Spin the wheel party games

How do I set up a spinner wheel for a party?

Build your wheels before guests arrive, save each one as a link, and put the screen where everyone can see it. Then the host only has to press Spin.

• Use the biggest screen. Open the wheel on a laptop connected to the TV, or cast a browser tab, then press Full screen.
• Turn the tick sound on. The ticking as the wheel slows is half the drama. Set the spin length to Long (8 seconds) for big moments and Short (3 seconds) for fast rounds.
• One wheel per game. Make each wheel, give it a title, then use Share or embed to copy its link. Keep the links in a note on your phone so you can switch games in seconds.
• Stop repeats. For prompt wheels, turn on "Remove the winner after each spin" so the same charade or question does not come up twice.
• Pass it around. If there is no big screen, send the link to the group chat and let each player spin on their own phone.

Acting and drawing games

1. Animal charades

Spin the animal wheel in secret (or turn the screen away), then act out the animal without words or sounds while everyone guesses. It is charades with the hardest part, thinking of something to act, done for you. Younger kids can be allowed animal noises.

2. Category charades

Make a wheel of categories such as jobs, sports, films, famous places and everyday chores. Spin for the category, then the actor chooses something in it. The category gives guessers a head start, so rounds stay short.

3. Sketch and guess

Spin the drawing prompt wheel, show the result only to the artist, and give them one minute to draw it on paper or a whiteboard for their team. No letters or numbers allowed in the drawing.

4. Dance move wheel

Fill a wheel with moves: robot, sprinkler, moonwalk attempt, freestyle, slow motion, copy the person on your left. Put on music, spin every 20 seconds or so, and everyone switches to the new move.

Talking, guessing and trivia games

5. Icebreaker spin

For guests who do not know each other, paste conversation starters into a wheel and spin one per person as they arrive or at the start of dinner. Our icebreaker questions list is a ready-made source.

6. Team trivia categories

Split guests into teams with the random team generator, then spin a category wheel before each question: geography, music, science, sport, food, history. The quizmaster asks a question from that category. Put a "Team's choice" slice on the wheel for a lucky break.

7. Twenty questions, wheel edition

One player spins a secret answer from the animal wheel or the country wheel without showing anyone. Everyone else has up to twenty yes or no questions to work it out. The wheel makes the answer random, so even the person hosting cannot favour an easy one.

8. Letter race

Spin the letter wheel and give everyone a minute to write a food, a name, an animal, a place and a job that start with that letter. Score a point for every answer nobody else wrote.

9. Question party mix

Make a wheel with three slices: Would you rather, Truth, and Yes or no. Spin to choose the round type, then read a prompt from our would you rather questions or the clean truth or dare prompts.

Birthday and holiday wheel games

10. Birthday challenge wheel

Give the birthday person a wheel of fun challenges to spin through the party: tell the best story from your past year, pick the next song, choose who cuts the cake, make a wish out loud, give a two-sentence speech, lead a group photo pose. It keeps the guest of honour at the centre without putting them on the spot for long.

11. Family game night decider

Put every board and card game you own on a wheel and spin to choose tonight's game, which ends the "we always play the same one" debate. Then use the who goes first wheel to settle the starting player.

12. Holiday wheel games

• Gift swaps: use the random order generator to decide who picks a present first.
• Halloween: spin a category for a costume parade award: funniest, spookiest, most creative, best homemade.
• New Year: spin a theme for everyone's resolution, such as learn, move, help, create or rest.
• Winter holidays: spin a festive song for the group to sing or hum, or a holiday movie for later.

Spin the wheel games for kids' parties

13. Freeze pose wheel

Play music and stop it at random. When it stops, spin a wheel of poses (flamingo, starfish, statue, superhero, sleeping cat) and everyone freezes in that pose. Anyone who wobbles helps spin next round rather than being out, so nobody sits on the sidelines.

14. Story spin

Sit the children in a circle and start a story with one sentence. Each child spins a wheel of story words (dragon, bicycle, birthday cake, secret door, rain, a lost shoe) and must add a sentence that uses the word. The stories get wonderfully strange, and even quiet children join in because the wheel hands them something to say. For older kids, add a rule that the story must end within ten turns.

At the end of the party, a prize wheel of small party favours makes a fun send-off. Make every slice a prize so every child wins something.

How do you make a kind forfeit wheel?

15. The forfeit wheel

Many games need a forfeit for the loser of a round. Keep them quick, silly and shared, never humiliating or physical. A good forfeit wheel includes:

• Tell a joke
• Sing one line of any song
• Give the winner a compliment
• Do your best animal impression
• Speak in a robot voice until the next round
• Do a victory dance for the winner
• Say a tongue twister three times
• Swap seats with the winner

Add a "Free pass" slice so luck sometimes lets the loser off. The forfeit should last seconds, not minutes, and any player can swap it for a different one.

Tips for hosting wheel games

• Test before guests arrive. Open every saved link once, check the slices and the sound.
• Match the prompts to the youngest guest. If kids are there, everything on every wheel should be something you would happily read aloud to them.
• Let people sit out. Shy guests can be the official spinner or scorekeeper instead of performing.
• Mix energy levels. Follow a loud acting game with a quieter guessing game.
• Let the wheel pick teams. On the team picker wheel, enter the guests' names and use the split into teams box to deal them into two or more teams in one go.
• Keep the history. The results list shows every spin of the night, which is handy for tallying scores.