Campfire games: 25 games for groups, plus 30 campfire questions

All 25 campfire games at a glance

Pick by group size, ages and whether people want to stay in their chairs.

Campfire storytelling games

Spooky is fine for mixed ages if it stays kid-safe: a strange noise, missing marshmallows, a mystery solved by the end.

1. 1. Good news, bad news

   One person starts a story with good news: “Fortunately, the tent went up in five minutes.” The next adds bad news starting with “Unfortunately,” and the story swings back and forth around the circle. It's also called Fortunately, Unfortunately.

   To end: After two laps, the person who started gives the story its last line.

   3 to 15 players · All ages · Nothing

2. 2. Talking stick story

   Only the person holding the stick may speak. They add one or two sentences to a shared story, then pass the stick to their left. Anyone stuck for five seconds passes without adding.

   To end: After three laps, whoever holds the stick must finish the story in one sentence.

   4 to 15 players · All ages · One stick

3. 3. Pocket object story

   Everyone puts one ordinary thing from a pocket or bag in the middle: a key, a lip balm, a receipt. One storyteller picks the items up one at a time and works each into a single story as they go.

   To end: The story ends when the last object has a part, then a new storyteller takes a fresh pile.

   4 to 10 players · All ages · Whatever is in people's pockets

4. 4. Tall tale contest

   Each person gets one minute to tell a wildly exaggerated version of something ordinary from today, like finding the parking lot or setting up a chair. Nobody interrupts.

   To end: When everyone has told one, the group points at the best tale on the count of three, and the most pointed-at teller wins.

   4 to 20 players · 8+ · Nothing

5. 5. First line, last line

   The leader gives a story's opening and closing lines, such as “The canoe was not where we left it” and “...and that's why the raccoon got a name tag.” Taking turns, the group builds the middle so it can land on that ending.

   To end: The round ends when someone delivers the last line and the group agrees the story earned it.

   3 to 12 players · All ages · Nothing

Guessing games to play around a campfire

Seated, no supplies, and they work in the dark because they run on talking.

1. 6. Botticelli

   One player thinks of a famous person and gives the first letter of their last name, say D. Others ask clue questions; for “Are you a famous scientist?” the holder must name a fitting D, like “No, I'm not Charles Darwin.” Stump the holder and you earn one yes-or-no question about the mystery person.

   To end: The round ends when someone guesses the person, and that player picks the next one.

   3 to 10 players · Teens and adults · Nothing

2. 7. The green glass door

   The leader says what can go through the green glass door and what can't: “Coffee can, but not tea. Kittens can, but not cats.” The secret is that only words with a double letter get through. Players test guesses (“Can a balloon?”) and the leader only says yes or no.

   To end: Anyone who cracks it plays along without saying the rule. The round ends when everyone has it, or the leader reveals it after 10 minutes.

   3 to 20 players · 8+ · Nothing

3. 8. Psychiatrist

   One player steps out of earshot but stays in sight of the group. The rest agree on a secret rule, such as everyone answers as if they were the person on their left. The psychiatrist comes back and asks anyone simple questions to work out the rule.

   To end: The round ends when the psychiatrist names the rule or misses three guesses, and someone new steps out.

   6 to 20 players · Teens and adults · Nothing

4. 9. Shadow puppet guess

   Point one flashlight at a tent wall, a tarp or a pale sheet. A player makes an animal or object shadow with their hands, and everyone else calls out guesses.

   To end: The first correct guess takes the flashlight; play until everyone has had a turn.

   3 to 15 players · All ages · A flashlight and a pale surface

Want more guessing? Our 20 questions game has a free secret-item dealer, and it plays just as well in the dark.

Word and memory games around the campfire

Quick to explain and easy to join halfway through.

1. 10. I went camping

   The first player says “I went camping and I brought” and names something starting with A, like an apple. The next player repeats the list and adds a B, and so on through the alphabet.

   To end: Miss an item and you become the hint-giver. The last player still in wins, or the whole group wins by reaching Z.

   3 to 12 players · All ages · Nothing

2. 11. Song association

   Someone calls out a word, like “rain” or “road.” The first person to sing a line of a real song with that word in it wins the point and picks the next word.

   To end: First to five points wins, or play until the group runs out of songs.

   4 to 20 players · All ages · Nothing

3. 12. Rhyme around

   One player says a one-syllable word, like “night.” Going around the circle, each person adds a word that rhymes (light, kite, bite) within five seconds, with no repeats.

   To end: Stall or repeat and you sit out that word. The last player rhyming wins the round and picks the next word.

   3 to 15 players · All ages · Nothing

4. 13. Night sounds count

   Everyone sits silent with eyes closed for one minute and counts every different sound: a crackle, an owl, a zipper, a car door. Then go around and name them one at a time.

   To end: A sound scores only if nobody else heard it, and the player with the most wins.

