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Dinner Party Games to Entertain Your Guests - By Experts

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January 7, 2024

Dinner Party Games to Entertain Your Guests - By Experts

Hosting a dinner party at home is a wonderful way to bring friends and family together, but what turns a great dinner into an unforgettable evening? The answer lies in entertainment! Dinner party games are a go-to for greeting a fun-filled and memorable evening. If you’re looking for something fun to play with your guests, we've compiled a list of dinner party games endorsed by hosting experts.

9 Dinner Games Your Guests Will Love

Charades

Charades is a dinner party game classic, and for good reason! An easy one to up the energy, most of your guests will already know how to play and it provides some good laughs as well. If you’re looking to break the ice between guests, why not add some team dynamics? Everyone will be involved and it helps break down any social barriers, especially guests who may not know each other.

Poker Night

Some after-dinner Poker can be a great game for an at-home dinner party. Whether your guests are new to the rules of Poker or avid hands, put on your best Poker face and get everyone involved. Whether you play for real money or post-dinner chocolates, everyone is sure to have some fun. Want to up the stakes? Why not hire a Poker expert to deliver the ultimate Poker experience, teaching the rules as well as how to better your game?

Ibble Dibble

As seen in ‘The Crown’, Ibble Dibble is a fun and slightly silly drinking dinner party game, perfect for creating an evening your guests won’t be forgetting anytime soon! Involving tongue twisters, dotting your face with the charred end of a wine cork, and getting very drunk, it’s often a crowd-pleaser.

To play, each one of your guests is an ibble dibble and will be assigned a number i.e. ibble dibble 1, ibble dibble 2. Blacken the end of a cork (make sure it’s cooled), ready to dot on your guests’ faces (i.e. dibble ibbles) when they mess up the tongue-twister. You’ll go around the circle, and each player will name themselves (“one ibble dibble”), recite how many dots they have (“with no dibble-ibbles”) and then call on another player and say their number of dots (“calling on 5 ibble-dibble with 4 dibble-ibbles”). Any pauses or saying of the wrong words leads to the player taking a drink and receiving a new dot on their face. Whoever the player called on will take the next turn, continuing until you can’t take any more!

Murder Mystery

Take your dinner party and turn it into an entire game in itself! A murder mystery dinner party is a fantastic all-encompassing game that lets your guests express their creativity whilst getting everyone involved. Create an evening of suspense by assigning your guests characters, providing them with scrips and letting the evening unfold. Work together to solve the mystery over the night! If you really want to impress your guests, why not hire a private butler, private chef or bartender to add to the atmosphere?

Who Am I?

This is a great game to play through the night of your dinner party and can be a real ice breaker, giving your guests easy conversation starters as they get to know each other. As your guests arrive for the evening stick a sticky note to their backs with the name of a famous celebrity or character. No one will be able to see who they have been assigned, so they will need to ask other guests yes and no questions about their celebrity until they correctly guess who they are.

Quiz

Everyone loves a quiz and it’s a great way to get your guests working together to be crowned ultimate dinner party quiz champions. Set an overall theme or have multiple categories to cover everyone's strengths. A quiz not only entertains but also sparks interesting conversations and friendly debates.

Two Truths & a Lie

A classic icebreaker, "Two Truths and a Lie" never fails to entertain. Each guest must come up with two true statements about themselves and one false statement. As they share, the challenge is for others to identify the lie. This game encourages lighthearted sharing and reveals unexpected aspects of your guests' lives.

Cocktail Making Competition

A cocktail making competition is a great dinner party activity that can up the energy of the night. Perfect for pre or post-dinner, get each guest to create a signature cocktail and present it for tasting to the rest of the group and have your dinner guests vote on their favourites. To really impress your guests, hire a private mixologist to give your guests a masterclass in cocktail making!

Spoons

This is a competitive one, so be prepared! You’ll need a deck of cards and some spoons (one less than the number of guests). Place all the spoons in the middle of the table and deal 4 cards to each player. The dealer will take a new card from the deck, place it on their right, and then discard a card from their hand, parsing it to the player on their left. All other places will also discard one of their cards to the left and pick up the card now on their right. This continues until a player has 4 of a kind, in which they’ll grab a spoon. As soon as this happens everyone else must also grab a spoon. Whoever doesn’t get one is out! Keep going, removing a spoon every time something is eliminated from the game until there is a winner.

Expert-Endorsed Dinner Games

Entertaining your guests goes beyond a delectable meal - it's about creating an atmosphere of joy and connection. Whether it’s Ibble Dibble or Spoons, try out our expert-approved dinner party games at your next gathering, to fill your home with laughter, camaraderie, and lasting memories.

Antoine Melon

With an impressive 25 years of experience in opening and running restaurants and hotels all over the world, HOMETAINMENT co-founder Antoine Melon is an expert in the art of hosting, or as he would say "L'Art de recevoir”.

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