Medieval Party Games

Old board and lawn games, a tournament with paper lances and feast-table games: press Pick 3 new games.

Medieval Party Games

  1. By Royal Decree1. The monarch at the head of the table makes one harmless decree: nobody may say the word bread, or everyone must lift a cup with the left hand. 2. Guests carry on eating and talking. 3. Anyone who spots a guest breaking the decree calls, by royal decree. The guest who broke it adds a bean to their plate. 4. With each new dish the crown passes left and a new decree replaces the old. Fewest beans at the end wins. Players: 4 to 16. Time: 30 min. Props: a paper crown and a dish of dried beans.
  2. The Mill Game, Nine Counters Each1. This is nine men's morris. Draw three squares, one inside the next, and join the middles of their sides: 24 points. Each of two players takes nine counters. 2. Take turns placing one counter on an empty point. Three of your own in a straight line is a mill, and a mill lets you remove one of the other player's counters. 3. When all are placed, take turns sliding one counter along a line to the next empty point. 4. A player left with two counters, or with no move, loses. The winner stays for the next challenger. On record: boards for it are carved into the cloister seats of English cathedrals, among them Canterbury, Gloucester, Norwich and Salisbury, and a 12th-century board survives in Novgorod. Players: 2 at a board. Time: 15 min. Props: paper, a pen and nine counters each in two colors.
  3. Bowls to the Jack1. Roll a small ball, the jack, down the lawn and leave it where it stops. 2. Players take turns rolling two larger balls each, trying to finish closest to the jack. 3. Score one point for each of your balls that lies closer than the other side's best ball. 4. The winner of the round rolls the next jack. First to seven points. On record: bowls was played in England in the 13th century, and a green in Southampton was first used in 1299. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 20 min. Props: one small ball and two larger balls each, such as a golf ball and tennis balls.

Next step Games for seven more party themes

How it works

These medieval party games come in three sets: games with a written or carved record from the Middle Ages, a tournament run on foot, and games played seated at the feast. No game uses a sword, foam or otherwise.

Read the full guide

Games for a medieval party, in the order of the day

1. Set out the board games from Games with a record from the Middle Ages as guests arrive: the mill game and alquerque need only paper and counters. 2. Run the outdoor Tournament games on foot while it is light, one lane at a time. 3. Keep Feast-table games for the meal, one between each dish.

What the record lines say

Each of the nine old games ends with a line that begins On record: a cathedral carving, a king's book of games, a year. The other games borrow the theme and claim nothing.

Tips
  • Draw the morris and alquerque boards on paper placemats, so the games are already on the table.
  • One herald with a loud voice can run the whole tournament and keep the score.

Questions and answers

What games did people play in the Middle Ages?

Board games such as nine men's morris, fox and geese and alquerque, and lawn games such as bowls, stoolball and hoop rolling. Each of those is on this list as numbered steps, with a line on where it is recorded.

Which medieval games work for a big group?

Riddles in the Old Style, Coat of Arms in Five Minutes and The Steward Reseats the Hall take up to forty guests at once. Hobby-Horse Relay Around the Lists takes up to 24 outdoors, and Arm the Knight up to 30 in the hall.

Can you hold a tournament without swords?

Yes. Every lance and throwing game here aims at a thing, never a person: rings on thread, a cardboard shield, a wall of shoeboxes, nine bottles. The lance is a cardboard tube.

What can guests play while seated at a feast?

Everything in Feast-table games. By Royal Decree runs through the whole meal, The Royal Taster Finds the Odd Cup takes ten minutes between dishes, and The Silent Guild: Name My Trade needs only slips of paper.

