Blindfold Games

Guessing, making and steering games where one player cannot see and nobody walks blind: press Pick 3 new games.

Blindfold Games

Show all 36
  1. Count the Coins Into the Jar1. The listener sits blindfolded. The host holds a glass jar and a handful of coins.2. The host drops between eight and twenty coins into the jar, some slowly, some quickly, and now and then two at once.3. The listener counts by ear and says the total.4. Tip the jar out and count together. The closest count of the round wins.Youngest player: age 6. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 8 min. Props: a glass jar, twenty coins and a blindfold.
  2. Nuts Onto Bolts1. Put four bolts of four different widths in a bowl with the four nuts that fit them.2. The blindfolded player sits at the table and finds which nut fits which bolt.3. Each nut is wound on at least three turns.4. Time each player. The fastest full set wins.Youngest player: age 8. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 8 min. Props: four bolts with their nuts, a bowl and a blindfold.
  3. How Many Hands Clapped?1. The listener sits blindfolded with their back to the room.2. The host holds up between one and five fingers, and points at that many players.3. On a silent count of three, the chosen players clap once, all together.4. The listener says how many clapped. Three goes each, and the most right answers wins.Youngest player: age 6. Players: 6 to 20. Time: 8 min. Props: a blindfold.

Next step More mystery-object gamesOne-minute games for pairs

How it works

In these blindfold games one player covers their eyes and guesses, makes something or is steered by a partner. Everyone plays sitting down or standing on one mark, so nobody walks or runs without seeing.

Read the full guide

Blindfold games for parties, by what the player does

Guess by touch and Guess by sound run on things from a kitchen drawer. Draw, write and make without looking ends with something to hold up when the blindfold comes off. In A partner steers by voice two people share each turn, so a big party plays it as a line of pairs.

Before the blindfold goes on

A scarf, a bandana or a sleep mask will do. Anyone who dislikes a blindfold shuts their eyes and plays the same game. Before a tasting or smelling game, ask every player about allergies.

  • Seat the player before the blindfold goes on, and take it off before they stand up.
  • In a sound game, show the things first, so the listener chooses among known sounds.

Questions and answers

What is a good blindfold game for a party?

One the whole room can watch. Pair the Socks by Feel and Finish the Face need almost nothing, and in Clay Animal, the Room Guesses the watchers do the guessing.

What are blindfolded party games for a big group?

How Many Hands Clapped?, Who Said Good Evening? and Whose Shoe Is This? use the whole room at once. One Sentence on One Ruled Line and Paper Plane Folded Blind, Flown Sighted blindfold everybody together, each in a seat.

What do you need for blindfold games?

A scarf and a table. Most games add things already in the house: socks, coins, a jar, glasses of water, paper and a marker. Nuts Onto Bolts and Spell It in Magnet Letters take a little collecting.

More tools

Browse Acting and Drawing

All 36 games

Guess by touch 8

  • Copy the Brick Model 1. Out of sight, the host clicks five building bricks into a small model. 2. The blindfolded player sits and turns the model over in their hands for twenty seconds. 3. The host takes it back and hands over five loose bricks of the same shapes. 4. The player builds a copy by feel. Set the two side by side and give a point for each brick in the right place. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: ten building bricks in five matching pairs and a blindfold.
  • Heads or Tails by Fingertip 1. The host lays five coins of the same kind in a row, some heads up and some tails up. 2. The blindfolded player sits and touches each coin with one fingertip only. No picking up. 3. The player says heads or tails for each coin. 4. Score a point for each right call, then flip a few coins for the next player. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 6 min. Props: five coins of one kind and a blindfold.
  • Missing From the Tray, by Touch 1. The memory tray, played with fingers and not eyes. Lay five small things on a tray: a spoon, a pine cone, a toy car, a clothespin, a sponge. 2. The blindfolded player sits and handles each one, then folds their hands. 3. The host takes one thing away and shuffles the rest. 4. The player feels the tray again and names what has gone. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 8 min. Props: a tray, five small things with no sharp edges and a blindfold.
Show all 36 games (33 more)

