Indoor Games to Play With Friends

For a few friends and a free afternoon, with no host and no phones: press Pick 3 new games.

Indoor Games to Play With Friends

  1. Blanket Radio, Change the Station1. One player sits under a blanket and is the radio. 2. The radio starts broadcasting quietly: a weather report, a cooking show, a sports commentary on something dull. 3. Any listener may tap the blanket once to change the station, and the radio has to switch in the middle of a sentence. 4. After six stations, the radio chooses who goes under the blanket next. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: a blanket.
  2. Cushion, Spoon, Basket: A Brand-New Sport1. Each team picks any three things from the house: a cushion, a wooden spoon, a laundry basket. 2. In ten minutes, invent a sport that uses all three, with a name, a way to score and one rule about what is not allowed. 3. Teach it to the others and play it for three minutes. 4. Everyone votes for the sport they would play again, and that one gets a rematch. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 25 min. Props: three household things for each team.
  3. Fetch Something That Rhymes With the Call1. One caller stays on the sofa and calls a word: chair, mat, sock, door. 2. Everyone else has one minute to bring back something from the house whose name rhymes with it: a pear, a hat, a clock, a drawer. 3. Hold up the finds and say the rhymes aloud. 4. A rhyme nobody else brought scores two points, and a shared one scores one. Everything goes back where it lives before the next word. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 3 to 6. Time: 15 min. Props: none.

Next step Would you rather questions for kids

How it works

These are games to play with friends at home when nothing is planned: two to eight of you, aged 9 to 16, and whatever is in the house. Nobody has to host, and there are no dares and no phones.

Read the full guide

Count heads first

More filters, the last entry of the All games menu, sorts by head count, minutes and energy. With four or six of you, Games in pairs gives everyone a partner. With one friend over, Just two of you holds games built for a pair.

Loud first, quiet last

Start with Hide, seek and hunt games for a whole house while there is still energy to burn. The late-night set is quiet: most of it is played sitting or lying down, in voices that will not wake anyone.

Tips
  • Agree which rooms are in play before any hiding game, and say so out loud.

Questions and answers

What are fun games to play with friends inside?

Ones that use the house itself. Hide, Then Move on the Recount turns every room into a hiding place, and Chain-Reaction Machine to Ring a Bell fills half an hour with books, a ruler and a ball.

What can two best friends play at home?

Choose Just two of you: Invent Ten Words Nobody Else Knows, Map of Everywhere We Have Been and A Shoebox to Open Together in a Year are made for one pair.

What games can friends play late without waking the house?

Blanket Radio, Change the Station and Ceiling Shapes: Spot What I Spotted are played in low voices with one lamp on. Profile by Lamplight, Traced on the Wall needs only that lamp, paper and a pencil.

Do these games need anything bought?

Almost nothing. The props are socks, paper, pencils, tape, a blanket, a deck of cards and other things most houses already have. Nothing needs a phone, an account or an app.

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All 45 games

Hide, seek and hunt games for a whole house 8

  • A Jigsaw Scattered Through the House 1. One player hides the pieces of a small jigsaw, about twenty-four of them, one or two in each room. 2. The others hunt in pairs and carry what they find to the table. 3. They build the picture as the pieces come in. 4. The hider may give one clue for every piece still missing after ten minutes. Time the whole job and swap hiders. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 3 to 6. Time: 20 min. Props: a small jigsaw and a watch.
  • Fetch Something That Rhymes With the Call 1. One caller stays on the sofa and calls a word: chair, mat, sock, door. 2. Everyone else has one minute to bring back something from the house whose name rhymes with it: a pear, a hat, a clock, a drawer. 3. Hold up the finds and say the rhymes aloud. 4. A rhyme nobody else brought scores two points, and a shared one scores one. Everything goes back where it lives before the next word. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 3 to 6. Time: 15 min. Props: none.
  • Hide, Then Move on the Recount 1. One seeker counts to thirty while the others hide. 2. The seeker searches for one minute, then has to go back to base and count to ten out loud. 3. During that count, every hider must change to a new hiding place. 4. A hider seen or found joins the seeker. The last hider left becomes the next seeker. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 3 to 6. Time: 15 min. Props: none.
Show all 45 games (42 more)

