20 Fun Engagement Party Games That You’ll Actually Want to Play (2024)

How It Works: It’s the classic beanbag toss game, with a twist. Divide your party into two teams, then have them answer assorted questions about the couple. With every correct answer, each team “earns” a beanbag and, thus, more opportunities to score. To make it even more challenging, you can designate points per beanbag. (The trickier the question, the more points the beanbag is worth.)

Shop the Party: The Rustic White Faded Cornhole Set from the new Country Living cornhole collection is understated enough to make a second cameo on the wedding day.

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How It Works: Toss the horseshoe (an ancient symbol of good luck) around a stake that’s roughly 40 feet away. After the event, gift the bride and groom one of the horseshoes to display in their home (preferably positioned upright, to “catch” the good luck). (Psst: Interlocking horseshoes also make for a sweet logo on a party invite.)

Shop the Party: Made in the U.S.A., a sturdy forged steel set comes with its own carrying case and also makes for a fun wedding gift.

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How It Works: Divide attendees into several teams, each with the same stash of co*cktail fixin's, and challenge the groups to create a signature co*cktail that represents the couple. (“It’s strong — just like their love” or “This one’s bourbon-based because the bride and groom met in Kentucky.”) The couple taste-tests each concoction before declaring a winner. (Up the stakes by ensuring the winning co*cktail finds its way on the wedding menu!)

Shop the Party: Mr. and Mrs. swizzle sticks add a fun custom touch, as do personalized co*cktail napkins with a distinct country spin.

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How It Works: Asks guests to don their garden-party best (think seersucker, bow ties, sun hats), then grab a mallet and follow the basic rules of the classic lawn game. (Take it up a notch and embrace a whole Alice in Wonderland-esque theme, complete with a “Queen of Hearts” card game and a “Mad for Each Other” Mad Hatter hat contest.)

Shop the Party: Designed for adults and kids (and crafted from premium hardwood), this set’s bright color palette and sophisticated design give it Gatsby-esque garden party appeal.

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How It Works: Outfit each table, or small group, with a custom puzzle that features an image that’s somehow sentimental to the couple. (It could be of their dog, the site of their first date, or something totally obscure, like the groom’s elementary school.) Teams compete to complete the puzzle, then guess why the image holds significance.

Shop the Party: Turn any photo into an 8"-by-10" 48-piece puzzle (anything more challenging may take too long).

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How It Works: Arrange bottles in a soda crate—extra points for scoring a fittingly on-theme “Crush” or “KIST” brand crate—and rack up points by tossing plastic or rope rings around the bottle necks. After the game, ask guests to slip messages—to be read on assorted anniversaries—into each bottle as a keepsake.

Shop the Party: This wooden set comes with heavy-gauge rope rings and precut slots for your own vintage bottles.

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How It Works: Stock a rented photo booth or photo station with mini chalkboards and have guests scribble their best bits of marital wisdom on a series of boards, with the four-photo sequence composing a piece of advice: “Never Fall Asleep Angry” or “Take Out the Trash.” The happy couple votes on their favorite photo-sentence sequence.

Shop the Party: This 8.5"-by-10.5" classic framed chalkboard is the perfect size to fit in the photo.

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How It Works: From setting a date to (gulp) buying a house, an engagement and marriage are filled with occasions large and small worthy of a clink. Ask each guest to bring a bottle of wine or bubbly labeled for a specific occasion—the more quirky or specific, the better!—and have them add it to a bar cart or riddling rack. (Think: “For the day your spouse dares to binge-watch your favorite show without you” or “For the day your future child asks how babies are made.”) Up the competitive ante by pairing this activity with a wine guessing game.

Shop the Party: Designed to hold 24 bottles of wine, a vintage-style riddling rack makes for a thoughtful group gift.

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How It Works: This one takes inspiration from the endless “gender reveals” all over the Internet. Ask the bride and groom to answer roughly 10 questions (who owns more shoes? Who made the first move? Who hogs the sheets?), and then challenge partygoers to jot down their guesses. Write each question on a helium balloon and fill each with a confetti that corresponds to either the bride or the groom and pop the balloons to reveal the answers. Use each balloon as a centerpiece; the table that winds up with the most correct answers tied to its specific balloon gets to “pop” celebratory gift of mini Champagne bottles.

Shop the Party: Minimize the work on your end by repurposing balloons designed for gender reveals. (Just make sure the balloon exterior doesn’t reference a baby!)

