Cup GoalkeeperYou need: a table, one cup and 10 table tennis balls. Goal: the keeper sits at one end holding the cup mouth-down. A partner at the other end rolls the balls one at a time, aiming anywhere along the keeper's edge. A ball trapped under the cup is a save, and 6 saves out of 10 wins. The balls are rolled and never thrown.
Balloon PutterYou need: one balloon, 5 table tennis balls and a cup lying on its side against a wall, three steps away across a hard floor. Goal: hold the balloon by its knot and use it as a putter. Putt the balls, one at a time, into the mouth of the cup. Three balls in the cup wins. A ball that rolls wide is played from where it stops. An adult blows up the balloon and throws it away if it pops.
Clamshell CarryYou need: 2 carrying cups, 5 table tennis balls on a table, and a row of 5 more cups on a chair across the room. Goal: close the two carrying cups around a ball, rim to rim, like a clamshell. Carry it over and drop it into a cup in the row, one ball per trip. Hands never touch a ball. Five balls delivered wins.
Cup GoalkeeperYou need: a table, one cup and 10 table tennis balls. Goal: the keeper sits at one end holding the cup mouth-down. A partner at the other end rolls the balls one at a time, aiming anywhere along the keeper's edge. A ball trapped under the cup is a save, and 6 saves out of 10 wins. The balls are rolled and never thrown.
Show all 44 games (41 more)
With plastic cups, continued
Cup HockeyYou need: a table, a player at each end, a cup each held mouth-down as the stick, and one table tennis ball. Goal: slide your cup to knock the ball off your rival's end of the table. Each end edge is a goal, and a ball off the side restarts from the middle. Cups stay flat on the table. First to 3 goals wins.
Cup Paddle Keep-UpYou need: one cup and one table tennis ball. Goal: grip the cup mouth-down by its rim and use the flat base as a paddle. Bounce the ball on the base 12 times in a row without it touching anything else. After a drop the count restarts. Small taps work best, because the base is a small target.
Cup-Rim LandingYou need: one blown-up balloon and one cup. Goal: tap the balloon up with your free hand and land it on the open rim of the cup, held mouth up in the other hand. It has to sit there for a count of two. Five landings wins. A round balloon sits better than a long one. An adult blows up the balloon and throws it away if it pops.
Cup-Top JacksYou need: 5 mouth-down cups close together with a table tennis ball resting on each base, and a sixth ball as the bouncer. Goal: with one hand, bounce the bouncer on the table, pluck a ball off a cup and catch the bouncer in the same hand before it bounces twice. Set the plucked ball aside. All five plucked wins. A toppled cup is reset, ball and all.
The Cycle, Once ThroughYou need: 12 cups stacked three, six, three. Goal: run sport stacking's longest pattern one time. Build and take down the 3-6-3. Regroup the cups into two stacks of six, build both pyramids and take them down. Then stand one cup at each end, build the middle ten into a pyramid with four cups at the bottom, and finish with everything back in stacks of three, six and three. Once through with no cup on the floor wins.
Down the ArmYou need: one cup on a table and one table tennis ball. Goal: hold one arm out, palm up, with the fingertips over the cup. Set the ball in the crook of that elbow, then tilt the arm so the ball runs down the forearm, across the palm, off the fingers and into the cup. Three in wins. Long sleeves get rolled up first.
Elbow SnatchYou need: one plastic cup. Goal: lift your elbow to shoulder height with your hand back by your ear, and balance the cup mouth-down on the elbow. Whip the hand forward and down, and snatch the cup out of the air before it lands. Five catches wins. Face a clear patch of floor, because a missed cup flies forward.
Eyes-Shut SixYou need: 6 cups in one nested stack on a table, and a judge. Goal: shut your eyes, or wear a scarf as a blindfold, and build a pyramid by feel: three cups, then two, then one. Say done, and the judge checks that it stands. Take it down with your eyes still shut. Two pyramids up and down wins. Slow hands beat fast ones here.
Floor ScoopYou need: one cup and 6 table tennis balls loose on a hard floor. Goal: with one hand on the cup and the other behind your back, scoop up balls until the cup holds 4 at once. Pin a ball against a wall or your shoe, never a hand. A ball that hops out has to be scooped again. Under-tens win with 3.
Last Ball LosesYou need: 10 cups in a row with a table tennis ball in each, and two players. Goal: take turns lifting out 1, 2 or 3 balls, working along the row from the left. Whoever is forced to take the last ball loses. Best of three rounds wins, and the loser of a round starts the next. Players who leave their rival 9, 5 or 1 cannot be beaten.
