8 House Party Games To Play That Aren't Truth or Dare

Here's the deal. Not a lot of people like Truth or Dare.

What started as a fun way to ask your friends to do 'daring' things, e.g. put your phone into a bowl of water for 180 seconds, is now known as a sneaky way to get people to do (mostly) sexual activities they're not very comfortable with. It's common to hear people groan or say their goodbyes when Truth or Dare is suggested at games night.

So you're planning games night and don't want people to get bored; what games can you play? Keep reading to discover eight house party games to play that are fun and, most importantly, are not Truth or Dare.

1. Concentration: If you grew up in Nigeria, you know this one. Popularly known as ‘konse konse’, it even has its own theme song.

‘Concentration

64

Do not repeat

or hesitate'

The game's rules are straightforward: as the song suggests, focus is key. A player names a category - like footballers or skincare brands - and everyone takes turns listing items or individuals within that category. Avoid repeating or hesitating, or you're out.

You can play Concentration the old-fashioned way and let everyone come up with their categories, or you can purchase these cards from Gidi Games with pre-written cards here.

2. Vibes: Vibes is a singing game that can be played in two ways, sing-along style or karaoke style.

In Sing Along style, a player picks a card from the deck and then picks a song that meets the criteria of the card. They start singing the song while mentioning at least three words of the song. Play continues in the counterclockwise direction with the next player continuing the song, singing at least the next three words of the song and so on.

I prefer to play it in karaoke style where one person picks a card, reads the prompt and sings a song that meets the criteria of the card. You can switch things up and create two or more teams and have versus battles.

You can purchase Vibes here.

3. I Call On: Grab a paper, label it A-Z on the left, and add 'name, animal, place, thing, food' columns. Create a score section too. One person picks a letter (A-Z), and all the players write items starting with that letter. Each category gets 10 points.

However, if  two or more players write the same thing under any category, they split the score and get 5 marks each.

The player with the highest scores at the end of the game wins!  

4. Gidi Words: Gidi Words is essentially the Nigerian version of Charades where you guess words like Nigerian public figures, cultural and geographical locations, while avoiding mentioning the forbidden words!

You divide players into 2 different teams and each team tries to get members of their team to guess as many Gidi Words as possible in 60 seconds, without mentioning the forbidden words at the top of each card.

You can purchase Gidi Words here.

5. Cup Slide: Cup Slide is a very rewarding game and it's easy to play. You'll need a table, a cup, ballons and some items to reward the players.

Divide the table into sections, each with a reward. Players can only inflate a balloon once and use it to slide the cup across the table to win the corresponding section's reward where the balloon stops.

6. Air Cup Race: Air Cup Race can be played in groups of twos. Imagine you're on a mini soccer field using a table. One end is your goalpost and the other end is your opponent's. Grab a balloon, blow it up, and aim to knock the cup off the table into your opponent's post.

You can each inflate a balloon as many times as it'll take to score a goal.

7. Don't Break The Toilet Paper: The rule of this game is very simple: don't break the toilet paper. Roll out one end of a toilet paper, about 4-6 inches. Fill a cup with water and place it on the tailend of the toilet paper. Each player takes turns to pull the toilet paper back into the roll without breaking it!

8. Table Talk: Table Talk is a deep game, so I'll advise you to play this one in a more intimate gathering. The deck contains 100 questions which encourage honesty and vulnerability amongst friends.

You can purchase Table Talk Cards here.

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