The difference between a good party and a legendary one almost always comes down to the games. The right ones turn a simple gathering into an unforgettable event.
For when your party needs a bit more energy, we've rounded up the best options across three categories: activity-style party games that get everyone moving, card games that get everyone talking, and drinking games for the adults who like a little extra spice.
Once the games are decided, shop our party supplies and decorations to make the whole event look as good as it feels.
Fun Party Games for Families and Friends
These active games are perfect for every age group. They're loud, ridiculous, and almost guaranteed to end in someone falling over laughing.
Balloon Dress-Up
All you need is a balloon, an oversized shirt, and a good attitude. Each player has to pull on the shirt while keeping a balloon in the air using only their body – no hands. The combination of flailing arms, desperate hip-shimmying, and the constant threat of a dropped balloon makes this one of the funniest spectator games. Works for kids and adults alike, and all you need are balloons.
Lollies Target Game
Set up a series of containers at different distances and assign point values to each (further away means more points). Players take turns tossing lollies and try to land them in the targets. You can play elimination-style or go for a total-points winner. The prize are the lollies, of course. It's simple, competitive, and costs next to nothing to set up. Works brilliantly as a side game running throughout the party so guests can pop over for a round whenever they like.
Thong Throwing
Australia has a proud tradition of competitive thong throwing, and it's time you made it official at your next gathering. Mark a line in the yard and see who can launch a rubber thong the furthest or aim closest to a target. Variations include throwing backwards, with your non-dominant hand, or with your eyes closed. Pair it with a small prize for the winner and you've got a contest people will be lining up for all afternoon.
Water Balloon Battle
Perfect for a hot and sunny day. Split into teams, set a boundary, and hand out pre-filled water balloons (they can be filled the night before and kept in a bucket of cold water). You can play all-out free-for-all, last-person-dry-wins, or link up in pairs for a balloon toss that gets further – and trickier – with every throw. Kids absolutely love it, but so do adults after a few hours in the sun. Just accept that everyone's getting wet.
Musical Chairs
This one never goes out of style. Set up one fewer chair than there are players, hit play on a playlist, and when the music stops, everyone scrambles to claim a seat. The energy spikes every round as the stakes get higher and the chairs get fewer. Works for all ages and lands even better with a dramatic DJ controlling the stops.
Egg and Spoon Relay
Simple, classic, and deceptively competitive. Split into teams, give each player a spoon and an egg (hard-boiled if you're sensible, raw if you don’t mind a mess), and race from one end of the yard to the other without dropping. Add obstacles, blindfolds, or a rule that dropped eggs send you back to the start. It slows people down, gets them focused, and inevitably ends in joyful chaos.
Card Games
Once the sun sets and everyone's settled in, it’s time to take out the playing cards. These ones aren't your average Go Fish – they're designed to spark arguments, reveal too much about your friends, and keep the table roaring.
Cards Against Humanity
The original adults-only card game. One player draws a black question card, everyone else plays their funniest (and usually most disturbing) white answer card, and the best response wins the round. The genius of Cards Against Humanity is that it reveals a lot about your friends' sense of humour in the best possible way. It never gets old, especially with new people at the table who've never played before.
Exploding Kittens (Red & Black Pack)
Strategic, chaotic, and addictive. The goal is simple: don't draw the Exploding Kitten card. Players use action cards to skip turns, attack others, peek at the deck, and generally make each other's lives difficult. The Red & Black Pack includes extra cards that make the game faster and more ruthless. It plays in under 20 minutes, making it perfect for multiple rounds throughout the night.
What Do You Meme? / WTF Did You Say?!
What Do You Meme? follows a similar mechanic to Cards Against Humanity but adds a pop-culture twist – players caption a meme image with a card from their hand, and the funniest one wins. WTF Did You Say?! cranks things up even further with wilder prompts and responses. Either game is an easy pick-up-and-play option for any group who spends too much time online.
Bad People
The game where you vote on which person at the table is most likely to do something terrible. Questions like "Who would survive longest in a zombie apocalypse?" or "Who is most likely to ghost someone after a third date?" make for brutally honest, laugh-out-loud moments. Best played with people you know well enough to be ruthlessly honest with.
Drinking Games
For the rowdy portion of the evening. Drink responsibly, keep water on the table, and make sure everyone has a safe way home. That said – let's get into it.
Beer Pong Set
The undisputed king of party drinking games - beer pong. Two teams line up cups at opposite ends of a table in the shape of a pyramid, fill them with drink, and take turns trying to land ping pong balls in the opposition's cups. Once one team lands a ball in the cup, the other team must drink the contents of the cup. Clear the table – you win. Tournaments are strongly encouraged.
Buzzed (Red & Black)
Buzzed cuts straight to the chase. Draw a card, read the prompt, and either you drink or everyone else does. Prompts range from "drink if you've ever lied on your CV" to wildly specific scenarios that somehow always apply to at least one person at the table. The Red & Black edition adds bolder, cheekier cards to the mix.
Do or Drink
True to its name: every card gives you a challenge, and if you won't do it – you drink. Challenges range from harmless dares to uncomfortable confessions, and you can always opt out (at a cost). Do or Drink works brilliantly as an icebreaker with people who don't know each other well. The shared vulnerability of the challenges brings strangers together surprisingly fast.
Goon of Fortune
An Aussie backyard classic. Attach a goon bag to a Hills Hoist clothesline, spin the line, and whoever the bag stops in front of drinks the wine. That's it. It's magnificently simple, scales for any number of players, and becomes progressively more entertaining as the evening wears on.
Make The Party Look as Fun as It Feels
Great games are one half of a great party. The other half is the atmosphere – and nothing sets that faster than the right party decorations. We have everything you need to turn any space into a proper party zone: balloons, banners, tableware, themed packs, streamers, and all the little details that pull a look together.
Shop our games, party supplies, and decorations to give your next gathering the setup it deserves.