[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
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- Games you can play with just conversation. Classic and popular activities you can enjoy without any props!
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- [Children’s Club] Easy and fun indoor games. Exciting party games
Experiential and Sensory Games (21–30)
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.
30-second guessing game
This is a game where you rely solely on your internal body clock to try to stop a stopwatch at exactly 30 seconds.
The rules are simple: without looking at a clock, just press start and stop on the stopwatch—so you can add all kinds of variations.
It could be fun to keep a conversation going while tracking the time, or have people around you call out random numbers to distract you.
You might try closing your eyes to sharpen your senses, or keeping a rhythm to feel the passage of time.
Give it a try using whatever method works best for you.
TOKYO Reiwa Game
The “TOKYO Reiwa Game” uses two famous lines: the “TOKYO” announcement when Tokyo won the Olympic bid, and the “It is Reiwa” announcement when the new Reiwa era was revealed! In this game, to a rhythm, each participant says a prompt they come up with, and everyone decides whether it’s something that actually exists or not.
Each player holds one rectangular plastic desk pad: if the prompt “exists,” hold it horizontally and repeat the prompt; if it “does not exist,” hold it vertically and say “It is (prompt).” That’s right—what you need for this game is vocabulary and knowledge! It’s quite difficult, so it’s a good idea to set a theme for the prompts.
Tough, but addictive!
U.S.A. game
The “U.S.A.
Game” is a game that uses the chorus of DA PUMP’s smash hit “U.S.A.” In this game, to the tune of the chorus, you sing “C’mon, baby, ____,” and the next person says a common situation or stereotype (an “aruaru”) about _____.
If someone repeats an aruaru that’s already been said or says something that isn’t really an aruaru, they’re out.
It gets really lively if you keep the rhythm and do the ‘Like’ dance while playing.
Stealthy-Stealthy Game
Shohei Osada of the comedy duo Chocolate Planet became hugely popular using the phrase “sorori sorori,” a parody of Motoya Izumi.
A game based on that impression is the “Sorori Sorori Game.” In this game, a prompt is given to the contestant, and the basic rule is to answer with a fitting “—ri —ri” phrase for the prompt.
For example, for a banana, it would be “mekuri mekuri” (peel-peel).
Anything Basket
Even games you played in elementary school can be surprisingly fun when you try them as an adult.
If you’re looking for that kind of activity, I recommend “Anything Basket.” This game combines musical chairs with questions: people who match the question stand up and scramble for seats.
It’s also known as “Fruit Basket,” and the rules are almost the same.
Solo movie theater
When it comes to indoor activities or adult pastimes, some people are looking for ways to kill time on their own.
For those folks, the “solo movie theater” is a perfect fit.
Everyone’s probably thought at least once, “Wouldn’t it be great to have a movie theater all to myself?” or “I want to feel like I’m at the movies at home.” This dreamy idea can actually come true with just things you have at home: a cardboard box, tape, and a smartphone! All you need to do is cut a hole for your neck and a hole to see your phone screen in the cardboard.
It’s definitely not a look you want others to see, but try enjoying a private movie-theater experience all by yourself!
