Game night, sorted.

1. Deal 10 cards each. Put the rest face down as the draw pile, turn one card face up next to it as the discard pile.
2. On your turn, take one card — either the top of the draw pile or the top of the discard pile — then discard one. You always hold 10 cards.
3. You're trying to form melds: three or four of a kind (7♠ 7♥ 7♦), or three-plus in a row in one suit (5♣ 6♣ 7♣).
4. Cards not in a meld are deadwood. Face cards are 10, aces are 1, everything else is face value.
5. When your deadwood totals 10 or less, you may "knock" — lay your hand down and end the round. Zero deadwood is gin, worth a 25-point bonus.
6. Score the difference between your deadwood and theirs. First to 100 points wins the game.

1. Deal 6 cards each (2 players). Each of you puts 2 cards face down into "the crib" — a bonus hand that belongs to the dealer.
2. Cut the deck for a starter card, turned face up. It counts toward everyone's hand at the end.
3. The play: take turns laying cards face up, calling the running total. You may not go over 31. Score 2 for making exactly 15, 2 for a pair, and 2 for hitting 31 exactly.
4. The show: count your hand with the starter card. Every combination that adds to 15 = 2 points. Pairs = 2, runs of three or more = 1 per card, four cards of one suit = 4.
5. The dealer then counts the crib the same way, so the deal alternates.
6. Peg your points around the board. First to 121 wins.

1. Say three statements about yourself: two true, one false.
2. The others guess which one is the lie.
3. Reveal the answer — then tell the story behind the true ones. That's the actual point of the game.
4. Pass to the next person.

Make it better: ban anything the other person already knows. That forces you into real territory fast.

1. Four players, two teams, partners sitting across from each other. Deal the whole deck — 13 cards each.
2. Bid: each player says how many tricks they expect to win. Add the partners' bids together — that's the team's contract.
3. Play tricks clockwise. You must follow suit if you can. Highest card of the led suit wins — unless someone plays a spade, and then the highest spade wins.
4. Spades can't be led until someone has been forced to play one on another suit ("breaking spades").
5. Make your contract: 10 points per trick bid. Miss it and you lose 10 per trick bid. Extra tricks ("bags") are 1 point each, but every 10 bags costs you 100.
6. First team to 500 points wins.

1. Lay out a 5×5 grid of word cards. Split into two teams, each with one spymaster.
2. Only the spymasters see the key card showing which words belong to which team — plus one assassin word.
3. A spymaster gives a one-word clue and a number: "OCEAN, 3" means three of your words relate to ocean.
4. The team guesses words aloud. Right guess = keep going. Wrong guess = turn ends.
5. Guess the assassin and you lose immediately.
6. First team to find all their words wins.

1. Deal 7 cards each. Flip one card face up to start the discard pile.
2. On your turn, play a card that matches the colour, the number, or the symbol. Can't play? Draw one.
3. Skip passes the next player. Reverse flips direction. Draw Two hits the next player. Wild lets you name a colour; Wild Draw Four does both.
4. When you're down to one card you must say "Uno" — get caught silent and you draw two.
5. First to empty their hand wins the round.

Settle the arguments now: officially you may not stack Draw Twos, and Wild Draw Four is only legal if you hold no card of the current colour. House rules are fine — just agree before you start.

1. Everyone writes movie, book, song and TV titles on slips of paper. Fold them into a bowl.
2. Split into two teams. One person draws a slip and acts it out with no talking and no sounds.
3. Their team guesses against a 60-second timer. Correct guess = a point.
4. Standard signals: hold up fingers for number of words, tug your ear for "sounds like", crank your hand for "keep going".
5. Alternate teams. Highest score after an agreed number of rounds wins.

The Floor Is Lava — cushions, towels and books become safe islands. Call "the floor is lava" and everyone has 5 seconds to get off the ground. Touch the floor and you're out for that round. Move an island each round to keep it hard.

Living-Room Olympics — run 5–6 quick events and keep score on a sheet: sock-ball basketball into a laundry basket, balloon keep-up, a pillow obstacle course against the clock, paper-plate discus, spoon-and-ball relay. Medals for everyone.

1. Set the boards 27 feet apart, hole to hole (measure front edge to front edge at 24 ft if that's easier). For kids, move them in to 15–20 ft.
2. Two players stand at one board, two at the other. Each side has 4 bags.
3. Alternate throws with your opponent until all 8 bags are thrown. Stay beside your own board when you throw.
4. Bag in the hole = 3 points. Bag on the board = 1 point. Bags that hit the ground first don't count, even if they slide on.
5. Cancellation scoring: only the difference counts. If you score 7 and they score 4, you get 3 that round.
6. First to 21 wins. Most house rules say you must hit 21 exactly, or you bust back to 15.

Ladder Toss — stand 15 feet from the ladder. Throw your three bolas underhand. Top rung = 3 points, middle = 2, bottom = 1. Cancellation scoring, same as cornhole. First to exactly 21 wins.

Horseshoes — stakes 40 feet apart (20–30 for casual play). Ringer = 3 points (the shoe encircles the stake), within one horseshoe-width of the stake = 1 point. Play to 21. Only the closest shoes score, and equal throws cancel out.

Spikeball — 2v2 around a circular net at ankle height. Serve by bouncing the ball off the net toward the other team. Each team gets up to 3 touches to put it back on the net. There are no sides or boundaries — once the ball is live you can move anywhere. Point scored when the other team can't return it cleanly. Play to 21, win by 2.

Giant Jenga — stack the blocks three per layer, rotating each layer 90°. Take turns pulling one block using one hand only and placing it on top. Whoever topples it loses. Write dares or questions on the blocks if you want it louder.

1. Set 10 cups in a triangle at each end, point facing the middle, rims touching. Fill each with a small amount — this is a long game and you want it to stay fun.
2. Teams alternate, two throws per turn, one per player. Elbows behind the table edge.
3. Land a ball in a cup and the other team drinks that cup and removes it.
4. Sink both balls in one turn and you shoot again.
5. Each team gets one or two re-racks — ask to reshape the remaining cups into a tighter triangle or line.
6. Clear all their cups to win. Most house rules give the loser redemption: they shoot until they miss, and sinking every remaining cup forces overtime.

Keep it sane: water on the table, food beforehand, and swap in seltzer whenever anyone wants. Nobody drives.

Spread the deck face down in a ring around a large empty cup. Take turns drawing one card. Common rules — agree yours before you start, everyone plays differently:

1. A — Waterfall: everyone drinks, nobody stops before the person who drew.
2. 2 — You: pick someone to drink. 3 — Me: you drink.
3. 4 — Floor: last to touch it drinks. 5 — Guys. 6 — Girls.
4. 7 — Heaven: last to reach up drinks.
5. 8 — Mate: pick a partner who drinks whenever you do.
6. 9 — Rhyme: say a word, go around rhyming until someone fails.
7. 10 — Categories: name a category, everyone names one until someone blanks.
8. J — Make a rule that lasts the rest of the game.
9. Q — Question master: anyone who answers your question drinks.
10. K — Pour some of your drink into the centre cup. Whoever draws the fourth king drinks it and the game ends.

Keep it sane: the centre cup gets grim fast — many groups pour a splash, not a slug. Soda counts.

Flip Cup — two teams line up along opposite sides of a table, each with a cup filled a couple of inches. On "go," the first player on each team drinks, sets the cup upright on the table edge, and flips it with one finger until it lands face down. Only then can the next teammate start. First team down the line wins.

Quarters — bounce a quarter off the table into a cup. Make it and you choose someone to drink; miss and play passes. Three in a row usually earns you the right to invent a rule.