Games for 20 People with No Equipment Needed: A Collection of Fun Ideas That Use Your Body and Mind
Good news for anyone looking for no-equipment games that even 20 people can enjoy! Here, we introduce fun activities that get everyone moving their bodies or using their brains together.
Because no tools are required, you can start easily—and there are plenty of ideas that naturally spark communication.
From simple number-based rules to competitive team challenges that require cooperation, you’ll find lots of ideas to warm up the atmosphere.
Spend a delightful time together that’s sure to bring out smiles!
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Games for 20 People with No Equipment! A Collection of Ideas to Energize the Group Using Body and Mind (11–20)
Number Exercises
Let’s try a group exercise game that’s even more fun with lots of friends.
Assign specific poses—like clapping your hands or touching your head—to the numbers 1 through 3.
The leader says a number while doing its pose and leads as a model in front of everyone.
If everyone can follow along, great! It’s a game that uses your head and body at the same time.
Of course, it’s fine if you can’t keep up or don’t understand right away.
The goal isn’t to succeed, but to enjoy participating.
Making mistakes and bursting into laughter also leads to fun communication.
Without Katakana
We use katakana for many names in daily life.
Katakana is familiar, but let’s try playing without using it.
First, show items that have katakana names and have people describe them without using katakana.
For example, for “pen,” someone might answer, “something you write with that isn’t a pencil.” It’s a game where you shift your thinking a bit, describe the given topic without using katakana, and have others guess.
If the topic is “game,” you could describe it as “something where you use your fingertips to control characters on the screen.” From there, everyone tries to guess the topic together.
Explaining with your current vocabulary makes for a good brain exercise.
Small Number Game
Do you know the Small Number Game? First, ask the children to choose one favorite number between 1 and 20.
I will call out the numbers in descending order, and when I reach the number they chose, they stand up.
If they are the only one who stands up at that moment, they become the champion and remain standing.
If two or more stand up at the same time, that’s a bust, and they have to sit down.
If someone becomes the champion with a smaller number, the previous champion sits down.
It’s fun because strategy and mind games are important.
Birthday line
Within the time limit, let’s try lining up in a single row in order of birthdays.
The rule here is that you must not say your exact date of birth.
If everyone clearly knows the others’ birthdates, you can line up smoothly.
But if someone’s is unknown, you’ll have to exchange clues and reason it out as you line up.
It might be tricky to come up with hints that others can understand, like “around the middle of the season.” If you think it through and line up correctly with no mistakes, it should be a big hit.
Having kids from various age groups—not just those born in the same year—will make it both more fun and more challenging.
Pin Pon Pan Game
How about trying the “Ping-Pon-Pan” game, which requires no preparation and can be played with any number of people? First, form a circle and choose the first person.
That person says “Ping.” The person to their left says “Pon,” and the next person to the left says “Pan.” The person who says “Pan” points at someone, and starting from that person, the sequence “Ping, Pon, Pan” continues again.
When you’re suddenly pointed at, you might panic and say the wrong word, so you can’t let your guard down.
It’s the kind of game that tends to be more fun with a larger group.
Have fun with no props needed! The Gyutan (beef tongue) game
The “Gyūtan” game, which naturally gets everyone into a circle, is a fun game that people of all ages—from small children to the elderly—can enjoy together.
The rules are simple: the first person says “gyū” out loud, and the second person doesn’t say “tan” but claps instead.
The “tan” at the end increases one by one—three times, then four times, and so on.
If you get the number of “tan” wrong or fall off the rhythm, you lose.
Once you get used to it, it’s fun to try speeding it up as a challenge.
In conclusion
We introduced many games that 20 people can play. Even without any equipment, there are plenty of group activities everyone can enjoy, such as the Handshake Relay and Number Exercises. As people move their bodies, smiles spread and communication among participants naturally deepens. Be sure to try incorporating these games and enjoy a great time together.