Games that work with fifty or more
Games that hold up when the group is big. Most games fall apart past a certain size, either because people stop getting a turn or because you cannot be heard. These ones scale.
- Games to Play with No Resources
1 2 3 4
A quick reflex game played in pairs. On '4', try to trap your partner's finger on your palm while pulling your own away.
- Drama Games
Acting Whispers
Like Whispers but acted out. A scenario is performed and passed along a chain of volunteers, getting more distorted each time.
- Memory Verse Games
Action Words
The group creates a physical action for each word of the verse, then says it aloud while performing the actions until it's memorised.
- Memory Verse Games
Amazing Memory Race
An Amazing Race-style game where teams follow clues to find hidden pieces of a Bible verse scattered around the venue.
- Get to Know You
Appointments
Participants fill an appointment card by booking time slots with others, then visit each appointment throughout the night to answer questions.
- Memory Verse Games
B-I-N-G-*
A clapping game where every second word of the verse is replaced with a clap, gradually helping younger groups memorise it without realising.
- Gym Games
Balloon Wars
Everyone ties two balloons to their ankles and tries to pop others' balloons while protecting their own. Walking only, no contact.
- Memory Verse Games
Bible Jigsaw
The memory verse is printed, cut into jigsaw pieces, and the group reassembles it. Can be made more challenging with cardboard backing.
- Memory Verse Games
Bible Verse Relay
A relay race where participants run one at a time to collect pieces of a cut-up Bible verse, then reassemble it as a team.
- Memory Verse Games
Bible Verse Song
The memory verse is turned into a song, either with an original melody or by fitting the words to a well-known pop song.
- Games to Play with No Resources
Body Parts
Teams must collectively place exactly the right number and type of body parts on the ground before time is called, no more and no less.
- Wide Games
Capture the Flag
Two teams try to steal the opposing team's flag and return it to base without being tipped.
- Up Front Games
Carrot in a Box
Two boxes, one carrot. One player knows where it is, the other has to read their bluff and decide whether to swap.
- Gym Games
Cat and Mouse (Chairs)
A cat chases a mouse around a row of alternating-direction chairs. To switch sides, the cat must tag a seated player who becomes the new cat.
- Messy Games
Catch an Egg
Pairs throw a raw egg back and forth, stepping further apart after every catch, until one unbroken egg is left.
- Up Front Games
Cheese or Font
The leader reads out a name and the group decides whether it is a cheese or a font. Hands on head for cheese, hands on hips for font.
- Drama Games
Conscience Alley
One person walks down an alley of peers acting as good and bad conscience, advising on a tough decision.
- Up Front Games
Cyclist or Pokémon
The leader reads out a name and the group decides whether it belongs to a professional cyclist or a Pokémon. Hands on head for cyclist, hands on hips for Pokémon.
- Memory Verse Games
Dart Relay
Teams throw darts at balloons to collect hidden memory verse puzzle pieces, then race to reassemble the verse.
- Up Front Games
Do This Do That
The caller performs actions saying 'do this' and everyone copies. On 'do that', everyone must freeze. Move on 'do that' and you're out.
- Drama Games
Dramatic Bible Reading
A Bible passage is read aloud with full dramatic expression, using voices, pace and emotion to bring the text to life.
- Gym Games
Drop The Tray
A growing chain of players walks the inside of the circle until the tray drops, then everyone races for a seat.
- Gym Games
Elves, Giants and Wizards
A large-scale rock-paper-scissors game where teams pick a character and the winning team chases the other back to their wall.
- Memory Verse Games
Erase the Words
The memory verse is displayed and read aloud, then words are gradually erased until the group is recalling it entirely from memory.
- Get to Know You
Everyone Who...
A musical-chairs-style game where the person in the centre calls out a true statement about themselves and everyone it applies to must swap seats.
- Get to Know You
Find Someone Who...
Participants mingle to find people who match facts on their sheet, collecting signatures until someone fills every box.
- Get to Know You
Flip the Sheet
A whole team stands on one bed sheet and has to turn it over without anyone stepping off.
- Gym Games
Fresh
A team tipping game where you can only tip someone who left the wall before you. The longer you're off the wall, the less fresh you are.
- Oval Games
Frisbee Noodle Relay
A giant egg and spoon race, run with a frisbee balanced on the end of a pool noodle.
