Our advice for the lineup: one background game for the whole evening plus at most one scheduled game. No party needs more programming than that.
The games in detail
Unterjubeln
5–100 players · 30 min to 1 week · phone, free, browser · setup 1 min
Runs in the background of the whole party: everyone secretly hunts one other guest and eliminates them by handing them any object. You moderate nothing. Create a game, put up the QR code, done. Alcohol plays no role in the rules; paranoia replaces it entirely.
Werewolf
8–18 players · 15–30 min per round · no materials · setup 0 min
The classic social deduction game. Needs a moderator and a seated circle, but zero materials. Great as a scheduled activity, less good as a side game.
Who am I?
4–20 players · 20–40 min · sticky notes + pen · setup 2 min
Note on the forehead, yes/no questions. The fastest icebreaker on this list, especially good when guests don't know each other.
Charades / Pictionary
4–30 players · flexible · paper · setup 2 min
Scales in teams to almost any group size and works for mixed ages. The safe pick for calm evenings and dinner parties.
PowerPoint karaoke
6–20 players · 30–60 min · screen + prepared slides · setup 15 min
Guests present slide decks they've never seen. Reliably delivers laughs, but needs preparation and a screen.
Minute-to-win-it challenges
6–30 players · 20–45 min · household items · setup 10 min
Short physical mini-games: stack cups, toss balls. Loud, cheap, very fun to watch. Good as an energy reset after food.
So every guest can join in and people have an easier way to meet each other. One doesn't rule out the other.
What do you play when some guests drink and some don't?
Games where alcohol plays no role in the rules. Everyone plays by the same rules, and nobody has to explain why they're not drinking.
Which alcohol-free games need zero preparation?
Werewolf needs nothing but people, Who-am-I needs paper at most. Browser games like Unterjubeln need one phone per player but no download. Setup often under a minute.
How many games should you plan for one evening?
One that runs in the background, plus at most one short scheduled game. Three games in a row kill the vibe faster than missing alcohol ever could.