Games that liven up social and networking gatherings
Social gatherings, often held when you want to deepen connections with people sharing the same environment, are a valuable opportunity to interact.
If you’re going to host one, many of you probably want to include fun games that everyone can enjoy and make the event lively.
In this article, we introduce recommended games that will energize your social or networking events!
We’ve gathered games that are enjoyable not only for in-person gatherings but also when held remotely.
These ideas require little preparation and can be enjoyed by a wide range of ages!
Use games at your networking event to strengthen the bonds among your group even more!
- [Simple Games] Recommended Indoor Recreational Activities for Adults
- Team-based recreational activities for adults that are fun even with large groups
- Indoor Games for Small Groups: Exciting Recreational Activities
- [For Kids] Indoor Fun! Large-Group Recreational Activities and Games
- Liven up even first meetings! A collection of fun games perfect for welcome parties
- Get the party started at the preschool graduation! A collection of party game ideas
- Fun activities that liven up the office: recreation games
- [Parent-Child Rec] Recreational activities and games for parents and children to enjoy together—also great for sports days.
- [For Adults] Exciting Bus Recreation
- Indoor games for parents and children: fun activities that use the body and the mind
- Let's play with a big group! A collection of fun children's recreational activities
- Parent–child interactive play. Fun activities popular in childcare settings and at parent–child observation days.
- Heartwarming surprise ideas to energize your workplace
Games to Liven Up Social and Networking Gatherings (11–20)
Impersonation contest
Everyone, do you have a go-to impression routine? There probably aren’t many people who are great at impressions and have a huge stash of material.
In fact, there might be more people who don’t want to do impressions at all and feel embarrassed performing in front of others.
But let’s put that embarrassment aside and enjoy an impression contest to the fullest! These days, there are even “trends” in impressions, right? If you don’t have your own stock of impressions, how about perfectly copying a routine done by a professional impression comedian? I think that’s the safest option and will get the best laughs.
Intro Quiz
The intro quiz—familiar from TV variety shows—has players guess the song title by listening only to the beginning, the intro.
If your get-together has a wide range of ages, it’s a great idea to mix intros from both old and new songs.
It’s sure to spark lively conversations and fond memories about the songs, making the event a hit! These days there are plenty of videos made for intro quizzes, so using those is an easy option.
Try adding twists like a fast buzzer system, or placing a microphone in the center and having the first person to grab it answer.
translation
The well-known “no katakana” game you often see on TV and elsewhere.
You’re given a topic and told to discuss it, but the rule is that you must not use any katakana words.
When you hear the explanation, you might think, “Oh, that sounds easy,” right? But we actually use katakana much more than we realize, and when we talk, those words just slip out naturally.
Can you smoothly convert the wasei-eigo and everyday katakana terms you use into proper Japanese and explain things that way?
Body Clock Game
Let’s play a game using a stopwatch—an internal clock game! Press start on the stopwatch, then, without looking at the screen, press stop when you think 10 seconds have passed.
The person closest to 10 seconds wins.
It’s a simple game you can play anywhere since smartphones have stopwatch functions even if you don’t have a physical one.
The difficulty increases as you extend the time to 20 or 30 seconds.
Try adding your own rules too, like losing if you go over the target time or including a penalty game!
Photo-based comedy caption contest
Photo-based ogiri (quip contests) are popular on TV and social media—you see them all the time.
It’s a pretty high-bar game where you’re shown a photo and have to come up with something funny on the spot, instantly.
It tests your sense of humor and how quick you can think.
Even if you can’t be hilarious like a pro comedian and make everyone burst into laughter, you still want to say something that livens up the moment, even just a little.
To avoid bombing, it might be a good idea to practice ogiri regularly in everyday life (lol).
Guessing childhood photos
Everyone, haven’t you ever told your friends or coworkers how cute you were as a kid? This game is perfect for getting a conversation like that going: everyone brings a childhood photo, and you all try to guess whose it is.
If the ages in the group vary a lot, the photo quality might give it away (lol).
You’ll hear things like, “You haven’t changed at all!” or “No way, you were this cute?”—it really gets people talking.
Project it big on a screen or monitor and make a splash!
Games That Liven Up Social and Networking Parties (21–30)
Who am I?
There are events like mixers and social gatherings to help you get to know people you’ve just met.
One of the great things about these events is discovering sides of someone you didn’t know before.
The game I’m introducing today works like this: one person chooses a topic and pretends to be that thing.
Everyone else asks questions to get hints, and when you think you know the answer, raise your hand and say it.
Because everyone can enjoy the game while asking questions together, it helps bring people closer.
It’s a game that can be enjoyed from around age three, so give it a try!