Mirror StackYou need: 6 cups each for a builder and a copier, sitting face to face. Goal: the builder makes any shape from all six cups, with some mouth up, some mouth down and some stacked, and says go. The copier builds the same shape, cup for cup. The builder checks it and starts a new one. Three shapes matched wins, and no shape may be used twice.
One Ball at a TimeYou need: one cup holding 4 table tennis balls, and 4 empty cups in a row. Goal: tip the full cup over each empty one so that exactly one ball rolls out. No fingers inside a cup. If two balls drop together, pour both back and try that cup again. A ball in each of the four cups wins.
One Full TurnYou need: 2 plastic cups, one held upright in each hand. Goal: toss one cup up so that it turns a single full somersault, and catch it inside the other cup, nested. Five nested catches wins. A catch with the cup sideways or upside down does not count. Keep the toss below eye level and step back from the table.
Palm TennisYou need: a table, 6 cups in a row across the middle as the net, one table tennis ball and two players. Goal: rally over the net with open palms for paddles. The ball bounces once on each side before it is hit. Fifteen hits in a single rally wins, and the pair wins together. Stand a knocked net cup back up while the clock runs.
Palm-Up TwistYou need: one cup holding 3 table tennis balls. Goal: stand the cup on a flat, open palm in front of you. Without gripping it, turn the hand in toward your body, under your armpit, out behind you and up over your head, back to the start, with the palm facing the ceiling all the way. Three full turns with no ball lost wins. Stop if a shoulder or wrist complains.
Pass the ColumnYou need: 5 cups and four or more players in a line. Goal: the first player builds a column of five cups on one flat palm, the first cup mouth down, the next base to base on top of it, the next rim to rim, and so on. The standing column is passed from palm to palm down the line and back. A fallen column is rebuilt by the player who held it. Down and back before zero wins.
Roll and RaceYou need: a long table, one cup and one table tennis ball. Goal: roll the ball slowly down the length of the table, walk around to the far end and catch it in the cup as it drops off the edge. Five catches wins. Move the chairs off your route first, and walk. At a short table, a partner does the rolling.
Round the Wall TwentyYou need: one cup and one table tennis ball. Goal: hold the cup upright and swirl it so the ball races around the inside wall. Count a lap each time the ball passes your thumb. Twenty laps wins, as long as the ball never settles on the bottom and never flies out. Swirl too hard and it climbs over the rim, so play away from the snack table.
Stack by the NumbersYou need: 10 cups in one stack, a table and a caller. Goal: the caller says three, six or ten, in any order. Build that pyramid: three is two cups and one, six is three, two and one, and ten starts with four on the bottom. Take it down before the next call. Five calls built and cleared wins. The caller waits until the stack is whole again before calling.
Static TowYou need: one balloon, one table tennis ball, a bare table and two cups standing a hand apart at the far end as a gate. Goal: rub the balloon on your hair or a wool sweater, hold it just ahead of the ball and lead the ball down the table and through the gate without touching it. Two trips wins. Static works best on a dry day. If the ball stops following, rub the balloon again.
Tap, Tap, PassYou need: everyone seated around one table with a cup each, mouth-down. Goal: the table chants tap, tap, pass and plays it together: two taps of the cup on the table, then slide it to the player on the right. Twenty passes in a row wins. Anyone left holding two cups or none calls stop, and the count goes back to zero. Start slowly and speed up.
Ten in a Line, Ten in a StackYou need: 10 cups nested in one stack on a table. Goal: set the cups out mouth down in one straight line, one at a time from the top of the stack, then gather them back into a single stack, starting from the far end. Two full trips out and back wins. Small hands can use both. Players of eight and up use one hand and keep the other flat on the table.
Three-Six-ThreeYou need: 12 cups in a row of nested stacks: three, six, three. Goal: build a pyramid from each stack, left to right. The six in the middle goes up as three cups, then two, then one. Take all three down in the same order, until the stacks read three, six, three again. Three clean rounds wins. Both hands work at once, which is the knack.
Three-Three-ThreeYou need: 9 cups in three nested stacks of three, in a row on a table. Goal: working left to right, turn each stack into a small pyramid, two cups below and one on top. Then take the three pyramids down in the same order, back to three stacks. That is one round of the pattern sport stackers call the 3-3-3. Four clean rounds wins, and a cup that falls has to be fixed before you move on.
Two People, Two HandsYou need: 10 cups in one stack and a partner. Goal: stand side by side with your inside arms linked, so the pair has one left hand and one right hand. Build a pyramid of four, three, two and one, then slide it back down into a single stack. Once up and once down wins. Agree who places and who steadies before the clock starts.
Two, One, NoneYou need: 6 cups in a row, mouth-down, 6 table tennis balls and a host. Goal: watch the host hide the balls, so that two cups cover two balls, two cover one and two cover none. Turn away for a slow count of ten. Turn back and say what is under each cup as the host points to them in any order. Six right wins. Under-eights play with 4 cups.
