31 Cocktail Party Games for Adults to Keep the Fun Flowing

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Welcome to our list of cocktail party games for adults, where the only thing smoother than your drink is the fun you’re about to have! 

Whether you’re on vacation, hosting a soirée, hanging out with friends, or just looking to shake up your night, we’ve got the perfect concoction of games to elevate your gathering. 

From card games that’ll make you strategize like a pro to hilarious guessing games that’ll have you in stitches, this curated collection is your passport to a night of laughter, camaraderie, and spirited competition. 

The following list of activities is grouped into categories or themes so they’re easier to navigate.

So, grab your favorite drink, gather ’round your pals, and let the games begin!

You may also want to try our list of scavenger hunt games for adults, pool games for adults, camping games for adults, beach games for adults, along with our other adult-themed games.

Fun Cocktail Party Games for Adults

Card Games

If you’re in the mood for some classic fun with a twist, our card games are here to deal out the entertainment. 

Whether you’re into strategic showdowns or laugh-out-loud challenges, these are the perfect accompaniment to your cocktail-filled evening.

Codenames

Codenames involves two teams competing to identify their team’s words based on a one-word clue given by their spymaster.

Teams are traditionally in pairs, with one person able to see the map of spots they should and shouldn’t select, with the responsibility of attempting to explain which spots to select based on a complicated set of clues.

If you’re on the hunt for a small party game for adults, this one relies heavily on word association and deduction and is great for groups who love strategy, wordplay, and friendly rivalry.

What Do You Meme?

What Do You Meme? is a meme-captioning game where players create funny captions for meme images.

Each round begins with one person acting as the judge, holding up a picture of a humorous image that has often been associated with memes on the Internet.

The rest of the group is then required to select one phrase from the cards they drew that most accurately lines up with the image.

This game is ideal for meme lovers and those who enjoy humor that’s relevant to internet culture.

Apples to Apples

Apples to Apples is a humorous card game where players match noun cards to adjective cards, leading to amusing and unexpected comparisons.

Games like What Do You Meme? borrowed the game format from Apples to Apples, with one person acting as a judge each round and the rest of the group attempting to gain a point by providing the best response.

This game is suitable for those who appreciate witty word combinations and light-hearted competition.

Love Letter

Love Letter is a card game of subtlety and cunning, where players aim to deliver their love letters to the princess while navigating the intrigues of the royal court.

Love Letter is perfect for small groups who enjoy tactical thinking and mind games.

Sushi Go!

Sushi Go! is a card drafting game where players select sushi dishes to create the best meal.

It’s a lighthearted and quick game for those who enjoy strategy, cute artwork, and a touch of competition.

Bang! The Dice Game

Bang! The Dice Game is a dice-based version of the popular card game, where players take on roles as sheriff, deputy, outlaw, or renegade, engaging in hidden roles and wild west shootouts.

It’s perfect for groups who enjoy strategic decision-making and social interaction.

Poker Night

Gather your friends for a classic Poker Night, where players bet, bluff, and strategize their way to victory in various poker games.

Each player starts with a designated amount of currency, usually poker chips that come with the game equipment.

Each round consists of a certain number of cards revealed on the table, depending on which type of poker you are playing.

The objective of each round is to get the most rare combination of the cards you drew and the cards on the table, all based on a predetermined list of combinations that you should familiarize yourself with before the game begins.

If you’re looking for table party games for adults, this one is perfect, especially for card enthusiasts and those who enjoy testing their poker faces.

Conversational and Guessing Games

If you’re all about witty banter and guessing games, you’re in for a treat! 

This collection of cocktail party ideas for adults will have you and your friends sharing stories, cracking jokes, and trying to read each other’s minds- all while sipping your favorite drink.

Articulate

In Articulate, players describe words or phrases without using the actual terms, while their team tries to guess what they’re describing.

Players choose from six different categories, such as Nature or Person, and attempt to describe as many words as possible in a way that doesn’t include the actual word or related associations.

The game’s fast-paced nature and creative descriptions make it a hit for those who enjoy quick-thinking and strategic communication games.

Reverse Charades

In Reverse Charades, one player guesses while the rest of the team acts out the word on a card.

