Diwali party games for family, kids, friends and the office

The best Diwali party games depend on who’s coming. Housie (tambola) and antakshari suit a big mixed crowd, because any number can join and nobody needs practice. For young children, pick something with music or running about, like pass the parcel, musical chairs or a treasure hunt. Friends can take on dumb charades with Hindi film titles or a card table played for sweets, and colleagues can play a Diwali quiz in mixed teams.

Lakshmi Puja, the main night of Diwali, falls on Sunday 8 November 2026 in Drik Panchang’s calendar for New Delhi, and the central government’s 2026 holiday list puts Diwali on the same day. Dhanteras is on Friday 6 November (Drik Panchang). If your party is on Diwali night itself, check the puja time for your city and start the games after it.

For each game you’ll find the players, the time to allow, what you need, how to play and who it suits, grouped by guest list after a table of all of them. Two of the games are ours. 9io makes Chakri, a free Diwali party game that runs in a phone’s browser, and its two modes, Jodi Check and Chakri Truth or Dare, sit in the groups they fit. The order within each group isn’t a ranking.

Diwali party games at a glance

The times are slots to plan the evening around. Most of these games stretch or shrink to fit.

Diwali games for family, kids and grandparents

Put the children’s games in a room or corner with no lit diyas or candles, well away from wherever firecrackers are being lit. When children handle lights, give them battery-operated LED tea lights. Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service suggests that swap for Diwali, and asks people to keep diyas out of children’s reach and away from curtains, decorations and clothing (DW Fire). The US National Fire Protection Association says to keep candles at least 12 inches (30 cm) from anything that can burn (NFPA).

The first four games here are Diwali games for kids. The last two suit the whole family.

Pass the parcel (a circle of five or more, about 15 minutes). You need a small prize wrapped in many layers of paper, a forfeit slip under each layer, and music. The children pass the parcel round while the music plays, and whoever holds it when the music stops tears off a layer and does the forfeit, like singing a line of a song or naming three sweets. Best for children of about three to ten, with a grandparent on the music making sure everyone gets a layer.

Musical chairs (five to 15 players, about 15 minutes). You need one chair fewer than the number of players, and a playlist of Hindi film songs. Everyone walks round the chairs while the music plays and sits down when it stops. Whoever is left standing is out, another chair goes, and the last player sitting wins. Clear the floor of diyas, candles and rangoli before you start. Best for children and cousins up to their early teens.

Treasure hunt (pairs or small teams, about 30 minutes). You need six to ten clues, each hidden where the one before points, and a prize at the end, such as the box of sweets. Write the clues as short rhymes for children who can read and as pictures for younger ones. Keep the route indoors or in a well-lit garden, away from lamps and the firecracker area. Best for children of about five to 12, with older cousins hiding the clues.

Decorating diyas (any number, 30 minutes plus drying time). You need unlit clay diyas, acrylic paint and brushes, glitter glue or stickers, newspaper over the table and an LED tea light for each diya. Children paint their diyas, leave them to dry and put an LED tea light inside, and the oil and wicks stay with the adults. Best for younger children and grandparents, and for the first half hour while guests arrive.

Rangoli competition (teams of two to four, 30 to 45 minutes). You need rangoli colours, coloured rice, petals or chalk, and a tray or a sheet of chart paper for each team to keep the floor clean. At Diwali, rangolis are drawn at the entrances to homes and offices from coloured flour, rice, petals, powders and chalk (CNN). Give every team the same space, time and theme, such as a peacock or a lotus, and let grandparents judge or guests vote by leaving a sweet beside their favourite. For lights on the finished designs, use LED tea lights. Best for families, mixed-age teams and the office.

Guess the mithai blindfolded (any number, one taster at a time, about 15 minutes). You need six to eight kinds of sweets cut into small pieces on a numbered plate, a blindfold and a scorecard. Each taster tries every piece blindfolded and names it, scoring a point for each one right and a bonus for guessing which guest brought it. Ask about nut and milk allergies first, and leave out anything a taster can’t eat. Best for everyone, with children and grandparents on the same team.

