16 Best 50th Birthday Party Games Ideas of 2022

Adult birthday celebrations need not be boring. Make the 50th birthday party of your loved one fun. We are here to give you some of the best ideas for the 50th birthday party games for a man or woman.

50th Birthday Party Games Ideas

Planning the 50th Party Games

Before we delve into the games for 50th birthday party, let’s discuss some of the considerations when preparing for the party games.

  1. Location. Will the party be held at home or in a restaurant or some other party venue? Would it be possible to conduct the game you have in mind in the venue? Consider the size of the venue, whether the party is indoors or outdoors, and the arrangements you have to make among other things. 
  2. Number of Guests. Think of party games that will involve most of your guests so that no one will feel left out.
  3. Age of the Guests. If you are expecting many elderly guests, then prepare non-physically challenging games. If there will be a mix of guests like children and adults, it’s a good idea to have separate activities for them. 
  4. Time Allotted for the Party. Some party games like Murder Mystery-type games will consume more time than others. If you are going to go for these types of games, it might be better to stick to just one. Another option is to have several short games for the party for variety. 
  5. Budget. Consider how much the host is willing to spend for the party games. Expenses include the prizes and the materials needed for the 50th birthday party games. 

50th Birthday Game Ideas

A 50th birthday is a milestone so make sure that the celebration is a memorable one for the birthday celebrator and the guests. For a successful 50th birthday party, make sure that the guests are entertained and happy by providing them with games and activities.

Here are some fun and unique 50th birthday games. 

  1. A Trip Down Memory Lane

This game is similar to a scavenger hunt. But instead of random things, the hidden objects should be mementos of the birthday celebrator like an old photo, a high school yearbook, an old toy, and others.

  1. Guess Who

Ask the guests to send a digital copy of their old photos beforehand. Put the photos on the board and assign a number to each one. The guests will write their guesses on a piece of paper. Before the end of the party, the names of the persons will be revealed. The guest who guesses the most correct answers will win a prize.

  1. Spin a Wheel

Participants are asked to spin a wheel to win a prize. You can also do a variation of this game by putting tasks or challenges or questions instead of just prizes on the wheel. 

  1. Pictionary or Charade

Two teams are needed for this game. Participants are to guess a word or a phrase, preferably something associated with the birthday celebrator, by drawing clues on the board or acting out the word. 

  1. Two Truths and a Lie

Players share two true statements about themselves and one lie. The other players are to guess which statement is a lie. 

  1. True or False 

Write down events that may or may not have happened in the life of the birthday celebrator. Let the participants guess which statements are true.

  1. The Price is Right

This game is patterned after the TV Game Show. Participants are to guess the price of certain items. The person with the closest answer wins a prize. You can make this game harder by using the prices of items from 50 years ago but you have to research the prices at that time.

  1. Fill in the Correct Lyrics

This is patterned after the game shows “The Singing Bee” or “Don’t Forget the Lyrics”. Choose the favorite songs of the celebrator for this game. Players will be asked to fill in the missing lyrics of a song. 

  1. Birthday Trivia Games

Trivia Games have many variations. We have listed some possible trivia games below.

  • How Well do You Know Me?

Before the party, the assigned game master will ask the birthday celebrant some questions about him. Questions may include his favorite food, where he first worked, the school he went to, etc. You can get ideas from free printable 50th birthday party games.  During the game, ask the guests the same questions and let them write down the answers on a sheet of paper or whiteboard. Depending on the number of guests, you can group them or they can answer individually. The team or the person who gets the most correct answers wins the game. 

  • This or That

Guests will guess what the birthday guy or gal prefers between two options. Examples: coffee or tea, Coke or Pepsi, wine or beer, movies or books, vacation or staycation, etc. 

If you prefer, you can also just ask the participants what they prefer between two options instead of them guessing the birthday celebrant’s answer. This is a better option when the invited guests do not know each other and it is a good way to break the ice. 

