Tailgate Party Game Ideas

You’re at the tailgate for the game, sure, but you’re also there for the party. So we’ve got some tailgate party games to play when you’re not watching the bigger game. Save your money for food, drinks, and branded gear for your favorite team and use rewards from the Fetch app for tailgate party games for the pre-game, halftime and post-game fun.

Turn tailgate party games into points with Fetch Shop

Many popular retailers stock tailgate party games that you can get delivered with Fetch Shop, and nearly every dollar you spend in Fetch Shop earns you points. You can find games for tailgate parties at these Fetch Shop retailers:

• Bed Bath & Beyond
• Dick’s Sporting Goods (why not pick up a new jersey for your favorite team while you’re at it?)
• Home Depot
• Kohl’s
• Temu
• Walmart

What makes a great outdoor tailgate party game?

There are some pretty basic rules for outdoor party games to play at your tailgate party:

• Simple: Rules should be simple and easy to follow for all ages
• Familiar: It’s easier to get people into it if your outdoor party games are familiar to your guests.
• Fun: Tailgate party games should be more about the fun than the winning.
• Competitive: You want games to be competitive so your guests get into it, but be sure to keep the atmosphere light.

Sometimes the only thing you need for a football tailgate party “game” is a couple of footballs to toss around and keep people having fun.

Fetch’s top 8 favorite tailgate party games

We want to take as much of the work out of planning your party as we can, so we have 8 popular football tailgate party games so you can focus on the party planning.

1. Giant Jenga

It’s Jenga, but it’s big! If you’ve never played Jenga, it’s pretty simple:

• You start with a tower of blocks
• You take a block from any level of the tower except for the top two
• Place your block on top of the tower without knocking the tower over
• Whoever knocks the tower over loses

2. Horseshoes

A classic outdoor party game that dates back centuries, you can’t go wrong with horseshoes. Here’s how you play and score horseshoes:

• Hammer two stakes into the ground 20 feet apart and start tossing
• Take turns tossing horseshoes until you run out
• Get your horseshoe to surround the stake for 3 points (this is a “ringer”)
• If you score a ringer, it cancels out your opponents
• Landing within 6 inches of the stake is a “leaner” and worth 1 point
• Score 1 point for each horseshoe you get that’s closer than all of your opponents

3. Cornhole

You can buy a cornhole set from many sporting goods and department stores, but you can also order the supplies you need from Home Depot and build it yourself. You’ll need two angled wood platforms with holes in them as your goals for this tailgate party game. You’ll also want eight 6-inch bean bags.

• Place your boards 27 feet apart
• Create your teams (singles or doubles)
• Stand next to one board and pitch your bags at the other board
• Alternate tossing bags until you run out
• Score 3 points for every bag in the hole
• Score 1 point for every bag that lands on the board and stays there
• Switch sides
• Play to 21 points

4. Bocce

Bocce might be known as an Italian game, but it actually dates back to Egypt in 5200 BC. You have one small ball, called the pallino, and 8 bocce balls (4 pairs of 2). Here’s how to play:

• Form two teams of either 1 or 2 players
• Toss the pallino ball so you have a target to aim for
• One team tosses a bocce ball
• The other team tosses their bocce balls underhanded until they get closer to the pallino than the first team
• Once one team is out of balls, the other tosses their remaining bocce balls
• Score one point for each ball you get closer than your opponents’ balls
• Play to 12

5. Party Card Games

It’s great to have a bunch of grass to play party games on, but you might not be so lucky. Card games make for great tailgate party games. Here are a few suggestions:

• Uno
• What Do You Meme?
• Exploding Kittens
• Apples to Apples
• Cards Against Humanity
• 52-card deck games (war, hearts, spades)

6. Drunk Waiter

If you’ve already got drinks on the menu, Drunk Waiter is a fun one whenever it’s time for a new round:

• One player needs to carry a tray of drinks from one end of the party to another without spilling anything
• Anyone who spills a drink while carrying the tray has to drink the one they spilled

Drunk Waiter is more a game to play between games or a tailgate party game that runs the length of the whole party.

7. Beer Ball

You’ve heard of beer pong (and we’ll get there), but we think you might like beer ball more. You just need a ping pong ball, a table, and some beers.

• 2 teams of 2 set up on opposite sides of a table
• Each play puts a full, unopened can of bear on their corner of the table
• You take turns throwing the ball at the cans
• The winning team is the one that finishes their beers first
• Before you can open your beer, you have to hit one of your opponents’ cans with the ball
• You must keep your beer on the table while your teammate is throwing or when your opponents have control of the ball
• You can chug your beer after the ball hits an opponent’s can until they pick up the ping pong ball

8. Beer Pong

You’ll need 20 plastic cups and an 8 foot long table. Arrange 10 cups into a triangle on each end of the table (the tip of the triangle points to your opponent). The first team to eliminate the other team’s cups wins.

• Take turns tossing the ping pong ball into the other team’s cups
• If a ball lands in a cup, the other team must drink it
• If both players hit, they can throw again
• Players must keep their elbows behind the edge of the table
• Winning team stays at the table and waits for their next opponent

Get your tailgate party game supplies for free with a Fetch gift card

You’ve earned your points shopping Fetch offers and stocking up on tailgate supplies and decorations, now it’s time for your rewards. Treat yourself and your guests to some new football tailgate party games with a gift cards from:

• Amazon
• Kohl’s
• Kroger
• Macy’s
• Meijer
• Target
• Walmart
• …and more!

Get the party started with Fetch

You’ve got your tailgate party planned, your snacks ready and your party game supplies on the way. Open up that Fetch app one more time to check the offers for any essential tailgate supplies before the party starts (remember, you can get them delivered with Fetch Shop so you can focus on the party).