[For Adults] Fun recreational games. Perfect for short breaks too!
Introducing fun games and recreational activities for adults!
When adults play, games that involve analysis and brainpower, or activities that offer a bit of excitement, really bring up the energy.
So this time, we’ve gathered card games and board games that adults can enjoy, along with no-equipment games and recreational activities.
They’re great for coworkers and friends, and families can enjoy them too—especially if you have middle or high schoolers.
Simple games are perfect for filling small pockets of time, so take this opportunity to give them a try!
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[For Adults] Fun Recreation Games. Perfect for Spare Moments! (21–30)
No equipment needed! Air catch ball
“Air Catch,” a make-believe game of tossing an imaginary ball without any props, is a very simple team-building activity.
Participants form a circle.
Someone calls another person’s name while miming a throw of the “air ball,” and the next person pretends to catch it and continues in the same way.
The rules are: make eye contact and call the person’s name before you throw.
Once everyone gets used to it, you can increase the difficulty by tossing multiple balls at once or speeding things up.
It builds communication skills and concentration and gets people laughing, making it great for training icebreakers and strengthening team cohesion.
It takes about 5–15 minutes, so give it a try!
Chinese whispers on the back
You’ve probably played the telephone game before, but just doing it the usual way can be a bit underwhelming.
With a simple twist, though, even adults can have fun with it.
For example, in the “Back Text Telephone Game,” players write letters on the next person’s back, and that person has to read what was written.
Because it’s hard to decipher letters traced on your back, people make mistakes quite often—which makes the game all the more exciting.
[For Adults] Fun Recreation Games. Great for Spare Moments Too! (31–40)
Lyrics Shiritori Game
A fun game where you play shiritori using song lyrics.
Sing a line from a song, then continue with lyrics from another song that start with the last character of the previous line.
It’s great for everyone from kids to adults—you’ll recall familiar tunes and discover new ones.
Not only for people who love singing, it’s also a chance to encounter songs you don’t know.
Perfect for karaoke, parties, and school activities.
Even those who aren’t confident singers will naturally smile—simple yet surprisingly deep.
Put your musical knowledge and creativity to use and have fun playing!
Nanjamonja Game
Nanjamonja Game is a game where you give names to monsters called Nanjamonja that don’t have names.
Draw a card, and if it’s a Nanjamonja you haven’t seen before, give it a name.
Place the drawn cards in a single pile.
When a Nanjamonja that already has a name appears, call out its name.
The person who says it first gets to take the accumulated pile of cards.
The player with the most cards wins.
Abbreviation guessing game
@oideyo_gafter Abbreviation guessing game! / Hello! This is Aoki from G-After 😊 The three of us played an abbreviation guessing game! Look forward to seeing who makes a mistake 🌈Tried itI tried itInteresting projectBoss and subordinatePlayFunFun job#A company with a good corporate culture#BestBuddiesHRtranslation
♬ Original Song – The Daily Life of the Goofy Recruitment Section | G-After Inc. – G-After Inc. Human Resources Department
To keep everyday conversations flowing smoothly, we often have chances to use abbreviations.
This simple game turns those abbreviations into quiz prompts, asking players to guess the original terms.
The key is to play to a rhythm, using the pressure of needing instant answers to ramp up the difficulty.
Some abbreviations are even more common than their full forms, so incorporating those well could spark deeper interest and knowledge about language.
Poker Face Game
As the name suggests, the “Poker Face Game” is a game where you keep a completely straight face no matter what happens.
It follows the same rules as the Amazon Prime Video show “Freeze.” Since the only rule is to maintain a poker face, it might seem unenjoyable at first glance, but with the right setups it becomes incredibly fun.
For example, balloon pops, reflexology pain points, or rocket fireworks on your backside—the more extreme the gags, the funnier it gets.
That’s why it really heats up when played with a large group!
Hand-push sumo
Many of you might have played “te-oshi sumo” (hand-pushing sumo) when you were kids.
Two people face each other, extend both hands in front of their chests, place their hands together, and push against each other like in sumo.
The loser is the one who loses balance and falls, or whose feet move.
It could be exciting to make it a tournament, too!