Things to do at a birthday party

Grill Master

Cook one thing on the grill for everyone. Scored on taste, timing and presentation.

Lord of the Water

The best all-round showing on the water. The birthday person decides on the last day.

The Class Cup

Whatever everyone has booked — cocktails, cooking, pottery, painting — is a competition now. The room marks what everybody made.

The Handicap

Everybody writes down the time they think they will take. Closest to their own guess wins, so the slowest person out there can take it.

The Partner Quiz

Questions answered by the birthday person's partner in advance. The birthday person guesses what they said.

The Photo List

A list of photographs to come home with. Most of them by the last night takes it.

The birthday person's Choice

At the end, the birthday person awards points for the single funniest contribution to the party.

Breakfast Redemption

The best breakfast contribution of the party, judged by everyone.

Crawl Bingo

A card of things that will happen tonight. Tap them as they do. Fullest card at the end of the night takes it.

Guess Who Said It

Everybody submits one thing about themselves nobody here knows. Sealed until the room is ready, then read out one at a time while everybody guesses who.

Last Year, Defended

Whoever won it last time defends it against anybody who fancies it. Losing it is worth more stories than winning it.

Mystery Chef

Teams get the same small set of ingredients and make the best late-night snack.

Snooker Championship

The tournament at the table, run in the app. A knockout bracket, frames scored a ball at a time, and the best record takes the title.

Something Borrowed

Borrow five things from five strangers and give every one of them back. Nothing bought, nothing kept.

The Catchphrase

The birthday person have a line they do not know they have. Every time they say it, everyone drinks. Points to whoever set them up for it.

The Doppelgänger

Find something nearby that looks oddly like the birthday person and photograph the two of them together.

The Floor

Whatever class everyone booked — dance, yoga, boxing — ends with everybody doing it once more, alone, while the room marks.

The Hustle

Lose two frames convincingly, then beat somebody who has been telling everybody how good they are.

The Long Way Round

The best photograph taken by somebody who was not trying to win anything.

The Recital

The best performance on whatever instrument the venue has. Everyone votes on the last night.

The Small Table

A round the children can win and the adults cannot, judged by the children, with no appeal.

The Team Photograph

Each team recreates a famous photograph using only what is in the building. Twenty minutes.

The Terrible Pitch

Sixty seconds to pitch a deliberately dreadful product to the room, with total conviction and a made-up market size.

The Toast

Thirty seconds each, standing up, to the birthday person. The room marks it.

The Vault

The organiser has set a password. Get in from your own phone. No shouting guesses across the room.

The birthday person vs Everyone

Once an evening the birthday person faces a nominated challenger at something quick — a putt, a cut of the cards, a trivia question, a coin.

Admiral of the Fleet

Get all of everyone out on the water before noon on any day.

Advice for the Road

Everybody writes one line of advice for the birthday person. Sealed until the last meal, then read out one at a time.

Album Cover

The best accidental band-photo of the party.

Bad Dance-Off

Head-to-head, deliberately terrible dancing. Applause decides it.

Called Shot

Call the ball and the pocket, then sink it. Five attempts.

Confidently Wrong

Convince somebody, for five minutes, of something about where you are that is completely untrue.

Cross-Table

The app deals everybody a table. Nobody sits with anybody they work with, and the first ten minutes are the whole point.

First Light

Be the first out with a coffee on any morning.

First-Timers

Everybody here for the first time gets paired with somebody who has done it before, and both of them score it.

Golden Hour

The best sunset photograph of the party, with at least three of everyone in it.

Golden Hour at the Water's Edge

The best sunset photograph taken from the water, with at least three of everyone in it.

Hydration Hero

Most visibly committed to water, and to keeping everybody else fed.

Keeper of the Flame

Keep the fire going from dark until the last person turns in, without anybody else touching it.

Kit Check

The most ridiculous piece of genuinely functional kit anybody brought, judged on the morning of.