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All 27 games

Games with a record from the Middle Ages 9

  • Alquerque, the Jumping Game 1. Draw a grid of five points by five joined by lines. Each player fills the two rows nearest them and two points of the middle row, so that only the center is empty. 2. On your turn, move one piece along a line to the next empty point. 3. Or jump over a neighboring enemy piece into the empty point beyond and remove it. A jump that can be made must be made, and one piece may jump several times. 4. The player who removes every enemy piece wins. On record: its rules are in the Book of Games made for Alfonso X of Castile in the 13th century. Players: 2 at a board. Time: 15 min. Props: paper, a pen and twelve counters each in two colors.
  • Bowls to the Jack 1. Roll a small ball, the jack, down the lawn and leave it where it stops. 2. Players take turns rolling two larger balls each, trying to finish closest to the jack. 3. Score one point for each of your balls that lies closer than the other side's best ball. 4. The winner of the round rolls the next jack. First to seven points. On record: bowls was played in England in the 13th century, and a green in Southampton was first used in 1299. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 20 min. Props: one small ball and two larger balls each, such as a golf ball and tennis balls.
  • Drive the Hoop Through the Gates 1. Set up four gates along the lawn, each a pair of bottles a stride apart. 2. One player at a time drives a large plastic hoop along with a stick about as long as a forearm, striking it to keep it rolling. 3. Score a point for each gate the hoop rolls through. Hands may only stand a fallen hoop up again, and that gate does not count. 4. Two runs each. Move the bottles closer together for the final. On record: children in England are known to have rolled hoops as early as the 15th century. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 15 min. Props: a large plastic hoop, a stick and eight bottles.
Show all 27 games (24 more)

Games with a record from the Middle Ages, continued

  • Fox and Geese on a Peg Board 1. Use a peg solitaire board, which is the same board. One player has one fox in the middle, the other has 13 geese filling one side. 2. Take turns moving one piece to any empty space next to it. 3. The fox may jump over a goose into the empty space beyond and remove it, more than once in a turn. Geese cannot jump. 4. The geese win by hemming the fox in so that it cannot move. The fox wins by removing too many geese for that. Swap sides and play again. On record: a fox game of this family, halatafl, is mentioned in Grettis saga and is known from at least the 14th century. Players: 2 at a board. Time: 15 min. Props: a peg solitaire board, one marked peg and 13 plain ones.
  • Knock Down the Marble Castle 1. Build a castle of four marbles on a rug: three touching, and one resting on top. 2. Players kneel behind a line two paces back and take turns rolling one marble at it. 3. Knocking the top marble off scores a point, and the roller rebuilds the castle for the next player. 4. Five rolls each, highest score wins, and every marble goes back in the bag. Keep marbles away from children under three. On record: marbles reached Britain from the Low Countries during the medieval era. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: a rug and five marbles.
  • The Mill Game, Nine Counters Each 1. This is nine men's morris. Draw three squares, one inside the next, and join the middles of their sides: 24 points. Each of two players takes nine counters. 2. Take turns placing one counter on an empty point. Three of your own in a straight line is a mill, and a mill lets you remove one of the other player's counters. 3. When all are placed, take turns sliding one counter along a line to the next empty point. 4. A player left with two counters, or with no move, loses. The winner stays for the next challenger. On record: boards for it are carved into the cloister seats of English cathedrals, among them Canterbury, Gloucester, Norwich and Salisbury, and a 12th-century board survives in Novgorod. Players: 2 at a board. Time: 15 min. Props: paper, a pen and nine counters each in two colors.
  • Quintain on Foot 1. Hang a cardboard shield at chest height from a branch or a broom handle laid across two ladders. Paint a fist-sized circle in its center. 2. Rope off a lane. One runner at a time jogs down it with a paper-tube lance held under the arm. 3. Strike the shield in passing without stopping. Two points for the circle, one for the rest of the shield. 4. Three runs each. Everyone else waits behind the rope. On record: the quintain was a target struck with a lance, and it was also played on foot. Here the target is cardboard and nobody is struck. Players: 4 to 16. Time: 15 min. Props: a cardboard shield on string, a long cardboard tube and a rope.
  • Riddles in the Old Style 1. Each table chooses an everyday thing in the hall: a candle, a spoon, a door. 2. Together they write four lines in which the thing describes itself and never gives its name. 3. A speaker from each table reads the riddle to the hall twice. 4. Other tables write one guess. A point to each table that guesses right, and two to the writers if exactly one table does. On record: the Exeter Book, a manuscript of the late tenth century, holds almost a hundred riddles. Players: 6 to 40. Time: 15 min. Props: paper and pens.
  • Stoolball, a Lawn Version 1. Stand a stool on the grass. One player defends it with an open hand, and the bowler stands eight paces away. 2. The bowler tosses a soft ball underarm at the stool. The defender bats it away. 3. A ball that touches the stool puts the defender out, and so does a catch by a fielder. 4. Count how many throws each defender survives. Everyone defends once. On record: stoolball is named in writing as early as 1450. This is our simple version, not the modern sport. Players: 4 to 12. Time: 20 min. Props: a stool and a soft ball.

