Recommended Recreations and Indoor Games for High School Students
When you become a high school student, you get busy with studying, club activities, romance, and more.
Even so, there are times when you end up with a little free time while hanging out with friends during breaks or on days off.
In this article, we’ll introduce some easy and fun activities you can enjoy in those moments!
This time, we’re focusing on indoor recreation and games, ranging from things you can do right away without any equipment to card games and board games.
There are options for different group sizes and time lengths, so try finding the ones that suit you best.
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- [For Adults] Fun recreational games. Perfect for short breaks too!
Recommended Recreations and Indoor Games for High School Students (1–10)
The Fake Artist Goes to New York
How about “A Fake Artist Goes to New York” as a recommended indoor game for high school students? In this social game, you draw according to a given theme while trying to identify the “fake artist” who doesn’t know the theme.
It’s sure to get your friends hyped! You can start quickly in a short time, making it perfect for small breaks.
The fun lies in reading others’ intentions, and it offers a nice mix of relaxation and tension.
It’s great not only for killing time but also for deepening communication, so definitely give it a try!
Word Wolf
Word Wolf is a simple yet deep game you can play verbally.
The overall flow is: each player is given a keyword as the topic, but one player—the Wolf—receives a slightly different keyword.
For example, everyone might get “flip phone,” while one person gets “landline.” Once each player has their keyword, you all start talking about the topic.
At this point, no one knows what keywords the others got, but by listening to the conversation, you try to identify the Wolf—the one person with the different topic—and guess who it is at the end.
The fun lies in the bluffing and strategy: you can lay traps to figure out who the Wolf is, or, if you realize you’re the Wolf, you can try to blend in with everyone else.
You can assign keywords using a smartphone app, and you can even play over video chat if someone acts as the game master.
Shiritori Gesture Game
It’s a simple and easy game where you play shiritori using gestures.
Starting from the first player, everyone takes turns making gestures, and if someone gets stuck or makes a mistake, they get a penalty.
You don’t need any materials, so it’s easy to play anywhere—that’s another nice point.
It’s more fun with a large group, making it perfect for playing with your whole class.
Watching what kind of gestures each person comes up with is another fun part of the game.
Recommended Recreational and Indoor Activities for High School Students (11–20)
Antonym Game
This is a game where you keep saying antonyms of the given word, and it’s best played with two or more people.
For example, if someone says “mountain,” the next person answers “river,” and then the person who answered gives a new prompt to the person next to them.
You repeat this process.
It’s also fun and exciting to raise the difficulty by using not only single words but longer phrases.
You don’t need any materials, so feel free to give it a try.
Taste-testing one-shot gags
When you’re friends, you generally get a feel for each other’s sense of humor.
As a game to play with close friends, “Guess the One-Shot Gag” is highly recommended.
In this game, each friend performs a gag they’ve come up with in turn, and everyone guesses whose gag it is.
Since everyone’s gag style is different, it’s really fun when you try it.
Eiko Game
Do you know the Eiko Game? It’s an easy, indoor recreation you can enjoy anywhere.
It’s a simple game where you keep associating words to a rhythm based on a prompt—but it actually makes you think more than you’d expect.
It’s fun like shiritori, but since you need a sense of rhythm too, it can get a little nerve‑racking.
It’s perfect for when you get together with friends.
You can play with any number of people, so it works for small or large groups.
Even University of Tokyo students have taken on the challenge, so why not give it a try? It’s sure to be a hit!
Lyrics hijacking game
It’s a game where you sing a favorite song and pick out words from its lyrics to connect to a different song.
It’s perfect for killing time during breaks, since singing puts you in a good mood.
It’s also really interesting because your partner’s song choices show their personality.
Try adding a penalty game if someone fails to “hijack” the lyrics to make it even more exciting.