Birthday Party Games for Adults: 9 Games Rated on Prep Time, Group Size and Awkwardness
Good adult birthday games need little preparation and do not leave anyone performing alone unless they want to. Below, nine games are rated on exactly that, and three of them come with a birthday version built around the guest of honor, with lists you can paste straight into PartyDeck.
How the games are rated
- Prep: 0 = nothing to prepare; 1 = a few minutes at a keyboard or printer; 2 = you need to collect things from other people first.
- Awkwardness: 1 = nobody performs alone; 2 = one person at a time is in the spotlight for a short turn, or the room points at someone; 3 = someone has to speak at length on their own.
- Group size: for the PartyDeck games, the game's own limit; for the others, our suggestion.
The table is sorted by prep + awkwardness, lowest first. These are our ratings of what each game asks of people, not survey results.
| # | Game | Birthday version | Prep | Group size | Awkwardness |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Would you rather (read aloud, everyone answers) | Questions about the guest of honor's year | 0 | Any | 1 |
| 2 | Imposter, classic or undercover | A My words list of the guest of honor's favorite things | 0 | 3–20 | 2 |
| 3 | Who's most likely to | The birthday edition below | 0 (1 for the birthday edition) | 3–20 | 2 |
| 4 | Charades, two teams | The birthday prompts below | 0 (1 for the prompts) | Any, two teams | 2 |
| 5 | Two truths and a lie | Only true facts about the guest of honor; guests spot the lie | 0 | 4–12 | 2 |
| 6 | Guess the baby photo | It is already a birthday game | 2 | 6+ | 1 |
| 7 | Trivia about the guest of honor | It is already a birthday game | 2 | Any | 1 |
| 8 | Scavenger hunt that ends at the present | The adult trail on Hunt Cards | 2 | Any | 1 |
| 9 | Toast round: everyone shares one memory | It is already a birthday game | 0 | Up to about 15 | 3 |
The zero-prep games
Imposter rates a 2: each player speaks for one word per round, and the vote singles out whoever the room suspects. A caught imposter still gets one guess at the word to steal the win. Undercover mode, where the imposter gets a similar word and does not know it, suits a group that has played before.
Who's most likely to rates a 2 because the room points at one person per question. The Friends set has 81 questions about habits rather than looks or money, such as "Who's most likely to get lost while following the map app?". Skip the Couples set unless everyone there is in one.
Put the guest of honor at the center
Three of the PartyDeck games get a birthday version with a few minutes at the keyboard: Imposter with a list of the guest of honor's favorite things, and the two lists below. Open My words, make a list, and paste one of these. Lists appear as an extra category in Charades and as an extra set in Who's most likely to, and stay on your device.
Birthday charades prompts
Replace [Name] and fill in the brackets: "[Name]'s karaoke song: [song]" becomes "Sam's karaoke song: Dancing Queen", so the card keeps the birthday link. Everyone at the party should know the answers, or the round turns into an inside joke for two people. Keep at least 20 lines: charades leaves out cards already shown until fewer than 20 unseen ones remain, then brings the whole list back.
Birthday charades prompts (24 lines)
[Name]'s karaoke song: [song] [Name]'s first car: [car] [Name] on a Monday morning [Name]'s dream holiday: [place] [Name]'s signature dance move [Name]'s favorite meal: [dish] [Name]'s job, explained to a child [Name] getting a parking ticket [Name]'s favorite phrase: [phrase] [Name]'s hidden talent: [talent] [Name] assembling flat-pack furniture [Name] at their first concert [Name]'s favorite sport: [sport] [Name] waking up late [Name]'s pet: [pet] [Name] on vacation [Name]'s go-to coffee order [Name] cooking dinner [Name]'s favorite film: [film] [Name] opening a present [Name] stuck in traffic [Name]'s childhood dream job: [job] [Name] on a first date [Name]'s favorite band: [band]
Most likely to: birthday edition
These work as written; pasting them is the only prep. Each line finishes "Who's most likely to …?".
Most likely to: birthday edition (15 lines)
remember everyone's birthday this year plan the next birthday party bake a birthday cake from scratch forget their own birthday cry during the birthday speech get the birthday song started give the most thoughtful present still be dancing at the end of the night have a birthday in a different country next year blow out the candles in one breath take a birthday selfie with a stranger organize a surprise party and keep it secret tell everyone their birthday wish wear a party hat all night without being asked send a birthday card on time
The games that need collecting
- Guess the baby photo: ask guests for one childhood photo each a week before, number them, and have everyone write down who is who. Nobody is in the spotlight, which is why it rates 1 despite the prep.
- Trivia about the guest of honor: ten questions their closest friends can answer and the rest can guess. Read them aloud; teams write answers.
- A clue trail to the present: Hunt Cards has a ready adult birthday trail of wordplay riddles that ends wherever you hide the gift.
The one to handle with care
The toast round rates 3 because each person speaks alone. Make it optional (a "pass" is fine), cap it at one sentence each, and run it late, once the room is warm.
Next steps
- Rules and examples: how to play Imposter and how to play charades.
- More questions to pick from: the full most likely to list.
- A bachelorette instead: Hunt Cards' bachelorette scavenger hunt has no drinking tasks.