Games to Play Without Anything

No board, no cards, no phone, no pen and no paper: press Pick 3 new games.

Games to Play Without Anything

  1. Four Sides Blind, Back Where You Began1. Each player marks a starting spot in their mind and has a partner standing by. 2. With eyes closed, walk four steps forward, turn right, and repeat until you have walked a square. 3. Stop and open your eyes. 4. The partner paces out how far you are from where you began. The smallest gap wins, and partners swap. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 6 min. Props: none.
  2. Cross the Room in Exactly Fourteen Steps1. Stand at one wall. A caller names a number of steps: fourteen. 2. Each player in turn has to walk to the far wall and touch it on exactly that step, with every step the same length. 3. No shuffling at the end. The others count aloud. 4. A player who arrives early or late is out of the round. The caller then names an awkward number, such as nine. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 6 min. Props: none.
  3. Half a New Proverb Each1. One of you invents the first half of a saying that sounds old: "A borrowed umbrella..." 2. The other finishes it at once: "...always finds the rain." 3. Together, decide in one sentence what the proverb means. 4. Swap who starts. Keep the best three for use on other people. Players: 2. Time: 6 min. Props: none.

Next step Things to guess for twenty questions

How it works

Every game here needs nothing: no board, cards, phone, pen or paper. They are sorted by kind and by place: a car, a line that is not moving, a cleared table or a tent in the dark.

Read the full guide

Sort by where you are stuck

More filters, the last entry of the All games menu, has a row for the place: In a car, Standing in line, At a table or In the dark. The same rows sort by head count and minutes.

Sort by the kind of game

The All games menu splits the list six ways. Word and memory chains and Guessing games can be played in a whisper. Games that need room to move want a hallway or a patch of grass.

Tips
  • Agree how long a player has to answer before a chain game starts. Five seconds keeps it moving.

Questions and answers

What are games to play with friends that don't require anything?

Games made of talk. Compound Chain: Back Half Becomes the Front and Pebble, Brick, Boulder: A Little Bigger Each Turn need only quick thinking, and That Is Not What Happened turns three or more friends into rival storytellers.

Which games to play while sitting down work in a car or at a table?

All of the chains, the guessing games and the storytelling games. Choose In a car or At a table under More filters, and the list keeps the games that need no room to move.

What can two people play with nothing at all?

Choose Games for two. Race to Twenty, One or Two Numbers a Turn has a pattern to discover, and A to Z Conversation, a Letter a Line can be played in a whisper.

What games can a group play in the dark?

Anything spoken. I Hear With My Little Ear is a listening game, and From Scatter to One Beat is played with eyes closed on purpose.

More tools

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All 45 games

Word and memory chains 8

  • Blend Two Animals, Name the Parents 1. The first player blends the names of two animals into one word, such as a "girabbit". 2. The next player names the two parents and describes one thing the creature does. 3. That player then blends one of the parents with a new animal. 4. Keep the chain going until someone cannot unpick a blend. No animal may be used three times. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 8 min. Props: none.
  • Chain by Ear: The Final Sound Starts the Next Word 1. Choose a theme: animals, food, towns. 2. Each word has to open with the sound that ended the one before, however it is spelled: giraffe, then fox, then snake, then cow. 3. Nothing may be said twice. 4. Whoever breaks the chain chooses the next theme. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 8 min. Props: none.
  • Compound Chain: Back Half Becomes the Front 1. The first player says a compound word or a two-word phrase: sunflower. 2. The next has to begin a new one with its second half: flowerpot. Then pot roast, roast beef, and so on. 3. A player has five seconds to answer. Any stretch is put to a vote. 4. A player who is stuck starts a new chain. Count the longest chain of the day. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 8 min. Props: none.
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Word and memory chains, continued

  • It Fits Inside: A Chain of Smaller Things 1. The first player names something big enough to walk around in: a stadium. 2. Each player in turn names a thing that is found inside the last thing: a locker room, a locker, a shoe, a sock. 3. The group may challenge a thing that would not really be there. 4. Count the turns until nothing smaller can be named. Then start from the smallest thing and work outward. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 8 min. Props: none.
  • Opposite First, Then a Fresh Word 1. The first player says any word that has an opposite: tall. 2. The next says the opposite, then a new word of their own: short, heavy. 3. The next gives the opposite of that one and a new word: light, early. Keep a steady beat. 4. A pause of more than three seconds, or an opposite the group rejects, ends the chain. Count the pairs you made. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 6 min. Props: none.
  • Pebble, Brick, Boulder: A Little Bigger Each Turn 1. The first player names something very small: a grain of salt. 2. Each player in turn has to name something a little bigger than the last thing, and only a little. 3. The group may challenge a jump that is too large, such as from a mouse to a bus. 4. See how many turns it takes to reach the size of a mountain. Then go back down. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 8 min. Props: none.
  • Spell It Backward, a Letter a Player 1. One player names a word of six letters or more. 2. Going around, players spell it backward, one letter each, with no writing. 3. A wrong letter sends the spelling back to the last letter of the word. 4. When a word is finished, the player who said its first letter chooses the next word. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 6 min. Props: none.
  • What Does P. T. F. Stand For? 1. One player calls three letters at random. 2. Everyone has ten seconds to think of something they could stand for: Penguins Take Flight, Please Toast Faster. 3. Go around and hear every answer. 4. The caller picks a favorite, and its inventor calls the next three letters. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 8 min. Props: none.

