40 Halloween Party Games to Play for a Ghastly Good Time
Updated: Oct. 09, 2023
Make your bash scary fun with these Halloween party games that are great for kids and adults alike
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Halloween party games that take your shindig to the next level
There’s so much to love about Halloween. The Halloween movies (including the ones for kids), the fun DIY decorations, board games, carving pumpkins, swapping scary stories at night—it’s all fantastic fun, leading up to a night filled with candy and glee. The fun doesn’t have to stop with getting dressed up and going trick-or-treating, though. There are plenty of Halloween party games to play at your monster bash to make it even more memorable (like Halloween bingo, for one).
These Halloween party games aren’t just for kids either. Adults will have their inner child brought to life with the festive, eerie and overall fun challenges. While a few of them do require a little planning, many are super easy and won’t require you to complete any Halloween crafts in advance. And if you’re still looking for the perfect theme or the best ways to put your party together, check out these Halloween party ideas that will make for a scary-good time.
Halloween Ring Toss
What you’ll need:
How to play:
- Blow up the inflatables.
- Pass out the rings.
- Have each player attempt to toss the rings onto the inflatables.
- The player who tosses the most rings onto the inflatables wins.
Don’t forget to take advantage of the best Halloween candy deals so you all can enjoy some sweet treats while people play these Halloween party games.
Horror Movie Emoji Pictionary
What you’ll need:
How to play:
- Pass out the cards included in the kit.
- Have people guess what the scary movie is based on the combination of emojis.
- The person with the most correct answers wins. When it comes to Halloween party games, this one’s perfect for movie buffs.
Halloween Charades
What you’ll need:
How to play:
- Now this is a Halloween party game that’s perfect for an adult bash! Split the party up into teams, but designate one person to be the timekeeper.
- Give each team charades cards to act out.
- One person from each team acts out the word or phrase on the card without speaking.
- The team has a set time (to be determined ahead of time) to guess the word or phrase. If they guess correctly, they earn a point.
- The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.
After you’re done playing, stream one of these Halloween movies on Hulu for more eerie fun.
Don’t Get Stabbed
What you’ll need:
- Don’t Get Stabbed card game, for ages 18 and up
How to play:
- There are two goals for this card game: for the killer to kill, and for the victims to escape. Keep drawing cards and let them determine your fate in this Halloween game for adults.
Death by Trivia
What you’ll need:
- Death by Trivia card game, for ages 13 and up
How to play:
- This is another one of those Halloween party games that’s great to play at an adult party, especially if you have trivia pros in attendance. Snag the Death by Trivia card game and see which guest will be the morbid knowledge champion.
Hanging Apples
What you’ll need:
How to play:
- Buy a bunch of red apples and just one green apple.
- Hang the apples on long strings from a tree branch (by twisting the strings together, you disguise where the green apple is).
- For each child’s turn, blindfold him or her, untwist the apples and set the youngster toward the branch.
- If he or she picks the green apple, he or she wins a prize (and the apple).
- Put up a new green apple (make sure it’s in a new spot) and give another child a turn. Repeat until everyone’s had a turn.
Get your whole crew dressed up this year with the best family Halloween costumes.
Pass the Pumpkin
What you’ll need:
- Small pumpkins
- Speaker
How to play:
- Have one fewer pumpkin than you have players.
- Sit youngsters in a circle.
- Play Halloween music while they pass the pumpkins around the circle.
- When the music stops, the player without a pumpkin is out, but he gets to take a pumpkin with him.
- The rest of the players continue to play until there is a winner, who will get a prize.
Bring some laughter to the party by sharing these hilarious (and spooky) Halloween memes.
Balloon Sweep Relay Race
What you’ll need:
How to play:
- Set up a course that zigzags across the yard (or playroom).
- Use colored string tied to stakes (or chairs) to mark it.
- Divide the guests into two teams.
- Give each team a small broom and a blown-up balloon.
- Each member of a team must sweep the balloon around the course and back before the next member goes.
- The team to have every member finish the course first wins.
See what everyone will be wearing this year by scouring the best Halloween costumes beforehand.
Pin the Tail on the Black Cat
What you’ll need:
How to play:
- Hang up a large picture of a black cat without its tail.
- Give each guest a tail.
- One by one, blindfold the guests, turn them around, and then set them off toward the cat picture and see where they put the tail.
- The guest who gets the tail closest to its rightful place wins.
Halloween Story Game
What you’ll need:
How to play:
- Include the beginning of a ghost story in your party invitations and ask each child to come to the party with an ending to tell.
- Hear all the endings and let the guests vote for the funniest, the weirdest and the spookiest.
Get some inspiration by learning about the origins of the spookiest Halloween creatures.
Guess the Ghost
What you’ll need:
How to play:
- This is one of the easiest (and most fun) Halloween games for kids. Have one child leave the room to be “it.”
- Then let another child hide under a white sheet.
- The remaining children will change places with one another.
- Call in the missing child and see if he or she can name the ghost by figuring out who in the group is missing.
- The child who played the ghost then becomes “it” and leaves the room.