Games for a big mixed crowd

UNESCO, which added Deepavali to its intangible cultural heritage list in 2025, describes it as a time for “people, families and communities to come together” to share meals and celebrate with music and dance (UNESCO). With three generations in one room, pick a game everyone can play at the same time.

Housie, or tambola (any number, one ticket each, 30 to 45 minutes a game). You need a ticket for every player, the numbers 1 to 90 to draw from, a caller and prizes. Each ticket has 15 numbers in three rows of nine columns, and in India the game is known as tambola (Wikipedia). The caller draws and reads out numbers at random, and players strike them off. Prizes go to the first to strike any five, then to the first to finish each line, and a full house ends the game. For Diwali, give boxes of sweets as prizes, and for young children print tickets with Diwali words in place of numbers. Best for big crowds and kitty parties, with a grandparent as caller.

Antakshari (two teams of any size, 20 to 40 minutes). You need voices, a timer and a scorekeeper. One team sings a couple of lines of a song, and the other answers with a song that starts with the sound the first one ended on. A team that can’t start a song by the count of ten loses a point, and no song can be sung twice. Play with Hindi film songs, and allow any language if some guests don’t know them. Best for a mixed crowd, with grandparents and teenagers on the same team so both old and new songs are covered.

Diwali games for friends

Dumb charades with Hindi film titles (two teams of three or more, 30 to 60 minutes). You need film titles on folded slips, a bowl for each team and a two-minute timer. Each team writes titles for the other, and a player draws one and acts it out in silence while their team guesses. Cranking an old film camera means a film, raised fingers give the number of words, taps on the forearm count syllables, and tugging an ear means “sounds like”. Best for friends and cousins from about 12 up; add English titles if some players don’t watch Hindi films.

Diwali Pictionary (two teams of two or more, 20 to 40 minutes). You need a whiteboard or paper, markers, a one-minute timer and slips with Diwali words, such as lantern, rangoli, kaju katli, string lights, new clothes, Diwali cleaning and a video call with Nani. One player draws, with no letters or numbers, while their team guesses, and a correct guess inside the minute scores a point. Save the hardest phrases, like “the soan papdi box doing the rounds”, for last. Best for friends, groups of adults and the office.

Chakri Truth or Dare, our game (2 to 12 players, for as long as you like). You need one phone open at chakri.9io.ai. With the phone in the middle, swipe the chakri and it spins, sprays sparks and stops on someone, never the same player twice running. That player picks one of four patakhas, from a Sparkler (an easy truth, 1 point) to a Sutli bomb (a big dare, 3 points). Everyone starts with three laddoos, and each skip costs one. When someone taps End game, the game names the Patakha of the night. Best for friends and cousins; pick the Family deck, “Safe in front of Dadi”, when grandparents play.

The other decks are Friends, Couple and Aunty Special, which plays the nosy relatives. As of 29 October 2026, the four decks hold 176 cards in English and Hinglish. No dare involves fire, firecrackers, diyas, drink or going outside. The full rules are in our post on Chakri, and to play without a phone, read cards aloud from our Diwali truth or dare questions.

Diwali card party and kitty party games

Card games are an old Diwali custom. CNN reported in 2018 that gambling card games are often played at Diwali in villages and cities, because gambling is considered auspicious then (CNN).

Card games for sweets or points (three or more a table, all evening). You need a pack of cards for each table and sweets, dry fruit or a scorecard to play for. CNN reported that teen patti was the most popular game at Diwali card parties in Mumbai. It grew out of the English game of three-card brag (Wikipedia). Everyone puts a sweet in the pot and gets three cards, and in turn each player adds to the pot or packs. When two are left, one can pay for a show, and the better hand takes the pot, with three of a kind beating everything. Best for friends, cousins and the adults’ table late in the evening; rummy suits a table with children.

Diwali kitty party games have to fit a living room and about an hour. Housie played for sweets, a round of cards and guess the mithai all fit, and the newspaper dance in the next section works with friends as partners.

Diwali games for couples

The shoe game (one couple at a time, about 10 minutes each). You need the couple’s shoes and a list of “who’s more likely to” questions. The couple sit back to back, each holding one of their own shoes and one of their partner’s. The host asks questions such as “Who’s more likely to re-gift the soan papdi?”, both raise the shoe of the person they mean, and the room counts the matches. Best for couples at a party with friends, and for the friends watching.

