Halloween is the only holiday or time of year when it is not only allowed but also encouraged to wear a costume, ask for free treats from friends and neighbours, and children dream of it.
The success of the party depends on the thoroughly planned halloween party games. If you want this year’s celebration to be the best yet, get everybody moving with games.
If you want your celebration to feel lively and memorable, include halloween party games that encourage creativity and interaction.
Adding Halloween party games to your gathering will not only uplift the mood with energy and laughter but also create an atmosphere of playful mystery.
If your guest list includes kids, teens, adults, or a mix of ages, the right combination of games can turn your Halloween party into an unforgettable event.
Engage in interactive challenges, mild scares, artistic tasks, and group activities to foster bonding and a jovial atmosphere among participants.
Here are some of the most popular Halloween party games that you can incorporate into your event, along with descriptions to help you pick the right combination for your event.
Halloween Party Games to Create a Fun and Spooky Experience
1. Pumpkin Carving or Decorating Contest
Decorating pumpkins is one of the most classic things to do at Halloween. Guests will have the option of carving the typical jack-o’-lantern faces, using the spooky Halloween design and painting pumpkins, or just glueing things like glitter and faux leaves.
The game is suitable for all ages because it can be modified with adult and teen carving tools and kid-friendly paint and markers.
After the pumpkins are displayed, the winners will be selected in categories such as scariest design, funniest face, most creative, and best overall.
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2. Mystery Box Challenge
This is a high-tension game and could cause guests to burst into uncontrollable laughter.
Put boxes with things that are disgusting to touch inside like peeled grapes for eyes, cooked spaghetti for brains, wet sponges for organs, or cold noodles for worms.
Guests blindly put their hands in and guess the texture they feel. This game can be set up in no time, it is a riot to watch, and it is a perfect game for Halloween with its spooky atmosphere.
3. Costume Runway Show
Costumes can be made into an entertainment by organizing a runway or a walk-off. Participants reveal their dresses to an audience that cheers, votes, or judges.
The categories can include funniest costume, most realistic, best group outfit, or most dramatic entrance.
This activity promotes creativity, brings about laughter, and allows everyone to enjoy a moment of glory.
4. Halloween Trivia
Trivia makes the party more fun by adding a competitive element. You can formulate your own queries or get themed trivia sets on Halloween legends, ghosts and monsters, fairy tales, candy facts, and much more.
Split the group into teams and reward the winners with small gifts. Trivia is good for both adults and older kids and is an easy game to run throughout the event.
5. Witch Hat Ring Toss
Utilize a witch hat (bought or made with cardboard) and toss rings made of glow sticks, rope, or plastic. The players throw rings and try to land them on the pointed tip of the hat.
The game can be played at both outdoor and indoor parties, and it gives all-age guests an opportunity to indulge in a light, easy activity.
6. Halloween Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger hunts are a fantastic way to add some adventure and excitement to your Halloween celebration.
You could place all kinds of creepy items around the house or yard, such as fake spiders, skulls, cauldrons, Halloween toys, mini pumpkins, or themed clues.
Guests then wander through the area and either collect or figure out what is on their list.
This game is perfect for children’s parties, but can also be made more challenging for teenagers or adults by introducing riddles and time limits.
7. Mummy Wrap Race
In this quick, hilarious game, teams use toilet paper or crepe paper to wrap one team member and turn them into a “mummy.”
The group that wraps up their mummy the quickest or neatest is the winner. This very basic activity is a lot of fun and a good time for taking pictures.
8. Ghost Bowling
“Ghost pins” can be made by emptying white bottles, stacking cups, painting them with ghostly faces, and then rolling a ball at them to knock them down.
You can have different rounds, or, to make it even easier, change the level of difficulty. It’s ideally a kid’s game, but surprisingly, its adult version can be fun as well.
9. Halloween Bingo
Bingo with Halloween-themed cards is a light competition that keeps guests engaged. Use icons such as witches, spiders, pumpkins, potions, black cats, and ghosts.
Offer small, themed prizes, such as candy bags or tiny decorations. Bingo is easy to manage and well-suited to larger groups.
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10. Apple Bobbing or Apple Fishing
Apple bobbing, a traditional Halloween game, is a game in which players attempt to catch apples floating in the water with only their mouths.
For a less messy version, try “apple fishing,” in which apples are suspended from strings and players must bite them without using their hands. Both games evoke nostalgia and are guaranteed to spark laughter.
11. Truth or Scare
This variation of Truth or Dare uses Halloween-themed questions and tasks. Combine ghostly dares with light-hearted scares, like telling a ghost story while sitting in the dark, making a monster walk around the room, or answering some amusing Halloween questions.
