Finding time to let loose and play not only makes you feel good, it is just as important as getting a good night's sleep. With that in mind, here are five incredibly simple yet addictive games that adults and children alike can enjoy. And the best part is that they don’t require any equipment apart from enthusiasm and a sense of fun.
1. 20 QUESTIONS
WHAT: A classic spoken game that encourages deductive reasoning by asking a series of questions.
HOW: One player thinks of an object and keeps it to themselves. He or she tells the other players whether it falls into one of the following categories: person, place or thing. It is then up to the other players to ask various questions in order to guess what the object is. The catch is that all questions must be answered with a simple "yes" or "no" with the aim to figure out the mystery object in less than 20 questions.
MINIMUM PLAYERS: 2
MIX IT UP A LITTLE: Change the categories from time to time, for example: animal, vegetable or mineral.
2. MAKE ME LAUGH
WHAT: A fun game that involves making other people laugh while trying not to laugh yourself.
HOW: Players are divided into two teams, with at least two people on each time. Team one is invited "on stage" (you don't actually need a stage!) and a representative from team two is asked to sit in the "hot seat." The team that is on stage has two minutes to make the person from the other team on the hot seat laugh. If the person in the hot seat can keep a straight face for the full two minutes, they pick up a point for their team, but if they crack under the pressure the points go the budding comedians on the other team.
MINIMUM PLAYERS: 4
MIX IT UP A LITTLE: Make it a bit more challenging by having the person in the hot seat close their eyes so that those on stage must use their wit and comedic prowess alone instead of relying on pulling silly faces or doing a funny dance.
3. I SPY
WHAT: An extremely easy yet addictive detective game that involves guessing an object in the vicinity chosen by another player.
HOW: One player thinks of an object that they, and all the players, can see around them and then declares: "I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with...." followed by the first letter of the word they are thinking of. It is then up to the other players to try to guess what the first player saw.
MINIMUM PLAYERS: 2
MIX IT UP A LITTLE: Instead of the player who has an object in mind saying the first letter, they could say: "I spy something....." and fill in the blank with any adjective that describes it.
4. TAG
WHAT: This classic children's chasing game is also fun for adults and is a perfect excuse to get a little exercise outside during the summer.
HOW: One person is chosen as "it." This person counts to ten to give the other players a chance to spread out and then he or she starts chasing them. The "it" player's job is to try to tap another player and once they succeed, the player who has been tagged is then "it" and the game continues so on and so forth.
MINIMUM PLAYERS: 2
MIX IT UP A LITTLE: Play shadow tag instead. This variation involves the people being chased having to make sure the "it" player can't touch their shadow! Once their shadow has been stepped on, the players being chased freeze in place and the last person to get shadow tagged is "it" in the next round.
5. GHOST
WHAT: A simple word game that involved connecting letters in a chain to spell a word.
HOW: The first player says a letter and then the second player must add another letter to the first, having a word in mind that they are trying to spell. The other players continue the chain, always adding on to the word without wanting to finish it because the player who adds on the final letter to complete the word loses the round and earns a "G." The first player to get 5 letters and spell G-H-O-S-T is out and this continues until there is one winner.
MINIMUM PLAYERS: 3
MIX IT UP A LITTLE: After playing for a while, make it a little bit more difficult by imposing a rule that all the words must be over 8 letters.
Are you a game-lover? Read our list of Good Games to Play With Friends at a Dinner Party.
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