# Games this year...duds or not?



## Halloween_Mom (Jun 29, 2008)

Out of the games you all played at your parties this year, which ones were duds and which ones were huge successes? 

Still looking for that perfect game....

TIA


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## FracturedDS (Sep 24, 2009)

Last year we did a 1920s Speak Easy and had Craps, Poker, and Blackjack and were a huge hit. This year was pirate themed and had Liars Dice and poker again. When we try to get everyone in on games they usually do not work out well. So we just provide some and let them go on their own.


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## ChrisW (Sep 19, 2006)

We played "Winking Killer" and it went over very well. 
After the slips of paper were distributed (victims and one killer) I explained the game a bit more. The victims' slips said "Uh oh! You're a victim! After you've been "killed"(winked at) allow the killer time to escape then perform a death scene that will wow the critics! Best death scene wins a prize!"
We had a prize for the best "death scene" and got some very inspired performances! The funniest, and most unexpected aspect to me, was that when people "died", they stayed dead! We had people strewn about all over the house, and at one point my wife offered pillows to the "corpses". It didn't drag on too long, and when there were just a few people left standing I asked if any of the survivors wanted to make an accusation. We ended up giving prizes to the killer, the accuser who figured out who the killer was, and the best death, a friend who literally "kicked the bucket"!


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## Spooky Chef (Aug 14, 2008)

I did "tempt your fate" and nobody wanted to play except two people (teenagers) who got all the prizes. Not sure if I'll do it again. I was really excited about this, but apparently the guests weren't


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## blackfog (Oct 9, 2008)

I think it depends on your crowd. We had our first party and everybody really got into the murder winking game. It was great and did not kill the party just the guests lol!


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## Kerimonster (Sep 10, 2009)

I also did tempt your fate, but it was a huge success! Like blackfog said, I think it totally depends on the type of friends you have. Most of mine are pretty out-going. We had balloons filled with fates, and some people would force others to pop them and be like "ohhhh you have to do it!!" and they actually would. I had about 42 fates and of those, only 8 were "kind". (I even told everyone that when asked.) 

The best one had to be the "move a penny around the toilet seat using your tongue". My boyfriend let it slip that there was a "toilet one" and so every time as balloon was popped the whole room went silent to see if it was the dreaded toilet fate. Some how...this one didn't get popped until very last. So once everyone saw there was only one balloon left they "forced" a pal to pop it and the reaction to the fate was priceless. The best part ------ he DID it. After 3 attempts he pushed a penny about 5 inches around the seat before it fell into the toilet and we let him stop. hahah (We're evil.) 

I think I would definitely play this game again at another party. Good thing I have a whole year to plan out new fates.


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## HeatherEve1234 (Sep 5, 2008)

We rented the arcade version of Dance Dance Revolution and it was very fun (when it was working - had some trouble with it freezing, and in explaining this & our other problems to the rental company they were TOTAL ASSES and I'd never rent from them again - see my blog for full details). 

But anyways, it was great because it was fun to play AND to watch people play. All but 1 couple were awful, even the basic level perplexed us, then one duo rocked out the expert level and it was hilarious! People who didn't want to didn't have to, but those who felt like moving around had a great opportunity. We're all in our late 20's early 30's and got a kick out of it. I'd recommend renting it again, just not from the company we went through. Cost just over $300 delivered and picked up.


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## Long_Tom (Oct 26, 2005)

We did a mashup of Tempt Your Fate and Wink (basically, using the Wink mechanism to get people to participate in the Fates, which mostly meant death scenes). People were a little lukewarm about it at first, but they eventually got into the spirit of it. Some were more enthusiastic than others. One friend had "death by Macarena" and he volunteered to die a second time!

At our last party we did the "Guess My Name" game, where you get a name (all halloween/horror related, of course) stuck on your back and have to guess who you are by asking Yes-or-No questions. This one is good because it's an icebreaker early in the party, but also because everybody is an independent agent at getting it running. The problem with Wink is that if you get a few people who don't want to participate, it kind of stalls.


