Halloween is not just a time to dress up, collect candy, or spend evenings watching Wes Craven movies; it is also a time when people get together to celebrate! Parties abound, whether in homes, offices, or community reception halls. In any case, when having a Halloween gathering it is a good idea to have a repository of game options to keep friends and guests occupied, happy, and engaged.
Halloween Party Games
Organizing a Halloween costume game is a much utilized tactic to get people at a party talking with others. Though a purely subjective measure, letting guests know that costume originality and effort will be rewarded can be a great way to set the tone of the gathering. This strategy works well for both adults and children.
If we were talking about just children, apple-bobbing games or scary storytelling might be among the most easy and fun options. With adults, however, finding suitable games can be slightly more difficult. Consider Halloween themed word games, like word scrambles or hangman. For more scary Halloween games, have guests prepare descriptions of gruesome and imaginary deaths or dismemberments for entertainment – creativity counts! Keeping the lights low, with candles for ambiance, can remind everyone of childhood sleepovers, and it just might result in a few spine-chills and raised-hairs.
What is Halloween without a ouija board or tarot cards? If in the mood to splurge, having a real (and spooky) fortune reader is a very nice touch. Depending on the intended atmosphere, Halloween drinking games to go along with scary movies can be very interactive. Have guests drink every time a female character attempts running away in high heels, or when someone in the movie goes to check a noise that would make any reasonable human being call the police. People might become tipsy before you know it, but there is no doubt they will have fun getting there!
Halloween Office Games
There might be a greater concern of being politically correct when playing games in an office environment. Trivia games that focus on halloween tradition or movies can show just who the secret Halloween fans are in the office. Having office members bring lines from their favourite scary movies and giving points to others who can guess the movie correctly will keep people engaged and interacting. If the boss is easy going, see if they would be willing to allow a picture of their face on a donkey, for pin-the-tail activities. Consider asking this question gently if unsure of the response.
And Technology Marches On…
The rave used to be video games, either with at home video game machines or in arcades. Then came “gaming systems”, attached to televisions that required a specific location to be set out. Today, the landscape has changed – gaming through phones is portable, easy and, most importantly, free. Android and iPhone markets give their customers access to numerous applications, many of which allow users to play free Halloween games. Halloween versions of Angry Birds are available, and games such as Pumpkin Lantern and Ghostbuster have been a hit for consumers.
The ultimate goal of Halloween games is to have people interact with one another while celebrating the traditions that make this holiday unique. In the case where games are not doing the job, there is always one failsafe that is sure to have guests perk up: a tutorial on dancing to Thriller. Even in death, Michael Jackson lives on.