It’s a twist on the classic charades game that fosters collaboration and teamwork, making it perfect for groups who enjoy physical and cooperative challenges.

The sight of five people jumping around trying to act out a word together tends to result in plenty of laughs, especially if a bit of drinking is involved.

Charades also feature in our list of tea party games for adults.

Telestrations

Telestrations is a drawing and guessing game where players sketch a word, pass it to the next player, who then guesses the word based on the drawing.

This game originates from the children’s game Whisper Down the Lane, with the shared goal of seeing how close the final guess is to the original phrase.

As the sketches move down the line, they tend to stray further and further from the original phrase, making for a big laugh when the final reveal is shown.

This is one of the perfect choices for those looking for simple party games for adults- especially those who enjoy drawing, guessing, and laughing at creative interpretations.

Heads Up!

In Heads Up!, players take turns guessing the word on a card held up to their forehead, based on clues from their teammates.

This fast-paced game is fantastic for lively groups who love quick thinking, word association, and timed challenges.

Scattergories

In Scattergories, players brainstorm words that fit specific categories, starting with a chosen letter.

The catch?

Answers must be unique and match the letter.

This clean party game for adults is fast-paced and fitting for those who enjoy quick thinking, word creativity, and friendly competition.

Pictionary

Pictionary is a drawing game where players have a limited time to sketch words for their teammates to guess.

Similar to Charades, the objective is to communicate a concept without using any words, except in this twist the tool is drawing, as opposed to physical acting.

The fast-paced nature of the game keeps everyone engaged, making it suitable for those who enjoy drawing under pressure and spontaneous creativity.

20 Questions

In 20 Questions, one player thinks of an object, and the others take turns asking yes-or-no questions to figure out what it is.

This is one of the most enjoyable cocktail party activities for those who like deductive reasoning, critical thinking, and unraveling mysteries.

Musical Chairs

A classic children’s game that can be made even more hilarious when played by adults, Musical Chairs has a timeless quality to it.

All participants stand in a circle, each with their own associated chair.

The music begins and everyone begins to dance around the circle of chairs, with one of the chairs removed.

Once the music comes to a stop, everyone needs to scramble to their closest chair, with one person ending up without a chair and out of the game.

Musical Chairs is one of the more lesser-known musical party games for adults, especially when it is combined with a drink or two.

You may also enjoy our karaoke duets for friends and couples along with this game as well as our other music quizzes.

Say Anything

Say Anything is a game where players answer open-ended questions, and others try to predict their answers.

It’s a game that encourages self-expression and predicts the preferences of friends, making it great for groups who enjoy getting to know each other better.

Would You Rather?

In Would You Rather?, players take turns posing dilemmas where participants must choose between two quirky options.

The two options should both be difficult to choose, forcing the participant to select the lesser of two evils and explain why.

For example, you can ask “Would you rather clean your kitchen until it’s spotless or clean your bedroom until it’s spotless?” opening up a chance for the participant to explain their reasoning.

It’s a game that sparks laughter and interesting discussions, appealing to those who enjoy hypothetical scenarios and playful debates.

Looking for questions you can use for would you rather game? Try our list for friends, best friends, couples, and holiday-themed ones like our prompts for Halloween.

Trivia Night Challenge

Test your knowledge with a round of trivia questions covering a range of topics.

Players compete to answer questions correctly and earn points, all based on a set of topics that is predetermined either by a judge or using an app like Trivia Crack.

Trivia Night Challenge is ideal for intellectually curious individuals who enjoy friendly competition and learning new facts.

Check our collection of music, movies, TV, decades, geography, sports, and holidays trivia quizzes for ideas.

Strategy and Deduction Games

Calling all masterminds and strategic thinkers!

Get ready to outwit your opponents, make cunning moves, and enjoy some brain-teasing fun that blends well with your cocktail party night.

Mafia

Mafia is a social deduction game where players are assigned roles as either mafia members or innocent townspeople.

Through discussion and careful observation, players must identify and eliminate the mafia before they take over.

This game is perfect for groups who enjoy strategic thinking and lively debates.

The Resistance

The Resistance is a deduction game where players are divided into resistance members and spies.

Resistance members work together to complete missions, while spies aim to sabotage them.

