Games to Liven Up a Farewell Party: Ideas That Will Make Everyone Smile
Saying goodbye to close friends and cherished teammates can be lonely, but you still want to spend the last moments with a smile, right? In times like these, adding games to a farewell party lets everyone have fun together and create lasting memories! That said, many people may wonder which games will really liven things up.
In this article, we’ll introduce games that are perfect for farewell parties! We’ve gathered lots of ideas that are easy to join and sure to make everyone smile.
You’re sure to find tips for creating a heartwarming farewell gathering!
Games that liven up farewell parties—ideas that make everyone smile (1–10)
Came Alone Game
One game that really livens up a farewell party is the “I Came Alone” game.
Participants go clockwise, raising their hands and saying “I came alone,” increasing the number of people from the first person onward.
After the count reaches five people, it resets back to one, and if you raise your hand at the wrong timing, you’re out.
Because it moves along briskly even in a short time, the moment someone makes a mistake, laughter ripples through the classroom.
The rules are simple, so even younger students can join easily, and part of the fun is enjoying everyone’s reactions.
The nervous excitement of keeping the tempo makes this a game that energizes any farewell gathering.
Surface Tension Game
One of the games that really livens up a school farewell party is the “Surface Tension Game.” Fill a glass with water, and players take turns dropping coins in one by one; if you manage to add a coin without spilling, you pass to the next person.
Even the slightest overflow draws laughter and shouts from those around, while a successful drop earns big applause.
The children waiting their turn watch with pounding hearts, so everyone shares the tension and the sense of achievement.
It’s easy to prepare and perfect for farewell parties, enjoyable for students from lower to upper grades alike.
Bingo game
When it comes to events with large groups, bingo is the classic go-to recreation.
It brings a sense of togetherness to farewell parties and send-offs that attract a wide range of ages.
And of course, the best part of bingo is the prizes! When there’s a prize you really want, it’s even more exciting—making it a recreation that gets not only kids but adults pumped up too.
In the past you needed a big bingo machine, but these days you can enjoy bingo with a smartphone app, so all you need to do is buy some cards at a 100-yen shop and you’re good to go!
Fukuwarai with photos
One game that really livens up a farewell party is “Picture Fukuwarai.” Using face photos of classmates or teachers, you cut out parts like the eyes, nose, and mouth, then place them in front of a blindfolded player.
Everyone bursts into laughter when they see how the pieces end up in the wrong places.
Until the face is complete, the whole classroom is sure to be buzzing.
It’s easy to prepare, and the appeal is that anyone from lower to upper grades can join.
You can also take photos of the unique finished faces, making for fun memories to look back on later.
Old Photo Guessing Game
A game where you show childhood photos and guess whose photo it is! Collect lots of childhood pictures from company employees.
The less they resemble how the person looks now, the longer the thinking time and the more exciting it gets! Photos of the guest of honor at the farewell party are, of course, a must! How about having a lively chat about childhood memories while everyone exclaims, “So cute!” or “You haven’t changed at all!”? The higher up the person is, the more likely you’ll get rare black-and-white or sepia photos!
No-English game
A game that’s exactly what the title says: you’re not allowed to speak English.
You might think not speaking English is easy, but if “wasei-eigo” (Japanese-made English) and katakana words are also banned… isn’t that hard? Even when you’re just chatting about a set topic, you realize how often you actually use katakana and English words, and turning those into proper Japanese is both difficult and fun.
If you try the no-English rule while playing some other game at the same time, it becomes very challenging and the difficulty jumps up.
Intro Quiz
Intro Don! is a game where you listen to just the first few seconds of a song’s intro and guess what it is.
If you prepare songs from a wide range of eras, everyone from newcomers to veterans can enjoy it.
It’s fun because you never know who will shine—not only people who are strong in music, but also those who know every idol song they listened to in their youth and won’t be beaten by anyone.
If you focus the playlist on songs the farewell party’s guest of honor has liked over the years, it can spark lots of conversation.
It’s a game that’s sure to get any generation fired up!
Picture shiritori
A drawing shiritori game that people who are good at drawing can purely enjoy—and those who aren’t so good at it… well.
You draw a picture, the next person looks at the drawing and answers with a word, then someone draws a new picture that follows from that word, and so on.
With a large group, you can split into teams and decide the winner by the liveliness and the number of correct answers.
It’s pretty tough if your team has someone who isn’t good at drawing, but that very skill level—their unique talent—ends up being funny and makes everyone laugh, so the game really heats up.
It gets even more exciting if there’s a penalty game for the losing team!
Gesture Game
A game you can play right away with no props or prep: charades! As long as you have imagination and your own body, you can start immediately, and the time until someone guesses correctly is a lot of fun.
Here’s how it works: only the person acting hears the prompt, then expresses it using gestures without making any sounds.
Everyone else just has to guess what the prompt is! It’s even more exciting if you include themes related to what you’re doing or to your company.
If you have a large group, you can make it a team competition.
Quiz tournament
When it comes to easy, no-prop activities you can start right away at a farewell or send-off party, a quiz competition is a classic! You can even come up with the quiz questions on the spot, so it’s perfect for starting suddenly on the day.
Standard trivia works fine, but adding a twist—like questions about the guest of honor or about the company—will definitely make it even more exciting! It’s also fun when you end up discovering a hidden side of the guest of honor at the very end.
Plus, it’s great for filling time between other performances or segments.