How our Halloween Party unfolded in 2021

Halloween is one of our favorite times of the year. We usually organize a team contest packed with games and activities, and this happened in 2021 as well. The format was simple:

• Guests were divided into teams, and each team competed to collect points from different games throughout the night. At the end, the team with the most points was crowned champion winning a large bag of candy.
• Each team had three players, except for the one with me and my wife. Since some games required a game master, we could both participate while the other was working as a game master.

Here’s a breakdown of how the evening’s games went:

Game 1: Halloween Quiz

Our party kicked off with a Halloween-themed quiz to set the mood. Teams sat together, ready to test their knowledge on all things Halloween.

Questions included:

1. Which Country is Halloween from?
2. Originally which vegetable was used as a lantern?
3. Which famous mage died on Halloween's day in 1926?
4. What is the meaning of the name, "Dracula"?
5. According to the Welsh what does black cats bring?

And also some other questions in the movie/music/trivia topics.

Each team wrote down their answers on a sheet of paper. Once the answers were locked in, the sheets were passed to neighboring teams for correction. The correct answers were revealed by the game master, and points were awarded based on how many questions each team got right. The team with the highest number of correct answers took first place, setting the pace for the night.

Game 2: Drawing challenge

The next game was our drawing challenge, where creativity and deception combined for a hilarious time. Before the event, we had prepared 5-6 slips of paper each together with our guests for players to draw.

Rules:

1. Players drew a slip of paper and had 1 minute to sketch the phrase they received.
2. Meanwhile, the other players wrote down what they thought the drawing represented, trying to create answers that would confuse the group into selecting their answer.
3. All responses, including the correct one, were mixed together and displayed on the TV.
4. Players then voted on which answer they thought matched the drawing. A correct guess earned them 3 points.
5. If another player voted for your decoy answer, you received 1 point.
6. Players were not allowed to vote for their own submissions.

Game 3: Retro Wii Console Games

No party is complete without some good old-fashioned video game fun, so we fired up our retro Wii console for a series of competitive challenges. Each team had a chance to showcase their skills in these classic Wii games:

• Mario Kart: Teams picked their best driver to race on behalf of their team. The top three finishers earned points.
• Wii Sports - Tennis: A 2-player showdown where pairs from each team faced off in a single-elimination tennis tournament. The final match was intense, with teammates cheering from the sidelines.
• Wii Play - Whack-a-mole: Players frantically tried to whack as many moles as possible, with the top scorer taking the win for their team.

Game 4: Movie Quiz

Our next challenge was a movie quiz, where teams had to guess the titles based on short clips.

Rules:

1. Three clips from each movie were prepared in advance.
2. The first clip was shown, and if a team recognized the movie, they could write their guess on a slip and hand it to the game master.
3. For teams that didn’t guess after the first clip, the second clip was shown, offering another chance.
4. After the third clip, teams that still hadn’t guessed could submit their answer.
5. Points were awarded based on how early the correct guess was made—the earlier, the better.

Game 5: Darts

Next up, we tested everyone’s hand-eye coordination with a dart challenge using self-adhesive darts.

Rules:

• Starting score is 501: Each team starts with 501 points and subtracts the total score they hit with their darts during each turn.
• Winning: To win, teams must reduce their score to exactly zero. There is no restrictions applied, and no "bust" rule.

Game 6: Just Dance

To wrap up the night, we cranked up the energy with a Just Dance challenge. We curated a list of songs based on our guests' favorite genres and prepared paper slips for each song.

Rules:

• For each round, someone would draw a slip to reveal the song contestants had to dance to.
• Guests took turns showing off their best moves, trying to match the on-screen choreography as accurately as possible.
• The team with the highest cumulative dance score took the final win of the night.

Summary

We had a great time in our 2021 Halloween party event. In the end, the winning team was crowned champions, earning not only bragging rights but also their well-deserved stash of precious candy. To celebrate, we all chugged down a few beers and enjoyed the festive vibe.

According to our guests, the Movie Quiz stole the show and was voted the best game of the night! This set the standard for next year's Party.