Guessing games 8

  • Describe a Place We All Know, No Names 1. One player pictures a place every player has been: a kitchen, a street corner, a classroom. 2. The player describes standing there, one detail at a time, with no names of people, streets or buildings. 3. After each detail, one guess is allowed. 4. The fewer details it took, the better the describer did. The right guesser describes next. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 8 min. Props: none.
  • I Hear With My Little Ear 1. Everyone goes quiet for ten seconds and listens. 2. One player says, "I hear with my little ear something that..." and gives a clue: hums, drips, ticks, is far away. 3. The others guess the sound. 4. The first right guess listens next. A sound that has stopped by then still counts. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 6 min. Props: none.
  • If This Person Were Weather: The Metaphor Game 1. One player thinks of someone everybody present knows, or of someone in the group. 2. The others ask only "if" questions: if they were weather, a kind of shoe, a time of day, what would they be? 3. The thinker answers each one honestly and kindly. 4. Anyone may guess the person at any time. A right guess thinks of the next person. Players: 3 to 10. Time: 10 min. Props: none.
  • In the Manner of the Word 1. One player leaves earshot. The others choose an adverb: slowly, proudly, suspiciously. 2. The guesser comes back and asks anyone to do something "in the manner of the word": say hello, count to five, tell the time. 3. Each request is carried out in that manner, from the chair if need be. 4. The guesser has three guesses. Whoever gave the clearest performance guesses next. Players: 3 to 10. Time: 10 min. Props: none.
  • It Starts With B, Ends With D, Six Letters 1. One player thinks of a word and gives its first letter, its last letter and its length. 2. The others call out words that fit. 3. For a wrong word that fits the pattern, the thinker gives one more clue: a rhyme, a middle letter or what it is for. 4. The right guess sets the next word. Short words are harder than they sound. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 8 min. Props: none.
  • Seven of What? Guess What I Counted 1. One player quietly counts something that can be seen from where the group is and says only the number: "There are seven." 2. The others look around and guess what was counted: chairs, buttons, windows, red things. 3. The counter answers "more than that" or "fewer than that" for a wrong thing, comparing its own number. 4. The first right guess counts next. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 6 min. Props: none.
  • Ten Clues, Hardest First 1. One player thinks of a thing and plans ten clues, from the most puzzling to a giveaway. 2. After each clue, every guesser may make one guess. 3. A right guess after the first clue scores ten points, after the second nine, and so on. 4. The clue-giver scores too: one point for every clue that had to be read. The guesser who was right goes next. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 8 min. Props: none.
  • Three Things Changed While You Looked Away 1. One player stands in front of the others for a slow count of ten. 2. The watchers turn away. The player changes three small things: a sleeve rolled, a ring on the other hand, hair tucked behind an ear. 3. The watchers turn back and name the changes. 4. One point for each change found. The player who found the last one goes next. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 6 min. Props: none.

Storytelling games 7

  • Before That: A Story Told Backward 1. The first player gives the last sentence of a story: "And that is why the piano is in the pond." 2. The next says what happened just before it, starting with the words "Before that". 3. Go around, each step earlier than the last. 4. After two rounds, one player tells the whole story forward in a single breath. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: none.
  • Five Whys Deep 1. One player makes a plain statement: "I am wearing odd socks." 2. The player on the left asks "Why?" The answer has to be invented and has to explain the statement. 3. That answer is met with "Why?" again, five times in all, each reason stranger than the last. 4. The fifth answer is the end of the story. The asker makes the next statement. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 8 min. Props: none.
  • I Am the Doorknob: An Object Tells Its Life 1. Each player silently chooses an everyday object. 2. In turn, each speaks for half a minute as that object, about its day and its complaints, without naming it. 3. The others guess the object when the speech is over. 4. A point for each right guess, and one for the speaker if at least one guess was wrong. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: none.
  • No Ands: Tell It Without the Word 1. One player tells any story: what happened this morning, the plot of a fairy tale. 2. The teller may not say the word "and". The listeners clap once if they hear it. 3. On a clap, the story passes to the player who clapped first. 4. Time the longest run without a clap. Next round, ban "the". Players: 2 to 8. Time: 8 min. Props: none.
  • On Monday: A Week-Long Story 1. The first player starts a story with "On Monday" and tells one event. 2. The next takes "On Tuesday", and so on through the week, each day following from the one before. 3. Something has to go wrong on Thursday and be put right by Sunday. 4. With fewer than seven players, go around more than once. Whoever gets Sunday chooses the hero of the next week. Players: 2 to 7. Time: 8 min. Props: none.
  • That Is Not What Happened 1. One player starts telling about an invented day out. 2. At any moment, a listener may say, "That is not what happened," and has to carry on the story from that point with a different turn of events. 3. The new teller keeps everything said before the interruption. 4. Each player may interrupt twice. Whoever is speaking when everyone has run out ends the story. Players: 3 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: none.
  • Three Openings, the Listeners Choose 1. One player invents the first sentences of three different stories and says them one after another. 2. The listeners vote by pointing for the one they want to hear. 3. The teller has one minute to carry that story on, then stops in the middle. 4. The next player has to finish it in three sentences, then offers three openings of their own. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: none.