Guess by touch, continued

  • Nuts Onto Bolts 1. Put four bolts of four different widths in a bowl with the four nuts that fit them. 2. The blindfolded player sits at the table and finds which nut fits which bolt. 3. Each nut is wound on at least three turns. 4. Time each player. The fastest full set wins. Youngest player: age 8. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 8 min. Props: four bolts with their nuts, a bowl and a blindfold.
  • Pair the Socks by Feel 1. Tip six pairs of socks of different kinds into one heap on the table: wool, sport, dress, fuzzy, ankle, knee-high. 2. The blindfolded player sits at the table and pairs them up by feel. 3. Call time after one minute and take the blindfold off. 4. Each true pair scores a point, and a mismatched pair scores nothing. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 8 min. Props: six pairs of socks and a blindfold.
  • Read the String Word 1. Before the party, shape capital letters from string and tape them to cards, one three-letter word to a card. 2. The blindfolded player sits, is handed one card and reads it with one fingertip. 3. The right word inside thirty seconds scores two points, and on a second try it scores one. 4. Every player gets a card nobody has read. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 10 min. Props: cards, string, tape and a blindfold.
  • Spell It in Magnet Letters 1. Tip a set of magnetic alphabet letters onto a baking sheet. 2. The host says a three-letter word, such as CAT or SUN. 3. The blindfolded player sits, finds the letters by their shape and lines them up in order. 4. Blindfold off. A right word scores three points, and each right letter in a wrong word scores one. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: magnetic letters, a baking sheet and a blindfold.
  • Whose Shoe Is This? 1. Everyone takes off one shoe and puts it in a pile behind the guesser, who has been sitting blindfolded since before the shoes came off. 2. The host hands the guesser one shoe. 3. The guesser feels it and names its owner. 4. Right or wrong, the owner takes the shoe back and becomes the next guesser. Count the right answers. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 5 to 15. Time: 10 min. Props: the shoes everyone came in and a blindfold.

Guess by sound 8

  • Count the Coins Into the Jar 1. The listener sits blindfolded. The host holds a glass jar and a handful of coins. 2. The host drops between eight and twenty coins into the jar, some slowly, some quickly, and now and then two at once. 3. The listener counts by ear and says the total. 4. Tip the jar out and count together. The closest count of the round wins. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 8 min. Props: a glass jar, twenty coins and a blindfold.
  • How Many Hands Clapped? 1. The listener sits blindfolded with their back to the room. 2. The host holds up between one and five fingers, and points at that many players. 3. On a silent count of three, the chosen players clap once, all together. 4. The listener says how many clapped. Three goes each, and the most right answers wins. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 6 to 20. Time: 8 min. Props: a blindfold.
  • Name the Crunch 1. Put a carrot stick, a cracker, an apple slice, a stick of celery and a potato chip on a plate. 2. The listener sits blindfolded beside one volunteer eater. 3. The eater takes one loud bite of one thing, and the listener names the food from the crunch alone. 4. Five bites score a point each. Only the eater eats, and the host asks the eater about allergies first. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 3 to 10. Time: 8 min. Props: five crunchy foods, a plate and a blindfold.
  • Near or Far: How Many Steps Away? 1. The listener sits blindfolded at one end of the room or the lawn. 2. The host walks quietly to a spot between one and six big steps away, in a straight line in front of the chair, and claps once. 3. The listener says how many steps away the clap was. 4. The host paces it out to check. An exact answer scores two and one step out scores one. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 8 min. Props: a chair and a blindfold.
  • One to Five in the Tin 1. The host hides between one and five dried beans in a small tin with a lid. 2. The blindfolded listener sits, shakes the tin beside one ear for five seconds and says how many beans are inside. 3. Open the tin to check. 4. Change the number behind the listener's back for each of three goes. Then play a round with paper clips. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 8 min. Props: a small tin with a lid, dried beans and a blindfold.
  • What Dropped? 1. A name-the-sound game in which every sound is a fall. Show the listener five things: a coin, a bunch of keys, a pencil, a plastic spoon and an eraser. 2. Blindfold on, sitting at the table. 3. The host drops one thing onto the table from a hand's height. 4. The listener names it. Five drops score a point each, and the eraser is the hard one. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 6 min. Props: five small things, a table and a blindfold.
  • Which Glass Rang? 1. Line up five drinking glasses holding five different depths of water and number them one to five. 2. With eyes open, the listener hears each glass tapped with a spoon, in order, twice. 3. Blindfold on. The host taps one glass, and the listener says its number. 4. Five taps score a point each. For a harder round, tap two glasses in a row and ask for both numbers. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 10 min. Props: five glasses, water, a spoon and a blindfold.
  • Who Said Good Evening? 1. The old voice-guessing game, with nobody touching the guesser. The guesser sits blindfolded in the middle of the room. 2. The host points at one player, who says good evening in a disguised voice from where they stand. 3. The guesser names the speaker and may ask to hear it once more. 4. A speaker who is named takes the chair. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 5 to 20. Time: 10 min. Props: a chair and a blindfold.

