Games to Play With Nothing: 12 Games That Need No Supplies

You’re in a waiting room, a backseat, a stalled elevator, or just sitting around a fire with nothing in your pockets but your hands. Someone says “I’m so bored” and everyone reaches for a phone out of habit — but the truth is, the best games to play with nothing don’t need a phone, a deck of cards, or a single prop. They just need a few people willing to talk, guess, remember, or make each other laugh. That’s it. That’s the whole supply list.

This is the list for those exact moments. No downloads, no printouts, no “hang on, let me find a pen.” Just games you can start talking through in the next ten seconds, whether you’re four kids in a backseat, two coworkers stuck in a slow elevator, or a family killing time before a flight.

How to Use This List

Every game below works with two people or a dozen. Most take thirty seconds to explain and can run for five minutes or an hour, depending on how into it everyone gets. A few work best moving in a circle (so everyone knows whose turn is next), and a few work with just two people trading back and forth. We’ve noted group size and setting where it matters, but honestly — these are forgiving. If a rule doesn’t fit your situation, bend it. The point isn’t the rulebook. It’s the conversation it starts.

If you want a version of this that lives in your pocket for next time (with actual written prompts instead of games you have to invent on the fly), Connection Cards has a Play mode built for exactly this — getting out of routine and into something a little more fun, whenever boredom strikes.

Question Games (Zero Equipment Required)

These are the easiest games to play with nothing because the “supplies” are just questions you already know how to ask.

1. Would You Rather

One person poses two options — both slightly ridiculous, slightly impossible, or slightly uncomfortable — and everyone has to pick one and defend it. No ties allowed. This is the game that never gets old because the questions can be as silly or as revealing as the room wants them to be.

Would You Rather Starters

Would you rather always have to say what you're thinking, or never be able to say what you're thinking again?
Would you rather lose your sense of smell or your sense of taste?
Would you rather be famous for something embarrassing or completely unknown forever?
Would you rather live without music or without movies?
Would you rather always be 10 minutes late or always be 20 minutes early?

Need more? We have an entire deep dive with 500+ Would You Rather questions for every mood, from silly to genuinely tough calls.

2. Two Truths and a Lie

Each person says three things about themselves — two true, one false — and the group votes on which one is the lie. It sounds simple, but it’s one of the few games that works equally well with total strangers at an icebreaker event and with a family that’s known each other for thirty years, because there’s always something you don’t know about the people closest to you.

For a full breakdown of strategy, categories, and examples that actually fool people, check out our guide to Two Truths and a Lie.

3. Never Have I Ever

Someone says something they’ve never done (“Never have I ever been to another country”), and anyone who has done it responds — a raised finger, a sip of a drink, or just a shout of “guilty.” It’s a game that quietly maps out who’s done what without anyone having to ask directly, which is part of why it works so well as an icebreaker.

Never Have I Ever Prompts

Never have I ever gotten lost in my own city.
Never have I ever pretended to be sick to get out of something.
Never have I ever sent a text to the wrong person.
Never have I ever cried during a movie in a theater.
Never have I ever forgotten someone's name right after they told me.

See the full Never Have I Ever question list for 175+ more, sorted by how personal you want to get.

4. Most Likely To

The group votes — out loud or by pointing — on who’s “most likely to” do something. Most likely to become famous. Most likely to sleep through their own wedding. Most likely to accidentally start a business. It’s fast, it’s funny, and it reveals exactly how your friends see you, which is sometimes flattering and sometimes very much not.

Browse 300+ Most Likely To questions organized by category if you want a head start.

5. This or That

The fastest game on this list. One word or phrase versus another — beach or mountains, texting or calling, mornings or nights — and you answer without thinking. No explaining required unless someone wants to know why. It’s less about the answers and more about how fast you can rapid-fire through them before someone gets stuck.

Check out 500+ This or That questions for every category from food to relationships.

6. 20 Questions

One person thinks of a person, place, or thing. Everyone else takes turns asking yes-or-no questions to narrow it down, with a 20-question limit before they have to guess outright. It rewards good strategy — starting broad (“is it alive?”), then narrowing fast — and it’s one of the few games on this list where the fun is in the process of figuring it out, not just the answer.

For question ideas and structure to keep the game moving, see the 21 Questions Game guide, which works as a close cousin to this one.

Storytelling & Memory Games

These lean less on quick answers and more on collaboration — everyone building something together, one piece at a time.

7. The Story Chain

One person starts a story with a single sentence. The next person adds a sentence. Then the next. No planning ahead, no discussing where it’s headed — you just have to work with whatever the last person handed you. Stories veer wildly off course within minutes, which is exactly the point. This one gets funnier the longer it runs and the more people are in the circle.

8. Fortunately, Unfortunately

A variation on the story chain with a built-in twist: each sentence alternates between “fortunately” and “unfortunately.” Someone starts with “Fortunately, I found $100 on the sidewalk.” The next person says, “Unfortunately, it blew away before I could grab it.” Back and forth, good news, bad news, good news, bad news — until the story’s completely absurd. It’s a good one for restless kids because the structure gives them just enough guardrails to keep going without getting stuck.

9. I’m Going on a Picnic

A memory game dressed up as a party game. The first person says, “I’m going on a picnic and I’m bringing an apple.” The next person repeats that and adds their own item: “I’m going on a picnic and I’m bringing an apple and a blanket.” Each round adds another item, and everyone has to recite the whole growing list from memory before adding their own. It’s simple, it gets harder fast, and it’s genuinely one of the better ways to pass twenty minutes in a car with kids who are three seconds from asking “are we there yet.”

