A collection of simple indoor recreational games
Looking for team-based games that can get everyone excited indoors? Indoor recreational activities that use open spaces and simple tools actually hide a lot of charm.
From easy games using familiar items like balloons and plastic bottles to idea-driven challenges that make the most of teamwork, we’ll introduce a variety of fun options.
Why not discover new ways to play with your friends and family? Welcome to the world of indoor recreation, where everyone can smile!
- [Simple Games] Recommended Indoor Recreational Activities for Adults
- [Play Right Away!] Exciting Recreation Games Recommended for Elementary School Students
- [Elementary School] Quick and Easy! Indoor Recreational Activities Perfect for Lower Grades
- Recommended for upper elementary grades! Exciting indoor recreation and games
- 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
- Team-based recreational activities for adults that are fun even with large groups
- [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!
- Games and activities everyone can enjoy together. A collection of fun play ideas.
- Elementary School Fun Day a Big Hit! Indoor Game Idea Collection
- Fun Indoor Games for Elementary School Kids Without Any Equipment
- A simple and fun co-op game that enhances teamwork
Message, Gesture, and Rhythm Game (1–10)
Wild Beast Hunting Game
This is a fun wordplay game called “Going on a Beast Hunt,” where you repeat phrases and use gestures.
One person says, “Let’s go hunt wild beasts!” and everyone repeats, “We’re not afraid of wild beasts!” While repeating, you also copy the poses and gestures.
At the end, the caller announces the name of a beast.
For example, if they say “raion” (lion in Japanese), it has four syllables in Japanese, so you form groups of four.
You can also switch the ‘beast’ theme to things like fishing or insect collecting for variety.
Shiritori Dance Game
This is a game that adds a movement element to the word-linking game shiritori, making the thinking process more complex.
The rule is to express the connected words with movements as well, so words that are hard to express through movement are out—that’s the challenging part.
While traditional shiritori proceeds with names of things, since this version emphasizes movement, it might work well to play using verbs.
It could also be fun to proceed rhythmically to music, or to have everyone present perform the movement whenever a word is called out.
Dancing Gesture Game
The “Dancing Gesture Game” blends a gesture game with music and dance.
In this game, one representative listens to music through earphones so others can’t hear it, and dances to the beat with original choreography.
The other participants try to guess what the representative is listening to based on their moves and rhythm.
If the song is a dance track, performing the original choreography is not allowed.
Choosing songs that everyone knows makes it easier to come up with choreography and increases the chances of getting the right answer!
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.
Telephone, Gesture, Rhythm Game (11–20)
Matching Game
A recreation activity that allows you to communicate without touching each other is the “Matching Game.” In the Matching Game, you determine correct or incorrect based on whether you can choose the same option as the questioner.
In the version shown in this video, the questioner first demonstrates two different clapping patterns.
Then they say, “Which pattern will the questioner clap?” and have the participants clap along.
Those whose answer matches the pattern chosen by the questioner are considered correct.
It’s a game you can play one against many or enjoy one-on-one.
Reverse Playback Telephone Game
@stmltytband The reverse playback telephone game that’s trending on TikTok was way too fun lolTelephone gameReverse playbackGirls band#youtuberGuitar girl#DrumGirls#BassGirl#SaxGirlsKeyboard Girl@Yukippe [STEMilates] @Gomi-chan [STEMilates] @Ayanon [STEMilates] @MION [STEMilates] @Kisei @Akira [STEMilates]
♬ Original Song – Stemilates – Stemilates [Official]
This is a game where you pass along a reversed version of a given phrase to see if the final person can get back to the original.
First, you say the prompt phrase normally and record it, then play it in reverse.
You tell the next person what you heard from the reversed audio.
The last person records what they received and plays it in reverse to check whether it matches the original phrase or how far it has drifted.
Since the game tests your ability to accurately render reversed audio as words, it’s also amusing that mistakes can happen right from the start.
Earphone Loud Telephone Game
It’s a game where you try to relay a message correctly while loud music is blasting through your headphones.
Since you can barely hear the message, the challenge is to figure out how to interpret the words in that situation, testing each player’s ingenuity.
It’s important to distinguish between the sound in the headphones and external sounds, and to read words from lip movements.
There’s a sense of accomplishment when the message gets through correctly, and even when it doesn’t, it’s fun to review how the words got distorted along the way.