Games To Play At A Bar
- Games To Play At A Barbeque
- Games To Play At A Barn Party
- Games To Play At A Barbecue Party
- Drinking Games To Play At A Bar
- Games To Play At A Barbecue
- Fun Adult Bar Games
Drinks on the patio. Is there anything better? Actually, yes. Games on the patio. These 20 bar patio games can turn your outdoor seating area into a spot for socializing – and a little friendly competition.
Cards Against Humanity With a 5-star Amazon rating based on nearly 40,000 reviews, this is a no brainer as far as bar games go. It’s simple to play: One player asks a question from a black card, the other players answer with their funniest white card. For a PG-version ideal for families, get Apples to Apples instead. 52 Totally Hot Sex Games You Can Play in the Bedroom Let the games begin. By The Editors and Carina Hsieh. Feb 17, 2021 Piotr Marcinski / EyeEm. Whether you’re bored, hitting the pandemic wall.
3 Reasons Why Bar Patio Games Rule
1) Living Billboard
Research shows that outdoor seating at bars and restaurants can drive up sales by 30%. One of the reasons for the increased revenue is that your patio becomes a “living billboard,” showing people passing by all the fun they’re missing. Adding bar patio games to the mix creates a lively social scene that will catch the eye of anyone nearby.
2) Events Made Easy
When the weather is nice, bar patio games give guests a reason to leave their own backyard. Set up an event around your bar patio games – from cornhole tournaments to beer pong playoffs. P.S. Always run a Facebook event for extra promotional power.
3) The Golden Hour Factor
Also known as the magic hour, the golden hour – right before and during sunset – is the ideal time for flattering photos. (Every millennial knows this.) When those selfies are snapped, your bar patio games get free Instagram and Facebook exposure…making your bar the “it” spot on social media.
It’s Game Time: The Top 20 Bar Patio Games
1) They Might Be Giants
Think outside the game box and go big with your bar patio games. Jenga is fun. Giant Jenga is irresistible. Use this simple DIY guide to creating a set of XL Jenga blocks.
Or, paint a giant checkerboard on your patio floor. Plastic red and black plates become the game pieces. You could even paint blue, green, red, and yellow circles on the floor to create a permanent Twister game.
2) A Round of…Sholf?
This list of bar patio games is about to get weird. Say hello to “Sholf,” a mashup of shuffleboard and golf. This quirky game took off at football tailgates about a decade ago. You can order the official kit or create your own using a putting green mat, a putter, golf balls – and this Sholf guide.
3) Shuffleboard: Not Just for Florida Seniors
If Sholf isn’t your thing, consider straight up shuffleboard – especially if you want your bar patio games to attract millennials.
You can thank the Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club in Brooklyn for making this senior-approved game a hipster’s delight. A regulation court is 52-feet long, but if space (and budget) is an issue, opt for a demure 9-foot tabletop version.
Games To Play At A Barbeque
4) Bean Bag Toss AKA Cornhole
You can’t talk about bar patio games without the iconic bean bag toss – also known as cornhole. This bar “sport” is becoming so popular, venues are holding tournaments.
Get your DIY on again and use this tutorial for building cornhole boards. Paint your logo onto the boards or get a large decal printed. After all, #cornhole is trending on Instagram so this keeps your brand in the picture (literally).
5) Skittles (No, Not the Candy)
Woudst thou liketh to playeth a game of ye olde Skittles?
Skittles, or lawn bowling, has been played in Europe for centuries. No lawn? No problem. Set up the 10 wooden pins on the floor and let the good times roll with the most traditional of bar patio games.
6) Today’s Arcade is Tableside
Think lawn bowling is too old school? Give guests the latest tech instead. Put touchscreen bar tablets from Buzztime in the hands of every guest. They can tap into realistic arcade games 24/7 or join in nationally scheduled trivia that runs 7 days a week, 15 hours a day. With over 10 million register players nationwide, Buzztime bar patio games can attract new patrons to your place.
7) Live Trivia for the Win
Take your bar patio games to the next level. Host a live trivia event! The same bar tablets that hook up guests with arcade games double as scoring devices on trivia night. No need to hire a trivia host, you get everything needed to host live trivia yourself.
8) Hoops Contests
Score a slam dunk with guests. Set up a mini basketball hoop and let the bar patio games begin. Run a trick shot contest and let audience applause determine the winner. Or, create a contest with a high stakes prize if someone makes a shot from across the patio.
9) How Low Can You Go?
Everyone loves to limbo (well, except really tall people). Purchase a limbo set for under $50. Play Flo Rida and T-Pain’s hit song Low. Now, you’ve got a limbo contest to add to your bar patio games lineup.
10) Card Games for Cool Kids
Time to toss that dusty Trivial Pursuit game. Upgrade to today’s trending card-based bar patio games like Cards Against Humanity, and What Do You Meme? Fair warning: these games are NSFW and definitely for the 21+ crowd. But millennials love ‘em. In fact, Cards Against Humanity is the #6 best-selling game on Amazon.
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11) Horseshoes
Take inspiration from backyard classics when planning your bar patio games. Granted, you’ll need sand pits and a strip of lawn for horseshoes. But the payoff is giving your outdoor bar space a homey, cool, sorta-country vibe.
12) KanJam
Next up on this list of bar patio games is a newer backyard favorite. KanJam involves two players who each guard a “goal” (which looks like a black trash bin). Players try to aim their frisbee into the bin.
13) Table Tennis
You’ve already got the tables. Push them together. Then just add ping pong balls, a net, and paddles. It’s bar patio games made easy. Run a table tennis tournament and watch guests get their game on all night long.