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How It Works: If the party takes place in a city that’s sentimental to the couple, create a list of clues tied to places that are significant to the happy couple’s history—say, where they met or the site of their first date—and challenge teams of partygoers to track down each location and take a selfie in the spot within a designated window of time. (Heart Eye balloons placed in each correct location will confirm they found the right place.) Magnifying Glass Cookies and a Follow-the-Footprints cake reinforce the sleuthing theme.

Shop the Party: Let guests take notes and keep track of clues with “Top Secret” notepads.

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How It Works: Ask the couple to share a playlist of songs that have special significance to them, then turn that list into a sentimental karaoke set, each song performed by a table or predetermined group. The attendees vote on the performer(s) that perform their set with the most soul and substance while also guessing why the song has significance to the couple.

Shop the Party: Outfitted with two microphones, LED lights, and a seven-inch color screen, this karaoke machine is like having a karaoke bar in your basem*nt.

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How It Works: An oversize backyard chess game is a gift that keeps on giving. Turn it into an engagement party activity by donning the king piece with a bow tie and the queen piece with a veil.

Shop the Party: This oversize indoor/outdoor “MegaChess” set ranges from a 25-inch king and 16-inch pawn. (Board sold separately.)

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How It Works: Create roughly 10 stations around the room, each devoted to a geographic location of significance to the well-traveled twosome. When a designated emcee notes a milestone tied to the couple—“They got engaged at a charming coffee in this town” or “The bride studied abroad here”—everyone rushes to the location station they think is the fit. If they get the right answer, their party “passport” gets a stamp. (Bonus points if you stock up on craft store stamps appropriate to each location!) The person who collects the most stamps wins.

Shop the Party: These 4.25"-by-5.75" notebooks come with 24 blank pages and authentic-looking passport covers.

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How It Works: Simply crisscross pieces of rope to create your grid, then divvy up cutouts of Xs and Os (fittingly, the classic shorthand for “hugs and kisses”), and toss from an agreed-upon distance. To add a more custom spin, you can also create silhouette cutout game pieces of the bride and groom, or swap Xs and Os for their first initials.

Shop the Party: This rustic 30-inch rope square complements nine natural wood letters.

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How It Works: Ask everyone to come prepared with (or spend a few minutes at the party looking up) their favorite, funniest tweets involving marital advice or observations, which they can jot down on paper cutouts in the shape of the Twitter logo. Go around the room and share the funniest bits of wisdom with the “love birds.” Samples: “Establish dominance in your household by staring at your husband while you unplug his phone from the charger and plug in your own” and “Marriage is just texting each other ‘Do we need anything from the grocery store?’ a bunch of times until one of you dies.”

Shop the Party: Have guests jot down their favorite marital tweets on three-inch cardstock birds (31 birds/package).

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How It Works: This one’s less of a game than it is a thoughtful activity that will create a lasting keepsake. Because an engagement party is a unique chance to gather those you love most in one place, ask each attendee to sign his or her name and, perhaps, a short sentiment on a linen table runner with disappearing ink marking pen. After the party, have an embroiderer stitch over the names in the couple’s wedding colors as a one-of-a-kind keepsake.

Shop the Party: Available in multiple lengths (here, 14" by 90") and colorways, this machine-washable runner comes complete with a classic hemstitch.

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How It Works: This one’s particularly fun for the kids. (Germophobes? Not so much!) Divide partygoers into Team Groom or Team Bride. Designate each a color — green or red — and place an equal number of green and red apples in a large galvanized pail or trough. See which team can score the most apples in a set window of time.

Shop the Party: A low-profile galvanized stock tank makes the perfect container for floating fruit.

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How It Works: The couple takes their seats in chairs facing back to back. Each person removes one shoe, then trades that shoe with their partner so that they’re holding one of each. A designated interviewer asks a series of questions ("Who said 'I love you' first?" or “Who’s the worst driver?”). After each question, each person holds up the shoe of the person who best “answers” the question.

Shop the Party: A pair of white studded cowgirl boots pairs well with typical engagement party attire.

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How It Works: The same rules apply, but at a much larger scale! Order this set, orDIY your own letters with wood or cardboard, then embark on your war of (kind, loving) words. (Some event companies even offer a rentable version.)

Shop the Party: This set of 146 (4"-by-4") heat-stamped pine letters comes in a convenient carrying case.

How It Works: Marriage is all about balance, right? Ask partygoers to sign individual wooden blocks (a fun twist on a party guest book) and then see who has the steadiest hand. (For even more of a challenge, pair off partners by tying their wrists together and making them work in tandem.)

Shop the Party: This wooden toppling tower includes 54 blocks,is available in multiple finishes, and stacks up to five feet during play.