Entertaining Games for Around the Campfire

The campsite is finally set up, fires crackling, smores have been roasted… now what? With no Wi-Fi for miles, how do you entertain the kids and adults. Fortunately, through the years I’ve spent many hours as a camp counselor circled up around a campfire. I’ve collected some surefire campfire games that will provide laughs, competition and down right silliness. Here are the 12 best campfire games for kids, adults, families and even large groups.

Ideal Requirements for Campfire Games

Minimal prep needed
Safe to play around the fire
Easily played in low lighting
No wifi or electronics needed
Lots of people can play at any age

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No matter the size of your group, both children and adults will love these games. So pull up your favorite camping chair, stoke the fire and get ready to make some memories! Personally, we’re huge fans of the Swing Hammock Chairs. Whether you’re perched on a log or in your campfire chair, these 12 camping games are great for team building and can be easily played at night. They are sure to be a hit with everyone.

1. Heads Up, Seven Up

This classic school game of Heads up, Seven Up is even better played while camping.

Supplies Needed: None

How to Play

Depending on the size of your group, select 3 people to be pickers.
Everyone else remains seated in their camping chairs with their eyes closed (no peeking). Then they position their arms outstretched and thumbs up in the air so the pickers can easily reach them.
The pickers walk around the OUTSIDE of the fire ( We reiterate this often) and select one person’s thumb to tap.
Once a person’s thumb is down, this signals to the remaining pickers they have been chosen already and can place their hands in their lap.
Each picker can chose only one person’s thumb to be tapped. Pickers should try to be stealthy. Once everyone has selected a person, then in unison, the pickers say together, “HEADS UP, SEVEN UP.”
The pickers stand in a line, and then each person who was chosen stands up and guesses who picked them. Once each person has made their guess, the pickers will reveal who they selected. If they guess correctly they switch with the person who picked them and will become a new picker for the next round. If the person guesses incorrectly, then the person who picked them will remain the picker in the next round.

2. In the Pond, Out of the Pond, On the Bank

A fun variation of Simon Says that will keep everyone’s mind engaged around the fire. Suitable for all ages.

Supplies Needed: None

How to Play

One caller is selected, while everyone else sits in their chairs around the bonfire.
The caller will say one of three different actions.
- “In the pond” — everyone puts their hands straight forwards into the circle (the pond!)
- “Out of the pond” — everyone lifts their hands up in the air above their heads
- “On the bank” — everyone places their hands on the top of their thighs
The caller will continuously mix up the actions to try to trick the group.
If anyone performs the incorrect action at the wrong time, they are out of the game. The game continues until there is only one person left, who is the winner! This person can then become the new caller if they wish.
Once your group has mastered the three calls, it’s fun to create your own. Here are some variations our family created.
“s’mores” - both hands by mouth eating a s’more
“Tent” - hands in a triangle above your head
“White water rafting” - hands straight up in the air and yell “Ahhhh!”
“Frog” -everyone yells “ribbit” and the last persons to say it is out. This helped make the game play quicker.

3. Trifecta (aka Fish Bowl)

What’s better than your favorite game? It’s a combination of your three favorite games. This amusing game is great for large groups since it combines 3 fun games: Taboo, Charades and Password.

Supplies Needed Pens, strips of paper, bowl of some sort, and timer.

How to Play

Divide the group into two teams. Some possible configurations could be guys vs girls, adults vs kids, or every other person.
To start, have each person fill out 3 slips of paper in 3 categories. Write a unique answer for each category: a person, a place, and a thing.
Throw all the folded slips of paper in a bowl, hat, or whatever is convenient while camping. Make sure to mix them up.

There are 3 rounds of play during the game.

