Yard GamesNo. 7331 · The 2026 edition
Capture the Pumpkins
Team up to snatch pumpkins and outwit stealers in this high-stakes Halloween outdoor game!
Our own summary of the original — the full post and photos live at partygameideas.com.
Capture the Pumpkins is a team game where players search for painted pumpkins hidden in a field. Each team designates hunters and stealers, with stealers trying to intercept enemy pumpkins. Points are earned by retrieving your own pumpkins, stealing opponents', and penalties apply for damaging pumpkins.
Directions
- Paint the bottom 3 to 5 inches of pumpkins in your team's color (e.g., blue, green, or red). Make sure each team has the same number of painted pumpkins.
- Have a neutral person hide all the pumpkins in an outdoor field where the grass is 4–10 inches tall.
- Split players into two teams and assign each team a home base, like an end zone.
- Each team selects Pumpkin Hunters and Pumpkin Stealers. For every four hunters, choose one stealer. Stealers must wear a distinct hat or shirt.
- On the signal 'go', hunters enter the field to find pumpkins of their own color and bring them back to their home base.
- If a stealer tags a hunter who is carrying a pumpkin, the hunter must drop it. The stealer then takes the pumpkin and runs it to their own home base.
- Hunters may not touch or move pumpkins of the opposing team. They can only look at the color to identify them.
- Stepping on or destroying any pumpkin costs your team 2 points.
- The game ends when a set time limit (e.g., 5–10 minutes) expires, or when all pumpkins from one team have been found.
- Scoring: +2 points for each own-team pumpkin retrieved, +3 points for each opposing pumpkin stolen by a stealer, -2 points if a non-stealer brings in an opposing pumpkin, and -2 points for destroying any pumpkin.
