[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!
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[For University Students] Collection of Exciting Games and Recreational Activities (41–50)
Anything-goes card game “Quick-Play Spell” game
A quick-play spell game featured on the hugely popular Tokai On Air YouTube channel.
It’s said to have been conceived from the hype that peaks in Yu-Gi-Oh! card battles when you activate a trap card to reflect your opponent’s attack.
The overall premise is to use your own homemade trap cards to nullify punishments coming your way or deflect them to someone else.
Each card can have only one effect, no effects that end the game are allowed, and aside from rules like card limits, it’s basically anything goes.
The key is how creatively you can avoid punishments under these anything-goes rules.
You could make it so the loser actually has to do the punishment, and drawing the trap cards yourself to create them would likely make it even more exciting!
The game where everyone says their top choice on the count of three
A game where you choose a leader, get a prompt, and on a countdown everyone says what they think is the “number one” for that prompt.
For example, if the prompt is “something fast,” people might say the Shinkansen, sound, light, etc.
The person who names the fastest one wins.
You have to answer right after the prompt is given, so there’s little time to think—it really tests your quick wits.
It’s simple, but unexpected answers make it lively, and it’s a game you can easily play anywhere.
Grandma Telephone Game
This is a slightly unusual game of Telephone called “Grandma Telephone.” In a normal game of Telephone, the goal is to pass the message along as accurately as possible so that the last person receives it correctly.
In this version, however, you have to speak like a grandma without her dentures—speaking without showing your teeth—and see if you can still convey the message accurately.
If you show your teeth, you get a penalty.
Lyrics hijacking game
A game where you take turns hijacking the lyrics of a song, and whoever keeps singing to the end wins.
More than winning or losing, the key is how long you can keep the game going.
It’s more exciting if you share lots of songs you both know, so it might be most fun to play with people of the same generation.
It’s a challenging game, but when the song connects smoothly, it’s a thrilling moment.
Without Katakana
It’s a game where you explain things that usually have katakana names without using any katakana.
For example, when you describe soccer, you have to convey it to the other players without words like “ball” or “kick,” so you really need to get your brain working.
Especially for things that originally came from overseas and are typically expressed in katakana or English, just hearing the forced, fully Japanese explanations can be entertaining.
Using a commercially available card game makes the flow smoother, but even without any items, as long as everyone understands the rules, you can enjoy it—so give it a try!
Sea turtle soup
Quizzes are a common game used in recreational settings, but how about livening things up with some unusual, challenging quiz questions? Are you familiar with the quiz called “Sea Turtle Soup”? It’s also known as a “lateral thinking quiz,” where you’re allowed to ask questions about the posed problem, and the quizmaster answers those questions with yes or no.
The questions can be tricksy, and when you figure out the answer you can’t help but exclaim “Ah!”—plus, as questions pile up, things get more complex, which is exactly what makes this quiz game so exciting.
The ‘Just Want to Say It’ Yamanote Line Game
The Yamanote Line game, where players take turns naming words in a set category like fruits or countries, is a party and mixer staple.
But this version hinges on removing that premise.
There’s no specific topic; as the name suggests, players simply take turns saying any phrase they feel like, and whoever runs out of words loses.
You might think the lack of a prompt makes it freeing, but when you’re told you can say anything, you may suddenly have no idea what to say—so the game can actually end surprisingly quickly.
It’s a game that tests players’ sense for words and can get lively even with just two people.
A game where you answer without looking at the question
This game is all about answering without seeing the question—what does that even mean? It’s super simple: one person stands at the front as the representative.
A question is written on a piece of paper and shown, but the person doesn’t look at it.
They just answer with whatever comes to mind, purely on intuition.
Since they don’t know the question, there’s no way the answer will match, right? The fun is in that mismatch.
The people watching try to keep a straight face while holding a drink in their mouth—who can avoid laughing? And every now and then, by some miracle, the question and answer actually match, which makes it even funnier.
Reverse Parody Song Quiz
A reverse parody song quiz—where you change the melody but keep the original lyrics and others have to guess the song—is more challenging than the host expects, which makes it exciting.
All you have to do is sing the lyrics of a well-known song with an ad-libbed melody, so it works with both small and large groups.
You can also make it harder by, for example, singing the lyrics of a famous song to the melody of another famous song, letting the melody’s image mislead people.
It’s a recommended game that’s fun whether you craft the melody seriously or just go with the vibe.
We are the best! game
“We are the best!” is a game created by the popular comedy duo, 3ji no Heroine.
It’s designed around the concept of making English easy to learn, and the game involves using a lot of English.
The rules are fairly simple: one person says something in English to the rhythm, and the other gives the Japanese translation.
You can also play the reverse version.
If you decide on the English phrases in advance, it becomes easier, but I think it’s more fun if you don’t decide which English to say or which Japanese translation to give! For college students, it’s a two-birds-one-stone game where you can have fun and improve your English at the same time!
