30 Games for Teens – Best Party Games for Teenagers

One thing is constant: fun is fun. Suggesting games for teens can be met with rolled eyes and disdain. However, dear parent, it’s advised that you persist. While teens might scoff at your party game ideas, they are an excellent way to break the ice and get those shy kids out of their shells. So, be prepared to have a few options of play and help facilitate it at a party, sleepover, or gathering.

It’s true that teens can engage in activities that raise their parents’ blood pressure (I just had a traumatic flashback to an episode of HBO’s Euphoria that made me shudder), but that does not have to be the case. By suggesting games for teens to play, you are encouraging safe ways to have a great time. These party games for teenagers are going to be a big hit after your own teen overcomes being mortified that you’ve suggested them!

Check Out These 30 Games for Teens That They Will Love!

Only Knees and Elbows

Here’s a classic party game for teens that is easy to get started and can be adapted to parties of varying sizes. If your teen is hosting a small party, have the teenagers gather in a circle. Fill a balloon with water (it can be ANY object but water balloons are squishy and tricky), then ask the teens to pass the balloon around the circle only using their knees and elbows. This concept is completely adaptable.

For larger parties, have the kids split into teams and turn it into a race!

PG Never Have I Ever

“Never Have I Ever…” is one of the most beloved party games for teens. This one is best played in small groups. Give out candy to the teens and have them take turns revealing things they have never done. “Never have I ever… kissed a boy,” is an example. After this is said, those who have kissed a boy must eat a piece of candy. There’s not a “winner” here, but merely an excellent way for kids to get to know one another better.

Pass the M&M

Here is another party game for teens that can be adapted for their particular situation. Hand out plastic spoons to partygoers. Then, have them try and pass an M&M, peanut, marble, etc. to each other using only the spoons which they must hold between their lips. Whoever drops the item is out! Have the teens keep playing until only two remain.

Sweetie, If You Love Me

Party games for teens can be great vehicles for getting kids to bond. This game is very fun and will show others who has the best sense of humor. This game is a little like tag, in that one person is “it.” The person who is “it” must try and make the other person smile, for instance, by saying “Sweetie, If you love me, please just smile.” The person they get to break and smile then becomes “it.”

Looks That Kill

This party game for teens is sometimes called “Medusa” and involves partygoers sitting in a circle. Have the teens look down with their eyes closed. When you say “go!” the kids must immediately look up. If two teens make eye contact, they must dramatically play dead. The last two people left “alive” are technically the winners but the real aces are the ones who get to witness all the dramatic “deaths.”

S-I-N-G-O

Singing bingo is one of the most flexible party games for teens. You can create Bingo cards for the teens with overly used words used in lyrics in pop music. So, words like “oh,” “baby,” “love,” etc. Have the kids scan the radio until they hear the word(s) on the cards. Whoever gets Bingo first wins. Alternatively, you can have kids sing songs from memory in attempt to get their Bingo!

Would You Rather?

One of the most treasured icebreaker games for teens is Would You Rather? It’s simply asking questions to understand more about each person. Examples: Would you rather lick a dirty trashcan or the bathroom floor? Would you rather smell like garlic or eat raw garlic every single day? Lighthearted questions like these are perfect!

On the Scavenger Hunt

Another one of the most adaptable games for teens is a scavenger hunt. You can set one up in the back yard, around the house, at a local department store, park, or neighborhood. Have kids find clues and race to discover all of them. It does take a bit of planning on your part, but how fun does that sound?

Get It Twisted

Twister is a classic party game for young folks and you can set up a normal twister game for the kids or upgrade the experience by creating a yard Twister situation. Kids are less inclined to get weird about it outside, for whatever reason. Using yard paint, create a Twister “mat” by painting the dots on the grass.

Suck & Blow

Although it does not sound sound kosher, suck and blow is one of the most innocent party games for teens. Have the kids gather in a circle or a line. Hand one teen a playing card and explain that the card must go all around the circle or to the end of the line. The catch? The teens can only use their mouths to get the card from person to person. If it gets dropped, the person is “out” and the card must go back to the start.

Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty!

Here’s a game for teens that’s similar to “Sweetie, if you love me…” Have a person pretend to be sleep. The goal is to have the other kids try and break their “sleep” and make them crack up and laugh. You will be pleasantly surprised by the things kids will say to “wake” their friends.

Seek & Hide

This game for teens is essentially like reverse hide and seek. However, it is more fun with more space to hide. Have one of the kids hide. Then, have the other teens split up and try to find the person. The rules are if they find the hiding teen, they must hide with him/her/them. The game ends when the last person finds the group.

Skittles or M&M’s

Most small candies will work for this game. Dump a whole bunch of skittles in a big bowl. Equip the teens with a straw and a cup. The goal is for each teen to collect each color of the candy by only using the straw to get them into the cup. It’s a race!

Scavenger Hunts and Selfies

This is almost identical to a normal scavenger hunt, except, instead of hunting for objects, you have them hunt for places to take selfies or things to take selfies with. Games for teens rarely include activities that they enjoy on any other occasion. Selfies are a teen’s forte.

Name That Tune

Some party games for teens are classics for a reason! Name that Tune is a beloved game that incorporates tons of loud music for the kids to enjoy. Explain to the partygoers that they must write down the name of each song you play. The catch? You will only play a small portion (10-30 seconds) of the song for them to identify it by. Whoever (this can also be done teams) correctly identifies the most songs wins.

Endless Song

Here’s an improv game that’s fun for teens. Split the kids into two groups. Then, have two of the kids step up to face one another. Have the first kid sing a song they love. The other teen they are paired with must come up with a song that uses a word from the first kid chose to sing. Articles and other “basic words” are not allowed. So, “the” is off the table. Time it so the first kid is not left singing the entire song. If the other kid cannot come up with a song with a word, they are “out” and another kid from their group must try next.