14) Flippin’ Fun
You could say Flip Cup is America’s unofficial college sport. The equipment? Red Solo Cups. Here’s how to run a flip cup game like a pro:
Two teams with an equal amount of players line up on either side of a long table. Every player has a cup in front of them. One player from each team begins the flip off by attempting to…flip their cup over. Once they land their cup, the next player goes. The team who successfully flips all their cups first, wins. It’s simple. It’s fun. It’s going to be one of your most popular bar patio games.
15) Beer Pong
Ah, beer pong. It’s another favorite college game involving those Red Solo Cups (and ping pong balls). Like cornhole, many bars run beer pong tournaments to turn their bar patio games into cool competitions.
This beer pong tutorial shows you how the game is played. But chances are, you already know how…
16) Croquet, Dahling
Games To Play At A Barn Party
Let’s step away from the college games and explore the refined game of croquet. Again, this is one of those bar patio games that requires a small lawn area. Players strike colorful croquet balls through wire hoops using a wooden mallet. This sophisticated game can inspire the perfect summer event: croquet and cocktails.
17) Video Bar Patio Games Under the Stars
Fortnite isn’t just a video game, it’s a national obsession. That’s why bars across America are hosting Fortnite tournaments. If you’ve got TVs on your bar patio, consider getting in on the Fortnite insanity with a tourney at your place.
Games To Play At A Barbecue Party
18) Texas Hold ‘Em Tourney
Bar tablets come into play again. This time, they become a virtual deck of cards so guests can throw down in Texas Hold ‘Em on your patio. Raise the stakes and run a tournament to maximize the ROI of your poker bar patio games.
19) Scrabble Supersized
Scrabble tiles are tiny. Create your own larger set using plywood or cardboard and set them out on the patio floor using this easy DIY guide to “Lawn Scrabble.” Yes, we had to sneak in one more giant game onto this bar patio games list.
20) Chalk it Up
Sometimes the best bar patio games are the simplest. If you’re like many bars, you turn a section of your parking lot into a patio during warmer months. Boom, you’ve got a blank canvas for chalk-based games. Think retro hopscotch or simple rounds of tic, tac, toe. Set out buckets of sidewalk chalk so guests can get arty.
When it comes to fun and games, take it outside. Bar patio games create a social, upbeat atmosphere that no guest can resist. Let the (outdoor) games begin!
Tabletop games can make or break a bar. No matter how cheap the PBRs at your regular neighborhood spot are, there’s nothing like some friendly competition among friends to turn a casual bar night (or day) into an unforgettable time.
Not all bar games are created equal, however. Here are the nine best tabletop bar games, ranked.
9. Scrabble
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Drinks can loosen your tongue and make you feel like a wordsmith — and a Scrabble genius. It’s a great game at a quiet bar, but it takes a little too much concentration for loud bars and/or distracting tipsy friends.
8. Sorry!
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Playing Sorry! in a bar can get aggressive, and that’s part of the draw. Let the nostalgia take over, bypass your friends with a sarcastic “sorry!” and take a drink every time your pawn gets bumped or passed.
7. Checkers
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Jumping people is never as fun as it is in checkers. The simple man’s chess has just enough strategy to keep players engaged, and is familiar and easy enough to play while distracted. Take a drink for every piece you lose and every king your opponent gets.
6. Settlers of Catan
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If you don’t already know how to play Catan, then don’t try to learn it at the bar. You’ll likely end up like this guy if you do. But if you do know how to play, getting tipsy while playing Catan is unbeatable. The learning curve and length of play, however, put Catan at No. 6 on this list.
Drinking Games To Play At A Bar
5. Dominoes
Games To Play At A Barbecue
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You’ve likely seen a box of dominoes sitting around your neighborhood bar. You’ve also probably lined them up and made them fall like … dominoes. Learn the rules, though, and you’ve got a decent bar game. It’s a little more difficult to incorporate drinking into dominoes, but it’s a fast, entertaining game that four people can play at once. When you want some quick entertainment, dominoes is the way to go.
4. Trivial Pursuit
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Throw it back to the days before we could answer all the trivia questions in the world with our phones. Trivial Pursuit tests how much random (sometimes useless) information you know. It’s the perfect group game that doesn’t take much space or equipment, making it ideal for smaller bars. It’s also easy to turn into a drinking game.
3. Battleship
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Battleship is essentially a game of educated guesses. Each player picks squares on a grid and hopes that the opponent’s piece is on that square. Spice it up with a drinking component, though, and Battleship becomes one of the best two-person games to play at the bar. Try taking a drink every time someone hits your ship. The only thing holding it back from being even higher on the list is the length of game time, making it difficult for groups larger than two.
2. Connect Four
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Fun Adult Bar Games
Not all that looks simple is truly simple. The general idea of Connect Four (line up four pieces in a row before your opponent does) is easy. Mastering strategy and maintaining awareness of your opponent is not so easy. The only thing keeping Connect Four from being the top tabletop bar game is that it can only be played by two people at once.
1. Jenga
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Jenga has all the components of the perfect bar game. There’s strategy, physical skill, suspense, numerous players, and loud noises that indicate the loser. On top of all that, it’s easy to add drinking rules — loser takes a shot, take a sip of beer for every successful block you pull, etc. If you ever find someone who’s never played Jenga before, the rules are incredibly easy. But you’ll probably never find someone who’s never played Jenga before. All things considered, Jenga is the best tabletop bar game out there.
Published: March 28, 2017