• 28 games
  • Checked October 2026

Oktoberfest Party Games

Stein contests, pretzel games, barrel races and polka games for a backyard Oktoberfest, with water in every mug.

Oktoberfest Party Games

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  1. Pretzel Necklace Trade1. Every guest threads eight small pretzel twists onto a ribbon and wears it.2. Choose a word that is banned for the next hour, such as "stein" or "pretzel."3. Anyone who hears another guest say it may claim one pretzel from that guest's necklace and thread it onto their own.4. When the hour is up, the longest necklace wins. Eating your own necklace is allowed and costs you the lead.Players: 5 to 30. You need: ribbon and eight small pretzel twists for each guest.
  2. Pretzel on a String, No Hands1. Tie a soft pretzel to a string for each player and hang the strings from a clothesline or a broom handle, at about chin height.2. Players stand with their hands behind their backs.3. On the signal, everyone eats their own pretzel off the string.4. There is no clock and no winner. The game is over when the last pretzel is gone, and anyone can use their hands and simply eat it.Players: 2 to 12. You need: a soft pretzel on a string for each player, and a line to hang them from.
  3. Barrel Roll Around the Cones1. Lay a clean plastic trash can or a rain barrel on its side at the start line, one for each team. Set three cones in a line across the lawn.2. The first player rolls the barrel with both hands in and out of the cones, around the last one and straight back.3. The barrel is handed to the next player on the line.4. A cone knocked over is stood up again before the barrel moves on. The first team to finish wins.Players: 6 to 20. You need: a plastic trash can or barrel for each team, and three cones.

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Stein and steady-hand contests 7

  • Coaster House in Three Minutes 1. Give each pair twenty cardboard coasters and a flat stretch of table. 2. On the signal, pairs build upward by leaning coasters together, as in a house of cards. 3. Nothing may be bent, torn or stuck. A house that falls can be started again. 4. At three minutes, hands off. The tallest house still standing after a count of five wins. Players: 2 to 12. You need: twenty cardboard coasters for each pair, and a timer.
  • Fastest Foam to the Rim 1. A mug with a head of foam, made with a whisk and not for drinking. Half fill a mug with water for each player and add a spoonful of dish soap. 2. On the signal, players whisk as hard as they can. 3. The first player whose foam rises to the rim, and stays there for a count of five, wins. 4. Nobody drinks it. Rinse the mugs well before they are used for anything else. Players: 2 to 10. You need: a mug, a whisk, water and dish soap for each player.
  • Full Mug Relay to the Pitcher 1. Each team has a bucket of water and a mug at the start, and an empty pitcher on a chair at the far end. 2. The first player fills the mug to the brim, walks it to the pitcher, pours it in and walks back. 3. The next player goes. Running is allowed, but what spills is lost. 4. After every player has had two trips, hold the pitchers side by side. The fuller one wins. Players: 6 to 20. You need: a bucket of water, a mug and a clear pitcher for each team.
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Stein and steady-hand contests, continued

  • Pass the Full Mug Down the Bench 1. Two teams sit along the two sides of a long table, each in a row. 2. A mug filled to the brim with water starts at one end of each row. 3. It is passed from hand to hand down the row and back again, and each player must take it by the handle. 4. The first mug home wins the round only if its water is at least as high as the other team's. Play three rounds. Players: 8 to 24. You need: two mugs of water and a long table.
  • Server's Carry: How Many Mugs in One Trip? 1. Set twelve empty plastic mugs with handles on a table, and mark a second table ten steps away. 2. A player picks up as many mugs as two hands can hold, by the handles only, and walks them to the far table. 3. Only mugs that are set down standing count. A dropped mug ends the trip. 4. Each player has one trip. Break a tie by doing it again with a little water in every mug. Players: 2 to 12. You need: twelve plastic mugs with handles and two tables.
  • The Stein Hold, With Water 1. This is Masskrugstemmen, the contest of holding a full one-liter mug at arm's length. Fill every mug with water to the same line. 2. On the signal, each player lifts a mug by the handle and holds it straight out in front, arm level with the shoulder. 3. A judge watches each player. A bent elbow, a dropped arm or a spill ends that player's turn. 4. The last arm still out wins. Anyone can stop at any moment, and players under sixteen hold a plastic cup. Players: 2 to 12. You need: a one-liter mug of water for each player, and a judge.
  • Tap the Barrel in the Fewest Strokes 1. The Munich festival opens when the mayor taps the first barrel and calls "O'zapft is," which means "It's tapped." The crowd counts the strokes. 2. Cut a hole in a sturdy cardboard box and push a cork halfway in. 3. Each player taps the cork with a wooden spoon until it sits flush with the box. Everyone counts the strokes aloud. 4. The fewest strokes wins, and the winner makes the call. Pull the cork out for the next player. Players: 2 to 15. You need: a sturdy cardboard box, a cork and a wooden spoon.

