Mingle

Mingle is a great game for groups who are either a) very comfortable with each other or b) enjoy mild awkwardness induces by touching new friends.

The game uses one "caller" and can be played with anywhere from 4-100 people.  Everyone mingles together, usually singing "mingle, mingle, mingle."

The caller can then call out a plethora of options.

For more appropriate games, it could be a group of 5 people who were born in the same state as you and other such thoughts.

The caller can also use more comical ideas such as:
Skydive! (one person lies on the ground and arches so their arms and legs are off the ground and another person lies on top of them perpendicularly doing the same arch)
Princess (one person jumps into another person's arms as if they are being carried over a threshold)
Spoons (three people spoon each other with the person at the back throwing their leg over the other two)
Cowboy (one person gets down on all fours and another "rides" them by straddling them and makes lasso motions with their arm)
Milk the cow (one person gets on a high all fours while another pretends to milk their stomach as they would a cow)

What other ideas do you have for callers?

Foottag

Numbers needed: 2 or more with even numbers

Space: Yard or park space - room to move and fall down if possible

Basic rules: Face your partner and join all 4 hands. Safety note!  Make sure each hand looks like a mitten rather than gloves.  Interlacing fingers here can cause injury!  If one partner is wearing shoes, both should be. Then, the two people dance around themselves in an attempt to step on their partner's foot before their partner steps on theirs.  

Variations:  Play battle style. See post for "Rowchambeau Battle "

Fingerfencing

Known aliases: Pokey

Numbers needed:  2, 4, or any even number

Space: Any - although most fun when there is a bit of space to move around a bit

Basic rules:  A partner game, although this time, you're trying to beat your partner. A bit more fun to watch then Rowchambeau battle, so typically not done in "battle" fashion.  Begin by finding the fencing grip.  This means shaking your partner's hand, and then rotating your hands up so you can wrap your fingers around their thumb and wrist.  Continue to hold each other and point your index finger towards your partner.  These are your foils with which you fence.  The goal - be the first to hit your partner with your index finger before your partner gets you.  Feel free to dive on the floor, run in circles, move quickly, slowly, etc.  Soon, you'll be wrapped up in a battle of strength and wits!  

Note to the audience: Keep an eye on the "spare foil" - most people's non-battling hand ends up forming another foil - index finger out - as if prepraring in case their first foil breaks.  Also, keep an eye on safety hazards.

Variations: Switch hands or add limits to movement. For example, you could play on a 4x4 laying on the ground.  Or you could play on a large welcome mat.  

Birdie on a Perch

Numbers needed: At least 6, up to 30ish.

Space:  Yard or park space - room to run and fall down.  

Basic rules:  Again, this is a partner game, although this time, you and your partner are trying to beat all other partners.  At the beginning of the game, you and your partner decide who is the birdie and who is the perch.  

Role options:

Perch sets a stable base and birdie will jump on and off the perch's back.  

Perch stands and birdie runs around the perch.  

Perch stands and birdie jumps into perch's arms.

One player or an audience member acts as the caller.  The caller yells "birdie on a perch," "perch on a birdie," "down,"or "scramble!"  Based on the group's decision of which role option to use for this particular round, when the first two calls are yelled, the partners act appropriately.  For example, say we decided to choose option a.  When the caller yells "birdie on a perch!" the player who is the birdie for that round jumps on their partner's back.  When all partners are up, the caller yells "down."  If the caller would have called (or now decides to call) "perch on a birdie," the player who is the perch for that round jumps on their partner, the birdie's, back.  

The caller may call "perch on a birdie/down" or "birdie on a perch/down" as many times as they want, but the craziness really begins when they choose to call "scramble!" At this point, the birdie and the perch take off in opposite directions around the circle of other players (who are also running in opposite directions around the circle) until they return to their original location.  Options for this point of the game include returning to the last caller position (say, perch on a birdie) and the last team to get into that position would lose.  Another option includes having the perch return and stand with wide legs so the birdie can dive through their legs and grab an item in the center of the circle, where there are less items than partner pairs.

Rowchambeau Battle

Known aliases:  Rock, Paper, Scissors Battle; Rowcham battle

Know how to play basic rowchambeau ?  Rock, paper, scissors?  Rock crushes scissors, scissors cuts paper, and paper covers rock.  It's a great way to make decisions like "should we get ice cream" or "should we get married?"

Rowchambeau battle takes that a step further.

Numbers needed: 4 or more (up to hundreds, I suppose)

Space: Determined by numbers, but can be done in airports, around kitchen tables, or in yards.

Rules:  Pair up (if someone doesn't have a partner to start, they can either wait one round or do a trio rowchambeau).  The pair plays either best of three rounds or one round of rowchambeau to determine a winner.  The loser in the pair immediately becomes the biggest fan of the winner.  Winners then play winners (and the loner who sat out of round one, if there was such a loner) while losers cheer on their winner with utmost intensity.  When someone wins that game, all losers cheer on that winner. This pattern continues until the final battle - where only two people are left and the rest of the group is split in half, cheering on their winner.  At the culmination of the final rowcham battle, all of the group goes crazy over the final winner.  

Final note:  In a human's lifetime, they can one time, and one time only, throw "fire" (demonstrated by an upturned palm and wiggling fingers).  Fire beats rock, paper, and scissors.  However, if their opponent gets wind that this may happen, the opponent can throw water, which only beats fire.