Minute to Win ItNo. 2653 · The 2026 edition

Fun Halloween Party Games and Activities

Boo! Transform your Halloween bash with eerie games for all ages.

Halloween

Our own summary of the original — the full post and photos live at lockpaperescape.com.

Discover a curated list of Halloween party games and activities, including classic favorites with a spooky twist, DIY challenges, escape rooms, and treasure hunts designed for both kids and adults.

About this

A Halloween party-planning page from Lock Paper Escape that gathers dozens of Halloween party games and activities for kids, teens and adults. It mixes classics with a spooky twist (bobbing for apples, pin games, bingo, charades) with escape rooms, secret-code treasure hunts, puzzle hunts, candy dice and quick-prep group games. It also offers short guidance on setting the scene with decorations and a spooky playlist, and points readers to printable ready-made kits.

The plan

Choose a Halloween theme and pick a spread of games that suits different ages and abilities so everyone can join in.
Before the party — Create the right atmosphere first: add themed decorations and a spooky playlist to set the mood.
As guests arrive — If you use the Halloween jar guessing game, run it as guests arrive so it fills the waiting time.
As guests arrive — Have each arriving guest write their candy-jar guess on a piece of paper; the closest guess wins the jar.
Before the party — Line up prizes for game winners (for example a prize for whoever gets closest in Pin the Eye on the Zombie).
Before the party — If printing your own bingo boards, laminate them so players can mark them with erasable markers.
For Pin the Eye on the Zombie, keep each player's turn short to build urgency.
Set a timer for timed games such as Scattergories and the 60-second Candy Corn Stack.
Before the party — For scavenger hunts, hide a secret code with the items so that finding everything lets players decode a message and open a locked box of goodies.
Before the party — For an escape room, choose a theme the kids will love, such as being trapped in a witch's house or escaping a zombie outbreak.

Decoration ideas

Themed Halloween decorations
A spooky Halloween playlist to set the mood
A plastic pumpkin bowl or witches' cauldron to hold candy (for candy dice)
A large zombie poster (for Pin the Eye on the Zombie)
Printable Halloween photo booth props
Glow sticks for glow stick tag and as small party prizes/favours
Black light torches for hunting paper ghosts in the dark

Food & drink

Candy corn and zombie eyeball gumballs for the jar guessing game
A bowl full of candy for candy dice (small candies like Hershey Kisses or other small wrapped treats work best)
Donuts hung on a string for the donut eating race
Apples for bobbing for apples
Candy apples and candy corn (mentioned in the This or That choice)

