Perfect for killing time! A roundup of games for three people to enjoy
What kinds of games can you play when there are three people—like a close-knit trio, three siblings, or a family of three? Some games are easier with an even number, but once it’s an odd number, certain games get harder to play, right? In this article, we’ll introduce games you can play with your body or hands that work for three people.
We’ve gathered games you can use in various situations: to get some exercise, to burn off extra energy, or to kill time when you have a free moment.
Spend a fun time moving your body and hands together with your children or friends!
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- [Simple Games] Recommended Indoor Recreational Activities for Adults
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Psychological Warfare & Deduction Party Game (1–10)
Tahoiya
A dictionary-based game called “Tahoiya.” If you have a dictionary at home that you don’t use much and it’s practically brand-new, this is a game I highly recommend.
Using the dictionary, each player finds a word that no one is likely to know and poses a multiple-choice question with four possible meanings.
Everyone comes up with a plausible answer choice and presents it to the group, then the remaining players choose the one they think is correct.
Try to craft convincing options and fool everyone.
It also boosts your vocabulary, so it’s a game I recommend.
Word Wolf
This game is a hidden-role game inspired by Werewolf.
There are Citizens and Werewolves, and only the Werewolves receive a different prompt.
The Werewolves must keep the conversation going without being found out, while everyone else tries to guess who the Werewolves are.
However, the Werewolves do not know they are Werewolves at the start of the game.
If you notice that your conversation seems off compared to others, quietly infer the Citizens’ prompt and adjust your talk to match it.
When playing with three people, it becomes two Citizens and one Werewolf, which might make it more challenging.
Bamboo shoot nyokki
The game “Takenoko Nyokki,” which became famous after originating on a TV show.
At the call of “Takenoko takenoko nyokki-kki!” everyone puts their hands together in front of their chest.
In turn, players thrust their clasped hands upward while saying “One nyokki,” “Two nyokki,” and so on.
There’s no set order, so anyone can raise their hands whenever they like.
You win if you successfully go out, but you lose if you collide with someone (say the same number at the same time) or if you fail to go out by the end.
NG word game
This is the “NG Word Game,” a lively game for three or more players.
All you need is paper and a pen, which makes it easy to set up.
Each person writes a word on a piece of paper.
Then everyone draws one paper and holds it up to their forehead so they can’t see their own word, but everyone else can.
The unseen word on your card is your NG (forbidden) word, and anyone who says their own NG word loses.
The fun comes from steering the conversation to make others say their NG words while avoiding your own.
Werewolf game
Speaking of Werewolf, it’s a popular game where players are divided into villagers and werewolves hiding among them.
Using various clues, you try to identify who the werewolves are during the day.
Then at night, the werewolves attack one person—that’s how the game progresses.
You can play it face-to-face with as few as three people, and it gets even more fun if you play online with others.
It’s also great to make friends on the internet, isn’t it? It feels like online gaming has evolved even further due to COVID.
Telepathy
Telepathy is a game where each player has one of their senses—seeing, hearing, or speaking—taken away while they play.
In this game, players must arrive at a single word together despite being deprived of senses they normally rely on for communication and gathering information.
That word is the one shared in common by the different prompts dealt to each player at the start.
Even just thinking of that is difficult, and on top of that, you have to figure out the answer using an unusual form of communication! It’s a play experience that lets you develop a new sense you could never encounter in everyday life.
An interview where you must not say “yes”
Introducing a game invented by the hugely popular YouTuber duo, Sky Peace, called the “Don’t Say ‘Yes’ Interview.” It originated from a video they released in 2020, and since then many YouTubers have taken on the challenge, so chances are you’ve seen it before.
Here’s how to play: split into an interviewer and an applicant, and the interviewer asks questions as if it were a job interview.
The rule is that the applicant must not say the word “yes” at any point during the conversation.
Since “yes” is a word people tend to use frequently when speaking with someone senior, watching someone desperately try to avoid saying it is guaranteed to make you laugh.