- Games to Play with No Resources
Get in that Group
Everyone moves around the space until the leader calls a number. Players must instantly form groups of exactly that size or they're out.
- Wide Games
Glow in the Dark Games
A collection of classic games played at night with glow stick-covered equipment and players. Chaotic, colourful fun.
- Up Front Games
Guess the Intro
Two seconds of a song is all the group gets. First team to shout the title takes the point, and the clip grows if nobody can pick it.
- Up Front Games
Guess the Leader
Baby photos of the leaders go up one at a time and the whole group points at whoever they think it is before the answer is revealed.
- Attention Grabbers
Hand Up
The leader raises their hand silently. Group members copy, and the signal spreads until everyone is quiet and attentive.
- Classroom Games
Heads or Tails
A true or false elimination game. Hands on head for true, hands on bottom for false.
- Messy Games
Homemade Lemonade
A relay where every runner carries sugar, lemon and water in their mouth, does ten star jumps to mix it, and spits the result into the team jug.
- Gym Games
Human Foosball
A life-size version of foosball where players stand in lines and can only move sideways to kick the ball into the opposing goal.
- Get to Know You
Human Knot
Everyone grabs hands across a circle to form a giant knot, then the group must untangle without letting go.
- Gym Games
Human PACman
A giant game of tip played on court lines. Players must stay on the lines, and tipped players become immovable roadblocks.
- Camp Games
I'm Going on a Train
A riddle game where players try to figure out the secret rule for what can be taken on the train. Items must contain a double vowel.
- Camp Games
I'm Going to an Island
A riddle game where players must figure out the rule. Items brought to the island must start with the first letter of your name.
- Attention Grabbers
If You Can Hear Me, Clap Once
A clever attention-getter that becomes a game. Get the whole group clapping in unison as fast as possible.
- Gym Games
King Characticus
A quick-reaction call-and-response game where teams must stand and reply in unison when accused of stealing the king's hat.
- Get to Know You
Knights, Horses, Cavaliers
Pairs must quickly form the correct pose when the leader calls out 'Knights', 'Horses' or 'Cavaliers'. Slowest or wrong pair is out.
- Camp Games
Leader Hunt
A daytime search for leaders hidden around the campsite, each worth a different number of points. No sneaking, just hunting.
- Camp Games
Little Bobby Stories
A storytelling game where the leader spins a long, elaborate tale about the unfortunate Little Bobby, always ending in a terrible punchline.
- Wide Games
Man Hunt
A night game where participants search for hidden leaders while avoiding being spotted by torch-carrying leaders.
- Memory Verse Games
Memory Balloons
A relay game where participants collect balloons one at a time, each containing a piece of a memory verse that the team must assemble.
- Wide Games
Mini-Games
A wide game where teams race through a series of small leader-run activities, collecting clues along the way to complete the overall challenge.
- Up Front Games
Minute to Win It
Volunteers take on a series of daft sixty-second challenges built from everyday objects while the rest of the group counts down.
- Attention Grabbers
Mirroring
The leader performs silent actions and the group mirrors them exactly, creating instant quiet focus without a word being said.
- Drama Games
Monologuing
A participant takes on a character and delivers a solo speech based on a situation that character has experienced.
- Camp Games
Moose
A running camp game where calling someone's name with moose antlers on your head triggers a chain of reactions.
- Wide Games
Murder Mystery
An elaborate evening game where teams interrogate leader-characters to solve a mystery acted out at the start of the night.
- Get to Know You
Name Race
A simple circle game where everyone says their name in turn, then races to see how fast the whole group can get through it.
- Oval Games
Octopus
A classic oval game where tipped players sit and become tentacle-waving octopuses trying to tip runners going past.
- Messy Games
Paint Mines
Teams talk a blindfolded team-mate across an oval strewn with plates of paint, and every mine they tread on costs the whole team ten seconds.
- Messy Games
Paint War
Four teams, four colours of diluted paint and a paper life taped to every chest. Cover everyone else and protect your own.
- Classroom Games
Paper Wars
Two teams throw scrunched newspaper across a dividing line. The team with the least paper on their side when time is called wins.
- Camp Games
Random Handoff
An ongoing camp game where you hand an object to someone saying 'random handoff!' and they must hold it until they can pass it on.
- Attention Grabbers
Rhythmical Clapping
A clapping pattern game where the leader claps a rhythm and everyone must repeat it, with the patterns growing longer each round.