Tournament games on foot 9

  • Arm the Knight 1. Give each team a pile of cardboard, foil, string and tape, and ten minutes. 2. One teammate is the knight and stands still. The rest are squires who build a helmet, a breastplate and a shield onto them. 3. No tape on skin or hair, and the knight must be able to see and breathe freely. 4. Each knight walks the length of the hall. The crowd cheers for the armor that stays on. Players: 6 to 30. Time: 15 min. Props: cardboard, kitchen foil, string and tape for each team.
  • Beanbag Siege of the Cardboard Castle 1. Stack shoeboxes into a castle wall with a tower at each end and a paper flag on top. 2. Two teams take turns from a line six paces back. Each player throws three beanbags. 3. Score one point for every box knocked off the wall and five for the flag. 4. Rebuild between teams. After everyone has thrown, the higher total holds the castle. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 15 min. Props: about twenty shoeboxes, a paper flag and three beanbags.
  • Full Goblet Across the Drawbridge 1. Lay a plank or a strip of tape on the ground as the drawbridge, with a bucket at the far end. 2. Each player crosses heel to toe carrying a plastic goblet filled to the brim with water. 3. A foot off the bridge means going back to the start of the bridge. 4. Pour what is left into the team's bucket. After five minutes, the fuller bucket wins. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 10 min. Props: a plank or tape, two plastic goblets, two buckets and water.
  • Hobby-Horse Relay Around the Lists 1. Make two hobby horses from brooms or pool noodles with a paper head taped on. 2. Teams line up. The first rider gallops astride the horse around a far post and back. 3. Hand the horse to the next rider, who must bow to the hall before setting off. 4. The first team with every rider home wins a ribbon for its horse. Players: 6 to 24. Time: 10 min. Props: two brooms or pool noodles with paper horse heads, and a post.
  • The King's Messenger Relay 1. Roll a sheet of paper into a scroll for each team and tie it with ribbon. 2. Lay out the road: a rope to duck under as the gate, a blue cloth to jump as the moat and a chair to circle as the tower. 3. Each messenger runs the road there and back with the scroll and hands it on. 4. The last messenger kneels and reads the scroll to the judge. First team to finish the reading wins. Players: 6 to 24. Time: 10 min. Props: two paper scrolls, a rope, a blue cloth and a chair.
  • Ninepins on the Green 1. Stand nine plastic bottles in a diamond: one, two, three, two, one. 2. Each bowler rolls a ball three times from eight paces, and the fallen pins stay down between rolls. 3. Score a point for each pin down. Clearing all nine in the first two rolls earns a fresh set for the third. 4. Three turns each. A page sets the pins up again. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 15 min. Props: nine plastic bottles with a little sand in each, and a ball.
  • Pom-Pom Launch Into the Moat 1. Build a wall of books an arm's length from the table edge and set a bowl, the moat, just behind it. 2. Rest a spoon across a pencil. Load the bowl of the spoon with a pom-pom or a crumpled paper ball. 3. Strike the handle with one finger to send the ball over the wall. 4. Ten goes each. One point over the wall, three in the moat. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 10 min. Props: a spoon, a pencil, books, a bowl and ten pom-poms or paper balls.
  • Quoits at the Stake 1. Push a stake into the lawn, or stand a bottle of sand indoors. 2. Players throw four rope rings each from five paces. 3. Score three for a ring that lands over the stake and one for the ring lying closest to it. 4. Play four rounds and add the scores. Tied players throw one ring each, nearest wins. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 15 min. Props: a stake or a weighted bottle and four rope rings.
  • Ring Tilting With a Paper Lance 1. Hang three rings, such as bangles or rope rings, on loops of thread from a line at shoulder height, a few paces apart. 2. One rider at a time walks briskly or jogs along the line with a long cardboard tube. 3. Catch as many rings on the tube as you can in one pass, without slowing to a stop. 4. Three passes each. The herald rehangs the rings and calls the score. Players: 4 to 16. Time: 15 min. Props: three rings, thread, a line and a long cardboard tube.

