Random Tools for Parties
For hosts, organisers and anyone in charge of a room that has stopped talking. · 13 tools
Every one of these solves the same problem: a group of people, some of whom do not know each other, and a lull. The tools split into questions that get people talking and games that give them something to do. Which you need depends mostly on how well the group already knows one another — questions work with strangers, games work better once people have relaxed.
Getting people talking
Open-ended questions for a table of people who have not met. Ask everyone the same question rather than a different one each — it is easier to join in with.
Party games
For when the group has warmed up and wants something with a bit more structure than conversation.
- Truth or Dare GeneratorA family-friendly truth question or dare for game night, kept safe for mixed company.
- Never Have I Ever GeneratorA 'never have I ever' prompt for the classic party game, family-friendly by default.
- Charades Word GeneratorA word or phrase to act out for charades — no talking, no props beyond gestures.
- Pictionary Word GeneratorA word to sketch out for a game of Pictionary-style drawing and guessing.
Settling things fairly
Deciding who goes first, splitting into teams, or drawing a winner — without anyone feeling the host picked favourites.
- Wheel SpinnerAdd your own entries, spin the wheel, and get a fair winner every time.
- Random Team GeneratorSplit a list of names into a chosen number of random, evenly sized teams.
- Raffle Winner PickerPick one or more raffle winners from a list of entries, fairly and transparently.
- Coin FlipFlip a fair virtual coin — heads or tails, decided with secure randomness.
Gift exchanges and get-togethers
For organised occasions rather than spontaneous ones — a Secret Santa draw and a way to decide what everyone is eating.
Getting the most out of these
The prompts here are written to be family-friendly, which makes them safe for a mixed group but milder than the versions of these games some people expect. Read a prompt before acting on it, and say at the start that anyone can pass — a generator has no idea who is in the room or what anyone is comfortable with, and a game where refusing is normal is a better game.
Other collections
- Random Tools for TeachersPickers, group-makers and lesson starters that work on a classroom projector.
- Random Tools for DevelopersIdentifiers, placeholder data and sample values for tests, fixtures and documentation.
- Random Tools for Game NightDice, turn order and worldbuilding tools for board games and tabletop RPGs.