Up for Me, Down for YouYou need: 6 cups in one stack and two players side by side at a table. Goal: the first player builds a pyramid of three, two and one. The moment the top cup is on, the partner slides it back down into one stack and hands it over. Count every finished pyramid aloud. Five pyramids wins, and the pair swaps jobs for the next round.
Table tennis balls, no cups 9
Backspin ReturnYou need: one table tennis ball and a smooth, bare table. Goal: press a fingertip down on the back edge of the ball until it squirts forward, spinning backwards. Done right, it skids out, stops and rolls home to your hand. A return counts only if the ball went at least a forearm's length away first. Three returns wins. A tablecloth kills the spin.
Call the CatcherYou need: one table tennis ball and four or more players standing around a table. Goal: bounce the ball once on the table and call another player's name as you do it. Only that player may catch it, and they bounce it on with a new name. Twelve catches in a row wins. Nobody is called twice running.
Dribble ThirtyYou need: one table tennis ball and a bare table. Goal: dribble the ball on the table under a flat palm, like a tiny basketball, for 30 bounces without a break. A ball that escapes ends the run, and the next run starts at one. Under-eights can play to 15.
Finger BilliardsYou need: 6 table tennis balls, a bare table and a pen. Goal: mark one ball as the cue ball and spread the other five around the middle of the table. Flick the cue ball with one finger so that it knocks the others over the edge, playing each shot from where it stopped. All five off wins. A cue ball that falls goes back where it left the table.
Left or Right DropYou need: 2 table tennis balls and a partner. Goal: the partner holds a ball in each hand at shoulder height, arms out in front. Stand facing them with your hands at your sides. With no warning, they let go of one ball. Catch it with the hand on that side before it reaches the floor. Eight catches out of 10 drops wins, then swap jobs.
Meet in the MiddleYou need: a table, a player at each end and a table tennis ball each. Goal: count to three together and both roll. The two balls have to hit each other somewhere on the table. Three hits wins, and the pair wins together. Gentle rolls are easier to hit. Whoever rolled a ball off the table fetches it.
Point to the BounceYou need: one table tennis ball, a hard floor and a host. Goal: everyone but the host stands in the middle of the room with eyes shut. The host tiptoes to a new spot and drops the ball. Point to where the first bounce sounded, then open your eyes to check. Four good points out of 6 drops wins. Players stand still while their eyes are shut.
Waist, Knees, AnklesYou need: one table tennis ball and room to bend. Goal: pass the ball hand to hand around your waist, then around both knees, then around both ankles. That is one trip, and 8 trips wins. A dropped ball cancels the trip you were on. Players who would rather not bend circle the waist three times instead.
Who Has the Ball?You need: one table tennis ball, a circle of players shoulder to shoulder with their hands behind their backs, and a guesser in the middle. Goal: the circle passes the ball behind backs, or only pretends to. The guesser has 3 guesses in the minute, and one right guess wins. A player who is named shows both hands straight away.
Balloons 5
Elbow Pass LineYou need: one balloon and four or more players in a line, side by side. Goal: send the balloon down the line and back using elbows only, pinched between your two elbows and handed to the next pair of elbows. Hands stay on your own shoulders. Three trips down and back wins. A balloon on the floor restarts from the player who dropped it. An adult blows up the balloon and throws it away if it pops.
Fingertip LapYou need: one balloon and a chair in the middle of the room. Goal: balance the balloon on one fingertip, with no gripping and no second hand, and walk a full lap around the chair. Three laps wins. A balloon that floats off may be caught on the same fingertip, and one that touches the floor cancels that lap. Try it knot side down.
Head, Knee, FootYou need: one balloon and a clear patch of floor. Goal: keep the balloon up with three touches in a fixed order: head, then knee, then foot. That is one set. Four sets in a row wins, and a touch out of order or a balloon on the floor takes the count back to zero. Move the coffee table first.
Swap and SaveYou need: two balloons and two players standing three steps apart. Goal: on a count of three, both tap their balloon straight up, swap places and catch the other player's balloon before it lands. Six clean swaps wins. Walk, do not run, and pass right shoulder to right shoulder. An adult blows up the balloons and throws away any that pop.
Tap, Sit, StandYou need: one balloon and a sturdy chair pushed against a wall so it cannot slide. Goal: tap the balloon high, sit down on the chair, stand back up and tap it again before it reaches the floor. Six sits wins. The chair stays put, so the higher and straighter the tap, the easier the next one.
