Fun Games to Play at Dinner

Charades

• Charades are a well known favorite. Perfect for the dinner table as most people know how to play and the format of the game is easy to mold to any social situation. A perfect ice-breaker. There are slight variations on how the game is played, however the basic principals are these:

  A collection of plays, movies, TV shows and books are written on pieces of paper and put into a hat. Each person takes one and has to act out their chosen title to the remainder of the group, or if in a competitive mode--his teammates. No words may be spoken. The only way to legitimately describe the title is by gesturing. Often a participant may choose to signal how many words are in the title, how many syllables in each word and what any word or phrase may sound like.

  If divided into teams, there may be a time limit on each title; however, if done casually most are given enough time to complete every guess.

Who's in the Bag?

• A spoken variation on the format of charades. Each individual is given two minutes to describe a collection of people written on pieces of paper. The describer is not allowed to use any part of the person's name. Usually the dinner party is broken down into groups of two and each individual takes turns with his partner to be the actor or the guesser. The first couple to 30 points is the winner.

Who am I?

• Another excellent ice-breaker. Each individual is given a piece of paper to be stuck to his head. On this paper is written a person or animal, alive or dead. The aim of the game is for each player to guess the name written on his own forehead by asking questions. The questions must be answered with a yes or a no. If a yes is given, the guesser may ask another question until he receives a no. Each guest takes turns until all names have been correctly identified.

Pass the Camera

• A similar concept to 'Pass the bomb'. This is a game featured on the UK Channel 4 TV series 'Come Dine With Me.' The idea is to set a digital camera onto self timer mode and begin the countdown. Each guest must take the camera, point it at his face and quickly pass it on. Each time the clock hits zero, there will be a funny picture of the losing guest as he tried to pass the camera on before the time ran out.