Pretzel games 7

  • Giant Pretzel Jigsaw 1. Before the party, draw a pretzel as big as a tabletop on brown cardboard, once for each team. An adult cuts each into twelve odd pieces. 2. Mix each set and pile it at the far end of the room. 3. Team members take turns walking over and bringing back one piece. 4. The team puts the pretzel together as the pieces arrive. The first whole pretzel wins. Players: 4 to 16. You need: a large cardboard pretzel cut into twelve pieces for each team.
  • Pass the Pretzel on Spoon Handles 1. Teams stand in lines, and each player holds a wooden spoon by the bowl. 2. Hang a soft pretzel on the first player's spoon handle. 3. It is passed down the line from handle to handle, through one of its loops, with no hands touching it. 4. A pretzel that falls goes back to the start of the line. The first team to reach the last spoon wins. Players: 6 to 20. You need: a wooden spoon for each player and a soft pretzel for each team.
  • Pretzel Necklace Trade 1. Every guest threads eight small pretzel twists onto a ribbon and wears it. 2. Choose a word that is banned for the next hour, such as "stein" or "pretzel." 3. Anyone who hears another guest say it may claim one pretzel from that guest's necklace and thread it onto their own. 4. When the hour is up, the longest necklace wins. Eating your own necklace is allowed and costs you the lead. Players: 5 to 30. You need: ribbon and eight small pretzel twists for each guest.
  • Pretzel on a String, No Hands 1. Tie a soft pretzel to a string for each player and hang the strings from a clothesline or a broom handle, at about chin height. 2. Players stand with their hands behind their backs. 3. On the signal, everyone eats their own pretzel off the string. 4. There is no clock and no winner. The game is over when the last pretzel is gone, and anyone can use their hands and simply eat it. Players: 2 to 12. You need: a soft pretzel on a string for each player, and a line to hang them from.
  • Pretzel Toss Onto the Spoon Handle 1. Ring toss, with soft pretzels for rings. In pairs, one player holds a long wooden spoon upright by the bowl. The other stands three steps back with five large soft pretzels. 2. The thrower tosses each pretzel so that one of its loops drops over the handle. 3. The holder may move the spoon to help, but not their feet. 4. Count the pretzels on the handle and swap jobs. Pretzels that touched the grass are for the birds. Players: 2 to 16. You need: five large soft pretzels and a long wooden spoon for each pair.
  • Three Mustards, Eyes Closed 1. Ask about allergies first. Put three different mustards in numbered bowls, with pretzel pieces for dipping. 2. Each taster closes their eyes. A helper hands over a dipped piece from each bowl in a mixed order. 3. The taster says which was the mild one, which the sweet and which the hot. 4. Three right is a perfect palate. Then everyone votes for the house mustard. Players: 2 to 12. You need: three mustards in numbered bowls and pretzel pieces.
  • Twist a Pretzel Behind Your Back 1. A pretzel is a strip of dough with its ends crossed, twisted and pressed back onto the loop. Show one to the players. 2. Give each player a rope of play dough as long as a forearm. 3. With hands behind their backs, players have one minute to twist the rope into a pretzel. 4. Lay the results on the table. A judge who did not watch chooses the one that looks most like the real thing. Players: 3 to 12. You need: play dough, a real pretzel to copy and a timer.