Activities

Pumpkin Bowling: use small pumpkins (fake ones if you don't want smashed pumpkin innards) as bowling balls and plastic bottles as pins.
Skull Bowling: use fake skulls as bowling balls and bottles as pins.
Mummy Wrap: team up with a partner and race to wrap them up like a mummy as quickly as possible; white crepe paper works better than toilet paper.
Halloween Jar Guessing Game: guests guess how many candies are in a jar (candy corn and zombie eyeball gumballs work well) and write their guess on paper as they arrive; the winner takes home the jar.
Witch Hat Ring Toss: place an assortment of witch hats on the floor (different sizes and distances, each worth points) and throw rings at them; the player or team with the most points wins.
Pin the Hat on the Witch: blindfolded players try to pin a paper hat on a witch poster, a Halloween twist on pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey.
Monster Freeze Dance: dance to a playlist of Halloween songs and freeze when the music stops; anyone who moves is out.
Eyeball Pong: play classic beer pong but use eyeball ping-pong balls.
Scavenger Hunt: create a list of Halloween-themed items for kids to find, played as individuals or teams.
Spider Web Obstacle Course: use white crepe paper or wool to build a web in a hallway for players to navigate without breaking it.
Glow Stick Tag: play tag in the dark with glow sticks, ideally outside.
Bobbing for Apples: fish for apples with your mouth; add a numbered sticker to each apple so points can be scored and the highest total wins a prize.
Pumpkin Rolling Race: roll pumpkins across a finish line.
Zombie Tag: the 'zombie' tags others to turn them into zombies, and all players must walk like zombies with no running.
Donut Eating Race: hang donuts in a line on a string and eat them without using your hands.
Halloween Escape Room: a series of puzzles and challenges solved together as a team, themed around something like a witch's house or a zombie outbreak.
Witches Escape Room: escape the witch's house, a great game for ages 8+.
Zombie Escape Room: a family-friendly escape room for tweens and adults.
Nevermore: a Wednesday Addams-inspired escape game that is great for teens and adults.
Secret Code Halloween Treasure Hunt: take regular treasure hunt clues and convert the text into a secret code or cipher for an extra challenge.
Puzzle Treasure Hunt: put a puzzle to solve at each location instead of a regular clue, combining escape-room-style puzzling with the ease of a treasure hunt (a zombie puzzle hunt for teenagers and a Halloween-themed one for ages 7-8 and up).
Halloween Candy Dice: start with a bowl of candy, players take turns rolling a die, and each number gives a rule (pick up 1, pick up 2, swap, or steal candies); the aim is to reach 10 candies first and everyone keeps their candy. Game boards can be added to track progress.
Halloween This or That: players choose between two Halloween-themed options as a fun conversation starter (e.g. ghost or vampire; candy apple or candy corn; hairy werewolf or slimy slug; Monster Mash or Purple People Eater).
Halloween Scavenger Hunt: create a list of items to find, with players ticking them off or photographing them; add a secret code hidden with the items that opens a locked box of goodies such as glow sticks.
Halloween Charades & Pictionary: players take turns picking a slip of paper with a Halloween word, then either act it out (charades) or draw it (Pictionary) in teams; drawing with the non-dominant hand makes it harder (108 free printable charades cards available).
Halloween Bingo: use Halloween-themed bingo cards with images instead of numbers, plus coins or markers; laminate if printing your own so players can use erasable markers.
Pin the Eye on the Zombie: blindfolded players take turns trying to pin an eye on a large zombie poster, with a short time limit and a prize for the closest attempt.
Halloween Scattergories: create Halloween-themed categories (e.g. scary movies, spooky snacks, Halloween costumes, spooky places) and, against a timer, players write words starting with certain letters; simple to set up with just a pencil.
Halloween Photobooth: print free Halloween photo booth props and strike a pose.
Candy Trading Post: kids trade candies they've collected.
Monster Charades: act out Halloween-related words.
Shine a Light Ghost Scavenger Hunt: a fun hunt using a torch.
Spooky Trivia: test knowledge with Halloween trivia.
Guess the Sound: identify spooky sounds played from a speaker.
Costume Contest: show off Halloween costumes and award prizes for best, funniest, scariest, etc.
Pumpkin Golf: putt golf balls into carved pumpkin holes, best played outside.
Spider Race: blow plastic spiders across a table with straws, as a relay race or individually.
Skeleton Scavenger Hunt: find hidden bones to assemble a skeleton; the first player or team to complete theirs wins.
Candy Corn Stack: stack candy corn as high as possible within a 60-second timer to test balancing skills.
Balloon Pop: pop balloons to find hidden messages or prizes.
Witch's Broom Limbo: limbo under a broomstick.
Ghost Relay: a relay race while dressed as ghosts.
Zombie Run: race from one end collecting items to survive a zombie apocalypse; the first team back with all the items wins.
Eyeball Spoon Race: balance ping-pong balls (buy eyeball ones or decorate your own) on a spoon.
Spooky Zombie Says: a classic Simon Says game with a Halloween twist.
Glowing Ghost Hunt: cut ghost characters from white paper, hide them around the house, and hunt for them in the dark with black light torches.
Halloween Bingo (quick version): grab Halloween bingo boards and shout 'Haunted House' when you win.
Mystery Cauldron: guess what's inside the cauldron by having blindfolded players feel objects such as peeled grapes (eyeballs) and spaghetti (brains), along with candy corn and plastic Dracula teeth.
Spooky Pictionary: party guests pick a card with a drawing prompt from a plastic pumpkin or cauldron and draw it.