10 Perfect Party Games for Teenagers (and tweens) – Tried and true

Finding suitable party games for teenagers, or tweenagers, can be tricky business, but we have some great teenage birthday party games that even your ‘coolest’ teenagers will enjoy.

There’s a fine line between organising some fun games for your teenager’s party, and embarrassing the heck out of them. The problem is – you’ll have no idea where that line is drawn!

For the most part, it’s a good idea to let your teenager organise the party on their own, or with teen friends (with strict guidelines of course), and when it comes to the games, your teenager will definitely want to be the host. The last thing a 13 or 14 year old wants is Mum or Dad clapping their hands and getting everybody into a circle!

With that in mind, here are some great indoor party games that you may want to suggest to your teen. They’ll be able to adapt them to suit their friends, and maybe even change the name so it sounds like their idea!

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10 Great Party Games for Teens and Tweens – Tried and true

1. Lip Sync Battle

If you’re hosting a teen party and want to ensure it’s a hit, a Lip Sync Battle is the way to go! This game brings the fun of performing without the pressure of hitting the right notes—perfect for teens who love music but may be shy about singing out loud. Here’s how it works and some tips to make it a show-stopping success.

How to Play:

Lip Sync Battle is all about letting teens channel their inner pop star, pretending to sing along to their favourite songs without actually singing. You’ll need a good playlist, some fun props, a bit of stage presence, and of course, a loud speaker to pump up the energy (here’s our favourite).

1. Set the Stage: Create a simple “stage” area with some fairy lights or even a corner of the living room. Bonus points for adding a DIY microphone using a hairbrush or cardboard tube!
2. Choose Songs: Let teens pick from a playlist of popular songs or crowd favourites. You can even have themed rounds like “80s hits” or “TikTok anthems” to keep things interesting.
3. Perform: Each player (or team) gets their moment in the spotlight to lip-sync their heart out! The more dramatic the performance, the better—encourage big, exaggerated moves!
4. Judging: Parents or other teens can be the judges, awarding points for creativity, performance, or how closely they match the original artist’s moves.

Tips to Make It Fun:

• Props and Costumes: Add fun costumes, hats, or props to really bring the performance to life. Think oversized sunglasses, feather boas, or anything else that helps teens get into character.
• Make It a Team Game: Teens can perform solo or in groups. Group performances encourage collaboration and can be even more hilarious!
• Friendly Competition: Have a small prize for the best performer—whether it’s for the most realistic lip sync or the funniest moves. A silly trophy or gift card works wonders.
• Keep It Light: Remind teens that it’s all about fun, not perfection. The more they ham it up, the better! No one needs to be a professional dancer or singer to enjoy this.

2. Glow-in-the-Dark Capture the Flag

Looking for an unforgettable way to entertain a group of teens? Look no further than Glow-in-the-Dark Capture the Flag! This exciting twist on the classic outdoor game adds an extra layer of thrill and adventure by playing under the stars with glow-in-the-dark elements. Perfect for evening parties, this game will have teens running, strategising, and glowing—all at once! Here’s how to play and a little tip to make it even more fun (and easier to spot players in the dark).

How to Play:

The game follows the same rules as traditional Capture the Flag, but with a glowing upgrade. The aim is simple: two teams hide their glowing “flag” (which could be a glow stick, a brightly painted object, or even a glowing bottle) in their territory. The challenge is for each team to sneak into the other side and capture their flag without being tagged by the opposing team.

1. Divide into Teams: Split the teens into two teams, and designate two territories—this could be two sides of the garden or park.
2. Hide the Flags: Each team hides a glow-in-the-dark flag in their territory. Make sure it’s in plain sight, but far enough to be a challenge to capture!
3. Tag to Defend: If a player is tagged while in enemy territory, they must freeze or go to a designated “jail.” They can only be freed if a teammate tags them.
4. Capture and Win: The team that captures the opposing team’s flag and returns it to their own side wins the game.

Tips to Make It Glow-tastic:

• Glow Paint Everything: Take it up a notch by using glow paint on flags, team markers, and even on the teens themselves! Glow paint makes everything more exciting, and parents can feel a bit more at ease knowing they can easily spot where everyone is. Teens can paint glowing stripes on their clothes, faces, or arms to make the game extra fun.
• Glow Sticks and Wristbands: Hand out glow sticks or wristbands to players to distinguish teams and make sure they can be seen in the dark.
• Safety First: Always ensure the playing area is safe, free of obstacles, and well-marked to prevent accidents in the dark.

3. Balloon Dare

Write out a dare for every guest at the party, and slip each one into a balloon before blowing it up and tying the knot. One at a time, the guests choose a balloon and pop it to find the dare. Your guests then have to do the dare, or suffer the consequences.

Dares don’t have to be embarrassing, instead they could be more of a challenge (think Fear Factor or Treasure Island). Maybe they have to eat something out-of-the-ordinary like baby squid, or perhaps they need to complete a physical task. Check out our Fear Factor article for more ideas.

Consequences shouldn’t be embarrassing either, but rather something grossly fun. Maybe they have to eat a plate of custard with no hands, or agree to have the birthday child paint their face. Remember consequences shouldn’t be threatening or humiliating.

