When you’re staying at The Mansion at LaCasa you will have LOTS of room to enjoy. How should you use the space and keep your guests entertained? Party games for groups, of course! Here are a few ideas. Feel free to take them to the spacious ballroom or the games room during your stay. 

President 

Required: 1-2 sets of playing cards  

President is a fast-paced card game where players fight over the coveted position of “President” while doing their very darndest to avoid become the “scum” character. The game goes by many names, including Scum, A*shole, Landlord, Butthead, Root Beer, and/or Capitalism.  

Typically, this is a perfect game for around 4-7 people. If you have a group larger than that, though, you can simply shuffle in a second deck of cards into the mix. The rules shift a bit for groups of 7+ and you’ll end up with two “last place” slots: Scum and Vice-Scum! This can add a neat twist to the mechanics of the game.  

Telephone  

Required: No materials needed 

Telephone is a great party game because it gets more fun and more challenging when you add members to the group. It can also be modified for G-rated or X-rated gameplay, depending on the makeup of the crowd. You can have people make up their own phrases, have a group leader write them and put them in a hat for random selection, or a mix of the two.  

Tips for writing great, tricky phrases: Use alliteration, rhyming, multi-syllable words, similar-sounding words, and homonyms to make the sentence harder to guess as it travels. For example, you could use: Cranky, Carnivorous Cooks Hang Meat Up on the Hooks. It’s fun to say…and hard to keep straight!  

Pictionary  

Required: Paper and marker (easels or boards optional) 

Pictionary needs a bit of set-up but it’s well worth it. You’ll need a game leader to make sure paper, pens, and easels/boards are supplied as well as someone to write out the selection of cards. Because you break into two or more teams, this is a great game for mixed groups of young and adult players, as everyone gets to work together and help one another. 

You can also modify the rules to make the game harder or easier. For example, are you allowed to use “sounds like” clues? Most groups say no but if you are playing with young or inexperienced players then it might help them to strategize better.  

Charades  

Required: A selection of keyword/phrases/names to choose from 

Charades is like Pictionary in that it is accommodating to large groups and the difficulty can be adjusted to suit your audience. Charades a “high energy” alternative to most games, as it allows players to stand up, jump around, and generally have a ton of fun acting things out. However, this may be inaccessible for elderly or injured guests, so be sure to keep that in mind.  

You can come up with your own Charades keywords cards or simply buy one of the many pre-made decks available. You can also download smartphone apps that perform a similar function. Not feeling overly competitive? Feel free to play as one large group! It can be fun to cooperate and see how many you can get right.  

If you try out any of these party games for groups during your stay at The Mansion at LaCasa, be sure to tag us in the photos online using @La_Casa_Mirador on IG and @LaCasaMiradorGuestHouse on Facebook. Or use the hashtag #LaCasaMirador so we can find you!  

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