Restaurant table games are the best way to make your night a bit more entertaining.
They’re especially useful if you’re dining out with your little children. We all know how impatient and indecisive they can be. And let’s not forget the random meltdowns and screaming for what’s seemingly absolutely no reason!
To help with this situation, you can play games with them to keep them occupied. Here are some restaurant table games you should definitely try the next time you’re out.
A Summary List of the Restaurant Table Games
If you’re in a hurry, here’s a summary list of the games we’ll talk about:
- Straw and Sugar Packet Tic Tac Toe
- Telephone Game
- Origami Fortune Tellers
- I Spy
- ABC Spy
- Heads Up
- 20 Questions
- Finish the Story
- Word Association
- Made You Say
- I’m Going on a Picnic
- Two Truths and a Lie
- Table Football
Straw and Sugar Packet Tic Tac Toe
Tic-tac-toe is an entertaining game to play while waiting for your meal to be served. To start, kindly ask your waiter for four straws and arrange them in a 3×3 grid. In most restaurants, you’ll find sugar and salt packets already on the table. If not, you can ask your waiter for at least nine pieces, and you’re good to go!
How to Play
Take turns in placing a sugar packet in the grid you’ve made. The player who succeeds in placing three of their marks in a row wins.
Telephone Game
The telephone game is a personal favorite of mine!
It’s best played in large groups. If you’re out with friends you haven’t seen for a while, try a hand at this game. The only equipment needed is your voice!
How to Play
One person starts by whispering a short phrase into the ear of the person sitting beside them. That person then whispers what they heard to the third person, and so on.
Typically, if someone didn’t listen to what was said in their ear, only one “redial” is allowed. So, make it count!
Continue this pattern until the last whisper reaches the person beside the host. They then announce what they heard and see if the group got it right! If they didn’t, the host wins.
Origami Fortune Tellers
I used to make fortune teller origami a lot when I was in middle school. It brought me great joy seeing all my friends blush or cry out in anger when I tell them who they were destined to “marry.”
Now that I think about it, I wonder if one of my middle school peers really did end up marrying the person written on the paper!
How to Play
Since you’re going to be playing around a group of friends and/or family, it’ll be a little awkward to “predict” who they’re going to marry in 10 years, especially if they’re all adults already! Instead, you can use it to spruce up a game of truth or dare.
First, you’ll need to make the fortune teller origami paper. It looks tricky, but trust me; it’s a piece of cake. If 11 year old me could do it, you certainly can, too! You’ll find a ton of step-by-step tutorials on Youtube to follow.
After making the paper origami, write individual colors on the first layer of flaps. For instance, if the “client” chooses yellow, spell out Y-E-L-L-O-W while moving the fortune together and apart with your fingers six times.
In the second layer, write down numbers from 1 to 8. Ask them to choose a number. Once they do, open the flap and reveal what’s inside. You can then ask them a truth-or-dare question or write funny fortunes such as “You’ll meet Angelina Jolie today!” etc. Get creative!
I Spy
I Spy is a classic game to play among friends. Every time I get the chance to play multiplayer online, I ask the friendly strangers waiting in the lobby if they want to join. 99% of the time, they say yes, and we end up having more fun in the lobby than out in the battlefield!
I can certainly guarantee you’ll have fun playing it in the table’s restaurant, too!
How to Play
For those unfamiliar with I Spy, what you’ll need to do is to choose an object within view of your table and use the phrase “I spy with my little eye, something ___.” You can use a color or short description of the item.
For example, if you’ve spotted a packet of fries on someone else’s table, you can say, “I spy with my little eye, something crunchy!” and the people on your table will all try to guess what that item is.
ABC Spy
If you’re dining out with your toddlers, ABC Spy will make your evening a lot better! It’s fun, and it’ll help with their vocabulary and ABC’s at the same time.
How to Play
Using the kid’s menu or any accessible printed paper with large letters, ask your child to find a letter. Every time they find the letter, ask them to draw a circle around it. You can then ask them to think of a word that starts with the same letter they’ve encircled.
It’s simple but educational! Plus, it’ll keep your kids occupied for a fairly decent chunk of time while their food is being prepared.
If you’re playing with two or more kids, you can make it a bit challenging by telling them the first boy or girl who gets five letters correctly first will get a nice treat.
Heads Up
Heads Up is a game developed by Ellen Degeneres. It’s basically charades, wherein you have to “act out” a phrase without speaking. While doing so, the people you’re playing with try to guess what that phrase is. This game is best played with at least four people.
How to Play
First, you’ll have to divide the people at your table into groups of 2, at least. You can then download the “Heads Up” game on your smartphone. Alternatively, if the restaurant doesn’t have wifi or sufficient coverage, you can write down the words to guess on a piece of paper.
