Fall party games can be sorted by where guests will spend the afternoon: the yard, the harvest table or an indoor room. This guide gives ten fall party games in those three settings, plus a split for kids and adults.
Each game lists its setup, how to play, how it ends, a rough time band that we estimate, and who it suits. Use the Thanksgiving and Halloween guides for those two days.
Fall Party Games by Setting
Fall party games sort into four groups: yard games, harvest-table games, indoor games, and games sorted by who plays them, kids or adults. We designed all ten games ourselves.
- Yard games: pumpkin ring toss, leaf scavenger hunt, cornhole and bocce tournament, hay-bale relay and apple pass.
- Harvest-table games: cider tasting blind contest and guess the candy-corn jar.
- Indoor games: harvest bingo, pumpkin decorating vote and fall trivia.
- Kids and adults: ring toss, leaf hunt and cider tasting suit mixed tables; apple pass and hay-bale relay work as kids-against-adults rounds.
Pick a few games from each setting that match where your guests will be. The time bands are our estimates, sorted as short, medium and long.
This page is for the fall weeks in between. If your party falls on Thanksgiving day itself, use our Thanksgiving party games guide. For a Halloween party, use the Halloween party games guide.
Yard Games for Leaves and Pumpkins
Five of the ten games run outdoors on a lawn or in a yard. Each one uses pumpkins, leaves, apples, a cornhole set or a relay line.
Pumpkin Ring Toss
Setup: Set pumpkins on the grass in a row, each at a different distance from a throwing line. Write a point value on a tag for each pumpkin, and make the farther pumpkins worth more so distance counts. Rings come from a ring toss game set, or you can use rings you already own. PartyGameKit earns a commission from Amazon purchases made through the links on this page.
How to play: Each guest throws from the line. A ring that lands around a pumpkin scores that pumpkin’s tag value. Keep the running total on a dry erase board where every guest can see it.
How it ends: The game ends when every guest has thrown the same number of rings. The highest total wins points, bragging rights or a small snack.
Time band: short (our estimate). Who it suits: pick this if you have a lawn and want children and adults throwing from the same line.
Leaf Scavenger Hunt
Setup: Write a list in two parts: leaf colours (red, orange, yellow, brown and green) and leaf shapes (pointed, lobed, round and heart-shaped). Print one copy for each team, and place a bag at the start line for the leaves.
How to play: Teams search the yard for one leaf that matches each item on the list. Each item counts once, so a second red leaf earns no extra point. Teams carry their leaves back to the start line to show the host.
How it ends: The hunt ends when the host calls time or one team has matched every item. The host reads each team’s leaves aloud and awards one point for each item matched.
For a scavenger hunt with a Halloween theme, see our Halloween scavenger hunt.
Time band: medium (our estimate). Who it suits: it suits children and adults on separate teams searching the same yard.
Cornhole and Bocce Tournament
Setup: If you need boards and bags, buy a cornhole set. Cornhole scoring is on our cornhole rules page. For bocce, use our bocce ball rules, and browse the lawn games guide for other yard formats. Pair guests into teams, then write the bracket on a kraft paper roll or on paper.
How to play: Each match is played in one game and follows that game’s scoring on its rules page. The losing team leaves the bracket, and the winning team plays the next match.
How it ends: The tournament ends when one team is left, and that team wins points, bragging rights or a small snack.
Time band: long (our estimate). Who it suits: it suits adults who want a competitive bracket, if the yard has room for both play areas.
Hay-Bale Relay
Setup: Mark two lanes, each with a start line and a bale at the far end as the turnaround. Use clean bales. If you cannot get clean bales, substitute cardboard boxes at the same turnaround point. Give each team one mini football.
How to play: The first runner carries the mini football around the bale and back to the start line, then hands it to the next runner. A runner who drops the ball goes back to the start line.
How it ends: The relay ends when every team’s last runner crosses the start line. The first team to finish wins points.
Time band: medium (our estimate). Who it suits: it suits mixed teams when the yard has clear space. A kids team can race an adults team in separate lanes.
Apple Pass
Setup: Each team lines up in single file, with each player facing the next. Give each team one apple.
How to play: The first player holds the apple under the chin and passes it chin to chin to the next player, without using hands. A dropped apple sends the team back to the first player to start the pass again.
How it ends: The team finishes when the apple reaches the last player. The first team to finish wins points.
Time band: short (our estimate). Who it suits: pick this for a lawn or any open floor, with children and adults on the same lines.
Harvest-Table Games
Two games here run at a serving table with plastic cups, index cards and pens. Neither one needs the yard, so they work in the middle of the party.
Cider Tasting Blind Contest
Setup: Use non-alcoholic cider only. Pour a few different ciders into plastic cups, and label each cup with a letter. Write the name of each cider on an answer sheet that the host keeps out of sight. Write the same names on the dry erase board so guests can see the options.
How to play: Guests taste each cup, then match each letter to one name on an index card.
How it ends: After every guest has turned in a card, the host reads the answer sheet aloud. Each correct match earns a point.
Time band: short (our estimate). Who it suits: the non-alcoholic format lets children and adults taste from the same cups at the same table.
Guess the Candy-Corn Jar
Setup: Fill a clear jar with candy corn or corn kernels. The host counts the pieces in private and writes the count on the answer sheet. Give each guest an index card.
