Organised fun – we all love a bit of it. The best Stag Weekends walk a careful tight-rope between planned hilarity and spontaneous japes, so if you’re in charge it always pays to gather together some tried-and-tested Stag Party Games before you hit the pub.
Since we’re assuming you’ve already had a beer or two, we’ve sorted our list into three handy categories to help you tailor your choice of games to the group you’re dealing with. I know, we’re too good to you. You can thank us later.
DRINKING
Camera Bomb
It’s easy to forget to document the Stag Do when you’ve spent most of the evening vomiting into a sock, but this nifty little drinking game does the work for you. Set a digital camera on timer and pass it round in a circle. Each player must make a whacky face into the lens, and whoever gets snapped has to down their pint.
Dirty Pint
A disgusting Stag Do classic. The group build up a so-called ‘Dirty Pint’ over the course of the evening – basically a glass containing the dregs of whatever the lads fancy chucking in there (do try and draw the line at piss though). At the optimum moment, the Groom downs it, and everyone takes cover.
The Teapot Game
Grab a teapot, split into teams, chuck coins at a teapot, losing team drinks the contents. The Teapot should contain large amounts of disgusting alcohol (this can be combined with Dirty Pint if you’re feeling evil).
SPORTING
Headers & Volleys
Kids in the park, jumpers for goalposts, lovely stuff. We all played this when we were kids, so why not bring it back? Works well as it’s quick and simple and even the idiots who don’t understand football can have a crack.
Penalty Shot-Out
No, that’s not a mis-spelling – I do mean ‘shot-out’. And I literally just made this up now, as I was writing (I know, I amaze myself sometimes). Technically this is cross-category, but heck – who cares. Run a regular penalty shoot-out but make anyone who fails to score take a shot. After drinking, they try again, and once again must knock back a shooter if they fail. You can see where this is going.
Three-Legged Race
This can of course be combined with a pub crawl (check out our London pub guide if you’re stagging in the capital), leading to an eventual descent into three-legged chaos. Why just walk normally between drinking holes like a bunch of pansies? Tie yourself to someone else and race there. That’s the gentlemen’s way.
BANTERING
Banned Words
A gloriously simple word game that can run all weekend. Choose a cluster of banned words that the Groom is not allowed to say, and punish him mercilessly with on-the-spot forfeits when he fails to comply. Candidates such as ‘drink’, ‘toilet’ and his fiancee’s name are all belters. The rest of the group should of course slyly encourage him to say all three whenever possible.
Dead Ants
If anyone in the group shouts out ‘dead ants’ at any point, everyone must drop to the floor on their backs and wriggle their arms and legs like crazy insects (not sure why they call this dead ants, since dead ones can’t move, but we’ll let that slide). Hilarious in a club, or at a football match.
Tell ‘em!
If you overhear another Stag talking about someone behind their back (doesn’t matter who it is), shout ‘Tell ’em!’. That Stag then has to walk straight up to the person in question and, quite literally, tell them. Works particularly well if they’re complementing a girl’s behind or making jokes about a nearby skinhead.