Build a Scarecrow
What you’ll need:
- Old clothes
- Pillowcases
- Newspaper or hay
- Rope
- Markers
How to play:
- Divide the guests into teams.
- Give each team a pile of old clothes (including hats), pillowcases for heads, newspapers or hay for stuffing, ropes for tying and markers for making faces.
- Give each team 15 or 20 minutes to make a scarecrow.
- Give prizes for the silliest and the scariest, then hang the creations outside.
These scary Halloween events that actually happened will spook you to your core.
Mummy Wrap
What you’ll need:
How to play:
- Divide guests up into pairs; give each pair a roll of toilet paper.
- One team member will be the wrapper and the other will be the mummy.
- The first team to use up its roll wins.
- Or you can give each team two rolls of toilet paper and after the mummy is wrapped, he or she must wrap his partner.
- The first team to empty both rolls of toilet paper wins.
Get the whole party laughing with these (candy) corny Halloween jokes.
Identify What You Feel
What you’ll need:
- Food containers (not clear)
- Black cloth
- Pumpkin insides
- Sponge
- Spaghetti
- Cocktail sausages
- Flour tortilla
How to play:
- Line up five food containers and cover them all with a black cloth.
- Let each guest stick a hand in each dish, under the cloth so the contents can’t be seen, and try to guess what it really is.
- You can tell the guest that the first dish holds guts (the insides of a pumpkin) and see what he or she guesses.
- The second dish is said to hold brains (damp coarse sponge).
- The third is said to hold veins (cold, cooked spaghetti).
- The fourth is said to hold cut-off fingers (cocktail sausages).
- The fifth is said to hold skin (pieces of a soft flour tortilla).
- The person who guesses the most actual content wins.
This one could get a little messy, so make sure you know how to remove stains just in case there are some spills.
Apple Pass
What you’ll need:
- Apples
How to play:
- Divide guests into teams and line each team up.
- The first in line for each team is given an apple under his or her chin. Without using any hands, the apple must be passed to under the second team member’s chin, and from that chin to the next, until all the members of the team have held the apple.
- If the apple drops, it must start at the beginning again.
- The first team to successfully pass the apple down its row wins.
Get the greatest-of-the-great apples by finding out the best place to pick apples in every state.
Doughnut Race
What you’ll need:
- Doughnuts
- String
How to play:
- Divide guests into teams.
- Hang a doughnut for each guest from a tree limb or a clothesline.
- Without using hands, each guest must catch and eat a doughnut.
- The first team to finish its doughnuts wins.
Bobbing for Apples
What you’ll need:
- Large tub
- Apples
How to play:
- Fill a large tub with cold water and set it on the ground or the floor of a porch.
- Float some clean, stemmed apples in the tub, and invite guests to try to grab an apple with their teeth—no hands allowed.
- Anyone who even tries bobbing for apples deserves a prize, but we understand if you only want to give prizes to those who manage to get one.
- To keep things safe, make sure to switch out the water and apples after each person is finished.
What Am I?
What you’ll need:
How to play:
- Have the kids draw Halloween-themed pictures on a piece of paper and tape them each to a different guest’s back (without the guest seeing what it is).
- While others can give only yes or no answers, each guest must guess what he or she thinks appears on the paper on their back.
Spooky Bowling
What you’ll need:
- Toilet paper rolls
- Black paper
- Small pumpkin
How to play:
- Decorate a few toilet paper rolls with circular black cutouts to mimic the face of a ghost.
- Use a small pumpkin to knock over the “pins.”
Share some of these Halloween quotes at your next party to get everyone in the spooky spirit.
Walk the Spiderweb
What you’ll need:
How to play:
- Use bright green painter’s tape to make a spiderweb on your floor.
- Place some plastic spiders in the empty spaces of the web.
- Let the kids collect the spiders.
- The catch is that they must stay on the web and pick up all the spiders without falling over or touching the floor or carpet.
Pumpkin Tic Tac Toe
What you’ll need:
How to play:
- Buy a few mini pumpkins in two different colors to use as X and O game pieces.
- It’s quick and easy to set up this game: Just tie string around a side table to make the grid.
Add some tricks to your party with these spooky Halloween riddles.
Scarecrow Scavenger Hunt
What you’ll need:
How to play:
- Make a list of 12 different Halloween-inspired items.
- You can buy small, hideable toys like mini witches or black cats.
- Hide these in your house and ask the kids to find them throughout the party or for a set amount of time. Of course, offer the winner candy.
Pumpkin Pick-Up
What you’ll need:
How to play:
- Dump a bag of candy pumpkins on the table.
- Have people use chopsticks to pick up as many pumpkins as possible in 60 seconds. The person who picks up the most pumpkins wins.
Ghost Burlap Sack Race
What you’ll need:
How to play:
- Cut out ghost eyes and mouths.
- Hot glue the eyes and mouths on the burlap sacks; let the glue cool.
- Give each person a burlap sack at the start line and have them put both legs in the sack.
- When someone says “go,” each person races by hopping along in the sack. The first person to the finish line wins. (This is one of the Halloween party games on this list that incorporates some exercise!)