10. The Minister’s Cat

An old parlor game that still holds up: going around the circle, everyone describes “the minister’s cat” using an adjective that starts with the current letter of the alphabet. “The minister’s cat is an angry cat.” Next person: “The minister’s cat is a bossy cat.” Keep going through the alphabet, looping back to the start if you run out of people before you run out of letters. It’s a nice slow burn — good for a group that wants something calmer than rapid-fire guessing games.

Guessing & Observation Games

These work especially well when you’re stuck somewhere with something to look at — a waiting room, a car, a restaurant.

11. I Spy

“I spy with my little eye, something that is…” — a color, a shape, a first letter. Everyone else scans the space and guesses. It sounds like a game for five-year-olds, and it is, but it’s also a genuinely good way to keep a group present and looking around instead of down at their phones, which matters more the older everyone gets.

12. Paranoia

Someone leans over and whispers a question to the person next to them — something like “who in this group would be most likely to survive a zombie apocalypse?” That person answers out loud, but nobody else heard the question. The group then votes on whether they want to know what the question was. If the majority says yes, the whisperer repeats it. If not, everyone’s left wondering what on earth just got answered out loud. It’s part guessing game, part social experiment, and it works surprisingly well with people who already know each other well.

For a full list of questions built for this format, see our Paranoia game questions guide with 150+ prompts ranging from silly to surprisingly deep.

Where to Use These Games

In the car. Road trips are the original “nothing to do” scenario, and question games solve it better than anything on a screen because everyone’s already facing forward with nowhere else to look. If you’re planning a longer drive, our 100 road trip conversation starters pairs well with anything on this list.

In a waiting room. Doctor’s office, DMV, airport gate — anywhere you’re stuck sitting with someone and staring at the same four walls. This or That and 20 Questions are built for exactly this kind of dead time.

At a family gathering. When the appetizers are gone but dinner isn’t ready yet, and everyone’s standing around the kitchen not sure what to do with their hands. Most Likely To and Two Truths and a Lie tend to pull in people who’d otherwise be scrolling on the couch.

With a new group. First day of a job, a new friend group, a blended family figuring out how to talk to each other. Games with light stakes — nobody’s really being judged on their Would You Rather answer — make it easier to open up than a straight introduction ever does. Our icebreaker questions for groups has more built specifically for this.

When the group already knows each other well. Paranoia and Two Truths and a Lie get more interesting, not less, the better everyone already knows each other, because the surprises land harder.

Why “No Supplies” Actually Matters

There’s a reason these games have survived for decades before anyone had a phone to hand out: they don’t need anything you might not have. No batteries, no charge, no wifi, no app store. You can’t forget to bring them because there’s nothing to bring. And unlike scrolling through separate phones, they require everyone to actually be looking at each other, which is the entire reason boredom turns into connection instead of five people quietly staring at five different screens in the same room.

There’s also something to be said for constraint. A game with no supplies forces creativity — you can’t lean on props or printed cards to do the work for you, so the conversation has to carry itself. That’s often when the best moments happen: not because the game was clever, but because someone gave an answer nobody expected.

Key Takeaways

The best games to play with nothing are question and guessing games — Would You Rather, Two Truths and a Lie, 20 Questions, and Never Have I Ever all need zero props and work with any group size.
Storytelling games like the Story Chain and Fortunately/Unfortunately turn dead time into something collaborative, which works especially well with kids.
Memory games like I'm Going on a Picnic get harder as they go, making them good for longer stretches of waiting.
Paranoia and I Spy work best when you're already sitting somewhere with people to observe or already know well.
No supplies doesn't mean no depth — some of these games reveal more about a group than a full deck of cards would.

FAQ

What’s a good game to play with absolutely nothing — not even a phone? Would You Rather, 20 Questions, and I Spy are the three easiest to start with zero setup. All you need is your own memory and whoever’s sitting near you. The Story Chain and Fortunately/Unfortunately work well too, especially with a group that’s ready to be a little silly.

What games work well for kids stuck in the car? I’m Going on a Picnic and I Spy tend to hold younger kids’ attention longest because they’re visual and repetitive. Fortunately/Unfortunately works well for kids old enough to build a sentence but young enough to think the format is funny. Would You Rather scales up nicely as they get older.

How do you keep a no-supplies game from running out of steam? Rotate who’s “it” or who’s asking the questions every round or two, so no one person is carrying the whole game. Also, don’t be afraid to switch games entirely after ten or fifteen minutes — most of these are better in short bursts than as one long marathon.

Can these games work with just two people? Most of them, yes. Would You Rather, This or That, 20 Questions, and Two Truths and a Lie all work fine one-on-one. The Story Chain and Fortunately/Unfortunately actually work great with two, since you’re just trading turns back and forth without needing to manage a whole circle. Paranoia and I’m Going on a Picnic need at least three to really work.

What if the group gets stuck or the conversation stalls? Switch games. Not every game fits every group’s mood, and that’s fine — the point of having a list like this is that you’ve always got a next option ready. If you want a version that hands you fresh prompts automatically instead of relying on memory, Connection Cards’ Play mode is built for exactly that kind of moment.

party gamesno suppliesgroup gamesroad trip gameswaiting gamesquestion games