Name the Place

Before you set off, everybody writes down where they think you will end up. Sealed until you are there.

Names by Dinner

Half of everyone have never met. Know every name, and one true thing about every person, by the first dinner.

No Phone Zone

The longest agreed stretch with phones away, photographs and emergencies aside.

One Memory Each

Everybody puts up one memory of the birthday person that they do not know anybody remembers.

One-Finger Wonder

Play a tune everyone can actually name, using one finger only.

One-Word Movie

Describe a film using one-word clues. Each teammate gets one guess per clue.

Overboard Photography

The best photograph taken from whatever everyone has booked on the water.

Poster Recreation

A photograph recreating a famous film poster using only what is lying around where you are staying.

Question Master

Get three different people to answer a question you asked, while Question Master rules are running.

Quote Board

Collect the funniest out-of-context quote of the party. Everyone votes on the last day.

Sing What You Say

For fifteen minutes, everything you say has to be sung.

Slang Wars

Two sides. One picks ten of its own phrases, reads them out, and the other has a go at what they mean.

Stand and Deliver

Stay upright on the board for a full sixty seconds. Wobbling counts, swimming does not.

Story Roulette

Each person adds exactly one sentence to an improvised story. No hesitating past five seconds.

Swap Seats

Never sit in the same seat twice, and never beside the same person twice. Most different tables by the end takes it.

The Best Thing That Happened

Everybody puts up one genuinely good thing from the year that everyone had nothing to do with. The room votes.

The Coach Quiz

A quiz for the journey. Everybody puts in one question and nobody is allowed to look anything up.

The Introduction

Pair up across the room, three minutes each way, then introduce the person you were paired with — including one thing you have made up.

The Kitchen Quiz

A quiz that runs while people cook. One question every ten minutes, nobody stops chopping.

The Motion

A committee sits, a completely stupid motion is put, and it is debated properly until the room votes.

The Prediction Sheet

Everybody predicts the result before the start. Sealed until everybody is home and has had a cup of tea.

The Quiet Hour

One agreed hour with no phones, no work and nothing about the wedding, the job or the plan. Everybody gets it or nobody does.

The Quiz Nobody Wrote

Everybody puts in one question they know the answer to. That is the quiz, and nobody had to write it.

The Round Table

Everybody says one true thing about the birthday person that nobody else in the room knew. The room votes on the best one.

The Rover

The birthday person shouts for a thing, and everybody goes and gets it. First one back takes it.

The Sealed Prediction

On the first day, one written prediction about the party. It goes in sealed and nobody reads a word of it until the last night.

The Summit

Chair a serious debate on a completely stupid motion, until the room agrees a winner.

The Worst Chat-Up Line

Deliver the worst chat-up line you own, to the room, with total conviction.

Two Truths and a Colleague

Everybody submits two true things about themselves and one invented one. The room guesses the lie.

Two Truths and a Lie: The birthday person

Everybody submits two true stories about the birthday person and one invented one. The room guesses the lie.

Whose Is This?

Everybody sends one photograph of something of theirs — a desk, a dog, a view, a very old car. The room guesses whose.

Whose Round

Who actually bought the rounds. Water counts, and so does the person who kept the table fed.

Wildlife Photographer

The best photograph of genuinely interesting local wildlife, taken from a respectful distance.

Wrong Hand Hour

Use only your non-dominant hand for harmless tasks, for one hour.

The birthday person's Table

The birthday person can call any person over for ten minutes at any point. Both of you score it, and they cannot call the same person twice.

First to Bed

The first person to voluntarily call it a night, each evening.

Human Tripod

Be in three group photographs holding exactly the same pose.

Last One Up

The latest person still talking to somebody. No requirement to keep drinking.

Local Colour

Work two words of local slang naturally into the same sentence, five times over the party.

Most Likely To

Everybody points at once at whoever best fits the prompt. Whoever gets the most fingers explains themselves.

Overboard

The funniest fall into the water, judged by everyone. Voluntary entries only.

