For the kitty

Kitty Party Games

A kitty party is a regular fixture with roughly the same group each month, which changes what makes a good game. Novelty matters more than it does at a one-off party, and whoever is hosting would quite like to actually sit down.

Tambola is the backbone — make the hosting easier

Most kitties run on Housie. The host's job is buying tickets, distributing them, calling the numbers and adjudicating claims, which means the host barely plays.

Tickets on each guest's phone removes most of that. Everyone gets a proper three-by-nine ticket, one person taps to call numbers, and prize claims verify themselves against the ticket and the numbers actually called. The host gets to play too.

Play Tambola2–30 players · six prizes · claims checked automatically

Something different each month

Because it's the same group repeatedly, the second game is where you keep it interesting.

Ito — the surprising one

Everyone gets a secret number from 1 to 100 and a theme, like "how chaotic is the wedding ritual" or "things aunties ask about". You describe your number through the theme without saying it, then play cards in order from lowest to highest. It sounds abstract and takes one round to click, after which groups tend to demand it every month.

Play Ito2–10 players · 100 themes across 10 categories Play AntakshariTeams · the phone keeps the song list

Group size

Most kitties run eight to fifteen. Tambola is happiest at the top of that and beyond. Ito is best at four to eight, so it suits the group that stays on after the others leave.

Every game here is free, runs in a browser, and needs no app or sign-up. One person creates a game, shares the link, everyone plays on their own phone.

When Tambola has run its course

The same faces every month is the ideal audience for these: they reward knowing each other well, and get better the longer the group has been meeting.

This or That — one person answers, everyone else guesses what they said; it turns into an argument about who really knows whom.
Most Likely To — everyone votes on who in the room is most likely to — secretly, so nobody follows the crowd.
One Word — everybody clues the same word, and any two clues that match are thrown away unseen.
Clover — one word to link Kettle and Volcano, with decoy pairs sitting there that it fits just as well.
Cipher — two teams, four secret words each, and clues that must be clear to your side and useless to theirs.

Playing more than one of these in an evening? Start a lobby — add everyone once and every game you open puts the same people straight into their seats. There is also a new puzzle every day.