A collection of fun indoor play ideas: easy-rule games that hype up the fun
When rain or extreme heat keeps you from going outside, it’s nice to make indoor playtime more fulfilling.
Here are indoor games that anyone can enjoy regardless of age, from simple, high-energy competitive games to ones you can play with minimal equipment.
Packed with fun activities that will get family and friends excited! Adjust the number of players for team matches or tweak the rules—there are endless ways to play.
Dive into these thrilling indoor games you’ll want to try right away!
- Indoor Games You Can Do in 5 Minutes: A Collection of No-Prep, Instant-Fun Ideas
- Indoor activities you can do at home—from educational play to physical games! Fun ideas that will fill your day with smiles.
- Indoor recreation for children: A roundup of exciting games
- A collection of simple indoor recreational games
- Games that get everyone excited without any equipment! A collection of simple ideas everyone can enjoy
- Games that get the whole family excited! A collection of ideas you can start right away with no equipment
- [Children’s Club] Easy and fun indoor games. Exciting party games
- [Simple Games] Recommended Indoor Recreational Activities for Adults
- Indoor games and recreational activities recommended for summer
- Fun Indoor Games for Elementary School Kids Without Any Equipment
- Indoor games for parents and children: fun activities that use the body and the mind
- [For Kids] Fun Indoor Game Ideas for After-School Day Services
- Get the excitement going indoors! Winter activities that both kids and adults can enjoy
A collection of fun indoor play ideas: simple-rule games that will get everyone excited (21–30)
NG word game
It’s a game where you try to get the other person to say a word that makes them lose.
For example, let’s say the opponent’s NG (forbidden) keyword is “computer.” While chatting during the game, skillfully guide the conversation to make them say the NG word.
The key is to casually include questions like, “Have you bought anything new recently?” If your questions are too obvious, you might tip them off about the NG word, so ask carefully.
It takes some thought, but it’s a game you can play in a short amount of time.
Drawing Telephone Game
Let’s have fun with a game where you guess the picture drawn on your back.
Stick a sheet of paper on each person’s back, and start by drawing a picture on the first person’s paper.
Then, one by one, draw on the next person’s back the picture you felt drawn on yours and pass it along.
Since you can only rely on the sensation on your back to figure out what’s being drawn, the image may gradually turn into something else—that’s the fun part! It might help avoid confusion if you pass along a single picture in a few strokes, one stroke at a time.
In the end, the last person should use the picture they drew as a hint to guess the original prompt.
So, what kind of picture did you end up with?
Without Katakana
We use katakana for many names in daily life.
Katakana is familiar, but let’s try playing without using it.
First, show items that have katakana names and have people describe them without using katakana.
For example, for “pen,” someone might answer, “something you write with that isn’t a pencil.” It’s a game where you shift your thinking a bit, describe the given topic without using katakana, and have others guess.
If the topic is “game,” you could describe it as “something where you use your fingertips to control characters on the screen.” From there, everyone tries to guess the topic together.
Explaining with your current vocabulary makes for a good brain exercise.
Simple rhythm game
Let me introduce a simple rhythm game that can also serve as jump rope practice.
Place a circle on the ground to mark the starting position, and use it as your reference point for jumping.
Follow the caller’s instructions on where to jump.
At first, you’ll get simple commands like “forward,” “right,” and “up,” but as the level increases, combinations like “right-left” or “front-back” get mixed in, testing your reflexes.
The more complex it gets, the more excited kids are likely to be.
It doesn’t take up much space, so give it a try!
Atama-Oshiri Game
The fresh, TV-famous rhythm game “Atama-Oshiri Game”! In time with the music, you answer by connecting the first and last letters of the word presented.
You have 10 seconds, and the key to winning is whether you can come up with longer words or more letters.
It tests both speed and creativity, so everyone can have fun cranking their brains together.
On the show, Banana Man and Sandwich Man take on the challenge, with unexpected answers being a highlight.
Enjoy laughs and edge-of-your-seat moments.
It’s a recommended game that gets families and friends pumped up while training rhythm and quick thinking at the same time.
Is your body clock accurate? Game
A body clock game where you guess the time using only your sense of time without looking at a clock.
Once the host sets a target time, everyone starts at the same moment.
Without looking at any clocks, participants close their eyes and raise their hand to alert the host when they think the target time has arrived.
The person closest to the set target time wins.
Once you get used to it, you can increase the target time to raise the difficulty or play music to make it even more exciting.
Give it a try with your friends!
Let’s look for a loooong word
In the “Let’s Find Long Words” game, the questioner specifies the final letter and asks for long words that end with that letter—in this case, words that end with “n.” The respondents think of and answer with long words ending in “n.” The longer the word, the more impressive it might be.
You could also score one point per character and have the team with the highest score win.
Once everyone gets used to the game, try setting themes like food or animals, or add rules such as not allowing words that have already been used, to make it more fun.
Who am I? Quiz
Who Am I? A quiz that everyone—questioners and answerers—can enjoy together.
The questioner chooses a topic and gives hints and characteristics to the answerers.
The answerers think about what the topic might be and give their answers.
It’s a fun game that nurtures and stimulates thinking and imagination.
Once you get used to it, try adding a time limit or increasing the difficulty of the questions as you go.
We also recommend using real people or historical figures as topics.
Have fun and give it a try!
Gesture Telephone Game
Let’s enjoy a gesture-only telephone game where you communicate without using words.
Form teams of about five or six people.
Once you line up in a single file, the first person checks the prompt.
Pass the prompt to the next person using only gestures, making your movements big and clear.
The last person gives the final answer to the prompt.
Exaggerating your gestures and adding facial expressions may make it easier to convey the message.
And if it doesn’t get across, thinking about how to make it clearer is part of what makes this game fun.
Clap-Clap Game
Let’s try a clap-along game that also works as brain training, filling the room with the sound of rhythmic clapping.
The rules are very simple: when the facilitator’s hands come together, participants clap both hands once.
The facilitator can also add fake-out motions, pretending to clap without actually doing it, to make the game more exciting.
Once everyone gets used to it, increase the speed of the claps and keep a steady tempo—this will create a sense of unity among the participants.
Have fun and give it a try!