[Simple Games] Recommended Indoor Recreational Activities for Adults
When a large group gathers indoors and you think, “Let’s do something fun!”, do you ever find yourselves surprisingly stuck for ideas? In this article, we introduce simple games that are perfect for getting everyone excited, including team battles and cooperative play.
From games that require almost no props to ones you can play easily with everyday items, we’ve gathered activities ideal for indoor recreation.
Games that you progress through by cooperating naturally spark conversation and deepen relationships! There are also slightly brain-teasing games that adults will especially enjoy, so be sure to give them a try together.
- A collection of simple indoor recreational games
- Team-based recreational activities for adults that are fun even with large groups
- [For Adults] Fun recreational games. Perfect for short breaks too!
- Games and activities everyone can enjoy together. A collection of fun play ideas.
- [For University Students] A Roundup of Fun Games and Recreational Activities
- [Part 2] Recommended Indoor Activities and Recreation Games for December
- Games you can play with just conversation. Classic and popular activities you can enjoy without any props!
- Recommended for upper elementary grades! Exciting indoor recreation and games
- No worries even in the rain! Fun recreational activities you can do in the gym
- Recreation Ideas That Truly Excite High School Students! A Fun Collection of Activities
- [For Adults] Exciting Bus Recreation
- Get the Fun Going! Easy Classroom Games You Can Play at School: Recreational Activities for the Whole Class
- [Children’s Club] Easy and fun indoor games. Exciting party games
Experiential/Sensory Games (1–10)
The “Haa” game
It’s a sure-to-get-everyone-excited card game called “Haa” Game.
Although it’s called a card game, you play using cards with prompts written on them.
Even the word “haa” can mean different things depending on the situation—like a sighing “haa,” an exasperated “haa,” and so on.
The cards describe a situation; you draw a card with a letter and act it out, and the others guess which “haa” it is.
Those who guess correctly earn points, and the performer earns points based on how many people guessed it.
It’s a game that tests your acting skills (lol).
The Perfect Match Game
Set a target number and take turns asking each other questions whose answers are numbers—the goal is to make the final total match the target exactly.
It’s the “Perfect Match Numbers Game”! For example, set the target to 100.
In teams, you ask each other questions so that the running total ends up at 100.
Any question is fine as long as the answer is a number—things like “How old are your siblings?”, “How many people are in your family?”, or “How many guitars do you own?”.
Keep adding each numeric answer to the total, and the team that hits 100 exactly—or gets closest to it—wins! It’s a game for adults that challenges your thinking and imagination as you figure out which questions will get you to an exact match.
30-second drawing showdown
“Drawing,” a classic kids’ activity! Let’s add a 30-second time limit and have adults give it a try! Since it has a game-like element, it’s best done with a few people rather than alone.
First, choose a prompt, set a 30-second timer, and draw.
That’s it? you might think—but once you’re an adult, discovering your own drawing skills and those of the people around you is guaranteed to get everyone excited!
Word Wolf
In simple terms, “Word Wolf” is a game where you find the odd one out.
Each participant is dealt one card.
Each card has a word on it, but one card has a different word.
In other words, that person is the odd one out.
Once the game starts, use conversation to identify who it is.
Since you won’t know at first whether you’re the odd one out yourself, it’s best to avoid statements that clearly reveal the word.
At the end, everyone points to the person they think is the odd one out.
If the person with the most votes is indeed the odd one out, that person loses.
If they aren’t found out, everyone else loses.
Game of Hell
What is the “Hell Game”? The name might sound a bit scary, but it’s a game you can enjoy endlessly—almost like an infinite hell.
First, prepare a set of lottery-style slips that separately list the elements of a scene: when, where, who, and what.
Sort them into categories—when, where, etc.—and draw one from each.
Then you read the resulting sentence and have fun laughing at how funny it is! If that still feels a bit too tame, try actually performing the action described by the sentence.
Suddenly, it turns into a thrilling, heart-pounding game.
If you draw a truly outrageous sentence, you might just go through hell…
Psychological warfare rock-paper-scissors
Rock-paper-scissors usually involves calling out and showing your hand at the same time—but add a psychological twist! Set up a screen so you can’t see each other’s hands, and first do a normal “rock, paper, scissors, shoot.” Then start probing about what you threw: “Are you showing rock? I’ve got paper,” “Yeah right—bet you actually picked scissors,” and so on.
Reading the other person’s expressions and noticing how their way of speaking differs from usual—those observation skills become key.
It’s an idea that shows how even a simple game can transform with a bit of creativity!
Count-Taking Party Game
A nostalgic game for adults, “Kazutori-dan Game,” was played in the segment “Tani Jōtō! Bakusō Kazutori-dan” on the show “Mecha-Mecha Iketeru!” In the game, players say the names of objects, people, or animals, and the next person must say the numbers in order starting from 1, along with a unit that matches the topic.
Of course, you can’t mess up the count, but the real crux of the game is the unit for each prompt.
Some are easy and straightforward, but others involve little-known units or ones people often remember incorrectly, and when someone uses those, things really heat up! When stating the prompt and the answer, the shout “bun-bun” is a must.
Saying it with a tough, delinquent vibe is also part of the fun!