It is a great way to interact with guests, particularly for teenagers and adults.
12. Haunted Photo Booth
Create a spooky background and include props like witch hats, skeleton masks, vampire teeth, and antique lanterns.
Guests will be able to take pictures that can be scary or funny, serving both as a fun activity and a memorable party keepsake.
You could even hold a competition to determine which photo will be the best of the night.
13. Game of Memory Matches
How about making your own memory match game? Kids will love it. First, cut 20 squares of black poster board measuring 2″ x 2″. Then take 20 squares of the same size from different Halloween-themed papers.
You will need 10 designs and 2 squares of each design. With a glue stick, adhere the decorative papers to one side of the black poster board.
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The game begins with the squares set in a grid formation on the ground. The children take turns flipping over two cards to look for a match. If they find one, they take out the cards.
If no match is made, the next player takes a turn, and the two cards are flipped back to their original positions.
The main aim is to remember where you saw the matching cards. The player who holds the most pairs of cards at the end is declared the winner.
The older kids can be even more challenged if the number of cards is increased.
14. Halloween Scavenger Hunt Outdoors
This Halloween, are you aiming to organise a fun activity for the entire family? We created a free, printable Halloween scavenger hunt for kids of all ages.
The entire family can engage in this outdoor activity either during trick-or-treating or just by walking the neighbourhood to see the Halloween decorations.
Make sure to check out more free, printable Halloween scavenger hunt ideas on the next page after you download the free Halloween scavenger hunt file.
15. Candy Bucket Pong
Despite being an old-school college party game, this has been tweaked for family fun and expanded.
Arrange the 10 candy buckets, shaped like pyramids, on the grass and fill each with either sand or rocks to play the game.
The players alternate trying to throw a Ping-Pong ball into the buckets from about six feet away, starting with the first bucket; each time they score, one bucket is removed.
In the end, the player who has made the most baskets is the winner.
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16. Haunted Gingerbread Houses
Nowadays, gingerbread houses have become somewhat of a Christmas craft. Let us present to you the activity that will get all of your party guests excited: the ghostly Halloween gingerbread house.
Make the buildings using small milk cartons. For most kiddies, the fun of making a house lies in decorating more than in building.
Use icing as glue to assemble the houses from graham crackers for the little ones. Provide a wide range of decorative items like candy corn.
Almost a quarter of the US population considers Halloween to be the best holiday. The day is particularly special for the atmosphere, which is both fun and creepy, it is Halloween!
Well thought-out Halloween games and activities for adults are what will make the difference between a party where nobody talks and one where everyone is very active if your intention is to make this year’s celebration the best.
17. Cookie Face-Off
Start the celebration with cookie-off minute-to-win-it Halloween games. The whole family, even the kids, will have a blast with our Halloween minute-to-win-it game, which is one of the family activities. Each player must balance a Halloween cookie on their forehead.
They have to come up with a way of getting the cookies from their forehead to their mouth with nothing but their facial muscles! Hands off, remember!
18. Minute to Win It Spider Race Games
These Halloween party games will be very enjoyable for kids. Each participant will be given one plastic spider and a straw. Each will place their spider right at the edge of a table.
Let them line up in front of you and ask them to blow through their straws in order to push their spider across the table. Picture this as the finish line. The first one to get there is the champion!
19. Chocolate Transfer: Suck It Up
This Halloween party game is so much fun that the whole family will have a great time playing it. For each player, a straw and two plates are required. Set up one plate with round chocolate candies.
Ask the players to move a candy from one plate to another by sucking it up with their straws. The first person to transfer all their candies to the other plate is the winner!
20. Murder Mystery
Murder mysteries are, no doubt, one of the most gruesomely entertaining TV series and podcast genres.
To align with this trend, it would be a great idea to host a murder-mystery dinner, where each guest is cast as a specific character.
This will help in creating a completely immersive experience. Just think of the possible characters and make up some of their past lives, for instance, a billionaire with a dark secret or a butler who hates his boss.
Those character descriptions can be sent together with holiday invitations before the actual event. The guests will then complete the backstories and prepare their costumes.
They may gather hints and clues while playing as their characters and, thus, be ready to identify who among them is the murderer.
There is no doubt that the tension will escalate as accusations unravel, alliances form, and secrets are revealed.
This type of game appeals particularly to adult players, as it requires creative thinking and socialising. Acting, improvisation, and deduction are equally enjoyable for participants.
Your guests will be talking about it long after the dramatic reveal and the curtain drop.