Resident DJ

Hold the music for a full hour without a single complaint.

A phone · 8

How Well Do You Know The birthday person?

A quiz about the birthday person: childhood, habits, stories, and a few questions their partner signed off on.

The Anthem

Write and record the official anthem of the party. Words, tune and production all count.

The Fire Championship

Pairs build one fire a night, photographed before it is lit. Best fire of the party, judged off the photographs on the last night.

Everybody on the Floor

The call goes up, the song goes on, and everybody gets a move read out to them. Three minutes, then the floor votes.

Five in Ten

Name five things in a category inside ten seconds. Run it as a knockout.

Name That Tune: Humming Only

Hum songs, no lyrics. Teams race to name the artist and the title.

The Decades

Everybody brings one song from a year of the birthday person's life. The room guesses the year and then argues about it.

One Song Each

Everybody puts one song on the list and says in one line why. The room votes on the best reason, not the best song.

Something around the house · 11

The Long Flight

Launch a paper plane from the edge. The furthest flight out over the water takes it.

Water Sprint

From the edge out to a marker and back. First three home take the points.

Charades: The birthday person

Act out people, places and incidents from the birthday person's life.

Keeper of the Ball

One soft ball, hidden on the first day. Find it, claim it out loud, and you can call anybody out. Then everybody else tries to rob it off you.

Paper Plane Regatta

Build paper planes from identical paper. Longest valid flight wins.

Say It, Draw It

One of you describes a photograph nobody else can see, the other draws it. Neither may ask a question.

Sock Basketball

Three shooting spots, five rolled socks each, one laundry basket.

Telephone Pictionary

Write a line, pass it on, draw what you were given, pass that on. Nobody sees more than the page before theirs.

The 60-Second Speech

Draw a ridiculous topic and speak confidently about it for sixty seconds without stopping.

The Longest Putt

An improvised putting challenge with a soft ball and whatever will do as a target.

Unlikely Expert

A convincing ninety-second lecture on a topic drawn out of a bowl.

A deck of cards · 4

Card Shark

The best overall result across three different card games.

Poker Face

During cards, win a hand after announcing beforehand that you have absolute rubbish.

Stop the Bus Champion

Three games of Stop the Bus. Never ride the bus and the points are yours.

Kings

One round of Kings. Agree the house rules before the first card, because agreeing them at midnight is how arguments start.

A few pounds in a supermarket · 9

Beer Pong Cup

Pairs, one table. Everybody plays everybody, then the best two play it off. Fill the cups with water and drink separately if anyone prefers.

Flip Cup Relay

Two teams race through one cup-flip each. Any drink, including water.

The Signature Drink

Invent the drink of the party. It has to be one agreed colour. Named, mixed and presented to the room — alcohol entirely optional, the colour is the brief.

Cup Sniper

First to hit three different designated cups takes it.

Minute to Win It: Cup Stack

Build and collapse a cup pyramid against the clock.

The Dizzy Waiter

Ten spins with your forehead on a bat, then carry a tray of full cups the length of the room. Measured in how little you spill.

The Hand-Me-Down

Wear something ridiculous but safe, chosen by everyone, until somebody else earns it by losing a challenge.

Trick Shot

Land one deliberately difficult trick shot inside five attempts.

Uniform

One photograph with all of everyone matching. Shirts, hats, sashes, socks — the item is nobody else's business.

Something bought · 4

Blind Taste Test

Blindfolded, name the sauce, the soft drink or the crisps.

Lawn Game Cup

Whatever lawn game the venue already has — ladder toss, washers, boules, cornhole — run as a doubles round robin.

Hot Sauce Sommelier

Rank mild-to-medium sauces by heat, blindfolded. Genuinely hot ones stay out of it.

Marshmallow Master

Produce a perfectly golden marshmallow. Burnt is a forfeit; raw is worse.

Games · 19

Nothing here needs a box. A deck of cards at worst, and most of them not even that.