Newspaper dance (three or more couples, about 15 minutes). You need a sheet of newspaper for each couple and dance music. Each couple dances on their sheet, and every time the music stops, they fold it in half and carry on. A couple that steps off the paper is out, and the last couple dancing wins. Clear the floor of diyas and decorations first. Best for couples at kitty parties and family parties.

Jodi Check, our game (two players, 12 questions). You need one phone open at chakri.9io.ai. Pick the kind of jodi (Couple, Siblings, Best friends or Family); then one player answers six multiple-choice questions about themselves in secret, the other guesses each answer, and you swap. Every match lights a diya, and all 12 finish the rangoli. A score of 10 or 11 earns “Kaju katli jodi”, and 4 to 6 gets “Soan papdi jodi”, which the game sums up as “Passed around for years. Never actually opened.” Best for couples, and for siblings around Bhai Dooj.

Chakri Truth or Dare also has a Couple deck for exactly two players, which is flirty and never explicit.

Diwali office games that include everyone

At work, assume some colleagues don’t celebrate Diwali and others know far more about it than the organiser. Choose games about food, lights, films and general knowledge, and mix the teams. Make every game optional, with jobs such as scorer or judge for anyone who would rather watch, and let remote colleagues join the quiz and Pictionary on a video call.

Diwali quiz (teams of three to five, 30 to 45 minutes). You need 20 to 30 questions in rounds, an answer sheet or phone for each team, and a quizmaster. Mix rounds on sweets, film songs, lights and decorations, and general knowledge, so nobody needs to have grown up with Diwali to score. Read each question twice, collect answers after each round and keep the scores where everyone can see them. Best for the office, big crowds and family on a video call.

Five questions to start with, each with a source for the answer:

1. How many days does the Diwali festival last? Five (DW Fire).
2. In which year did UNESCO add Deepavali to its intangible cultural heritage list? 2025 (UNESCO).
3. Teen patti grew out of which English card game? Three-card brag (Wikipedia).
4. How many numbers are on a housie ticket? 15 (Wikipedia).
5. Where are rangolis drawn at Diwali? On the ground at the entrance to a home or office (CNN).

The team rangoli competition, Diwali Pictionary, dumb charades with English titles allowed and the blindfold mithai tasting also work with colleagues. Leave card games and truth or dare, ours included, for parties outside work.

Diwali games online, for family on a video call

When part of the family is in another city or country, four of these games work over a video call. Antakshari works with one person singing at a time, and for the quiz, the quizmaster shares the questions on screen while teams answer in the chat. Pictionary works with drawings held up to the camera, and housie works if everyone prints tickets in advance and the caller reads the numbers on camera.

Chakri runs in a browser but is built for one phone passed around one room. At the end of a game it makes a story-sized result card you can send on WhatsApp to the relatives who couldn’t come.

A running order for the evening, and a host’s checklist

This running order is for a party from 7 to about 10:30 pm with children, grandparents and friends. Move everything later if the puja comes first.

1. 7:00 Guests arrive. The diya-decorating table and the rangoli trays are already set out.
2. 7:30 Pass the parcel or musical chairs for the children while the adults catch up.
3. 7:45 Guess the mithai, as a station people drop in on.
4. 8:00 Dinner, while grandparents judge the rangolis.
5. 8:45 Housie for everyone, with boxes of sweets as prizes.
6. 9:30 The room splits. Adults take the card table, cousins and friends play dumb charades or Chakri Truth or Dare, and any couple who wants to can try Jodi Check.
7. 10:00 Antakshari to finish, since it needs no setup and nobody has to sit out.

Before guests arrive:

• Pick one game everyone can play, one for the children and one for each smaller group.
• Print the housie tickets and numbers, wrap the parcel, and write the charades and Pictionary slips.
• Buy sweets for prizes, and ask about nut and milk allergies before the mithai round.
• Set the games up away from lit diyas and candles, and keep LED tea lights for the children.
• If you’re playing Chakri, charge a phone and open chakri.9io.ai before the doorbell starts.
• Give each game a scorer and a timer, and leave pens on every table.

Frequently asked questions