   2 to 30 players · All ages · Nothing

Active bonfire games, away from the flames

Mark a play area well away from the fire before anyone moves, with clear edges and no water, roads or drop-offs inside it. Walking only near the circle, and a grown-up stays at the fire the whole time.

1. 14. Flashlight tag

   One seeker with a flashlight counts to 30 at a lit base while everyone hides inside the play area. The seeker tags hiders by catching them in the beam and calling their name.

   To end: Tagged players wait at base. The first one tagged seeks next, and the round ends when everyone is found or after 10 minutes.

   4 to 15 players · 8+ · A flashlight for the seeker

2. 15. Ghost in the graveyard

   One player, the ghost, hides in the play area while everyone else counts out loud at base: “One o'clock, two o'clock” up to “Midnight!” Then they search together, and whoever spots the ghost shouts “Ghost in the graveyard!” so everyone races back to base.

   To end: The ghost tries to tag people before they reach base, and the first one tagged is the next ghost.

   5 to 20 players · 8+ · Nothing

3. 16. Glow stick hunt

   Before the game, one person hides lit glow sticks around the play area and counts how many went out. Teams of two or three search without flashlights.

   To end: The hunt ends when every stick is back, matching the count, and the team with the most wins.

   4 to 30 players · All ages · A pack of glow sticks

4. 17. Bat and moth

   Players stand in a wide circle as the walls. A blindfolded bat stands inside with two or three moths. When the bat calls “Bat!”, every moth must answer “Moth!”, and the bat tries to tag them by sound alone. Walking only.

   To end: Tagged moths join the wall, and the last moth left is the next bat.

   8 to 25 players · 8+ · A blindfold or bandana

For daytime games before the fire is lit, see our outdoor games for adults and these outdoor team building activities.

Campfire games for large groups (15+)

For a summer camp circle, a scout troop or a whole company at an offsite.

1. 18. Mafia

   With everyone's eyes closed, a moderator taps two or three players on the shoulder to be the mafia. Each night, the mafia silently point to one player to knock out. Each day, the town talks it over and votes out one suspect. Our Werewolf guide has roles and a moderator script.

   To end: The town wins when every mafia player is out, and the mafia win when they match the town in number.

   8 to 25 players · Teens and adults · Nothing

2. 19. Whisper down the line

   The first person whispers a sentence to their neighbor once, with no repeats. It travels around the whole circle in whispers. It's also called Telephone.

   To end: The last person says what they heard out loud, the first person reads the original, and someone new starts the next one.

   8 to 40 players · All ages · Nothing

3. 20. Giants, wizards and elves

   On open ground well away from the fire, two teams huddle and secretly pick a character: giants (arms up, a big stomp), wizards (casting a spell) or elves (crouching, hands as pointy ears). The teams face each other, count to three and act it out. Giants beat elves, elves beat wizards and wizards beat giants.

   To end: The winning team chases the other back to a safe line, and anyone tagged joins the chasers. Play 10 rounds or until one team is gone.

   12 to 60 players · 8+ · Nothing

4. 21. Bippity bippity bop

   One person stands in the middle of the circle, points at someone and says “Bippity bippity bop.” The target must say “Bop” before the middle player finishes. If the middle player says only “Bop,” the target must stay silent.

   To end: Anyone late or caught out swaps into the middle. Stop after 10 minutes or once everyone has had a turn in the middle.

   10 to 30 players · All ages · Nothing

Campfire games for a team retreat or offsite

For coworkers at the end of an offsite day. Nobody is put on the spot, and the last one closes the night.

1. 22. High, low, buffalo

   Going around the fire, each person shares a high from the day, a low, and a buffalo: something random about themselves or a funny moment nobody else saw. About a minute each.

   To end: The round ends when everyone has gone. Nobody comments on or tries to fix anyone's low.

   3 to 20 players · All ages · Nothing

2. 23. Team legend

   Split into groups of three or four. Each group gets five minutes to invent the legend of how the team began: a founding hero, a disaster survived and one object everyone still respects. Each group tells its legend in two minutes.

   To end: The fire votes by cheering, and the winning legend becomes official, to be retold at the next offsite.

   9 to 40 players · Teens and adults · Nothing

3. 24. Headline from next year

   Each person says the headline they'd love to read about the team a year from now, in eight words or fewer, then one sentence on what it would take.

   To end: One person types the headlines into a phone and shares the list the next morning.

   4 to 25 players · Adults · A phone for notes

4. 25. One-word close

   To end the night, whoever lit the fire says one word that sums up the day. The word travels around the circle, one word per person, with no explanations or follow-up questions.

   To end: When it gets back to the start, the games are over, and that's the cue to put the fire out together.

   3 to 40 players · All ages · Nothing

Good warm-ups for the same circle: Two truths and a lie, which has a work-safe statement list, and the talk-only games in our group games for adults.

30 campfire questions to ask around the fire

Start light, go deeper as the fire settles, and save the team set for the last night of a retreat. Anyone can pass.