Draw, write and make without looking 8

  • Button the Shirt on the Chair Back 1. Hang a shirt with buttons over the back of a chair, open at the front. 2. The blindfolded player stands behind the chair and does up every button from the top down. 3. Stop the clock at the last button. 4. Blindfold off. Add five seconds for each button in the wrong hole. The lowest time wins. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 8 min. Props: a button-up shirt, a chair and a blindfold.
  • Clay Animal, the Room Guesses 1. The sculptor sits blindfolded with a lump of modeling dough. 2. The host whispers an animal: a snake, a snail, an elephant, a giraffe. 3. The sculptor has one minute to shape it by feel. 4. The room calls out guesses when the minute ends. A right guess scores a point for the sculptor and one for the guesser. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 3 to 12. Time: 10 min. Props: modeling dough and a blindfold.
  • Finish the Face 1. Drawing without looking, started for you. The host draws one large circle on a sheet of paper. 2. The blindfolded player sits with a marker, and the host puts the marker tip on the circle. 3. The host calls the parts one at a time: left eye, right eye, nose, mouth, two ears, hair. The marker lifts between parts. 4. Sign it, still blindfolded, and pin the portraits up in a row. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 15. Time: 8 min. Props: paper, a marker and a blindfold.
  • Fold Three T-Shirts Blind 1. Put three T-shirts in a heap on the table, one of them inside out. 2. The blindfolded player stands at the table, turns that one the right way out and folds all three into a stack. 3. Stop the clock when the player raises both hands. 4. The room votes on the neatest stack of the round, and the neatest beats the fastest. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 10 min. Props: three T-shirts and a blindfold.
  • One Sentence on One Ruled Line 1. Give every player a pen and a sheet of lined paper, turned sideways so the lines are long. 2. Blindfolds on, pen tip placed at the start of the middle line. 3. The host dictates one sentence of eight words, slowly. 4. Blindfolds off. Count the words that sit on the line you started on. The most words on the line wins. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 2 to 20. Time: 6 min. Props: lined paper, a pen and a blindfold for each player.
  • Paper Plane Folded Blind, Flown Sighted 1. Every player sits with one sheet of paper. 2. Blindfolds on. Fold a paper plane in ninety seconds, any design you know by heart. 3. Blindfolds off. No repairs. 4. Everyone stands on one line and throws on the count of three. The plane that lands farthest away wins. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 2 to 20. Time: 8 min. Props: a sheet of paper and a blindfold for each player.
  • Set the Clock by Feel 1. Make a clock from a paper plate: twelve dots of dried glue around the edge and two card hands, one long and one short, on a paper fastener. 2. The blindfolded player sits and finds the top of the clock, which the host marks with a paper clip. 3. The host says a time, such as twenty past four. 4. The player sets the hands. Each hand in the right place scores a point. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 10 min. Props: a paper plate clock and a blindfold.
  • Tie Your Laces Blind 1. Each player sits with one lace-up shoe on the table in front of them, its lace pulled right out. 2. Blindfolds on. Thread the lace through every hole and finish with a bow. 3. Raise a hand when you are done, and the host notes the order. 4. Blindfolds off. The first shoe with no skipped hole and a bow that holds wins. Youngest player: age 8. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: a lace-up shoe and a blindfold for each player.