- Drama Games
Role Playing
Everyone takes on a character within a given situation and discusses a topic from that character's perspective with a partner.
- Drama Games
Role Walk
Like Role Playing, but participants walk around finding new partners each time to discuss the topic in character.
- Wide Games
Scavenger Hunt
Teams race to find as many items as possible from a pre-planned list, scoring points for each. Most points wins.
- Gym Games
Scissors Paper Rock Championship
A knockout scissors paper rock tournament where everyone you beat becomes part of your cheer squad.
- Attention Grabbers
Sign Language
Teach the group a simple sign, tapping fingers on the cheek, that means 'freeze and face the leader' whenever they see it.
- Get to Know You
Silent Line Up
Without speaking, teams race to line themselves up in order of height, birthday or alphabetical first name.
- Games to Play with No Resources
Sleeping Lions
Everyone lies perfectly still like sleeping lions. Any movement gets you out, and the last person to stay still wins.
- Memory Verse Games
SMS Memory
A mid-week challenge for older groups: everyone sends the memory verse to the group chat at a set random time, and closest to the mark wins.
- Drama Games
Space Jump
An improv game where actors are added one at a time, each creating a new scenario based on the frozen pose of the previous actor.
- Games to Play with No Resources
Spaceship Tip
Teams of four form human spaceships, three players holding hands around a captain, and try to tip other captains without breaking formation.
- Attention Grabbers
Special Clap
The group learns a special rhythmic clap that, once mastered, is used as an attention-grabbing signal to bring everyone to silence.
- Get to Know You
Speed Friending
Speed dating without the dating. Three minutes per pair, then one circle shuffles along and everyone starts fresh with someone new.
- Wide Games
Spotto
A night stealth game where participants must freeze whenever a leader's torch flashes. Get caught moving and you're sent back to the start.
- Drama Games
Stop Motion Lego
Teams create a stop motion film using Lego figures, a camera and a story, then screen their films for the group.
- Classroom Games
Straw Towers
Teams race to build the tallest freestanding tower using only straws and sticky tape.
- Gym Games
Streets and Lanes
A cat-and-mouse chase game where the grid of players rotates on command, constantly reshaping the paths the cat and mouse can run through.
- Oval Games
Stuck in the Mud
A classic schoolyard game where tipped players freeze with legs spread until a teammate crawls between their legs to free them.
- Gym Games
Suit Corners
An elimination game where players pick a corner assigned a card suit, and the drawn suit gets eliminated each round.
- Up Front Games
Taste the Difference
Blindfolded volunteers taste their way along a table of mystery foods and try to name each one while the group watches on.
- Up Front Games
Taylor Swift or Proverbs
The leader reads a quote and the group decides whether it is a Taylor Swift lyric or a verse from Proverbs. Hands on head for Proverbs, hands on hips for Taylor.
- Creative Games
Team Flag
Teams design and paint a flag representing who they are, giving them something to rally around for the rest of the week.
- Creative Games
Team Song
Teams write a song or chant about themselves using a simple four-line scaffold, then perform it to everyone.
- Camp Games
The Game
An ongoing game where the sole rule is: if you think about The Game, you lose.
- Oval Games
The Gauntlet
One team forms a gauntlet of ball-throwers while the other team runs through as many times as possible without being hit below the knees.
- Camp Games
The Man in the Moon
A riddle game where players try to copy what the leader does, but the only thing that actually matters is saying thank you when handed the stick.
- Up Front Games
Toilet Paper Pull
Two volunteers race to empty a roll of toilet paper off a broom handle, by any method they can think of.
- Camp Games
Torchlight Hide and Seek
Hide and seek across the campsite after dark. Anyone caught joins the seekers, so the pack grows until one hider is left.
- Wide Games
Vampire
A multi-round social stealth game where a secret vampire bites others to turn them. Onion holders can resist once, and everyone else must survive.
- Wide Games
Water Fight
A straightforward water fight. Two teams, lots of water, and the wettest team wins (though everyone wins really).
- Up Front Games
What's in the Box?
Two volunteers face off across a box of strange objects, describing what they can see, and the other has to work out whether they are lying.
- Up Front Games
What's in the Can?
A week-by-week guessing game with one unlabelled tin. Each week a new volunteer shakes it, weighs it up and guesses what is inside.
- Oval Games
Worm Rush
A growing chain game where tipped players join hands with the tipper, forming a worm in which only the two end players can tip others.