Feast-table games 9

  • The Bard's Tale, One Line Each 1. Fill a goblet with slips, each one word: dragon, turnip, moat, goose, bell. 2. The first bard begins a tale with one sentence. 3. Each guest in turn draws a slip and adds one sentence that uses the word. 4. The last guest at the table must end the tale. A scribe writes it down to read aloud over dessert. Players: 4 to 16. Time: 10 min. Props: a goblet of word slips, paper and a pen.
  • By Royal Decree 1. The monarch at the head of the table makes one harmless decree: nobody may say the word bread, or everyone must lift a cup with the left hand. 2. Guests carry on eating and talking. 3. Anyone who spots a guest breaking the decree calls, by royal decree. The guest who broke it adds a bean to their plate. 4. With each new dish the crown passes left and a new decree replaces the old. Fewest beans at the end wins. Players: 4 to 16. Time: 30 min. Props: a paper crown and a dish of dried beans.
  • Coat of Arms in Five Minutes 1. Give each table a paper shield divided into four quarters. 2. In five minutes the table draws four things it has in common, one in each quarter, and adds a motto underneath. 3. Pin the shields along a wall with no names on them. 4. Tables walk past and write down which shield belongs to which table. Most matches wins. Players: 8 to 40. Time: 15 min. Props: a paper shield and colored pens for each table.
  • The Herald Announces You 1. Each guest writes a grand title for the person on their left, built only from kind things: Baroness of the Perfect Pie, Sir Fix-It of the Leaky Faucet. 2. Collect the slips. A herald stands and reads each one in a booming voice. 3. The table points at whoever they think the title belongs to. 4. The named guest stands and takes a bow. Titles stay for the evening. Players: 6 to 24. Time: 15 min. Props: slips of paper and pens.
  • The Jester's Bowl 1. Before the feast, fill a bowl with slips, each a small duty for a jester: speak in rhyme until the bread is passed, bow to whoever speaks to you, announce each dish like a herald. 2. Whoever finds the paper star under their plate is the first jester and draws a slip. 3. When the duty is done, the jester passes the bowl to a guest of their choice. 4. Anyone may put a slip back and draw another, with no questions asked. Players: 6 to 30. Time: 20 min. Props: a bowl of written slips and a paper star.
  • The Royal Taster Finds the Odd Cup 1. Put a spoonful of kitchen spice in each of three small covered cups: two cups hold the same spice and one holds another. 2. The taster shuts their eyes and smells each cup in turn. Nobody eats anything. 3. The taster says which cup is the odd one. Ask about allergies first and leave out anything a guest names. 4. Change the spices and pass the title around the table. Cinnamon against nutmeg is easy, clove against allspice is not. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 10 min. Props: three small covered cups and a few kitchen spices.
  • The Sealed Scroll 1. Each guest writes one cheerful prophecy about the year ahead for the whole table: this hall will meet again before midsummer. 2. Roll the paper, tie it with thread and drop it into a chest. 3. The host unrolls each scroll and reads it aloud. 4. The table guesses who wrote it. The host keeps the scrolls to read again at the next feast. Players: 5 to 20. Time: 15 min. Props: paper, pens, thread and a box.
  • The Silent Guild: Name My Trade 1. Write a trade of the old town on each slip: baker, blacksmith, miller, weaver, candle maker, bell ringer. 2. A guest draws a slip and acts out the trade without standing up, using only what is on the table. 3. The first guest to name the trade draws next. 4. Nobody speaks while acting. A napkin may become anything. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 15 min. Props: slips of paper with a trade on each.
  • The Steward Reseats the Hall 1. Between dishes the steward rings a bell and reads one order from a list: everyone wearing green moves two seats to the right. 2. Guests carry their cup and napkin to the new seat. 3. The steward reads a second order straight away for a different group: anyone who came on foot swaps with someone who did not. 4. By the last dish most guests have sat beside most others. Nobody moves a plate of hot food. Players: 10 to 40. Time: 5 min. Props: a bell and a written list of orders.

How this list was compiled: Our suggestions for a medieval feast or a castle party at home, in a hall or in a yard. The wording is ours, and the player counts and times are our estimates. The first nine games each carry one line on their record from the Middle Ages; the tournament and feast-table games use the theme and make no claim about history. Nobody is struck with anything, foam swords included. The records were checked against Wikipedia articles (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) read on 2026-10-03, after the stem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/: Nine men's morris, Fox games, Alquerque, Bowls, Hoop rolling, Stoolball, Exeter Book, Quintain (jousting), Marble (toy), Skittles (sport), Quoits. Licence: own work