Hide, seek and hunt games for a whole house, continued

  • Match the Crayon to Something Real 1. Tip a box of crayons onto the floor and let each player draw one without looking. 2. Everyone has four minutes to find an object in the house of exactly that color. 3. Back together, hold each crayon against its object. 4. The group votes for the closest match. Odd shades, such as olive or peach, score double. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 2 to 6. Time: 10 min. Props: a box of crayons.
  • One Tiny Detail, Drawn 1. Each player walks through the house alone with a slip of paper and draws one small detail of something: a drawer handle, the pattern on a rug, a hinge. 2. Shuffle the slips and deal one to each player. 3. Everyone hunts for the thing on their slip and comes back to say where it is. 4. The artist confirms it. First back with the right answer wins the round. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 2 to 6. Time: 15 min. Props: slips of paper and pencils.
  • Paces and Turns to the Hidden Thing 1. One player hides a small object, then writes directions to it from the front door in paces and turns only: six paces, turn left, three paces, look down. 2. The others follow the directions one at a time while the writer watches in silence. 3. A seeker who ends at the right spot scores a point, and so does the writer. 4. Legs differ, so the writer says whose paces were used. Swap writers after every hunt. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 2 to 6. Time: 15 min. Props: paper, a pencil and a small object.
  • Ten Socks in Plain Sight, Found in Order 1. One player pins a number from 1 to 10 on ten odd socks and places them around the house where they can be seen without moving anything. 2. The others hunt, but a sock may only be picked up in order: 1 first, then 2. 3. Anyone may walk past a sock and say nothing. 4. The player holding the most socks when 10 is found wins and places them next. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 3 to 6. Time: 15 min. Props: ten odd socks, paper and safety pins.
  • Write Five Clues, Swap Trails 1. Split into two sides. Each side has ten minutes to write five clues, each one leading to the hiding place of the next. 2. The last clue of each trail leads to something small the hunters get to keep, such as the last cookie. 3. Swap trails and start at the same moment. 4. The first side to hold up the other side's prize wins. Every clue has to be fair enough to solve. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 2 to 6. Time: 25 min. Props: paper, pencils and two small prizes.

With things from around the house 8

  • Cup-and-String Line Down the Hall 1. Poke a hole in the bottom of two paper cups and knot a long string through both. 2. Two players stretch the string tight between two rooms, one cup to a mouth and one to an ear. 3. The sender reads out a six-digit number written by the others. The listener writes down what they heard. 4. A point for every digit in the right place. Then try it with the string running around a door frame. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 2 to 6. Time: 15 min. Props: two paper cups, string, paper and a pencil.
  • Flick the Whole Deck at a Hat 1. Stand a hat or a saucepan on the floor, two steps from a chair. 2. Sitting on the chair, each player flicks ten playing cards at it, one at a time, with a snap of the wrist. 3. A card inside scores two points, and a card resting on the brim scores one. 4. After everyone has flicked, move the chair back half a step. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 2 to 6. Time: 10 min. Props: a deck of cards and a hat or a saucepan.
  • Flip the Blanket While Standing on It 1. Spread a small blanket or a bath towel on the floor, and have everyone stand on it. 2. The group has to turn it completely over without anyone stepping off. 3. A foot on the floor means starting again. 4. Time the flip. Then fold the blanket in half and try it on the smaller island. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 3 to 6. Time: 10 min. Props: a small blanket or a bath towel and a watch.
  • Over the Sofa, Into the Basket, Sight Unseen 1. The thrower sits on the floor behind the sofa with ten rolled socks. The catcher stands on the other side with a laundry basket. 2. Neither can see the other. The catcher calls "here" once before each throw. 3. The thrower lobs a sock over the sofa toward the voice. 4. Count the catches out of ten, swap jobs and add the two scores for the pair. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 2 to 6. Time: 10 min. Props: ten pairs of rolled socks and a laundry basket.
  • Paper-Sheet Path Through the Rooms, Roll and Walk 1. Lay a path of twenty sheets of paper through the house: down the hall, around the table, up to the sofa. 2. Write a small job on six of them: hop to the next sheet, name five rivers, swap places with the player behind. 3. Players stand on the first sheet and take turns to roll a die and walk that many sheets. 4. The first to land exactly on the last sheet wins. Then everyone adds one new job sheet and plays again. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 2 to 6. Time: 25 min. Props: twenty sheets of paper, a marker and a die.
  • Pixel Picture in Sticky Notes, Called by Grid 1. The caller draws a simple picture on squared paper, eight squares by eight, and keeps it hidden. 2. On a bare wall or door, the others mark the rows 1 to 8 and the columns A to H with tape. 3. The caller reads out the filled squares one by one, such as "C4", and the builders put a sticky note on each. 4. The builders shout the answer as soon as they see what it is. The fewest squares called wins. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 2 to 6. Time: 15 min. Props: squared paper, a pencil, painter's tape and a pad of sticky notes.
  • Six Glasses of Water: Tap a Song to Guess 1. Line up six glasses and fill them to different levels with water. 2. One player taps them with a pencil until they can pick out the start of a tune everyone knows. 3. The others listen with their backs turned and call the tune. 4. A right call takes over the pencil. Adjust the water between players, and mop up before the next game. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 2 to 6. Time: 15 min. Props: six glasses, water, a pencil and a towel.
  • Tube Run Down the Wall, Slowest Marble Wins 1. Each team gets six cardboard tubes, a roll of painter's tape and a stretch of wall or door. 2. Tape the tubes into a run for a marble, from head height to a cup on the floor. 3. Drop the marble in at the top and time it. 4. The run that takes the longest wins, as long as the marble never stops and lands in the cup. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 2 to 6. Time: 25 min. Props: cardboard tubes, painter's tape, a marble, a cup and a watch.

