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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- [For University Students] A Roundup of Fun Games and Recreational Activities
- Fun games recommended for making friends with people you’ve just met
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- A great way to get to know each other! Entertainment and performances to liven up a welcome party
- [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
[New Student Welcome] Games to Liven Up the Welcome Party (31–40)
Drawing Telephone Game
A drawing telephone game where you pass along the given prompt through pictures! It doesn’t just test how good you are at drawing; you also need the imagination to guess the prompt from a picture and the skill to course-correct a message that’s going off track with your own drawing.
It’s great fun for people who like drawing, but pure agony for those who don’t! Precisely because you don’t yet know each other’s strengths, it’s perfect for a welcome party—everyone can get excited as you’re surprised by unexpected talents and laugh out loud at quirky artistic sensibilities.
The choice of prompts matters too! Aim for that sweet spot that you can imagine but is hard to draw—the closer you get to that edge, the more fun it becomes!
Fruits Basket
Fruit Basket, a classic game that kids love, is also perfect for livening up a new-hire welcome party! Arrange chairs in a circle and sit; the person standing in the middle calls out a prompt, and anyone who fits that description moves to a different seat, competing for chairs.
By keeping the prompts focused on getting to know each other—like “People from the Kanto region” or “K-pop fans”—new hires who’ve just met, as well as new hires and senior staff, will naturally grow closer through the game.
Private Quiz
A private quiz that lets you delve into someone’s personal side! By turning topics that don’t often come up at school or work—like “What’s something you want right now?” or “What hobby have you kept up since your student days?”—into quiz questions, you can get to know the other person more deeply.
However, it’s not about prying into everything! Research what the person is happy for everyone to know, pick out the topics that are likely to get people excited, and make those into quiz questions.
Questions that could make someone uncomfortable are, of course, off-limits!
Drawing Song Quiz
This is a drawing-song quiz where you complete the correct picture while listening to a drawing song.
One feature of drawing songs is that simply moving your hand as you listen lets you neatly finish a picture, even if it’s your first time drawing it.
But depending on how you interpret the lyrics, you might end up with unexpectedly funny drawings! It tests your comprehension, imagination, and sense for drawing.
You can catch glimpses of aspects that aren’t obvious from someone’s appearance, which might lead to discoveries like, “I thought they seemed serious, but maybe they’re surprisingly unique…”
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 any English, you’re fine.
It sounds easy at first, but you’d be surprised how often it slips out.
Words like “game” and “OK,” which we use in everyday life, tend to pop up.
You can deepen your bond by playing this while doing something else or enjoying a conversation.
Have fun while keeping an eye on each other to make sure no one uses English.
Speaking of ○○, it’s games.
The “What comes to mind when you hear XX?” game is a group activity where everyone tries to give the same answer based on a given prompt.
For example, if the prompt is “What comes to mind when you hear summer?”, people might think of various things like “the beach” or “ice cream,” but the goal is to come up with an answer that matches everyone else’s.
If everyone gives the same answer, you succeed! If even one person gives a different answer, it’s a fail.
For welcome events, it’s also fun to use a new student’s name for the “XX” part! You’ll get to see what kind of image everyone has of each other, which can spark even more excitement.
Borrowed-item race
Instead of a “borrowed item” race, this is a “borrowed person” race: you pick someone from the venue who fits a chosen prompt, then run together—say, in a three-legged style.
As a newcomer, even if you want to communicate with people around you, it can be hard to initiate conversations yourself.
But through this game, you can naturally approach the target person, and running together becomes a chance to break the ice.
In other words, it’s a perfect game for a welcome party—one that helps shorten the emotional distance between everyone present, including people you’re meeting for the first time.
Birthday line
Birthday Line is a game where all participants line up in a single row in order of their birthdays.
You simply arrange yourselves by exact birthday, including the month and day—but no talking is allowed! Using only gestures, you figure out where your own birthday belongs and when other people’s birthdays are.
Even though gestures are allowed, when you actually line up and check the result, you may find some “Huh?” mistakes.
The longer the time, the higher the accuracy, so it’s recommended to set a time limit and practice nonverbal communication in a short window.
It’s a perfect game for learning each other’s birthdays and building bonds through mutual understanding.
In conclusion
We’ve introduced plenty of games to liven up a welcome party for new students. In particular, we shared many icebreakers that help you remember each other’s names and learn about what people like. It’s great if games can help everyone bond. Just be mindful—this first impression might stick with you for a long time afterward! (Haha)