Barrel, bucket and sack games for a lawn 7

  • The 1810 Horse Race, on Broomsticks 1. The first Oktoberfest, in 1810, featured a horse race. Run it again on brooms. 2. Mark an oval on the lawn with cones. Each rider straddles a broom and holds it with both hands. 3. Riders gallop one lap, and both hands stay on the broom the whole way. 4. Run heats of three. The winners meet in a final, and the crowd picks the best-dressed horse. Players: 3 to 15. You need: a broom for each rider in a heat, and cones.
  • Barrel Roll Around the Cones 1. Lay a clean plastic trash can or a rain barrel on its side at the start line, one for each team. Set three cones in a line across the lawn. 2. The first player rolls the barrel with both hands in and out of the cones, around the last one and straight back. 3. The barrel is handed to the next player on the line. 4. A cone knocked over is stood up again before the barrel moves on. The first team to finish wins. Players: 6 to 20. You need: a plastic trash can or barrel for each team, and three cones.
  • Hoops Over the Barrel 1. Stand a barrel, a trash can or a tall bucket in the middle of the lawn. Mark a throwing line five steps away. 2. Each player throws three plastic hoops, trying to drop them over the barrel. 3. A hoop that lands around the barrel scores three points. A hoop leaning on it scores one. 4. After every round, the line moves back a step. Play five rounds and add up the points. Players: 2 to 14. You need: a barrel or trash can and three plastic hoops.
  • Sack Over the Line 1. Stuff a pillowcase with crumpled newspaper and tie it shut. Stretch a rope between two helpers at waist height. 2. Each player swings the sack with both hands and tosses it underhand over the rope. 3. After everyone has thrown, the helpers raise the rope a hand's width. A player who misses twice at one height is out. 4. The last player to clear the rope wins. Keep everyone else well behind the thrower. Players: 3 to 14. You need: a pillowcase stuffed with newspaper and a long rope.
  • Stack the Barrels: Bucket Pyramid 1. Give each team six buckets, piled at one end of the lawn. 2. One at a time, players carry a bucket to the far line and place it upside down, building a pyramid of three, then two, then one. 3. When the pyramid stands, the team takes it down in the same way, one bucket a trip. 4. A pyramid that falls is rebuilt from where it fell. The first team with all six buckets home wins. Players: 4 to 18. You need: six buckets for each team.
  • Two Carriers, One Pole, One Full Bucket 1. Hang a bucket of water by its handle from the middle of a broomstick. Fill it to a marked line. 2. Two players lift the pole onto their shoulders, one at each end, and carry the bucket in and out of four cones and back. 3. The two must agree on a pace, because the bucket swings. 4. Measure how far the water has dropped below the line. The pair that spills least wins, whatever its time. Players: 4 to 16. You need: a bucket, a broomstick, water and four cones.
  • Two-Sack Farmer's Walk 1. Fill two pillowcases with the same weight of rolled towels, books or bags of rice, and knot the tops. 2. A player picks up one sack in each hand, arms straight down, and walks a marked loop of the lawn. 3. The walk ends when a sack touches the ground. A helper marks the spot. 4. The farthest mark wins. Set a lighter pair of sacks beside the first, and let each player choose. Players: 2 to 12. You need: four pillowcases filled as two heavy sacks and two light ones, and markers.

