25 Fun Dinner Party Games To Play in 2024

Are you searching for exciting dinner party games to spice up your next event? Trivia, quizzes, card games, murder mysteries and other interactive games are a fun way to entertain, engage and bring out the competitive spirit in your guests. 

Whether you’re planning a formal dinner party or a casual backyard soirée, all you need are a few basic items, a set of cards or a board game to pull off the perfect game plan. You can also keep it simple by choosing amusing dinner party games that don’t use any materials. All you need is the imagination and conversation of your guests.

Ready to add some fun-loving entertainment to your next gathering? Below are detailed instructions for 25 dinner party games your guests will rave about. 

 Jump to Section

• Fun Dinner Party Games for Foodies
• Dinner Party Games for Adults With No Materials
• Other Fun Dinner Party Games
• Elevate Your Dinner Party With a Private Chef's Meal

Fun Dinner Party Games for Foodies

1. Foodie Photo Contest

What You’ll Need

• Smartphones

How to Play

If your guests are foodie photographers, they’ll love this dinner party game. As the food is served, have them take a photo of it. Categories could include things like best angle, most colorful and most unique filter. Guests can do the voting at the end of the meal, or each person could post it to their favorite social media sites and let their followers have a say.

2. Mystery Ingredient

What You’ll Need

• A mystery ingredient in each course

How to Play

This dinner party game is the perfect choice for foodies who consider themselves taste experts. As courses are served, guests must guess what unique or unusual ingredients are in them. These can include items like habanero peppers, cheddar cheese, sesame seeds or carrots in a dish that doesn’t normally include carrots.

3. Spice Variety

What You’ll Need

• Different types of spices or small plates prepared with spices

How to Play

There are a couple of ways to play this tasty dinner party game. Have guests smell or taste a variety of herbs and spices to show off their culinary knowledge. You could also prepare appetizers, tapas and other small plates prepared with different spices. Blindfold the taster and have them guess which spices are included in the recipe.

4. Guess the Chef

What You’ll Need

• A list of famous chefs with a brief description or fact about each one

How to Play

To play this dinner party game, read each description or fact. Guests must guess the chef based on the information offered. This trivia-based dinner party game is a fun way for guests to show off their culinary knowledge or love for the Food Network, the Cooking Channel or the Travel Channel.

5. Wine Tasting

What You’ll Need

• Bottles of wine

How to Play

Pour two or three glasses of wine for guests to taste. Have them guess whether it’s red, white or rosé (blindfolds are essential here) and make the game even tougher by asking them to name the winery or guess the vintage. Combine this game with several types of cheese or varieties of chocolate for an even tastier dinner party game.

Dinner Party Games for Adults With No Materials

6. Two Truths and a Lie

What You’ll Need

• No extra materials

How to Play

This is one of many ice breaker games and a fantastic way to learn new and unique things about your guests. Each person takes turns telling two things about them that are true and one that is a lie. The other guests must guess which statement is the lie.

7. Travel Goals

What You’ll Need

• No extra materials

How to Play

This dinner party game is an excellent icebreaker to play before the meal or between courses. Come up with a list of questions about guests’ travel dreams and goals. Questions could include, “Where did you have your favorite meal?” "Where is your favorite airport layover?” or “Where would you spend an extended stay?”

8. Charades

What You’ll Need

• No extra materials

How to Play

A classic game of charades is a fun dinner party game to play between courses or after the meal. Fill a basket with commands written on pieces of paper for players to act out. Choose themes such as celebrities, movies, TV shows, song titles, cooking techniques or famous chefs.

9. Storytelling

What You’ll Need

• No extra materials

How to Play

Get into the creative spirit with this fun and interactive dinner party game. One guest starts with a story, the next guest continues with another sentence or two. Each guest follows suit as you go on and on around the table, often ending on a hilarious note. Thanks to brilliant technological advancements, storytelling could even work well as a virtual dinner party game.

10. Categories

What You’ll Need

• No extra materials

How to Play

Each party guest picks a category, such as animals, food, beverages or movies to play this dinner party game. Other players take turns naming something that fits the category in alphabetical order. If the category is food, guesses would go like this: anchovy, banana, cheese and so on, until guests are all out of answers.

11. Would You Rather

What You’ll Need

• No extra materials

How to Play

This dinner party game is pretty simple. All you need to do is ask “Would you rather" type questions. A good example could be, “Would you rather swim with sharks or run with bulls?”

12. Simon Says

What You’ll Need

• No extra supplies

How to Play

Go back to grade school with this simple but always entertaining dinner party game. One person plays Simon and gives everyone else a command, such as, “Simon says put your hands on your head.” If the phrase “Simon says” isn’t mentioned, players should not carry out the command. If they do, they’re out. The guest left at the end is the winner of this dinner party game.

13. 20 Questions

What You’ll Need

• No extra supplies

How to Play

Just as the name suggests, this dinner party game involves asking 20 questions. One person thinks of a person, place or thing. Other guests ask questions that yield a "yes" or "no" answer. Continue asking questions until someone guesses the answer or until 20 questions have been asked.

Other Fun Dinner Party Games

14. Great Minds Think Alike

What You’ll Need

• Sticky notes
• Pencils/pens

How to Play

Each party guest gets a stack of sticky notes and a pen to play this dinner party game. Someone acts as the question asker and each guest writes down their answer on a sticky note. The goal is to get the same answer as another person. When this happens, you get a point. The winner is the person with the most points at the end.