  • Trivia from the Era

The game master prepares trivia questions from a period. Since we are talking about a person who is turning 50, trivia from the 70s, 80s, and 90s would be best. Again, depending on the number of guests, this can be played individually or in groups. You can research and prepare the questions yourself or you can just buy adult trivia games on Amazon. 

  • Would You Rather

This game is quite similar to “This or That” except that the participants are given options between hilarious scenarios to make the game more fun and interesting. 

  1. Spoon

This is best if you only have a few invited guests. A minimum of three to a maximum of 13 players can play the game. You need a standard deck of cards and spoons -one less than the number of players. That means if you have ten players, you need nine spoons. The spoons are placed in the middle of the table. Each player is dealt with four cards, one card at a time. The rest of the cards are placed on the side of the dealer. At the beginning of the round, the dealer gets one card from the remaining pile and then passes one card from his hand face down to the player on his left. The next player picks up the card and will discard one card from his hand to the one on his left and this continues. The last player in the circle will put one card on a discard pile. While all that is happening, the dealer continues to pick up a new card from the undealt cards and passes one card to the player on his left. Their immediate goal is to get a four-of-a-kind. The player who gets four-of-a-kind will get one spoon from the table. Anyone can take a spoon after that. The player who is left without a spoon gets a letter. This goes on until someone gets all six letters spelling out S-P-O-O-N. He will be eliminated from the game. One spoon is taken off the table and the game continues until one player remains. 

The player with the four-of-a-kind might want to sneakily get the spoon without others noticing and just keep passing the new card until someone else notices that one spoon is missing. Or he can grab the spoon and start a frenzy. 

  1. Name that Tune

Divide the guests into at least two teams. You will need buzzers for this game. Play two lines of a song and let the participants guess the title. To make it more fun, you can also ask the player to sing the song. Choose songs that are popular during the celebrant’s teen years up to his twenties. 

  1. Murder Mystery

There are several variations of this game. You can find free printable 50th birthday party games and murder mysteries like Jazz Age Jeopardy and The Movie Murder Mystery. You can also buy murder mystery games on Amazon. The participants will play characters in the game. The objective is to find the murderer and motive.

  1. Great Minds Think Alike

This is a free printable birthday game that you can download. Guests will be divided into teams. Players will be given a category and each player will write the first three things that come to their mind. More common answers get higher points. The free printable has 10 categories listed, but you can definitely add more if you like. 

  1. Drop a Hint

Two teams will play the game. One team will play at a time. The team will choose one person to be the guesser. His teammates take turns to describe it in one word. The guesser only has one chance to guess the word. If he guesses wrong, they move on to the next word. A team is given two minutes to guess as many words as it can. After the first team is finished, the second team will do the same. The team with the highest score wins. 

  1. React and Act

Players are given a scenario to react to (for example: winning a lottery, seeing a bear, etc.) and then they will act out their reactions. Others will try to guess the scenarios based on the actions of their teammates. The team with the most correct answers wins. 

  1.  Younger or Older

Players of this game will guess whether an item or event came out or happened before or after the year when the birthday guy or gal was born. The game master must research and prepare printouts like these beforehand. 

Other Ways to Keep Your Guests Entertained

If you are throwing a party for your loved one, you want to make sure that your guests are happy. Aside from entertaining them with games, here are some things you can do to help your guests enjoy the party.

  1. Create a party atmosphere. Decorate the venue according to the theme. Having good background music also helps set the mood for the party. 
  2. Food and drinks. Have finger foods and drinks available to your guests upon arriving. 
  3. Introduce guests to each other. Not everyone may know each other at the party so it helps if someone will introduce the guests to others to help break the ice. 
  4. Provide other activities for the guests. Set up a DIY bar so guests can concoct their own drinks. You can also opt for a DIY snack bar. Or set up a photo booth where guests can have their wacky photos taken. 

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed our Best 50th Birthday Party Games Ideas of 2022. Try one or several of them for the next party you will organize to make the event more fun and exciting. If you want more birthday ideas, check out our other articles below.