A partner steers by voice 7

  • Bean Bags Into the Basket, Corrected by Voice 1. Stand a laundry basket three steps from a throwing mark. 2. The blindfolded thrower stands on the mark with five bean bags and stays on it. 3. After each throw the partner says where it landed: short, long, a hand to the left. 4. Count the bags in the basket. Later throws should beat early ones, and that is the partner's score. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 8 min. Props: five bean bags, a laundry basket and a blindfold.
  • Five Coins Into the Slot 1. Cut a slot in the lid of a tub, just longer than a coin. 2. The blindfolded player sits at the table with five coins. The partner sits opposite with hands in their lap. 3. The partner steers by voice only: left, forward, turn it, drop. 4. Count the coins in the tub after one minute, then swap jobs. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 8 min. Props: a tub with a slotted lid, five coins and a blindfold.
  • Hang Five Socks on the Line 1. Tie a string between two chair backs. Put five socks and five clothespins on a stool beside it. 2. The blindfolded player stands on one mark, in reach of the string and the stool, and does not step off it. 3. The partner steers by voice from two steps away. 4. Each sock held up by a pin when the minute ends scores a point. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 8 min. Props: string, two chairs, five socks, five clothespins and a blindfold.
  • Phone Number on the Calculator 1. Steering a finger to a target, with a display to prove it. Put a large-key calculator in front of the seated, blindfolded player. 2. The partner reads a seven-digit number off a card. 3. The partner steers one finger from key to key: up one, left one, press. 4. Blindfold off. Each digit that matches the card, in order, scores a point. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 8 min. Props: a calculator with large keys, number cards and a blindfold.
  • Putt by Voice 1. Lay a cup on its side on the carpet, three steps from a mark. 2. The player stands on the mark and puts on the blindfold, and the partner hands over a putter or a long wooden spoon. From then on the player's feet stay where they are. 3. The partner sets a ball down, talks the player into line and says when to swing. 4. Five putts, a point for each ball in the cup. Everyone else stands behind the mark. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 10 min. Props: a putter or a long wooden spoon, a soft ball, a cup and a blindfold.
  • Ring on a String Over the Bottle 1. Tie a curtain ring to a ruler with a length of string. Stand a bottle on the floor. 2. The blindfolded player stands on a mark beside the bottle, holding the ruler like a fishing rod. 3. The partner steers the ring over the neck of the bottle with words alone: up, toward me, lower. 4. Time it, swap jobs, and add the two times for the pair's score. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 8 min. Props: a ruler, string, a curtain ring, a bottle and a blindfold.
  • Sort the Crayons by Voice 1. Stand three cups in a row and put a red, a blue and a yellow sticker on them. Tip nine crayons in those three colors onto the table. 2. The player sits blindfolded, and then the host changes the order of the cups. 3. The player picks up a crayon. The partner names its color and steers the hand to the right cup. 4. Score a point for each crayon in the right cup after one minute. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 8 min. Props: nine crayons in three colors, three cups, stickers and a blindfold.

Taste and smell, after an allergy check 5

  • Lemonade, Weakest to Strongest 1. Mix four cups of lemonade with one, two, three and four spoons of the same mix. Letter the cups underneath. 2. The blindfolded taster sits and sips from each cup, in any order and as often as they like. 3. The taster lines the cups up from weakest to strongest. 4. Turn the cups over. Each cup in its right place scores a point. Ask every player about allergies before anyone puts on a blindfold. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: four cups, lemonade mix, a spoon and a blindfold.
  • Match the Smell Pairs 1. Put three smells on six cotton pads, each smell on two pads: lemon juice, vanilla, vinegar. Drop each pad in its own paper cup. 2. Shuffle the cups in front of the seated, blindfolded player. 3. The player sniffs and pushes the cups together in pairs. 4. Each true pair scores a point. Ask every player about allergies before anyone puts on a blindfold. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 8 min. Props: six paper cups, cotton pads, three kitchen smells and a blindfold.
  • Nose Pinched, Then Nose Free 1. Cut apple, pear and raw carrot into cubes of the same size. 2. The blindfolded taster sits, pinches their nose shut and is handed three cubes in turn on a spoon, naming each. 3. Write the answers down. 4. Play the same three again with the nose free, and compare the two scores. Ask every player about allergies before anyone puts on a blindfold. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 10 min. Props: apple, pear and carrot cubes, a spoon and a blindfold.
  • Odd Spoon Out 1. Out of sight, the host fills three spoons: two with the same thing and one with something close to it, such as two kinds of apple sauce or two kinds of yogurt. 2. The blindfolded taster sits and is handed the spoons one at a time. 3. The taster says which spoon was the odd one. 4. Three sets, a point for each odd spoon found. Ask every player about allergies before anyone puts on a blindfold. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 10 min. Props: spoons, pairs of similar foods and a blindfold.
  • Rub the Herb, Name It 1. Name the smell, with leaves in place of covered cups. Show everyone four fresh herbs and say their names: mint, basil, rosemary, parsley. 2. The blindfolded player sits and is handed one sprig. 3. They rub a leaf between finger and thumb, sniff and name the herb. 4. Four sprigs, a point each. Nobody eats the leaves. Ask every player about allergies before anyone puts on a blindfold. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 8 min. Props: four fresh herbs and a blindfold.

How this list was compiled: Our suggestions, written for this site for a party in a living room, a classroom or a hall. The wording is ours, and the ages, player counts and times are our estimates. In every game the blindfolded player sits or stands on one mark: no game has anyone walking or running without seeing, there is no piñata, and nothing sharp or hot is handled. Every tasting and smelling game starts with a question about allergies. The list states no rule or history of a traditional game, so no outside source was needed. Licence: own work