackers within one minute. Without water. And blindfolded.
• Grab three clementines and attempt to juggle them.
• Bend over backwards and kiss the wall.
• Limbo under a broom.