[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. Great for Spare Moments Too! (31–40)
Baby bottle speed-drinking contest
Baby bottles are basically for babies, but this game becomes funny precisely because adults use them.
Watching people desperately chug while holding a baby bottle in their mouths is pretty hilarious and guaranteed to lighten the mood.
Baby bottles are surprisingly hard to drink from quickly, so you also get to enjoy everyone’s flustered expressions.
If a boss takes the lead at a company drinking party, it could be a great icebreaker that helps their team open up.
Word Wolf
The popular game known as Word Wolf, also called Word Werewolf, is a deep and engaging game for adults, yet relatively easy to play.
The rules are very similar to Werewolf: a topic word is given, but one person receives a different topic and talks with everyone else.
Players try to find the person with the different topic by spotting contradictions in the discussion, and, just like in Werewolf, eliminate a player each round.
If you increase the number of wolf players, the difficulty rises sharply—so once you get used to the game, give it a try!
A gesture game with nuances too subtle to convey
People who are often together tend to pick up on each other’s expressive quirks, so sometimes you can understand what someone wants to say just from their movements.
This piece focuses on that kind of movement-based communication and suggests trying a gesture game with more fine-grained prompts.
The prompts are narrowly defined situations—like “someone who failed to open a bag of snacks and spilled them everywhere”—to test whether the specific scenario comes across.
Understanding each person’s expressive style and meeting them where they are is also an important key to getting closer to the correct answer.
Musical chairs
As adults, we hardly ever get the chance to play musical chairs, right? But for grown-ups, it’s actually a great form of light exercise—perfect for anyone who’s not very active.
You naturally get some moderate movement by walking around the chairs and reacting quickly when the music stops, without it being too intense.
So gather your friends who are feeling out of shape and give it a try.
Cash-Grab Rock-Paper-Scissors
Many people might play rock-paper-scissors to kill time, but just playing it as-is can be a bit dull.
So, how about making it more exciting by putting some cash on the line? For example, if there are 10 participants and each puts in 1,000 yen, you can turn it into a game competing for 10,000 yen.
[For Adults] Fun Recreation Games. Great for Spare Moments Too! (41–50)
Balloon time bomb
There are probably many people looking for a heart-pounding, thrilling recreation game.
As a recommended option, check out this “Balloon Time Bomb.” In this game, you use a toy that makes a balloon explode after a set time once it’s attached.
With a balloon fitted onto the toy, play something like shiritori and enjoy the thrill.
Find a partner
A game where you look for the person who has the word that pairs with yours: “Find Your Partner.” Be sure to have an even number of players.
First, prepare separate cards with pairs of related words, like “dog” and “cat” or “morning” and “night.” Each participant receives one card without looking at it and sticks it on their back or forehead.
By looking at other people’s cards and giving each other hints, players try to find the person whose word pairs with their own.
The player who finds their match the fastest and forms a pair wins! The person left without a partner at the end loses.