[For University Students] A Roundup of Fun Games and Recreational Activities
We’re introducing recommended games and recreational activities for college students!
We’ve gathered a variety of options—from exciting activities perfect for club or seminar retreats and welcome/farewell parties, to simple games for small groups, and large-scale recreation suited for spacious venues like school grounds.
There are plenty of activities you can enjoy indoors too, so no need to worry about the weather on the day!
These can be used across many event scenarios, so feel free to use them as a reference.
Let’s play some classic recreational activities and trending games, and have a great time together!
- [Simple Games] Recommended Indoor Recreational Activities for Adults
- Indoor games and recreational activities recommended for college students
- A roundup of recommended icebreakers for college students
- No worries even in the rain! Fun recreational activities you can do in the gym
- Team-based recreational activities for adults that are fun even with large groups
- Recreation Ideas That Truly Excite High School Students! A Fun Collection of Activities
- A collection of simple indoor recreational games
- Recreation Popularity Rankings for High School Students
- Fun activities for junior high school students. Recreation games.
- Get the Fun Going! Easy Classroom Games You Can Play at School: Recreational Activities for the Whole Class
- Games to Liven Up the Freshers’ Welcome Party
- Games and activities everyone can enjoy together. A collection of fun play ideas.
- Break the ice with intros and team battles! Party games to spice up your welcome event
[For University Students] A Collection of Exciting Games and Recreational Activities (21–30)
Signaling Game
Do you know the “Traffic Signal Game”? To put it simply, it’s a word game where you quickly answer with something that matches the color that’s called out.
For example, if the caller says “red, green, yellow,” you might respond rhythmically with “apple, spinach, banana.” It’s okay if colors or answers repeat.
It’s also fun to tweak the rules as you play—like adding “no repeating the same item in a row” or limiting it to categories such as “foods.”
Angel and Devil Command Game
This is a game based on the popular TikTok “Angel and Devil Command Game.” In the original, players split into angels and devils and perform four poses rhythmically.
Here, you ride the rhythm and strike the pose prompted by the given challenge, then decide who did it best.
Be sure to decide the answering order beforehand.
It’s surprisingly hard to do when you’re put on the spot!
Pedometer Game
This is a game called the Pedometer Game.
You attach a pedometer to a part of your body and, within a set time, keep shaking it—the person with the highest step count wins.
Pedometers are sold even at 100-yen shops, so instead of just one, try attaching lots to your hands, feet, head, and more; you’ll end up moving in funny ways and have a blast.
Don’t be shy—get moving!
No-English game
I also recommend the “no-English” game that you can start right away.
The rule is simple: as long as you don’t speak English, you’re fine.
It sounds easy at first, but you’ll be surprised how often English slips out.
Words like “game” or “OK,” which we use in everyday life, are especially easy to say without thinking.
You can deepen your bond by playing this game while doing something else or enjoying a conversation.
Have fun while checking that neither of you is using any English.
One-minute self-introduction
It’s a game where you practice how to structure a self-introduction in a short amount of time and how to deliver it to the other person.
By efficiently organizing your self-promotion, it can serve as a benchmark for your pitch and be useful in the future for things like interview preparation.
Through repetition, you can improve your technique—for example, learning which words to choose so your persona and strengths are clearly conveyed.
You can even make it more fun as a game by specifying in advance the items you won’t include in your self-promotion—such as weaknesses or embarrassing stories—and having players create texts that incorporate those constraints.
Gesture Game
It’s the familiar “gesture game” you often see on Japanese variety shows.
While it’s commonly played as a team competition, this version introduces a serious, fully cooperative team-play style.
The prompts aren’t simple—they’re a bit challenging, so you really have to commit to your gestures to get the message across.
If you’re playing with close friends, inside jokes are sure to make it even more fun.
Bottle Flip Game
Are you familiar with the game called bottle flip? You partially fill a plastic bottle with water, flip it so it makes a full vertical rotation, and try to land it upright on its base.
There are tons of bottle flip challenges and compilation videos of amazing tricks on video sites.
This game is a playable version of that—you can enjoy it without worrying much about the number of players.
Anyone who lands the bottle successfully leaves the circle, and the last person remaining—the one who couldn’t land it—loses.
It’s even more fun if you prepare a small penalty for the loser!
Telephone game in English
The telephone game in English is a surefire crowd-pleaser.
People tend to think “you probably need strong English skills,” but it actually gets funnier the more mishearing happens, so even those not confident in English can enjoy it together! Start with simple, short sentences and gradually raise the difficulty—that’s the recommendation.
First Impressions Game
At university, there are lots of chances to meet new people, right? A great icebreaker game to help you quickly get comfortable with people you’ve just met is the “First Impressions Game.” It’s best played in a large group! First, decide on a prompt—something like “Who here seems most likely to ___?” or “Someone who is ___.” Then, on a signal, everyone points to the person they think best fits the answer.
By playing this game, you can learn what kind of impressions you have of each other, which helps you warm up to one another quickly!
Spinach Game
Do you know the “Spinach Game”? You pass spinach to the next person while calling out “spinach,” where the number of times you say “spinach” equals the number of spinach you’re holding plus the handoff cue.
At the start, one person holds two, so you call out “spinach” three times.
You can give both to the same person, or hand one each to different people.
As the tempo speeds up, it gets pretty tricky and you’ll find yourself asking, “Where did the spinach go?”