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## Addicted2Boo (Jul 19, 2009)

We did the Tempt your Fate for the second time. It was very successful as before. We also did the balloon version, but you have to be diligent on getting others in on the game. I explained it at the beginning and then throughout the night I would walk around with a handful of balloons and offer them to the guest if they were interested. It really keeps it going and people rarely went in to get a balloon, but were more than willing to participate if they were presented with their pic of the bunch. So much fun!! The hard part is coming up with different fates every year. But, well worth it.


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## Sahri21 (Oct 16, 2009)

My killer forgot to kill anyone then left early. We had to text her and her husband to find out if it was either one of them once we sat for a while.

Tempt Your Fate didn't work well either, only four people showed, so everyone got a prize.


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## evilpotpourri (Jul 13, 2008)

I thought I posted this but it didnt go through the first time. I wanted to give a big shout out to whoever it was that offered up the "co-ed nekkid bowling" and the "monster war" games!!! This was our first party and it was a HUGE success! We had around 18 people show and everyone played. The games were a hoot-everyone was drinking (we are somewhat of a wild bunch) so I had to keep the games simple. For the nekkid bowling the poster said to use oranges for the girls and the guys but I decided to use cucumbers for the guys which was pretty comical. The guys had fun yelling "SCWING"!!!every time a guy tried to hit the orange across the floor with his cucumber..lol.
Check out my photos on myspace.
Evilpotpourri | MySpace


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## Hallowzeve (Jul 24, 2009)

I came up w/ a game this year using one of those Bag O' Bones you can get for about $20. I came up w/ a story about an occultist family that used to live in our house and that they had a daughter named Abigail who went missing. Her ghost was destined to haunt our house until all of her bones (which were reputed to have been used in some unholy ritual) were found...which I hid in many places through out our very old and very large house. I checked off each bone (which I marked w/ a number 1-30) and the main rule was that you had to turn each bone in before you could go get another one. The person to find the last bone was the winner. If they were caught holding onto a bone waiting for the others to be found they would be disqualified. The first 20 or so were found quickly, but as the number went down the harder it became to find them. I then offered them clues, but they had to do a shot first. The game lasted about 4 hours w/ people looking high and low. The last bone was found inside a body bag display I had set up in my basement. It was in plain sight the whole evening, but nobody thought to look in the window of the bag despite the fact that it was lit up by 2 of those color changing tea lights. It was a lot of fun, but some people did get really frustrated trying to find them. I also offered a cash prize for the winner.


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## MsMeeple (Aug 21, 2004)

evilpotpourri said:


> I thought I posted this but it didnt go through the first time. I wanted to give a big shout out to whoever it was that offered up the "co-ed nekkid bowling" and the "monster war" games!!! This was our first party and it was a HUGE success! We had around 18 people show and everyone played. The games were a hoot-everyone was drinking (we are somewhat of a wild bunch) so I had to keep the games simple. For the nekkid bowling the poster said to use oranges for the girls and the guys but I decided to use cucumbers for the guys which was pretty comical. The guys had fun yelling "SCWING"!!!every time a guy tried to hit the orange across the floor with his cucumber..lol.
> Check out my photos on myspace.
> Evilpotpourri | MySpace


Ok, I checked out your pics but dont understand how the monster wars and bowling work. Oranges and cucumbers in stockings is about all I picked up lol

MsM


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## MsMeeple (Aug 21, 2004)

I used to do scavenger hunt type of games but hadn't done one in a few years. The past few years have been either a 'leave clues and let them come up with a story about what happened' type game or a version of tempt your fate where they had to do goofy things to move on to the next round.
This year I went back to a scavenger hunt type of game. They had to search for the key to the safe where the old guy kept his money. I had the clues taped to certain objects and what was written in the clue would lead them to the next clue. We also had people as clues. NO ONE FOLLOWED THE RULES lol They stole clues, bribed people and threatened people. They even kidnapped a baby hahaha It was great fun! But then again I have a bunch of drama queens for friends 

MsM


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## The Pod (May 19, 2008)

At my kid's B-day party we played build a Blucky. I built 2 5' coffins with velcro on the backs. Bought 5 Bluckys, painted one neon green and one neon orange. Seperated all the bones from all 5 Bluckies. Velcro on the colored bones. Scattered the bones all over the yard white and colored ones. Two teams, one kid from each team would have to run, find a green or orange bone (their team color) bring it back and stick it in the correct place in the coffin. Then tag the next kid to run out and find another bone until their Blucky was built. The kids really seemed to like this and we ended up playing it a few times...... Since the girls were always winning, the boys kept calling for a rematch.


