Hosting your first post-Covid house party but with only 7 hand-picked loved ones, as legally mandated by the government?
If the idea of a small intimate house party brings up fears of family feuds, uncomfortably intrusive personal questions or icy silence from friends who haven’t seen each other in way too long, get prepped for the worst with some of these fun social icebreaking games that’d get everyone warmed up and laughing in no time.
2 truths and 1 lie
Chances are you haven’t seen many of your family or friends for ages, so 2 truths and 1 lie is the perfect way to catch up in a hilarious way. Start by naming a category - for example, ‘things I did while in quarantine’ - and have everyone provide 3 statements within that category, 1 of which is a lie. You could tell everyone that you ate an entire tub of ice cream by yourself, sang karaoke to your bathroom mirror and slept 12 hours a day, and have them guess which one of those statements is false.
This is a great time to share all your recent shenanigans, whilst also testing your loved ones on how well they know you with lots of fun and laughter along the way.
Psych!
Another simple way to keep a group happy and laughing - have everyone download the Psych! app, so you can get straight to (discreetly) competing to see who’s brainier and funnier (instead of who’s making more money or who has more babies). The aim of Psych is to outwit the other players by giving smart (but totally fake) answers to questions on trivia. The more convincing the made-up answer, the more votes you cheat from the others and and the bigger the bragging rights you win for that evening.
Head’s Up
Head’s Up is a slightly more high-tech, modern version of Charades, with new variations added in to make the game more fun and hilarious. Like Psych, everyone in the group first downloads the app, then each player takes a turn to hold their mobile phone up to their forehead (with the screen facing outwards) so everyone except that player can see the word that is displayed on their screen. The other players then have to act out, sing, and do whatever they can to help the word-displaying player guess their word, which could be a celebrity, movie, animal, or even an accent. Once the word has been guessed, the player holding the mobile phone tilts their forehead downwards for the next word. If they want to pass on the word, they’d have to tilt their head upwards.
Looks silly? You bet. Funny? Also a guarantee.
Cards Against Humanity Online
Cards Against Humanity is one of the most popular party games in the world, but don’t worry if you haven’t got a physical deck: this wildly beloved game is now available for free online, so all you need is everyone’s cell phones. Create a virtual game room and share the link so everyone can join in, then each player will see their own allotted hands as well as the common deck. Play the normal way, as if you had a physical deck of cards: one player picks a Black question card to display, and all the other players then respond with their funniest White answer cards.
Because the content of the cards are somewhat crude and vulgar, this game is probably more suited to those 21 years of age and above (but below 70, so leave the grandparents out of it).