Pumpkin Decorating Contest
What you’ll need:
- Pumpkins
- Pumpkin stickers
- Pumpkin paint
How to play:
- Set up a table for the kids to paint and decorate their own pumpkins.
- Have the kids vote on their favorites, and hand out awards for the best, the scariest and the funniest.
If you choose to carve, check out these pumpkin carving ideas that are absolutely genius. Plus, you’ll want to know this trick to make your carved pumpkins last longer.
Witch Hat Toss
What you’ll need:
- Large pumpkins
- Witch hats
How to play:
- Stagger a few large pumpkins.
- Let kids take turns tossing witch hats on top.
- Have them play the best two out of three.
Candy Corn Catch
What you’ll need:
How to play:
- Pair off participants.
- Have one person hold some candy corn and the other tie string to the Halloween bucket, then wear it around their neck.
- Toss the candy corn into the bucket while the other tries to catch it. The duo who catches the most candy corn wins!
Tag, You’re a Zombie
How to play:
- Start with one person as “it,” or “the zombie.”
- Every time they tag someone, that person also becomes a zombie.
- The last person standing who isn’t a zombie wins.
Tarantula Toss
What you’ll need:
How to play:
- Spread the fake spider webs between a doorway.
- Have the kids toss plastic spiders.
- The first to stick their spider wins their choice of candy.
“Monster Mash” Freeze Dance
What you’ll need:
How to play:
- Queue up “Monster Mash” to play on a speaker.
- Once the song starts playing, have everyone dance.
- Pause the song suddenly; when it stops, people should freeze in place.
- If someone moves, they’re out. Repeat the process until one person wins.
Did you know you can dress up the family pet with these adorable dog Halloween costumes?
Halloween Truth or Dare
What you’ll need:
- Halloween truth or dare questions from Play Party Plan
How to play:
- Print out the Halloween truth or dare questions from Play Party Plan, linked above.
- Split everyone up into teams.
- Have a team member choose truth or dare.
- They will have to either answer the question or perform the dare to earn a point.
Find the Eyeball in the Haystack
What you’ll need:
- A large bucket
- Hay
- Candy eyeballs
How to play:
- Fill a large bucket (or an empty sand box) with hay.
- Hide a bunch of candy eyeballs in the hay and see how many people can find. This game is especially fun for younger children.
Halloween Guess Who
What you’ll need:
How to play:
- Write out common spooky characters on index cards before your guests arrive.
- Upon their arrival, tape a card on their back.
- Have guests guess what character is on their back by questioning the other guests.
- Whoever guesses first gets a prize.
Pass the Candy Corn
What you’ll need:
How to play:
- Split the party up into teams and have each team line up next to each other.
- Each person will get a small bowl and spoon.
- The first person in the line gets a small amount of candy corn in their bowl.
- The object of the game is to move each piece of candy corn into the next person’s bowl using only the spoon. The catch: The spoon must be in your mouth. No hands allowed!
- The first team to move all their candy corn down the line wins.
Halloween Candy Guessing Game
What you’ll need:
How to play:
- Before your guests arrive, fill a clear jar with Halloween candy. Make sure to count it first!
- Have each guest guess how many pieces of candy are in the jar and write it down.
- Whoever comes closest gets to bring the whole jar home. Playing Halloween party games has its perks, especially if you win!
Halloween Movie Quotes
What you’ll need:
How to play:
- For all the scary movie aficionados, write out a list of quotes from famous scary movies (or Halloween movies).
- You can either split everyone into teams or have each person fend for themselves.
- Read each quote and have everyone guess which movie it came from.
- Whoever earns the most points wins.
Decoration Scavenger Hunt
What you’ll need:
How to play:
- Create a list of questions related to your Halloween decorations, such as “How many spiders are in the kitchen?” or “What color hat is the skeleton by the front door wearing?” Your guests will be scrambling around the house to find all the answers.
- The person who completes the scavenger hunt first wins.
Bean Bag Toss
What you’ll need:
- Pumpkins
- Bean bags
How to play:
- This one requires a little preparation. Carve a few pumpkins before the party, but make sure they have giant holes for mouths.
- Lay out the bean bags across from the pumpkins.
- Have the players try to toss the bean bags into a jack-o’-lantern‘s mouth.
- Whoever gets the most in the hole wins.
Pumpkin Checkers
What you’ll need:
How to play:
- Set up a large checker board on one of your tables. You can tape down construction paper squares or draw the squares on a large poster board.
- Get a bunch of mini gourds in two different colors to use as checker pieces. This is one of those Halloween party games that will have people hovering around the table all night!
Pumpkin Relay Race
What you’ll need:
How to play:
- Blow up the balloons—they will be your pumpkins.
- Split everyone into teams.
- Have everyone run across the room with a balloon (pumpkin) between their legs without popping it.
- Whichever team finishes first wins.
If you really want to get spooked after laughing over these Halloween party games, gather up the crew and head to one of the best haunted houses in America.
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Additional reporting by Kelly Kuehn.
Originally Published: July 30, 2021