Round 1 Act out the word, using gestures, hand motions etc. (Charades)

Round 2 Describe the word to the group using only words, no gestures. (Taboo)

Round 3 Using only one word, describe your slip of paper. (Password)

Below is an example: Figure skating

Round 1 Person acts out a person figure skating

Round 2 Person says “a sport where you glide around frozen ice and wear glittery costumes”

Round 3 Person says “Ice”. This is usually the hardest round, but hopefully your team will remember through word association from the previous two rounds.

Each team gets 1 minute to guess as many of the words written on the slips of paper. Play until all the slips of paper are gone, switching players.
Each word guessed correctly scores 1 point for their team.
Tally the score after each round and then place all the pieces of paper back into the bowl or hat. Then start the next round. Try to remember the words from the previous round since they can help you guess in the final round.
Tally up the points from all three rounds at the end, and the team with the most points is declared the winner!

4. Hot Seat

A great game to get to know each other better, especially for groups.

Supplies Needed: None

How to Play

Select one person to be in the “Hot Seat”. The rest of the group gets to direct questions to that specific person in the “Hot Seat”. Allow enough time so that each person will get a chance to be in the Hot Seat. You can either specify a set time or allow each person to answer 5 questions. Try to ask questions that are open ended, which cannot be answered in a simple yes or no.

Shoe Flip (aka Shoe King)

A hilarious, risky game of high flying shoe chaos. This game is best for older children and adults.

Supplies Needed: Your Shoes

How to Play

While sitting in your camping chair around the fire, each person must balance their shoe on the edge of their toe. Then in unison the group counts to 5 and must flick their shoe over their heads, ideally not into the fire. The individual who successfully throws the shoe the farthest distance over their head is the winner for that round. To retrieve the shoes, we either designate a person to gather them all or we hop on one foot to retrieve them, which always ends in a round of laughter.

Would You Rather

This game is an easy one to foster conversation, while throwing in a lot of laughs and entertaining debates.

How to Play

To play, an individual will think of two hypothetical scenarios.
For example, “Would you rather have no arms or no legs.”
Next each person takes a turn answering the question, no matter how ridiculous, disgusting or hilarious the scenario is that’s described. Allow each individual to have a turn concocting two scenarios.

Wink (aka Drug Dealer)

With the flickering fire shrouding people’s face, Wink is the perfect game to enjoy around the campfire. Stoke the fire or throw a couple extra logs on as you get ready to compete in this suspenseful game.

Supplies Needed: Deck of Cards

How to Play

Prior to starting take out a set number of cards corresponding with the exact number of people playing the game. Chose two face cards, Ace and King and the the rest of the cards are just numbered cards. ie 6 people playing you would need an Ace, King, and 4 number cards like 2, 3 4, 5. Randomly mix them up and pass them to each player. Without showing it to anyone, each player will look at their card.

Winker or drug dealer (Ace card)

Cop (King Card)

Buyers (Any Number Cards)

The drug dealer (Ace) tries to make a deal with people, one by one, by discretely winking at them without getting caught by the cop (King). The rest of the buyers (number cards) are waiting to be winked at. The winker is trying to wink at every numbered card before the cop figures out who the dealer is.
The player with the Ace is the drug dealer (winker) and has to try and guess who is a buyer and who is the cop. If the dealer successfully winks at every person, besides the cop, than he and the rest of the buyers win the game.
When the buyers have been successfully winked at by the dealer (Ace) they will, without making it obvious, say, “A deal has been made.”
The cop must quickly get to work to deduce, through facial clues and mannerisms who the dealer is. If the cop is winked at or believes he knows who the winker is, he can accuse them by pointing and saying “Busted”. If his guess is correct then the cop wins the game, but if he is wrong then he loses.
After the game is over, collect all the cards. Shuffle them and pass them out to continue playing. The game usually moves quickly and multiple rounds can be played.

*An alternate way to play without cards. You designated one person to choose who is the winker and cop each round by tapping on an individuals heads while everyone’s eyes are closed. ie 1 tap- winker, 2 taps-cop. The downside to this method is that the person who is the tapper doesn’t get to play, so we personally prefer using cards.