Example: First kid sings: “The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow” from Annie. The opponent must think of a song with the same word or words in the lyrics. Any song with “Sun” or “Tomorrow” in the lyrics is appropriate here.

Get Quacked Up!

There are plenty of games for teens that allow them to get extra wacky and this is one of them! Have kids sit in a circle. Choose one of the kids to be “it.” Blindfold the kid and spin them around a few times to get them a little dizzy. Meanwhile, have the kids switch seats so the blindfolded person does not know who is sitting where. With a spoon or other object, the blindfolded person must try and find a person that’s seated and take a seat on the person’s lap.

Once seated, the person who has been tagged must quack like a duck. The blindfolded person then gets to guess whose lap they have landed on. If they guess correctly, they get to take the seated person’s place. If not, they are still “it” and must try again.

Sock Games for Teens Part I

There’s nothing glamorous about the next two games for teens, but even though they are really stupid, they are fun. Provide socks if necessary and have two kids “foot wrestle” with one another. The goal is to remove the other person’s socks using only their feet.

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Sock Games for Teens Part II

Another socks game for teens that is equally easy and way more fun for kids than it sounds, is to have the kids race. This time, the players start with bare feet. They then must try and put on a pair of sock using only their feet. Whoever successfully gets both socks on first wins.

Get Them Stacking

Like the sock party games for teens, here’s another foolproof game that’s simple yet fun. You will need a whole bunch of plastic party cups (think Solo cups). Scatter the cups around an area. It’s a race to see who can collect and stack the most cups. It doesn’t get easier than that!

Scare Them

You can purchase a Ouija board for the kids to play with or you can create a “spirit board” by drawing letters, numbers, and “yes” and “no” on a board. The teens must then use a glass to “commune with the dead.” Make sure that everyone does this without getting too serious. Also, keep the lights on, for your own sanity.

The Winking Serial Killer

The name of this game might sound brutal, but it’s not! Simply have a group of four players or more sit in a wide circle. Each person must draw a piece of paper from a hat. One piece of paper should say “it” or “wink.” The person who draws it then gets to be the wink assassin. When the game starts, players must make eye contact with each other.

The assassin then gets to wink at another person. That person must wait five seconds before pretending to dramatically die. Then, a discussion follows in which players try to find out who the assassin is. In each round, only one person can be accused. If the assassin is correctly identified the others win the game. Play continues until their identity is discovered.

Tied Up

Human knot games for teens are popular because they require no planning, props, or thought. Have the kids run around randomly and then turn the lights off. In the dark, the kids must find other hands to hold (telling them to cross their arms across their bodies so that right hands meet left ones is idea). Turn the lights on once everyone has found a hand to hold. Now, the teens must untangle themselves from the human knot they’ve created.

Beat That Mug

Here is one of the most hilarious games for teens but it can get messy! Split the kids into two or more teams. At random, choose two people from each team. One person gets blindfolded and is designated the makeup artist while the other has to get the makeover. Once you say “start” the MUA must paint their partner’s face using instructions from other members of their team. Once time is up, the person who has done the best makeup and their team win.

Charades, But Funnier

Sure, you can go right ahead and suggest that teens play charades, but you can make it even more fun by giving them the “I am” prompt. Have the kids write down people they all know. This can be another teen, a teacher, or even a celebrity. The names are put into a hat and then drawn. The person who can correctly guess the most impersonations wins. Further, a prize can be given to the person who does the best impressions.

Pop!

Balloons are always your friend when it comes to games for teens or kids. Split the kids into teams and name each team a color. The color should match the color of balloons they must defend in the backyard. So, if you have 20 kids at a party, split them evenly into a blue team and a red team. Put about 50 balloons of each color in the yard. The blue team must pop all the red balloons and vice versa. The team with balloons remaining at the end wins.

Fortunes Told

Have each kid write down their name on a piece of paper and fold it. All of the names go into a cup. Have all the kids write down a random profession on a piece of paper and put them in a separate cup. Repeat with a number, a person everyone knows, and a place. Have pick a kid to go first and choose a name from the name cup, a profession from the profession cup, etc. With all the papers drawn, they will be able to tell a fortune with the person’s name, a profession, the person they will marry, how many kids they will have, and where they will live.

Treats in the Sky

This game can get messy but it’s totally worth it! We like using doughnuts for this game but almost any soft treat will work. Tie a donut to a string for each player. Then, hang with doughnut about six feet in the air (suspended from the ceiling or a clothesline). When you say “go!” players must try and get the doughnuts without using their hands. The first person to successfully eat their doughnut wins!

Musical Chairs

Believe it or not, some games for teens are just as fun for kids today as they were for many of us. Musical Chairs is still a great option for good, clean fun.

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DJ Freeze

Here’s another one of the most beloved games for teens. Choose someone to be the “DJ.” Put them in charge of music, ensuring that they know how to pause and resume the music from whatever device you’re using. When the music plays, kids must dance around as wildly as possible. The DJ then gets to pause the music at random. When the music stops, all the players much freeze in place. Any players who continue dancing, laugh, or otherwise do not “freeze” are eliminated. The last person on the dance floor wins.

There you go! We hope you found some party games for teens for their next function. These games for teens are super easy to pull off and the pay off of each far outweighs not planning any activities at all. By giving the kids something to engage with, you will be able to get your teen and their friends to interact. Most kids at this age are very self-conscious and party games can really allow them to shine. Now, go treat some kids the party of the year!