The person who’ll guess will choose from the words you’ve prepared. Then, they’ll ask the person in their group to guess what they’re acting out. The group who wins the most guesses wins.
20 Questions
20 Questions is another fun guessing game. You can play it to kill some time, or to have fun with your mates. You’ll need at least two players to play, but the more, the merrier!
How to Play
The game is relatively simple. First, you’ll need to think of an object, person, or place. The person who’s guessing will ask you several Yes or No questions. For example, if you chose the word “Elephant,” the guesser will ask if it’s a place, vegetable, mineral, etc. until they get it right. If they do, it’ll be easier to build on answers that were already given.
Have the players take turns in asking Yes or No questions, totaling 20 questions. The one who guesses correctly gets to choose the next mystery object.
Finish the Story
The fun I had while playing Finish the Story with friends is indescribable! It’s a sure-fire way to get everyone laughing and having a great time.
How to Play
The game begins with someone starting off a story. It’s then passed along to the person beside the host to continue thinking of the next sentence. Person three carries the story, and so on!
For example,
Player 1: Once upon a time, in a land far away, the princess saw a…
Player 2: Giraffe. He was…
Player 3: Aggressively breakdancing. So I asked him…
Player 4: “Can you teach me how to breakdance?”
Each player can have a fair number of turns. The final story is sure to bring in some giggles.
Word Association
Word association is a fantastic game to play with little children. They’ll practice using their existing vocabulary and learn new English words.
How to Play
This game needs to be played in rapid-fire. The first player, chosen randomly, says one word out loud. For example, “Autumn!” The next player, typically in clockwise order, has to quickly say a word with some connection to what was given.
For example, if the first word is Autumn, the second word could be “Halloween,” and the third could be “trick-or-treating,” and so on.
Made You Say
Made You Say is a restaurant table game that really gets people talking. It’s especially great for parents with kids who don’t typically share stories about their day.
How to Play
Player one asks player two different questions that all begin with “Tell me something that happened today that made you say __.” The last word could be anything you want, including “that’s weird,” “wow!” or even, “it’s probably aliens.”
After the second player shares their stories, they’ll ask the same question to player three, and so on.
I’m Going on a Picnic
I’m Going on a Picnic is a classic memory game that’s been played by families for years. The rules of this game differ from household to household. This ranges from the items in the picnic basket needing to be one color to things that are spelled with five letters.
My family and I didn’t have any specific rules. Here’s how we played it:
How to Play
Start by saying, “I’m going on a picnic, and I’m bringing a __.” Then, the second player says the same thing and tags on another word. The third player does the same, and so on.
For instance:
Player 1: I’m going on a picnic, and I’m bringing bananas.
Player 2: I’m going on a picnic, and I’m bringing bananas and pancakes.
Player 3: I’m going on a picnic, and I’m bringing bananas, pancakes, and watermelon.
Player 4: I’m going on a picnic, and I’m bringing bananas, pancakes, watermelon, and juice.
A player is eliminated when they can’t remember some of the items or put them in the wrong order.
Two Truths and a Lie
You’ve undoubtedly heard of this one. Chances are, you’ve probably played a game or two yourself!
Similar to Made You Say, Two Truths and a Lie will get your kids talking about what they’re up to at school and with friends lately.
When played with a group of (adult) friends, things can get a little wild. In my little circle of friends, the stories they’d share often lead to friendly skepticism, disbelief, and a whole lot of laughs!
How to Play
As the name suggests, the first player tells two truths and one lie. The other players will need to accurately guess which of the options is a lie by explaining why they believe it’s not real. If they lose, the first player can share the story of what happened that day.
This game has strengthened my bond with my friends, and I found out about things I would never have otherwise!
Table Football
This is perhaps a waiter’s least favorite game for guests to play at the table. It can get a little rowdy sometimes. At the same time, it’s a ton of fun.
To avoid any restaurant problems, it’s best if you sit in the farthest corner so that other patrons can eat in peace while you play this game with your guests.
How to Play
The objective of this game is to flick the “football” (made of folded paper) into the “net” (aka your fingers and thumbs). The person with the most goals wins.
You’ll find tutorials online on how to make origami paper footballs, but basically, this is how you do it:
- Fold a piece of paper longways in half.
- Fold the corner down into a triangle.
- Continue to fold down, making triangles until you get to the end of the paper.
- Tuck whatever excess paper is left on end into the “pocket” on the top of the ball.
Final Thoughts
Dining out is more fun if you play several restaurant table games with the people you’re with. Plus, it’s a great way to get to know them better! All of the games I’ve listed above can be played without needing to carry any equipment with you.
Happy playing!