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## evilpotpourri (Jul 13, 2008)

MsMeeple said:


> Ok, I checked out your pics but dont understand how the monster wars and bowling work. Oranges and cucumbers in stockings is about all I picked up lol
> 
> MsM


MsMeeple...the games were super simple which worked out great because most of my guests had started drinking before they ever arrived! I may have tweaked the games a little from the original poster but this is how we played it...

Co-Ed nekkid bowling. I took two pairs of queen size panty-hose. The pair for the women I dropped an orange down each leg and then tied the top off. For the guys I dropped a cucumber down one leg and then tied the top off. All my guests were couples so I started with the first couple. The women drape the hose around their necks with the oranges hanging almost to the floor in front of them (like long boobies!) and the guys had to tie the hose around their waist with the cucumber hanging almost to the floor (like...well u know!lolThey each had a seperate orange on the floor and they had to use their oranges or cucs to hit the orange on the floor across the finish line WITHOUT using their hands. We recorded the winner of each couple and then had face-offs until only one remained-the winner! People were shouting and rooting each other on... the guys were ribbing each other about the size of the cucs...and my hubby became known as "two stroker" because he crossed the finish line with two hits. Very fun!

Monster War is easy too but quite physical. Divide your guests into two teams. Team 1 will have orange balloons tied to each of their ankles (leave a little length-id say about 6-8 inches from ankle to the balloon). Team 2 has black balloons. Holler "WAR"! and the two teams have to try and stomp each others ballons till they pop. Be sure to tell guests that when both their balloons have been popped they need to stand back and watch the others. This game came down to my hubby and adult son squaring off as the last two with one balloon each. It was hilarious to see them battle it out to the very end! My son was victorious and won a prize....

hope this helps!


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## MsMeeple (Aug 21, 2004)

yes that helped! lol Thanks for the additional explanation!
Might try the war one at work with the young people I work with. Had a hard time coming up with a game for their party. We ended up doing a mummy wrap and a trick or treat tempt your fate with balloons. Most are ADHD so a war game with balloon stomping should be fun for them lol

MsM


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## Buzzard (Jun 23, 2009)

We did "Tempt Your Fate" this year for the first time. We also used balloons. It was definitely a big hit & guests thought it was very creative. The only problem is that I could have used more fates. I had 16 balloons and 25 guests, so not everyone was able to play the game. I will definitely be doing this game again next year.


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## GoolGaul (Nov 29, 2008)

*all our games bombed...*

Our bash had over 80 guests, so we chose self-running games.

We did Winking Killer, handed out death certificates, and chose 3 killers. One was a friend's new boyfriend. Aside from not killing anyone, he was also a A&@$#^#*%@ (She's a sweet and VERY attractive woman who needs a better BF). The other two were OK killers, but didn't kill as much as we hoped. Most of those who got killed, did their deaths, but it just seemed like they were doing it to not get pointed out as a loser.

The kids (20+ 13 yearolds) abandoned the scavenger hunt. One girl we we haven't invited in the past for her dramatic ways, caused drama, and the kids just gave up, as she HAD to be "team captain" and, well, you know the rest...

I set up a looped slideshow of decorations that mostly visible from where the TV the slideshow was on, and only a few people started it, and no one did more than 5 answers...

As ususal, the clothespin game (crossing your legs, either sitting or standing) was fine.

We didn;t even get to kids' ,mummy wraps.

In all reality, there was too many different food items, too much loud music, and not enouogh space to play other games.

Everyone had a blast nonetheless. I'd rather spend some time on setting up games that no one plays, then having a dull spot come along and clear out half the room without me having a chance at fighting it...
And, as usual, we got a dozen or more: "you ARE doing this again next year, right?" as the new invitees were leaving.

We are also getting the same question from peeps who didn;t show, or weren;t invited, thanks to the Facebook pics...


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## HeatherEve1234 (Sep 5, 2008)

I have to say I love the facebook chatter after a party, it is the perfect little jab to the people who bailed or chose something "cooler", and all the compliments really make it feel worthwhile


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