Clapping, counting and rhythm games 7

  • Clap on Threes, Stomp on Fives 1. Count around the circle from one, a number a player. 2. In place of any number that can be divided by three, clap. In place of any that can be divided by five, stomp. For fifteen, do both. 3. A player who says the number, or claps at the wrong time, starts the count again from one. 4. See how high the group gets. This is the counting game some call fizz buzz, played with hands and feet. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 6 min. Props: none.
  • Clap Seven Together, No Count-In 1. The leader says a number from three to nine. 2. With no count-in and no signal, the whole group has to clap exactly that many times, together, and then stop. 3. An extra clap after the last one loses the round for everyone. 4. When the group manages three numbers in a row, try it with eyes closed. Players: 3 to 30. Time: 4 min. Props: none.
  • The Count That Disappears 1. Clap a slow, steady beat together and count aloud on it from one to eight, again and again. 2. After two times through, stop saying eight but keep its beat. Next time through, drop seven as well. 3. Carry on until only "one" is spoken and seven silent beats pass before it comes back. 4. If the whole group says the last "one" together, the group wins. Then try it with no clapping. Players: 3 to 20. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
  • From Scatter to One Beat 1. Everyone closes their eyes and starts clapping a slow beat of their own. 2. Nobody leads. Each player listens and shifts a little toward what they hear. 3. Keep going until the whole group is clapping as one. 4. Time how long it took. Then try it with finger taps on a table, which are harder to hear. Players: 3 to 30. Time: 4 min. Props: none.
  • Layer a Groove, Then Peel It Back 1. One player starts a simple repeating sound: two pats on the knees and a clap. 2. One at a time, each player adds a different sound that fits: a hum, a tongue click, a low "boom". 3. When everyone is in, hold the groove for four rounds. 4. Players then drop out in the order they joined, until the first sound is alone again. Players: 3 to 12. Time: 6 min. Props: none.
  • Whisper Count Race to Fifty 1. Two groups sit apart, each in a ring. 2. On go, each group counts around its ring in whispers, a number a player, from one to fifty. 3. A number said aloud, skipped or said twice sends that group back to one. 4. The first group to whisper "fifty" raises all its hands. Players: 6 to 20. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
  • Zip Left, Zap Across, Boing Back The zip and zap passing game, with a third word that sends a zip back. 1. Stand or sit in a circle. A "zip" is passed to the player beside you with a point, and keeps going the same way. 2. A "zap" is sent across the circle to anyone, with eye contact and a point. 3. A "boing", said with both hands up, bounces a zip back the way it came. A zap cannot be boinged. 4. Speed up until someone says the wrong word. That player restarts the game with a zip. Players: 5 to 14. Time: 6 min. Props: none.