The Resistance is ideal for groups that enjoy strategic thinking, bluffing, and uncovering hidden agendas.

Balderdash

In Balderdash, players create fake definitions for obscure words, mixing them with real ones, and everyone tries to guess which definition is correct.

The game sparks creativity and laughter, making it a hit for those who love wordplay and inventing hilarious definitions.

Name That Movie

Test your film knowledge in “Name That Movie” by describing iconic movie quotes and challenging others to guess the movie title.

Movie enthusiasts and pop culture aficionados will have a blast showcasing their cinematic expertise.

You may also check out our collection of movie quizzes and find ideas there.

Jenga

Jenga is a classic game where players take turns removing wooden blocks from a tower and balancing them on top, without causing the tower to collapse.

Jenga is great for those who have steady hands, calculated moves, and appreciate a touch of suspense.

Dixit

Dixit is a storytelling and interpretation game where players use abstract illustrations to inspire creative descriptions.

Players must guess the correct card based on the clues given, making it perfect for imaginative and artistic individuals.

Drinking Games

It wouldn’t be a true cocktail party without some classic drinking games, right? 

Prepare to clink glasses, take daring sips, and enjoy uproarious challenges in the following game options that’ll keep the spirits high and the drinks flowing all night long!

Beer Pong

Beer Pong is one of the most popular drinking party ideas for adults, in which players throw a ping pong ball across a table with the intent of landing the ball in one of the cups of beer on the opposing side.

If the ball lands in a cup, the opposing team must drink the contents of that cup.

The game continues until all cups are eliminated.

It’s a competitive and social game that’s popular at parties and gatherings.

In Flip Cup, players are divided into two teams and stand on opposite sides of a table.

Each player must drink from a cup and then attempt to flip the cup by flicking the rim with their fingers, attempting to land it upside down on the table.

Once a player successfully flips their cup, the next person on their team can go, and the first team to successfully flip all their cups wins.

Flip Cup is a fast-paced and team-oriented game that encourages friendly competition.

Kings (King’s Cup)

In Kings, players arrange a deck of cards in a circle around a large cup.

Each card has a corresponding action, such as assigning a rule, taking a drink, or performing a dare.

Players take turns drawing cards and performing the associated action.

The game continues until all the cards are drawn, and the final card often results in the “King’s Cup,” a mixture of everyone’s drinks in the center of the table.

Kings is known for its unpredictability and can lead to hilarious and memorable moments.

For dare ideas, try our list of dares for friends, dares for couples, and dares over text.

Never Have I Ever

Never Have I Ever is a conversation-based drinking game.

Players take turns sharing statements starting with “Never have I ever…” followed by an action they’ve never done.

If someone else in the group has done that action, they take a drink.

It’s a game that reveals interesting and sometimes surprising truths about the players and can lead to insightful conversations.

For prompts to use, check out our list of never I have ever questions for girls, friends, best friends, and couples.

Flip, Sip, or Post

In Flip, Sip, or Post, players take turns flipping a coin and calling “heads” or “tails” while the coin is in the air.

If they guess correctly, they pass the coin to the next player.

In the event they guess incorrectly, they must choose between taking a drink or posting an embarrassing photo on a social media platform.

It’s a game that adds a digital twist to traditional drinking challenges.

Online Games for Cocktail Parties

If cards or conversational challenges isn’t quite your party host style, check out the following online games that can be played in couples and teams.

The following can also be set up virtually if revelers are situated in different locations!

Quiplash

Quiplash is a popular remote game with a range of different challenges to keep even the restless entertained.

Many of the games require wit and humour, making it an ideal option teamed up with drinks.

Players use their cell phones as devices, which are all hooked into the game via a pin; it is very easy to set up.

Its games rely on speed and public voting for the best answer.

Drink Drank Drunk

Drink Drank Drunk is a hilarious game for adults who want to enjoy a tipple and a giggle with friends online.

Players pair cards from actions, rules, weakness, power, and special categories then act out whatever is suggested on the cards!

Looking for seasonal party games? Try our list of Fall Party Games.

Final Thoughts

We hope you had a blast exploring our collection of cocktail party games for adults! 

Did you find the perfect mix of fun and entertainment for your next gathering? Let us know in the comments!

Check out our other games too.