Where in the World are We?

This is a great game to play when it’s just your family. It provides a great opportunity to reminiscence about all your favorite past vacations and camping trips. This simple game can be played anywhere, but works great while relaxing around a fire.

Supplies Needed: None

How to Play

One member of your family thinks of a specific past destination or trip.
The person gives 3 distinct clues about their chosen vacation spot.
Then the remaining individuals get a chance to guess the destination.
Once a player correctly guesses the location, allow that person to switch and become the person who takes a turn thinking of a specific trip.

What’s Yours Like?

This hilarious guessing game is guaranteed to have everyone laughing.

Supplies Needed: None

How to Play

Select one designated person to be the “guesser.”
The group, minus the guesser, will choose a secret word. The word must be something that all players possess. (ie feet)
The guesser asks “what’s yours like?”
Each player takes a turn to share a one-word or short description of their item. The goal is to stump the guesser. For the feet example, some descriptive words could be “smelly, bony, tanned, dirty, tired”
Once everyone has given their response, the guesser has to try to figure out the secret word.
If they do not figure it out in the first round, the guesser can request any player to give another description.
Examples of possible secret words: Hair, neighbor, bathing suit, shirt, mother, house, paycheck, child, backyard, pet, and bedroom.

Still unsure how to play, check out this playmonster sample video as a visual of how to play the game. This activity is also sold in a What’s Yours Like board game, which you can purchase.

Puppet Master Charades

This highly entertaining game puts a twist on the classic game of charades.

Supplies Needed: Timer, optional - charade cards

How to Play

Divide the group into 2 teams. (Boys vs. Girls, Adults vs. Kids)

One player thinks of a secret word.
This person is the puppet master and must select a partner to be their puppet.
Without talking, they have to manipulate their partner’s arms, legs or body position to act out the word, hence the name puppet master.
The remaining players try to guess the word and earn 1 point for their team.

I’m Thinking of an Animal

This is an ideal game for younger children, but the whole group can enjoy playing. It’s quite similar to 20 questions, except the player just states the clues, instead of asking questions.

Supplies Needed: None

How To Play

One person thinks of a specific animal.
Then they give unique clues about the animal to the other players.
The rest of the group members try to be the first one to correctly identify the distinct animal. Whomever guesses the animal, gets to be the next person to chose a new animal for players to guess.

ie. DOLPHIN

This animal lives in the water, it swims fast, it can do tricks, it has a bottle shaped nose

Numbers

Numbers is one of the easiest campfire games out there, yet can feel impossible!

How to Play

The goal of the the game is to count aloud, together as a group, from 1 to as high as possible without any two people saying the same number at the same time.
The numbers must be in order from 1, 2, 3, and so on. There can be no pointing or signally to indicate who will count next. Anyone in the group can say the number.
If two people say the same number at the exact same time, the game starts over again. It’s fun to challenge the group to see how high you can count? See if you can beat your high score each time.
So simple and so much fun!

Closing Thoughts

I think we all can agree, something magical happens late at night when you’re huddled close together staring at the flickering flames of a campfire. Maybe it’s because we’re outside under the stars or maybe it’s the cozy, hypnotic fire but inevitably people begin to loosen up and share, so it’s the perfect opportunity to bond.

These fun group activities around the fire are guaranteed to help build connections and lasting memories with your group while camping. Do you have a favorite campfire game we haven’t mentioned? We’d loved for you to share it in the comments. Don’t lose this pin, make sure to save and pin for later so you can enjoy these fun team building games at your next campfire.

Another great way to keep the family entertained is by keeping your campers stocked with favorite family board games and yard games. We’ve rounded up a list of our favorite Games the Whole Family Will Love, if you need some for your next trip. Follow Discovering Anew for more camping tips and outdoor activities for kids. If you’re searching for your next family vacation or camping spot, then check out the blog for our favorite Midwest family destinations. Happy Camping!