Giant Outdoor Party Games for Adults (and the Perfect Locations for Your Shin-Dig)

Everything’s better when it’s bigger, including party games. See which games you and your friends should play at your next outdoor get-together and the best locations for hosting your party outdoors.

Giant checkers

I grew up playing checkers with my sister. It’s easy enough to follow but engages your mind on a deeper level than many other popular board games. It encourages strategizing, but not so much that you can’t participate in a fun conversation while you play.

These traits make checkers perfect for entertaining your friends outside in the beautiful spring weather. Now, make it giant, and it becomes so much more fun!

First of all, enhancing the size of the checkers and the board makes it significantly easier to play outside. You don’t have to worry about the wind blowing pieces away or any high-energy folks bumping the board and screwing up all your placements.

Plus, a giant checkerboard is ideal for current times. Since it’s not just a one-foot surface with one-inch pieces, you can socially distance across the playing area without a worry of crossing that six-foot boundary.

You can rent out whatever outdoor party venue you like, such as a private space in a botanical garden for spring brunch or a cabin in the woods over the weekend.

No matter where you lay out a giant checkers game, you can wash the board (a blanket) and keep it clean and tidy for the next get-together.

Jumbo Jenga

Jenga is another one of my childhood favorites. The premise is simple: Don’t knock down the tower. That’s it! You pull out the wooden blocks one by one until someone inevitably removes one that compromises the whole stack’s stability, sending everything tumbling to the ground.

Needless to say, the tower’s collapse is even better when the game is super-sized. Not only is it entertaining for adults to watch, but it is a blast for kids especially.

This game can get surprisingly tense — every time your turn arises to slip a Jenga piece from its position interlocked with the others, every player holds their breath and waits for the seemingly inevitable implosion.

With kids, it’s a whole ‘nother ball game. This is where you have to be careful. Some little buggers get a bit too excited and like to throw the pieces around. Plus, they love the tension of waiting for the pieces to fall.

The satisfied, hysterical laughter that ensues immediately after the tower caves in on itself is contagious.

With all this in mind, you’ll need to be smart about where you want to throw your outdoor party if jumbo Jenga is your main game.

I’d recommend choosing a location with lots of grass or somewhere that you can lay down foam play mats. This guarantees that you won’t break your Jenga pieces from landing too hard on concrete, tile, or another hard surface (this will protect the floor, too).

Giant beer pong

Okay, right off the bat, I suggest you rent an outdoor party venue where you can stay overnight if you’re going to be playing this game.

Choose a rental space that has a large backyard, so you can spread out the massive trash cans that replace the cups from the original game and safely toss the volleyball — instead of a ping pong ball — back and forth.

Obviously, you won’t be filling the trash cans with beer. That would be way too expensive and very difficult to clean up.

However, if you do want to up the ante so the game’s intensity parallels its new and improved size, bump up the size of your drinking cups. (The average beer serving size is about 12 oz.)

Since you’ve (hopefully) made the choice to rent out a venue that can host you overnight, you won’t have to worry about driving or cleaning anything up right away. Instead, you can fully indulge in the game and have the time of your life with your best pals.

Where to throw your outdoor party

Now that you’ve chosen your main source of entertainment, you’ll need to decide where you want to have your party. Typically, the main objective of many outdoor celebrations is to be laidback, not demanding too much of the attendees — or the planner, at that.

With that in mind, it’s best to choose a location that all your buddies can get to easily. Plus, the atmosphere should not be too restrictive on their behavior (i.e., can’t be too loud in a restaurant, etc.).

Some of the best places to throw your outdoor party include:

• Bar with outdoor game space: I’ve been to many a bar with a “backyard” area. Typically, they have cornhole out there for you and your party to play; however, it shouldn’t be a problem for you to rent out the venue and bring your own games.
• Rental home with backyard: Who says the party has to stop after one day? Keep the festivities going all weekend by renting out a house for you and your buds. (I strongly encourage this for any parties that will involve alcohol.)

Party outside with your pals

Outdoor events are the standard right now. Having a party outside is the best way to socially distance while spending time with your loved ones, and giant games at the perfect venue make it ten times better.

See which outdoor party venue will work best for you and your crew to celebrate life and play super-sized games in the beautiful springtime air.