Group Games
Twenty kids arrive in ten minutes. Now what?
139 games, hand chosen by experienced leaders. Plus a planner that turns them into a run sheet your whole team can follow.
Free to download. Every game, free forever.
iPhone, iOS 17 and later.
Games get scribbled in old notebooks, buried in group chats or half remembered from someone else's camp. When you need one on the spot, with the group you actually have in the room, you cannot find it.
Find a Game
The right game in seconds
Set the number of players, the youngest and oldest in your group, how long you have got and how much preparation you can manage. The count of matching games updates as you move the sliders. Tap 'Surprise me!' and it picks one for you.
Every game is written up properly: how to play, what to bring, how much prep it takes, how many players it needs, what ages it suits and how long it runs.
The age filter is inclusive. A game only shows if it suits everyone in the room, not just some of them.
Run Sheets
Plan the whole session
Drop games straight from the library into a run sheet, then add your own items. Welcome and notices, the talk, supper, pack up. Set a start time and every item shows the minute it begins.
The footer keeps a running total and finish time.
Who's doing what
See who is running what
Assign each item to a leader. Group Games adds up how long each person is on their feet, so you can spot anyone carrying too much before the night starts rather than halfway through it.
What to bring
One list of what to bring
Every game on your sheet lists its gear. Group Games combines them into a single list and works out the quantities from your group size. Where two games want the same thing, that is the most you will need at once, not the total.
Pack once, at home, from one list.
Sharing
Share it with your team
Publish your run sheet and you get a six-character code. Pass it to your co-leaders and they open the sheet in Group Games without an account and without paying a cent.
Change the plan on the way to the hall and their copy catches up.
From the leaders using it
What they said
I love using the Group Games App for kids church and at school. It's really handy to have one place to go to for a bunch of tried and tested fun games that can suit different formats.
MikeTeacher
The run sheets feature of this app has made preparing games for youth events easy and taken the stress out of having to think of ideas on the spot. It has a wide library of games that keep people engaged and has saved me repeating the same games.
JasonMinistry worker
Group Games is a really helpful tool for quickly finding fun, engaging games for youth. In the busyness of school life, coming up with suitable games for chapel and lunchtime groups can easily become a burden. Having a resource like this takes away the hassle and makes it easy to find a game that fits the group and the time available.
PollySchool chaplain
Real leaders, quoted with their permission.
All Games
Thirteen categories
- Attention Grabbers
- Ball Games
- Camp Games
- Classroom Games
- Creative Games
- Drama Games
- Games to Play with No Resources
- Get to Know You
- Gym Games
- Memory Verse Games
- Oval Games
- Up Front Games
- Wide Games
Games to Play with No Resources is the one you will use most. No gear, no prep, no excuse.
Who chose these games
Every game in Group Games was chosen and written up by Calum Henderson.
Calum has spent over twenty years working with kids of all ages. He taught in schools, led youth group and kids church, and has been part of more than 60 holiday camps as a volunteer and on staff. He holds a Bachelor of Education from the University of Sydney, a Graduate Diploma of Divinity and a Master of Leadership.
The library is a hand chosen selection of 139 games, not 1400. Nothing here was generated and nothing was lifted from another site. You do not need to wade through slop. Each of these games works with real kids.
What it costs
The app is free to download and all 139 games are free forever, with no ads and no account. One run sheet is yours to keep and reuse. Run Sheets Pro adds unlimited sheets, PDF export and sharing.
Free
$0All 139 games, the filter, favourites, and one run sheet to edit and reuse as often as you like.
Run Sheets Pro
$2.99/monthOr $14.99 once, for good. Unlimited run sheets, PDF export and sharing. New subscribers get 7 days free.
Prices in Australian dollars. Anyone you share a sheet with opens it for free, always.
Ready for Friday night?
Free. iPhone, iOS 17 and later.
Questions
Do I need an account?
No. The app works without one. Sharing a run sheet uses your iCloud account, which you are already signed in to.
What happens to my games and plans?
They stay on your phone. Nothing is uploaded unless you deliberately publish a run sheet.
Can my co-leaders use it if they do not pay?
Yes. Opening a shared run sheet by code is free and always will be.
Is it on Android?
Not yet. Group Games is an iPhone app for now. Join the Group Games Newsletter and we will let you know if that changes.
Does it work on iPad?
It installs and runs on iPad in a phone-sized window. A proper iPad layout is coming in a later update.
What if my subscription lapses?
Sheets you have already shared stay live and your co-leaders keep opening them. You just cannot push updates until you resubscribe.
Are the games suitable for church youth groups?
Yes. Youth group and kids church are where most of these games were chosen, by someone who has led both for over twenty years. There is a whole Memory Verse Games category, and Up Front Games covers the moment before the talk.
Three ready-to-run games, free
Cheese or Font, Cyclist or Pokémon, and Swift or Proverbs. Slides done, rules included, open and play. Join the Group Games Newsletter and we will send all three over, then keep you posted with new game ideas and updates about the app.
Send me the games