Hen party games for eight to twelve
Games for a villa, an apartment or a long table, in a register the mother of the bride can sit through.
A hen weekend usually has the big things booked already — a class, a boat, a long lunch — and what nobody has planned is the two hours before dinner. That is the part everybody remembers, and it is the part these are for.
Nothing here competes with what you have paid for. The best of them score the thing you have already booked, which is a much better game than one that asks everybody to stop and play.
20 of them
Grill Master
Cook one thing on the grill for everybody. Scored on taste, timing and presentation.
Lord of the Water
The best all-round showing on the water. The guest of honour decides on the last day.
The Class Cup
Whatever everybody 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 guest of honour's partner in advance. The guest of honour 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 guest of honour's Choice
At the end, the guest of honour awards points for the single funniest contribution to the event.
Blind Taste Test
Blindfolded, name the sauce, the soft drink or the crisps.
Breakfast Redemption
The best breakfast contribution of the event, judged by everybody.
Card Shark
The best overall result across three different card games.
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.
How Well Do You Know The guest of honour?
A quiz about the guest of honour: childhood, habits, stories, and a few questions their partner signed off on.
Lawn Game Cup
Whatever lawn game the venue already has — ladder toss, washers, boules, cornhole — run as a doubles round robin.
Mystery Chef
Teams get the same small set of ingredients and make the best late-night snack.
Poker Face
During cards, win a hand after announcing beforehand that you have absolute rubbish.
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.
Stop the Bus Champion
Three games of Stop the Bus. Never ride the bus and the points are yours.
The Anthem
Write and record the official anthem of the event. Words, tune and production all count.
The Doppelgänger
Find something nearby that looks oddly like the guest of honour and photograph the two of them together.
The Fire Championship
Pairs build one fire a night, photographed before it is lit. Best fire of the event, judged off the photographs on the last night.
Questions
What are good hen party games that are not embarrassing?
Anything built on the bride rather than on anybody in the room: how well the group knows her, what her partner said to the same question, the year a song came out. Nobody is put on the spot and everybody has something to say.
How do you include people who are not drinking?
Pick games where the drink is optional and the scoring is not. Half a good list needs no alcohol at all, and the two people on soft drinks should be able to win the weekend.
What works with a big age range?
Photographs and stories. A photo list and a round of one memory each are the two things a nineteen-year-old and a sixty-one-year-old will both join in with.
Put it in your own event
Fayla builds the whole thing around whatever you pick — a scoreboard everybody can see, a shopping list that writes itself, and one link for the group chat.