Contests to judge 8

  • Be an Appliance: The Others Guess Which 1. Write household machines on slips: a toaster, a washing machine on spin, a printer with a paper jam, an electric toothbrush. 2. A player draws a slip and becomes the machine with sounds and movement, but no words. 3. The first right guess scores a point for the guesser and for the actor. 4. After every player has gone twice, the group votes for the performance it would pay to see again. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 3 to 8. Time: 15 min. Props: slips of paper and a pencil.
  • Chain-Reaction Machine to Ring a Bell 1. Each team collects ordinary things: books, a toy car, a ruler, a ball, string, a wooden spoon. 2. Build a chain in which each thing sets off the next: the book falls, the ruler tips, the ball rolls. 3. The last step has to ring a bell or knock a spoon against a pan. 4. Teams get three tries. The longest chain that runs to the end with no help wins. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 2 to 6. Time: 30 min. Props: books, a ball, a ruler, string, a toy car and a bell or a pan.
  • Coat-Closet Runway by Theme 1. Draw a theme from a cup: a weather forecaster in a storm, an explorer back from the pole, the mayor of a very small town. 2. Each player has four minutes at the coat closet and the laundry basket to dress for it. Ask before borrowing anything that is not yours. 3. Walk the hallway one at a time while a friend announces the outfit. 4. Everyone points at their favorite on three, and nobody may point at themselves. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 3 to 8. Time: 20 min. Props: coats, hats, scarves and a cup of theme slips.
  • Cushion, Spoon, Basket: A Brand-New Sport 1. Each team picks any three things from the house: a cushion, a wooden spoon, a laundry basket. 2. In ten minutes, invent a sport that uses all three, with a name, a way to score and one rule about what is not allowed. 3. Teach it to the others and play it for three minutes. 4. Everyone votes for the sport they would play again, and that one gets a rematch. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 25 min. Props: three household things for each team.
  • Napkin Parachute, Slowest Fall Wins 1. Each player gets a paper napkin, four lengths of thread, tape and a small toy figure or a clothespin. 2. Build a parachute in ten minutes. 3. One at a time, drop the parachutes from the same height: the top of the stairs with an adult's say-so, or arm's length up on a step stool. 4. Time each fall. The slowest wins, and a figure that tumbles free is out of the round. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 2 to 6. Time: 20 min. Props: paper napkins, thread, tape, small toy figures or clothespins and a watch.
  • Poster for the Film of This Afternoon 1. Everyone has ten minutes to draw a poster for the film of this afternoon: a made-up title, one line to sell it and which friend plays which part. 2. Tape the posters to a door. 3. Each artist reads their poster aloud in an announcer voice. 4. Everyone puts a sticky note on the poster they would buy a ticket for, and nobody may pick their own. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 3 to 8. Time: 20 min. Props: paper, markers, tape and sticky notes.
  • Twenty-Page Flip Book Premiere 1. Give each player a pad of twenty sticky notes and a pencil. 2. Draw one small picture on the bottom edge of every page, each a little different from the last: a ball bouncing, a stick figure waving. 3. After fifteen minutes, each artist flips their book for the others, twice. 4. The audience votes for the smoothest motion and for the best ending. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 25 min. Props: pads of sticky notes and pencils.
  • Two-Minute Talent Turn, Scorecards Up 1. Each player has five minutes to get an act ready: a trick, a balancing feat, a speech in a made-up language. 2. The others each make scorecards numbered 1 to 10. 3. Acts last two minutes at most. The judges hold up a card each, and the performer may drop the lowest. 4. Everyone both performs and judges. A second round has to be something nobody has seen you do. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 3 to 8. Time: 25 min. Props: paper and a marker for the scorecards.