When preparing this game, you may want to talk to your teen about what dares are appropriate, and have the final say as to what goes in the balloon. You will also need to agree on a consequence that is safe and appropriate in your home. Good luck!

4. Murder Mystery Game

Murder Mystery is an interactive  game idea where teens play characters in a scripted scenario, trying to solve a fictional murder. Each guest is assigned a role, and as they mingle, they gather clues to figure out “whodunit.” It’s like stepping into a live-action detective story!

Essentials:

• Murder Mystery Kit: Get your hands in a murder mystery kit with scripts and clues.
• Costumes and Props: Enhance the experience with simple costumes and props related to their characters.
• Decor and Setting: Transform a room into the “crime scene” to set the mood.

Bonus Tips:

• Pre-Assign Characters: Send out character information with invitations, so they come dressed for their roles.
• Host a “Detective’s Briefing”: Begin the party with a quick rundown of the rules and set the scene for the mystery.

5. Truth, Truth, Lie

When your guests arrive, give them each a card to write down three facts about themselves. Two of the things must be true, and one of them must be a lie.

When you’re ready to play the game, have each guest read out their facts, and everybody else must try to work out the lie. The person who guesses the most ‘lies’ correctly – wins!

This game works really well if there’s a good prize for winning, like a giant-sized chocolate bar, or cool make-up item. If there’s a prize to play for it’s surprising how serious people get about winning!

6. Guess that tune

Get a selection of CDs, or Spotify playlist together. Get your guests to try to guess each song, by only playing a few seconds of music. You could play the first few beats, or to make it even harder, record a small snippet from the middle of each song.

This is a great game to play in teams of 2-3 people. And like the game above you can really ramp it up by including a prize at the end. It’s also lots of fun to include spot prizes of chocolates or lollies to dish out during the game!

7. Winks

This is a great game for a party with both boys and girls, and works best with lots of guests. If your teen is still in the early stages of ‘liking boys’ (or girls), then this game can be lots of fun.

Set up a circle of chairs, and have all the girls take a seat. The boys then take their place standing behind a girl of their choice, with one boy standing behind an empty chair. The boy with an empty chair winks at a girl, who then jumps up to take the empty spot. If the boy behind her tags her shoulders before she gets away, she must stay seated. If she makes it out of the chair, the game continues with a new winker.

How you play this game will depend on the number of girls vs. boys at the party. If the numbers aren’t even, make sure you jumble it up so there is more than one same-sex pair to begin with. Having a mixture of pairs will stop any teasing that may occur.

8. Nail Polish Spin the Bottle

At the risk of sounding politically incorrect, this is a game for girls.

Have your guests sit in a circle, and place several different nail polishes around the inside. The birthday girl starts by spinning a soft drink bottle in the middle of the circle, and then painting one fingernail with whichever polish it ends up pointing at. The guests then take turns spinning the bottle, and painting one finger nail in the chosen colour. The game continues until everybody has all 10 nails painted in different polish.

9. T-Shirt Keepsake

Teenagers like the idea of having a keepsake, especially one they can show off. Purchase a plain coloured T-Shirt, and a few tubes of fabric paint or fabric markers. As each guest arrives get them to sign their name, write a message, or draw a picture for the birthday teen. They can even go all out and do hand or even footprints just for fun!

If your child doesn’t want a T-shirt, you could use a pillowcase or cushion cover instead.

10. The Chocolate Game

This is a twist on that classic kid’s party game The Chocolate Game.

Just like in the classic game, have your guests sit in a circle, and put a block of chocolate, a knife and fork, a dice, and a selection of dress up clothes in the middle. Guests take turns throwing the dice, and when they get a 6, they have to put on the dress up clothes, and start eating the chocolate one piece at a time using the knife and fork. You get to keep eating until somebody else throws a 6, at which time they must put down the knife and fork, and pass over the clothes as quickly as possible.

The chocolate game – dress up twist

There are two great twists you can play. One is by choosing a themed selection of clothing, the 60s or the 80s are always fun to dress up as. The more far out the clothes are, the more the hysterics will take over during the game!

The chocolate game – partners twist

The second twist is to play the game in pairs, with two dice. Guests must both roll either double 6s or double 1s at the same time to be ‘in’. Have two lots of clothes to put on (merge the dress up twist here too, eg. you could choose gangster or pirate style clothes!), and in this version of the game your guests must cut the chocolate and feed it to each other.

This version is really hard to actually get any chocolate, and really hilarious as a result!

Last thoughts

Even though our great party games for teenagers are really great, your teenager may not want any sort of games at their party at all. They may instead choose to just ‘hang out’.

That’s totally fine if there are only 2 or 3 friends invited, and they all get on really well. But if there’s more than that, then cliques can start to form without planned entertainment. Even for a ‘hang out’ party we recommend having a few planned activities, or some form of entertainment, so no one gets left ‘hanging’.

If you’re a parent and just wading into the minefield of teenagers birthday parties, you’ll definitely want to read our article Tips for negotiating teen birthday parties. Or for more expert party advice, check out our Teen’s Birthday section.