Music and dance games 7

  • The Bandleader Steals Your Instrument 1. One way to play the band game. Everyone stands in a circle and mimes an instrument from a brass band: tuba, trumpet, accordion, clarinet. The bandleader in the middle mimes the drum. 2. While polka music plays, the leader suddenly switches to one player's instrument. 3. That player must switch to the drum at once, and back again when the leader moves on. 4. A player who is slow to switch becomes the next bandleader. Players: 5 to 20. You need: polka music.
  • The Broom Polka 1. An odd number of players is needed. Everyone finds a partner, and the one left over dances with a broom. 2. Play a polka. Pairs dance, or simply march in time, around the floor. 3. When the music stops, everyone must change partners at once, and the broom dancer drops the broom and grabs one too. 4. Whoever is left takes the broom for the next round. Players: 7 to 31. You need: a broom and polka music.
  • Chicken Dance Freeze 1. The verse of the dance has four moves of four beats each: hands open and close like beaks, elbows flap, the dancer wiggles down, then claps four times. Walk through them once. 2. Play the tune and dance in a circle. 3. When the music stops, everyone freezes in whatever move they are in. 4. The caller names a move. Anyone frozen in it sits out one round as a judge, then comes back in. Players: 5 to 30. You need: the tune and someone to stop it.
  • Costume Parade Around the Yard 1. A costume parade has marched to the Munich festival grounds since 1850. Give yours ten minutes of making first: paper hats, a feather, ribbons, an apron. 2. Line up behind a leader who carries a flag or a decorated broom. 3. March one lap of the yard to brass band music. 4. The watchers award three titles by applause: best hat, best march and best band leader. Players: 6 to 40. You need: paper, ribbons, tape and march music.
  • Longest Alphorn Note 1. An alphorn is a wooden horn longer than the player is tall. Tonight it is a wrapping-paper tube. 2. Each player takes one breath and holds a single note through the tube for as long as possible. 3. A timekeeper counts the seconds aloud, and a note that wobbles into a laugh stops the count. 4. The longest note wins. For the final, the top two play a duet and the room judges it. Players: 3 to 15. You need: a long cardboard tube and a timer.
  • Slap, Clap, Stomp: Add a Move 1. In the Schuhplattler, dancers stomp, clap and slap their thighs, knees and the soles of their shoes with flat hands. 2. Stand in a circle. The first player does one of those moves. 3. The next repeats it and adds another, and so on around the circle, each player doing the whole chain in order. 4. A player who drops a move steps back and claps the beat. The last dancer in the circle wins. Players: 4 to 14. You need: nothing.
  • Yodel-Off, Judged by Applause 1. A yodel flips quickly between a low chest voice and a high falsetto. Let everyone try it together first, so that nobody goes in cold. 2. Volunteers stand up one at a time and yodel for ten seconds. 3. The room claps for each. A judge with their back to the room listens only to the applause. 4. The two loudest rounds of applause meet in a final across the yard, calling and answering. Players: 5 to 30. You need: nothing.

How this list was compiled: Our suggestions for a backyard or hall Oktoberfest party of adults and families. The wording and the player counts are ours. Every drink in a game is water, nothing is staked, and no game uses a hammer, a saw or a nail. What the festival is, the stein hold, the tapping of the first barrel, the 1810 horse race, the costume parade and the dance moves were checked on 9 October 2026 against these Wikipedia articles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Oktoberfest, Maß, Chicken Dance, Schuhplattler, Yodeling, Pretzel, Alphorn. Licence: own work

How it works

These Oktoberfest party games are built on one-liter mugs, soft pretzels, barrels and brass band music. Three start from the Munich festival itself: the tapping of the first barrel, the horse race of 1810 and the costume parade.

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A running order for the afternoon

1. Open with Tap the Barrel in the Fewest Strokes, as Munich does. 2. While guests arrive: Pretzel Necklace Trade, which runs on its own for an hour. 3. On the lawn: Barrel Roll Around the Cones, then The 1810 Horse Race, on Broomsticks. 4. The main event: The Stein Hold, With Water. 5. To finish: Chicken Dance Freeze and The Broom Polka.

What to borrow or buy

Plastic mugs with handles, soft pretzels, wooden spoons, cardboard coasters, a broom and two buckets cover most of the list. Fill the mugs from a garden hose and play the water games on grass.

  • Use plastic mugs for every game that moves. Keep glass for the stein hold, where nobody walks.

Questions and answers

How do you play the stein holding game?

Each player holds a full one-liter mug straight out at shoulder height, by the handle. A bent elbow or a spill ends the turn, and the last arm up wins. In The Stein Hold, With Water, a judge watches each player.

What Oktoberfest games can you play without beer?

All of these. The mugs hold water in the stein hold and the relays, and the pretzel, barrel and dance games need no drink at all.

What are good Oktoberfest games for kids?

Giant Pretzel Jigsaw, Twist a Pretzel Behind Your Back, The 1810 Horse Race, on Broomsticks, Hoops Over the Barrel and Costume Parade Around the Yard suit children. In the stein hold, players under sixteen hold a plastic cup.

Which Oktoberfest games work indoors?

19 of the 28 can be played in a hall or a living room, among them Coaster House in Three Minutes, Three Mustards, Eyes Closed and Slap, Clap, Stomp: Add a Move. The barrel, bucket and sack games need a lawn.

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