Games in pairs 7

  • Cut a Jigsaw for the Other Pair 1. Each pair gets an old magazine page or a cereal box front and a pair of scissors. 2. Cut it into exactly twelve pieces of any shape, with no piece smaller than a thumb. 3. Swap piles. 4. The first pair to rebuild the other's picture wins. Then try fifteen pieces. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 4 to 8. Time: 15 min. Props: old magazine pages or cereal boxes and scissors.
  • Five-Word Signal Code, Cracked by the Other Pair 1. Each pair invents silent signals for five words: stop, pizza, tomorrow, yes and no. 2. Pairs take turns "talking" in front of the others for one minute, using all five signals. 3. The watching pair writes down which signal it thinks means which word. 4. A point for each signal cracked, and a point to the signalers for each one that stays secret. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 4 to 8. Time: 15 min. Props: paper and pencils.
  • One Pencil Each: Move Five Things Together 1. Each partner holds one pencil, and nothing else may touch the objects. 2. Working together with the two pencils, the pair lifts five things from the table into a bowl: an eraser, a bottle cap, a walnut, a rubber band, a die. 3. A dropped object goes back to the table. 4. Time each pair, and let them choose the order for a second try. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 4 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: two pencils, five small objects, a bowl and a watch.
  • Pillow Between Backs Through the Hallway 1. Partners stand back to back with a pillow held between them and their arms folded. 2. Mark a course: down the hall, around a chair and back. 3. If the pillow drops, the pair goes back to the last doorway. 4. Time each pair. In the final, the two fastest pairs go at once from opposite ends and have to pass each other. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 4 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: pillows, a chair and a watch.
  • Same Prompt, Two Drawings, Count the Matches 1. Partners sit where they cannot see each other's paper. 2. The caller gives a prompt with room to choose: a house on a hill, a monster eating breakfast. 3. Both draw for one minute without talking. 4. Lay the two drawings side by side. The pair scores a point for each thing that both drew: a chimney, three eyes, a sun in the left corner. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 4 to 8. Time: 15 min. Props: paper and pencils.
  • Two-Person How-To Talk: One Speaks, One Is the Arms 1. One partner stands with hands behind their back. The other stands close behind and pushes their arms through to the front. 2. The front partner gives a one-minute talk on how to do something: brush your hair, make a sandwich, put on a hat. 3. The arms act it out with real props and without seeing them. 4. The audience scores each pair out of ten for how well the talk and the arms agree. Then partners swap. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 4 to 8. Time: 15 min. Props: a hairbrush, a hat and other props for the talks.
  • Write What Your Friend Would Pick 1. Sit in pairs, back to back, with paper. 2. A reader asks a question with a few possible answers: breakfast for dinner or dinner for breakfast, the window seat or the aisle. 3. Each player writes their own answer and what they think their partner wrote. 4. Turn around and compare. A pair scores a point for every right prediction, and the best pair after ten questions wins. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 4 to 8. Time: 15 min. Props: paper and pencils.

