High-score party games that work in a normal room

The arcade idea is worth stealing for a party, and the part worth stealing is not the machines. It is that everyone gets a score, and a score is not a defeat.

Score everything, eliminate nobody

Party games that knock children out produce a room of bored spectators by the third round, and the smallest child goes first. Arcade scoring solves it exactly: everyone plays every round, everyone gets a number, and the number is the fun.

Five games that score naturally

Beanbag toss. Three targets worth 10, 20 and 50. Three throws each.
Balloon keep-up. Count the taps before it touches the floor.
Sock basketball. Rolled socks into a washing basket, one minute.
Memory tray. Twenty objects for thirty seconds, write down what you remember, one point each.
Obstacle lap. Time it. Seconds are the score, lowest wins that round.

Put the scores on the wall

A big sheet where every name gets written up after each round is the thing that makes it an arcade rather than a set of games. Children will play the same beanbag toss six times to move a number, and they cannot be persuaded to play it twice without one.

Questions people ask

How do I handle very different ages?

Move the line. A four-year-old throws from closer than an eight-year-old and nobody minds — everyone can see that the distances are different and that it is deliberate.

Should there be a prize for the top score?

Small if at all, and give something to everyone. The leaderboard is already doing the motivating; a big prize turns it into a contest and produces a crying child.

How many games for a two-hour party?

Three, played twice, beats six played once. Repetition is what makes a score mean anything.

More like this

Pixel party decorations you can print at home A "level up" birthday party, planned hour by hour

Part of our guide to Retro arcade party.