Games that need room to move 8

  • Cross the Room in Exactly Fourteen Steps 1. Stand at one wall. A caller names a number of steps: fourteen. 2. Each player in turn has to walk to the far wall and touch it on exactly that step, with every step the same length. 3. No shuffling at the end. The others count aloud. 4. A player who arrives early or late is out of the round. The caller then names an awkward number, such as nine. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 6 min. Props: none.
  • Four Sides Blind, Back Where You Began 1. Each player marks a starting spot in their mind and has a partner standing by. 2. With eyes closed, walk four steps forward, turn right, and repeat until you have walked a square. 3. Stop and open your eyes. 4. The partner paces out how far you are from where you began. The smallest gap wins, and partners swap. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 6 min. Props: none.
  • Freeze, Close Your Eyes, Point to Sam 1. Everyone walks about the space, weaving past each other. 2. The caller says "Freeze!" and everyone stops and closes their eyes. 3. The caller names one player. With eyes still closed, everyone points to where they think that player is standing. 4. Open your eyes. Those pointing straight at the player score a point. Walk on and play again. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 6 min. Props: none.
  • Heave on a Rope Nobody Can See 1. Two teams face each other and pick up an invisible rope. 2. On go, both pull. Everyone has to keep the rope the same length: when one side heaves back, the other is dragged forward. 3. A judge watches for anyone who lets the rope stretch or go slack and awards the pull to the other side. 4. Play three pulls. On the last one, the judge decides which side loses and both teams have to act it out. Players: 4 to 16. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
  • The Invisible Ball Changes Weight 1. Stand in a ring. One player holds an invisible ball and shows its size and weight by the way they hold it. 2. Throw it to someone by name. The catcher has to catch a ball of that size and weight. 3. Before throwing it on, the catcher may change the ball: now it is a feather, now a bowling ball. 4. Anyone who catches the wrong ball takes a bow. Add a second ball when the first is going well. Players: 3 to 14. Time: 6 min. Props: none.
  • The Marching Order Grows 1. Players stand in a line. The leader gives one order and everyone does it: two steps forward. 2. The next player repeats that order and adds one: two steps forward, clap. 3. Each round, the whole line performs the full sequence together from the start. 4. When the line falls apart, the player who added the last order starts a new sequence. Players: 3 to 12. Time: 8 min. Props: none.
  • One Jump Each: How Far Does the Team Get? 1. The first player of each team does one standing jump from a line. 2. The next player puts their toes where the first one's heels landed and jumps from there. 3. Carry on until everyone has jumped once. 4. The team whose last player lands farthest from the line wins. Jump on grass or carpet. Players: 4 to 16. Time: 6 min. Props: none.
  • Underwater Tag at a Slow Crawl 1. Mark out a small space: half a room or a patch of lawn. 2. Everyone, the tagger included, may move only in slow motion, as if under water. 3. A tag is a slow touch on the shoulder. The tagged player becomes the tagger after one slow spin. 4. Anyone who moves at normal speed, even to dodge, becomes the tagger at once. Players: 3 to 12. Time: 6 min. Props: none.

Games for two 7

  • A to Z Conversation, a Letter a Line 1. Agree where the two of you are: a shoe shop, a lifeboat, a job interview. 2. The first line of the conversation has to start with A, the reply with B, and so on. 3. The lines have to make sense as one conversation. 4. Try to reach Z without a pause of more than five seconds. Start the next round from M. Players: 2. Time: 8 min. Props: none.
  • Fingertip Lead, Eyes Closed 1. Stand facing each other and touch the tips of your forefingers together. 2. One of you closes their eyes. The other leads them slowly around the space by that one point of touch. 3. No words. The leader steers clear of every obstacle and keeps the walk slow. 4. After a minute, stop, swap and compare how it felt to follow. Players: 2. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
  • Half a New Proverb Each 1. One of you invents the first half of a saying that sounds old: "A borrowed umbrella..." 2. The other finishes it at once: "...always finds the rain." 3. Together, decide in one sentence what the proverb means. 4. Swap who starts. Keep the best three for use on other people. Players: 2. Time: 6 min. Props: none.
  • Human Camera: Three Snapshots 1. One of you is the camera and keeps both eyes closed. The other is the photographer and guides the camera by the shoulders. 2. The photographer stops in front of something worth a picture and says "click". The camera opens its eyes for three seconds, then shuts them. 3. Take three pictures. 4. Back at the start, the camera describes all three in order. Then swap. Players: 2. Time: 8 min. Props: none.
  • Race to Twenty, One or Two Numbers a Turn 1. Count up from one, taking turns. 2. On your turn, say either the next number or the next two numbers. 3. Whoever says "twenty" wins. 4. Play five times and look for the pattern. Then change the target to twenty-one, or allow three numbers a turn. Players: 2. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
  • Talk in Unison, One Voice 1. Face each other. A third person, or either of you, asks a simple question: what did you have for breakfast? 2. Answer together, speaking at the same time, with nobody leading. 3. Go slowly, watch each other's mouths and follow whatever sound starts. 4. Try to finish a whole sentence that neither of you planned. Players: 2. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
  • Three-Word Review: Guess What I Reviewed 1. One of you thinks of something you both know: a sandwich shop, a hill on the way to school, last summer. 2. Review it in exactly three words, like a critic: "Loud. Sticky. Wonderful." 3. The other has one guess. A wrong guess earns three more words. 4. Count the words it took, then swap. The reviewer whose subject took fewer words wins. Players: 2. Time: 6 min. Props: none.

How this list was compiled: Written by the Game Night Generator editors on 2026-10-03 for people with time to fill and nothing in their hands: no board, cards, phone, pen or paper. The wording is ours, and player ranges and minutes are our estimates. The counting game was checked on 2026-10-03 against the English Wikipedia article Fizz_buzz (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ followed by the name); the other games are described in our own words and state no fact. Licence: own work