How this list was compiled: Written for this page on 2026-09-18 from general knowledge of playground, parlor and table-top games. Every description is original to this site, and no wording was copied from a television show or from another site's list. Party games are passed around freely, so a mechanic here may also be played elsewhere under another name. The list uses three props only, plastic cups, table tennis balls and balloons, plus the table, floor and chairs already in the room and, once, a pen. No game shares a name with a game on this site's one-minute game timer page or on another one-minute page. Three games share a mechanic with a timer-page game that uses another prop: One Full Turn, Cup Paddle Keep-Up and Clamshell Carry. The cup stacking games use 5 to 12 cups and follow the patterns of sport stacking or add a twist (eyes shut, a partner, a caller); none repeats the timer page's 36-cup pyramid. Head, Knee, Foot is a balloon keep-up, as the timer page's three balloon juggle is, with a fixed order of touches in place of three balloons. Each game was written to be playable in about a minute. The games have not been stopwatch-tested, so every target (5 catches, 30 bounces, 4 rounds) is a starting point for the host to raise or lower. Screened line by line for the clean-deck rule and for safety: nothing is thrown at a person, no cup or ball goes near a mouth, players walk and never run, no game asks anyone to stand on a ball or a cup, no game pops a balloon on purpose, no player blows up a balloon as part of a game, and every balloon game in the kids group says that an adult blows up the balloon and throws it away if it pops. Facts: a table tennis ball is 40 millimeters across and has a mass of 2.7 grams, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_tennis (checked 2026-09-18); United States toy rules define a small ball as one that passes through a hole 1.75 inches (44.4 mm) across and require a choking hazard warning on small balls sold for children of three and older, from https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/16/1500.19 (checked 2026-09-18), and a 40 mm ball passes through that hole; the American Academy of Pediatrics lists small balls among household choking hazards and says balloons can choke children as old as 8, from https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/injuries-emergencies/Pages/Choking-Prevention.aspx (checked 2026-09-19); US Consumer Product Safety Commission publication 5087 gives the balloon label (children under eight can choke or suffocate on uninflated or broken balloons, adult supervision required, discard broken balloons at once), from https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/5087.pdf (checked 2026-09-19); sport stacking's 3-3-3 with nine cups, its 3-6-3 with 12 cups, its cycle with 12 cups (a 3-6-3, then a 6-6, then a 1-10-1, down-stacked back to how it started) and its start in Oceanside, California, in 1981, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport_stacking (checked 2026-09-19). The winning line in Last Ball Loses (leave your rival 9, 5 or 1) is worked out from the rules of the game, not taken from a source. Licence: own work
How it works
These 44 simple one-minute games need plastic cups, a few table tennis balls or a bag of balloons, and nothing to tape down. The TV show Minute to Win It gave contestants 60 seconds for household stunts. This list is separate from the show.
Read the full guide
Run a round from the cupboard
In the All games list, With plastic cups holds 30 one-minute cup games, and Table tennis balls, no cups holds 9 that need a ball or two. Cup stacking holds 10, from Ten in a Line, Ten in a Stack to the 12-cup patterns of the sport.
Plan a party five games at a time
Grab and go, nothing to set up has 13. Harder, for teens and adults has 14 easy one-minute games for adults: simple to explain, hard to do.
Twelve cups, ten table tennis balls and two balloons run the whole list, except Tap, Tap, Pass, which needs a cup per player.
United States toy rules class a 40 millimeter ball as a small ball, so keep these balls from children under three.
Children under eight can choke on a popped balloon, says the Consumer Product Safety Commission. An adult blows them up and bins the scraps.
Questions and answers
Which simple games work for a mixed group?
Choose Pairs, teams and the whole room for 18 games. Tap, Tap, Pass seats everyone at one table, Point to the Bounce needs a hard floor, and Elbow Pass Line mixes children and adults. Nobody has timed these games, so adjust each target.
Which are good one-minute games with ping pong balls?
For one player, Backspin Return sends a pressed ball skidding away and rolling home, and Dribble Thirty needs only a table. Meet in the Middle and Left or Right Drop suit a pair. A ball weighs 2.7 grams, which suits a living room.
Which is the cup stacking one-minute game?
Three-Three-Three and Three-Six-Three, under Cup stacking. They follow sport stacking, which began in Oceanside, California, in 1981: nine cups in three pyramids of three, or 12 cups with a six-cup pyramid in the middle.
Which one-minute games with cups need no ball?
13: the 10 stacking games, Elbow Snatch, Tap, Tap, Pass and One Full Turn. They use cups and nothing else.
Which are the one-minute balloon games?
Choose Balloons for 8. Cup-Rim Landing, Balloon Putter and Swap and Save are easy enough for a five-year-old, and Head, Knee, Foot is for teens and adults.