At some point in every adult social life there comes an evening where someone suggests playing a board game and nobody is quite sure whether they mean a normal board game or a slightly less normal board game. This is that guide. For the slightly less normal ones.
Adult party games occupy a strange middle ground. Too rude for family Christmas, not quite edgy enough for the people who take these things very seriously, and somehow exactly right for a hen do, a birthday, a date night that has stalled, or a group of friends who have run out of things to say and need a structure to say them in.
What Counts as an Adult Party Game?
Broadly: any game designed for adults that involves either explicit content, drinking, sexual themes, or some combination of all three. The category is wider than people realise.
At one end you have games that are simply slightly ruder versions of classics – Cards Against Humanity being the obvious example, though most people have played it by now. At the other end you have games explicitly designed for couples or groups looking to introduce sexual content into their evening in a structured way. Everything between those two points is also a game.
Games for Groups – Hen Parties and Birthdays
Hen parties are the natural habitat of the adult party game. Someone has to organise something and Prosecco alone only carries an evening so far.
What works for groups tends to involve quick rounds, no complex setup, and enough humour to keep people engaged regardless of whether they are the most or least adventurous person in the room. Games based around dares, questions, or card-drawing tend to travel well. Games that require couples tend to leave single guests standing around feeling conspicuous.
Things that work particularly well for hen dos: drinking game card sets with escalating dares, truth or dare formats with a mix of tame and less tame options, and quiz-style games about relationships and sex that are funny without requiring anyone to actually do anything they do not want to do.
Novelty items that double as games – inflatable items, pin the tail formats, that sort of thing – have a reliable track record at hen parties not because they are particularly sophisticated but because they photograph well and nobody has to think too hard after four glasses of wine.
Games for Couples
Date night games are a slightly different category. The aim is usually to encourage conversation, introduce a bit of novelty, or add some structured playfulness to an evening that might otherwise involve two people sitting on opposite ends of a sofa watching television and calling it quality time.
Couples games that work tend to involve questions neither person has thought to ask, small dares that feel manageable rather than alarming, or fantasy scenarios that open up conversation without requiring immediate action. The best ones feel like a conversation starter rather than a checklist to get through.
Things that tend not to work: games that assume a level of adventurousness that may not be present, games with complicated rules that require concentration at the point where concentration is not the priority, and anything that feels more like a test than a game.
A simple deck of question cards with a mix of sentimental, funny, and spicy questions has outlasted many more elaborate alternatives. Sometimes the simple thing is simple because it works.
Drinking Games for Adults
Drinking games for adults are their own ecosystem. The classic formats – Never Have I Ever, Ring of Fire, various card-based penalty systems – work because they are familiar enough to require no explanation and flexible enough to be made ruder or tamer depending on the group.
Dedicated adult drinking game sets add a structure that keeps things moving and removes the need for someone to remember all the rules mid-way through the evening when nobody is in any state to remember anything. Card sets with printed instructions, spinner-based games, and drinking game dice all fall into this category.
The main thing to get right with drinking games is calibration – knowing your group and whether they want something that is a bit of a laugh or something that is going to result in stories nobody is allowed to tell at work on Monday.
What to Consider Before You Buy
Who is playing. This sounds obvious but it is the most important variable. A game designed for established couples will land differently in a group of friends who have just met. A game with explicit content will need a group where everyone is comfortable with that – not assumed, actually confirmed beforehand.
How many people. Most couple games are for two. Most party games specify a minimum number. Check before you buy or you will end up with a game designed for six at a gathering of three.
Setup time and complexity. If the game requires ten minutes of reading instructions before you can start, you have already lost the room. The best party games are immediately understandable.
Replayability. Card games shuffle and reset. Games with a fixed set of questions get exhausted after one sitting. If you are buying for a group that plays together regularly, check whether the content actually varies or whether you will need a new set next time.
A Note on Novelty Items
The line between adult party game and novelty item is blurry and arguably does not matter. Willy straws, sash sets, inflatable items, rude-shaped confectionery – these are not games in any technical sense but they serve the same social function at hen dos and birthdays. They give people something to react to, photograph, and remember.
They also tend to be the things people are slightly embarrassed to buy and then glad they did. That is practically a genre requirement.
Browse our full range of adult party games, novelty gifts and hen party supplies at The Loving Company. Discreet packaging, a genuinely wide selection, and considerably more options than your local card shop will ever admit exist.