How to play: Each guest writes one guess for the number of pieces and hands the card to the host. Guesses stay secret until the end.
How it ends: The host reveals the count and reads the guesses. The guess closest to the count wins. The winner gets points, a small snack or bragging rights.
Time band: short (our estimate). Who it suits: pick this if you want one game that needs only a jar and index cards, with no teams.
Indoor Games and a Rain Backup Plan
Three games here work indoors. If rain rules out the yard, run them in place of the yard block and keep the harvest-table games where they are.
Harvest Bingo
Build the cards with the bingo card generator. The generator is free, needs no sign-up and builds a separate shuffled card for each guest. It prints one card per page with a call sheet, and it makes up to 60 cards per batch.
Write a word pool of 30 to 40 fall words, such as pumpkin, cider, acorn, scarecrow, hayride and sweater. A card uses 24 words plus a free center, so a pool of exactly 24 would give every card the same words. The generator accepts a custom word list of at least 24 entries, and the 30 to 40 range gives it more words to shuffle.
Choose one winning pattern before the first call. The generator supports five: Single Line, Four Corners, Postage Stamp (a 2x2 block in a corner), Outer Frame (the 16 border squares) and Blackout (all 25 squares). On a 36-word pool, a single-line round often ends after roughly 12 to 15 calls, while a blackout can run as long as all 36 calls.
Count the cards as guests plus spares. Thirty guests plus three spares is 33 cards, which fits in one batch. Seventy guests plus three spares is 73 cards, which takes two batches.
Guests mark squares with bingo daubers. Prizes are points, bragging rights or a small snack.
Time band: long (our estimate), played in the background. Who it suits: pick Single Line if you want short rounds and Blackout if you want the longest round to finish the party.
Pumpkin Decorating Vote
Setup: Set out pumpkins, markers and a small pile of stickers on a table, with one pumpkin for each team.
How to play: Teams decorate their pumpkin during a set stretch of the party. When decorating ends, each guest places one sticker on the pumpkin they like best. Teams do not vote for their own pumpkin.
How it ends: The host closes the vote and counts the stickers on each pumpkin. The pumpkin with the most stickers wins bragging rights.
Time band: medium (our estimate). Who it suits: it suits a game that ends with a visible result on the table.
Fall Trivia
Setup: Write one question per index card, and write the answer on the back. Write questions about your guests and about the fall traditions your group keeps. Set up the dry erase board for team scores.
How to play: Split guests into teams. The host reads one question at a time, and each team writes its answer on paper. Each correct answer earns a point.
How it ends: The game ends when the cards run out or the host stops. The team with the most points wins bragging rights or a small snack.
Time band: medium (our estimate). Who it suits: pick this if you want a team game that runs indoors and needs cards, pens and a dry erase board.
Choosing Games for Kids and Adults
Start with the ages you expect at the party, then pick games that fit everyone or one group. Pumpkin ring toss, the leaf scavenger hunt and cider tasting each suit a mixed table of children and adults.
For a kids-against-adults round, split guests into two teams and run the apple pass or the hay-bale relay. Give each team its own lane or line so the two teams do not interfere with each other.
Game Order for a Three-Hour Party
Start harvest bingo cards at arrival, because the bingo can run in the background from the first guest through the last call. Then split the rest of the party into three blocks, one for each hour.
- Hour one, yard: pumpkin ring toss, leaf scavenger hunt, apple pass and hay-bale relay (drop the leaf hunt if time is short).
- Hour two, harvest table: cider tasting blind contest and guess the candy-corn jar, with a single-line bingo round called in between.
- Hour three, indoors: pumpkin decorating vote and fall trivia, then a blackout bingo round to finish.
A short game fills a gap between other activities. A long game takes a whole block. If your yard has room for the cornhole and bocce tournament, it is a long game, so put it at the start of hour two and drop the candy-corn jar from that block.
Supplies to Gather Before Guests Arrive
- Index cards for trivia questions and candy-corn guesses.
- Pens for guesses, team answers and leaf lists.
- A dry erase board for team scores and the cider names.
- Bingo daubers for marking harvest bingo cards.
- A ring toss game set for the pumpkin ring toss.
- A kraft paper roll for the tournament bracket.
- Plastic cups for the cider tasting.
- A cornhole set for the cornhole tournament.
- Mini footballs for the hay-bale relay.
These items have no link here: pumpkins, apples, candy corn or corn kernels, a clear jar, non-alcoholic cider, markers, stickers, clean bales or cardboard boxes, a bocce set, and a printer for bingo cards.
Hosting Problems and How to Fix Them
- Rain: Run the three indoor games in place of the yard block.
- No yard: Skip the yard block and use the harvest-table and indoor games for the whole party.
- Identical bingo cards: Keep the word pool between 30 and 40 words. A pool of exactly 24 gives every card the same words.
- More cards than one batch allows: Generate a second batch once the count passes 60 cards, as in the 73-card example above.
- Bobbing for apples: This guide leaves it out. Water play needs supervision and is unsuitable for small children.
- Prizes: Keep prizes to points, bragging rights or small snacks. This guide does not describe wagering money on any game.
Pick one yard game, one harvest-table game and one indoor game for your fall party, make your bingo cards with the bingo card generator, and gather the supplies on the list before the first guest arrives.