Games to Liven Up the Freshers’ Welcome Party
It’s hard to decide what games to play at a welcome party for new students, isn’t it? Everyone’s meeting for the first time or feeling nervous, and it’s hard to know what will get people excited.
So here, we’ll introduce games that are likely to liven up a new-student welcome party.
We’ve included plenty of games that help you learn everyone’s names and encourage communication.
We’ve focused on games that everyone can enjoy, even those who aren’t comfortable with self-introductions or speaking in front of others.
Most of them don’t require any props, so feel free to give them a try!
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- Party games that get everyone excited at school
- Party games collection that get everyone excited in a big group
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- [Doable at School!] Fun Punishment Game Ideas That Will Hype Up High Schoolers
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- [From small to large groups] Drinking games recommended for college students
- [For Kids] Popular party games. Fun games that get everyone excited
- Recommended for college students! Punishment game ideas that will make everyone laugh and hype things up
[Welcome Event] Games to Liven Up the Freshers’ Welcome Party (11–20)
Introducing someone else
If you’re tired of introducing yourself, try doing a “tako-shokai” (introducing someone else)! As the name suggests, you introduce a person other than yourself—but you might wonder, how can you do that when you’ve only just met? To introduce someone else, you need to gather information.
Before the introduction, set a time and draw out as much information from the other person as possible.
Then summarize it and present them as, “This person is the kind of person who…” You’ll have to convey that information to yet another person, which is surprisingly challenging! But it’s a great way to get to know each other better, making it perfect for welcome events.
Icebreaker Bingo
To get to know each other at a welcome event, it’s important to learn everyone’s names first, right? A great activity for that is Intro Bingo.
In regular bingo you use a card with numbers, but here you write the names of the participants in the spaces instead.
The host should prepare a set of slips with all participants’ names in advance.
Then, just like regular bingo, the host draws a slip; if the name drawn matches one you’ve written on your card, you mark that spot.
If you complete a line vertically, horizontally, or diagonally, you get bingo! Another variation is to write your favorite things on the card and mark a spot whenever you match with someone else—also a fun way to do Intro Bingo!
Who did what, when, and where game
A game where you make funny sentences using the new students’ names: the “When, Where, Who, and What did they do?” game.
You freely write words for each category: “When,” “Where,” “Who,” and “What did they do?” For the “Who” category, write the new students’ names.
For the others, for example, for “When,” you could write “tomorrow” or “in 10 years.” For “Where,” “at the park” or “at school.” For “What did they do,” “ate sweets” or “danced,” and so on.
Once you’ve collected a fair number of words in each category, draw one slip of paper for each category in the order of When, Where, Who, and What they did, and make a sentence.
You’ll end up with funny sentences or, by some miracle, sentences about things that actually happened—perfect for breaking the ice with lots of laughs and surprises!
Rock-Paper-Scissors: Bonk and Cover
A game that’s familiar from variety shows: “Tataite Kabutte Janken Pon.” On the call of “Tataite Kabutte Janken Pon,” you play rock-paper-scissors.
If you win, you try to bonk your opponent’s head with a squeaky hammer; if you lose, you quickly put on a helmet to evade the hammer.
If you successfully block the hammer with the helmet, you’re safe and play rock-paper-scissors again.
If you manage to tap your opponent’s head with the squeaky hammer without being blocked, you win! It’s a simple, long-standing game, but the excitement level is off the charts!
Picture shiritori
Picture shiritori: a way to get even closer than with word-only shiritori! In regular shiritori, you take the last letter of the word someone says and connect it to make the next word.
Picture shiritori keeps the same rule but has you draw the word and pass it along.
Even if something is easy to say in words, drawing it so the other person understands makes it a bit tricky.
The receiver also has to figure out what was drawn, so you end up thinking about the other person more than in normal shiritori.
Plus, noticing things like “This person is really good at drawing!” can spark new conversations.
All you need is paper and a pen—let’s use picture shiritori to break the ice and get closer!
Earphone Loud Telephone Game
The Blast-Your-Ears Telephone Game! While trying to figure out what someone you barely know is trying to say, you keep passing the message along.
All participants wear headphones blasting loud music, and without hearing the other person’s voice, they read only their lips to guess what they’re saying, then pass it on to the next person.
You can use any phrase you like, but the longer the sentence, the funnier it gets as it morphs in bizarre ways! Even if you’re not close yet, you’ll naturally build a bond by really trying to catch what the other person is saying.
Even if the message ends up completely different from the start, you’ll end up laughing together—guaranteed to bring everyone closer!
Drink exactly the amount of juice
A juice-drinking game where you try to drink exactly to a line drawn on a cup.
Prepare a clear cup and draw a line anywhere you like.
The person drinking wears a blindfold so they can’t see the contents and, while guessing “The line is around here, right?”, uses a straw to drink the juice.
Whoever stops drinking exactly at the line wins; if no one hits it perfectly, the person closest to the line wins! It’s a simple, easy-to-enjoy game that only takes a little prep.
Tasting/Comparative sampling of ○○
A tasting game where participants are blindfolded and guess what kind of food or drink they’re sampling.
You can use teas, potato chips, chocolates, etc.
from different brands and have people guess which brand they’re from.
Or use products like Umaibo or Jagarico that come in many flavors and have people guess the specific flavor—there are lots of ways to play! Brand-by-brand tastings are fairly challenging, but you’d think flavor differences would be easy to tell, right? Surprisingly, without visual cues, it’s harder than you expect! Use your favorite foods and drinks to liven up your welcome event.
No Katakana Game
The No-Katakana Game is about explaining something that’s usually written in katakana without using any katakana at all.
In everyday conversation, katakana words just slip out naturally, right? But in this game, you must not use any katakana.
For example, if the prompt is “basketball,” you have to describe basketball without using katakana.
The people listening then guess what you’re describing.
The person explaining may not use katakana words like “ball” or “goal.” Only the guessers are allowed to say the katakana word that is the answer.
It’s surprisingly difficult and really tests your vocabulary—perfect for a showdown between freshmen and upperclassmen!
Word Wolf
A game very similar to Werewolf: Word Wolf.
Each participant is given a prompt, but one person receives a completely different prompt.
Even if you get the different prompt, you won’t know at that moment that yours is different from everyone else’s.
If, through conversation with everyone, you realize you’re the Wolf with a different prompt, you try to blend in and deceive the others.
If you think you have the same citizen prompt as everyone else, you join the discussion while deducing who the Wolf is.
After the conversation ends, everyone votes on who the Wolf is.
If the number of people who correctly vote for the Wolf is greater than the number who vote for a citizen, the citizens win.
If more people vote for a citizen, the Wolf wins.
If you want to enjoy a thrilling welcome event, give it a try!