15. Sticky Notes

What You’ll Need

• A pack of sticky notes
• Pencils/pens

How to Play

This dinner party game is a take on the popular Heads-Up game. The name of a person, famous or not, is written down on a sticky note. That note then gets stuck to the forehead of a guest. The person with the note then asks "yes" or "no" questions to try to guess who they are. If they get a “yes” answer, they can ask that person another question. With a “no,” it’s on to the next player. When a person guesses correctly, they win.

16. Water Game

What You’ll Need

• Glasses of water

How to Play

For this fun dinner party game, guests sit in a circle. One person is given a glass of water and must choose a category, for example, types of animals, to share with the rest of the group. They then pick something from that category — for example, a wombat — but don’t share it with the group. Next, everyone in the circle tries to guess what it is. When someone guesses correctly, the water is thrown in their face. The game then continues. Note: This game might be short-lived once your guests find out what happens to the correct guesser.

17. Back to Back

What You’ll Need

• Beverages

How to Play

Two guests stand with their backs against each other to play this fun dinner party game. A "most likely to" question is then asked, such as, “Who’s most likely to get a speeding ticket?” The person who thinks it’s them must take a drink. If they both drink, they drink again. If neither drinks, then both must drink. As you might have guessed, this game should be played on a full stomach.

18. Murder Mystery Game

What You’ll Need

• The Murder Mystery board game or a bit of creativity

How to Play

A murder mystery game is an excellent choice for a 1920s or jazz-themed party. If you choose to purchase a Murder Mystery board game, it comes with all the information you'll need, making this an easy dinner party game. Each guest is assigned a character. The story gets acted out throughout the evening of the party and guests try their best to solve the mystery. Multiple endings are possible, making this a dinner party game you can play over and over. You can even throw a whole murder mystery dinner party!

19. Movie Line Challenge

What You’ll Need

• A list of quotes from popular movies

How to Play

One person is chosen to call out the quotes. Guests must guess the movie each quote came from or the character who said it. The winner is the guest with the most correct quotes. For this dinner party game, you could go with themes such as action movies, chick flicks, thrillers or Disney movies.

20. Memory Masterpiece

What You’ll Need

• A tray
• Random items (10 to 20)
• Pencils/pens
• Notepads

How to Play

Place items on the tray and allow guests to look at them for 10-15 seconds. Guests must then write down as many items as they can remember. The guest who writes down the highest number of correct items is the winner of this dinner party game.

21. Spoons

What You’ll Need

• Spoons (enough for each person, minus one)
• A set of standard playing cards

How to Play

Spoons is one of those fun, quick-thinking games that can get loud and rowdy as family and friends show their competitive sides. Follow the instructions below to play:

• Spoons are placed in the center of the table.
• Each player gets four cards.
• The dealer takes the top card in the deck and puts it to their right. They also discard a card from their hand to the person on their left.
• Go around as each player hands a card to the left.
• Continue until one player has four of a kind. That player picks up a spoon.
• As other players notice, they also pick up a spoon.
• The spoonless player is eliminated and a spoon is taken away.
• Keep playing until two players are left. Remove a spoon each time a player is eliminated.
• The winner is the first player to get four of a kind and get their hands on the last spoon.

22. Name That Tune

What You’ll Need

• Music 

How to Play

Just like the popular game show, guests must guess the name of a song after hearing the first few seconds of it. The winner of this dinner party game is the guest with the most correct guesses.

23. The Voting Game

What You’ll Need

• The Voting Game, or a list of made-up questions

How to Play

To play the Voting Game, guests will anonymously answer questions. What gives this dinner party game an edge is that the questions are about other members of the party. You may be answering questions like, “Who would make the best President of the United States?” or “Who is most likely to be arrested for indecent exposure?” This game will have guests laughing and possibly blushing at the same time.

24. Cards Against Humanity

What You’ll Need

• The Cards Against Humanity game

How to Play

This dinner party game features two sets of cards — one for questions and one for answers. Players get 10 answer cards.

• A player starts by picking a question card.
• Players choose an answer card from their stack. They give this card to the person who asked the question.
• The asker then chooses their favorite answer.
• The person who gave that answer wins the round and then asks the next question.

While this is one of the most exciting party games for dinner parties, it can get racy with its questions and answers. Plan accordingly for your guest list. No one wants to scar Great Aunt Mable for the rest of her life.

25. Word Association

What You’ll Need

• No extra materials

How to Play

This simple dinner party game starts with someone saying a word. The next person continues by saying a word related to that one, and so it carries on. The scenario could go like this: fruit, apple, tree, bird, and so on. Guests are given a time limit to come up with a word. If they fail to name a word within the time limit, they’re out. The winner is the last person left in this dinner party game.

Elevate Your Dinner Party With a Private Chef Meal

Booking a dinner party led by a private chef can help reduce the stress of shopping, prep, cooking and serving. Gourmet private chefs arrive with everything needed to prepare and serve a fantastic meal. All you need to do is relax and enjoy the experience while connecting, laughing and playing jovial dinner party games with your guests. The chef will even take care of the dreaded kitchen clean up!

The next time you're planning to host, consider adding some of these party games for dinner parties to your evening's itinerary. In addition to entertaining your guests, these games make terrific icebreakers for guests who may not know each other while allowing well-acquainted guests to laugh, connect and share thoughts. Employ some ideas from the list above and your dinner party games will quickly be the talk of the town.

For even more special occasion ideas, check out other experiences happening on Cozymeal.