Games to play with friends at night, lights low 7

  • Blanket Radio, Change the Station 1. One player sits under a blanket and is the radio. 2. The radio starts broadcasting quietly: a weather report, a cooking show, a sports commentary on something dull. 3. Any listener may tap the blanket once to change the station, and the radio has to switch in the middle of a sentence. 4. After six stations, the radio chooses who goes under the blanket next. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: a blanket.
  • Ceiling Shapes: Spot What I Spotted 1. Lie on the floor with one lamp on low. 2. One player finds a shape in the shadows, cracks or texture of the ceiling and names it: a rabbit, a boot, a map of an island. 3. The others search without pointing. The first to describe where it is goes next. 4. If nobody finds it in a minute, the spotter traces it in the air with one finger. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: none.
  • Draw in the Dark, Reveal at the Switch 1. Everyone has paper on a book and a pencil. Turn the light off. 2. The caller describes a scene one piece at a time: a hill, a house on the hill, a dog by the door, a bird on the roof. 3. Everyone draws each piece where they think it belongs. 4. Light on. Pass the drawings around, and each player says which one is closest to what the caller meant. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: paper, books to lean on and pencils.
  • One Flash of Light, Then Draw the Pose 1. Everyone has paper and a pencil. One player stands in the middle of the room and strikes a pose in the dark. 2. A friend switches a lamp on for one second and off again. 3. Turn the lamp on low. Everyone draws the pose from memory in thirty seconds while the poser relaxes. 4. The poser strikes it again and chooses the closest drawing. That artist poses next. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 3 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: a lamp, paper and pencils.
  • Profile by Lamplight, Traced on the Wall 1. Tape a sheet of paper to the wall. One friend sits sideways in front of it, and a lamp on the far side throws the shadow of their profile onto the paper. 2. A second friend traces the shadow in pencil while the sitter holds still. 3. Change places until everyone has been traced once. 4. Lay the profiles in a row with no names on them. Each player says whose is whose, and the most right answers win. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 3 to 8. Time: 15 min. Props: a lamp, paper, tape and pencils.
  • Roll It to the Voice 1. Sit in a wide circle on the floor with the lights low and one rolled sock. 2. The player with the sock closes their eyes. Someone else says "here" once, softly. 3. Roll the sock along the floor to where the voice came from. 4. If it reaches the speaker's hands, they roll next. If not, a new voice calls. Count the rolls that arrive in a row. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 3 to 8. Time: 8 min. Props: one pair of rolled socks.
  • Shared Memories, Hooked Word to Word 1. One player starts a true memory the group shares in one sentence: "Remember when the tent fell down?" 2. The next memory has to use one word from the last sentence: "Remember when we were down by the lake and lost the ball?" 3. Go around the circle, each memory hooked to the one before. 4. A player who is stuck may ask the group for a word. Stop when someone is yawning more than talking. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: none.

Just two of you 7

  • A Shoebox to Open Together in a Year 1. Find a shoebox and write on the lid the date one year from today. 2. Each of you puts in three things: a note to the other, a prediction, and something small from today. 3. Add one thing you chose together. 4. Tape the box shut, sign across the tape and agree whose closet keeps it. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 2. Time: 20 min. Props: a shoebox, tape, paper and pens.
  • A Song About Today to a Borrowed Tune 1. Pick a tune you both know by heart. 2. Write new words about today, two lines each in turn, until there is a verse and a chorus. 3. Every line has to be true, and the last word of each pair of lines has to rhyme. 4. Sing it through once together. Write the words down and date them. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 2. Time: 20 min. Props: paper and a pencil.
  • Introduce Your Friend for a Lifetime Award 1. Each of you takes five minutes to write a short speech that presents the other with an award for something small and true: Best Finder of Lost Remotes. 2. Make the award from whatever is in reach. 3. Give the speeches standing up, one after the other. 4. The winner accepts in one sentence and has to thank three things in the room. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 2. Time: 15 min. Props: paper, pencils and something to make an award from.
  • Invent Ten Words Nobody Else Knows 1. Together, invent new words for ten things you say a lot: yes, no, hungry, later, the name of your street. 2. Write the dictionary on a card each. 3. Hold a two-minute conversation using as many of the new words as you can. 4. Hide the cards. Tomorrow, test each other on all ten. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 2. Time: 15 min. Props: two cards and a pencil.
  • Late-Show Interview With Your Future Self 1. One of you is the host, and the other is the guest: yourself at thirty. 2. The host asks five questions about what happened since tonight: where do you live, what is your job, what became of your old room? 3. The guest answers in character. 4. Swap chairs. At the end, each writes down the one answer they hope comes true. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 2. Time: 15 min. Props: two chairs, paper and a pencil.
  • Map of Everywhere We Have Been 1. Take one big sheet of paper and two pens. 2. Starting with the place you met, draw a map of every place the two of you have been together: the school, the pool, the corner store. 3. Take turns to add a place. The other adds one thing that happened there. 4. Give the map a title and a compass, and leave room at the edge for places to come. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 2. Time: 20 min. Props: a big sheet of paper and two pens.
  • Tape-Measure Duel Around the Room 1. One of you names something in the room: the width of the door, the height of the lamp, the length of the cat lying down. 2. Both write a guess in inches. 3. Measure it with a tape measure. The closer guess scores a point and names the next thing. 4. Play to seven points. Once things in the room run out, measure each other's arm spans. Ages: 9 to 16. Players: 2. Time: 10 min. Props: a tape measure, paper and pencils.

How this list was compiled: Written by the Game Night Generator editors on 2026-10-03 for two to eight friends aged 9 to 16 with a house to play in and no party planned. The wording is ours, and ages, player ranges and minutes are our estimates. There are no dares, no food challenges and no game that needs a phone, an account or an app. No facts are stated, so nothing was checked against an outside source. Licence: own work