Thirteen is the age where the games you remember stop working. They are old enough to find musical chairs insulting and young enough that a room of them will still commit completely to a tournament. What follows works because it is competitive, or because it produces something to send each other afterward.
The thing that actually decides this is whether the group already knows each other. A group of school friends will start a tournament unprompted. A mixed group — school, soccer, cousins — needs something with teams for the first twenty minutes, or it splits into the groups that arrived together and stays that way.
01
Photo Scavenger Hunt
Free
A list of shots to get, teams with one phone each, twenty minutes.
25 min
6–150 people
Any age
Minutes to set up
Up and about
Inside or out
What you need
A printed list per team · One phone per team
How to play
1Twelve to fifteen shots on the list. Mix easy ones with a few that take nerve — everyone in the team upside down, a stranger joining in.
2Teams of three or four, one phone each, a clear boundary and a hard time limit.
3Set up a group chat or shared album so photos arrive as they go.
How it ends
Look through them together on a screen. Points for completion, extra for the funniest.
02
Pop Culture Trivia
In the event kit
Four rounds pitched at the year they were fifteen, not the year you were.
35 min
6–100 people
Any age
An evening of prep
Sit-down
Inside or out
What you need
Question sheets · Answer sheets per team · Pens
How to play
1Four rounds of ten: music, movies and TV, the internet, one on the guest of honor.
2Have someone their age check the questions. This is not optional — the gap shows immediately.
3Teams of three or four, swap and grade.
How it ends
Totals at the end. Prize per team member.
03
Lip Sync Showdown
Free
Ninety seconds each, chosen in advance, judged by everyone else.
25 min
6–30 people
Any age
Minutes to set up
Running around
Inside or out
What you need
Speaker · Something to use as a microphone · A phone to film
How to play
1Pairs or small groups pick a song in advance — on the invitation, so they arrive ready.
2Ninety seconds each, no longer.
3Costume box by the side. It doubles the commitment.
How it ends
Everyone scores out of ten, nobody scores their own. Film it.
04
Would You Rather
Free
Twenty impossible choices. Everyone picks a side of the room and defends it.
15 min
4–100 people
Any age
No prep
Up and about
Inside or out
What you need
A list of twenty prompts
How to play
1Read a choice. One answer is this side of the room, the other is that side. Everyone moves.
2Ask two people from each side why. The arguing is the game.
3Start silly, get harder. Stop before it turns into a real argument.
How it ends
No winner. Best used in the first twenty minutes while people are still arriving.
05
Fishbowl
Free
Everyone writes names on slips for the bowl. Three rounds with the same slips: describe them, then one word only, then act them out.
45 min
4–30 people
Any age
No prep
Up and about
Inside or out
What you need
Slips of paper, five each · Pens · A bowl or a hat · A timer
How to play
1Everyone writes five names on slips, real or made up, famous or known to the whole room, and folds them into the bowl.
2Split into two teams. Teams take turns, a different player each time, sixty seconds a turn.
3Round one: describe the name on each slip without saying it. Your team guesses as many as they can before time runs out.
4Round two: the same slips back in the bowl, but you may say only one word.
5Round three: the same slips again, acted out without a sound.
6Score a point for every slip guessed. A round ends when the bowl is empty.
How it ends
Most points after three rounds wins. By round three everyone knows every slip, and the running jokes do the rest.
06
Console Tournament
In the event kit
One game, a bracket, short matches, and a rotation so nobody sits watching for an hour.
75 min
4–20 people
Any age
Minutes to set up
Sit-down
Indoors
What you need
The console and enough controllers · A printed bracket · A second screen if you have one
How to play
1One game everybody knows. Ask the birthday child, not the internet.
2Two-player rounds on a bracket, or four-player heats with the top two going through.
3Second screen with a different game for whoever is knocked out. Otherwise half the party is waiting.
How it ends
Final on the big screen with everyone watching.
07
Karaoke
Free
A lineup on paper, two songs each. The list is what stops it stalling.
60 min
6–40 people
Any age
Minutes to set up
Running around
Indoors
What you need
A karaoke app or backing tracks · A microphone · A printed lineup
How to play
1Write a lineup rather than taking requests. Two songs each, names down as they arrive.
2You go first with something undignified. Nobody volunteers until someone has been bad at it.
3Duets for the shy ones.
How it ends
It ends when it ends. Have a last song planned that everyone knows.
Thirteen is the age where the games you remember stop working. They are old enough to find musical chairs insulting and young enough that a room of them will still commit completely to a tournament. What follows works because it is competitive, or because it produces something to send each other afterward.
The thing that actually decides this is whether the group already knows each other. A group of school friends will start a tournament unprompted. A mixed group — school, soccer, cousins — needs something with teams for the first twenty minutes, or it splits into the groups that arrived together and stays that way.
01
Photo Scavenger Hunt
Free
A list of shots to get, teams with one phone each, twenty minutes.
25 min
6–150 people
Any age
Minutes to set up
Up and about
Inside or out
What you need
A printed list per team · One phone per team
How to play
1Twelve to fifteen shots on the list. Mix easy ones with a few that take nerve — everyone in the team upside down, a stranger joining in.
2Teams of three or four, one phone each, a clear boundary and a hard time limit.
3Set up a group chat or shared album so photos arrive as they go.
How it ends
Look through them together on a screen. Points for completion, extra for the funniest.
02
Pop Culture Trivia
In the event kit
Four rounds pitched at the year they were fifteen, not the year you were.
35 min
6–100 people
Any age
An evening of prep
Sit-down
Inside or out
What you need
Question sheets · Answer sheets per team · Pens
How to play
1Four rounds of ten: music, movies and TV, the internet, one on the guest of honor.
2Have someone their age check the questions. This is not optional — the gap shows immediately.
3Teams of three or four, swap and grade.
How it ends
Totals at the end. Prize per team member.
03
Lip Sync Showdown
Free
Ninety seconds each, chosen in advance, judged by everyone else.
25 min
6–30 people
Any age
Minutes to set up
Running around
Inside or out
What you need
Speaker · Something to use as a microphone · A phone to film
How to play
1Pairs or small groups pick a song in advance — on the invitation, so they arrive ready.
2Ninety seconds each, no longer.
3Costume box by the side. It doubles the commitment.
How it ends
Everyone scores out of ten, nobody scores their own. Film it.
04
Would You Rather
Free
Twenty impossible choices. Everyone picks a side of the room and defends it.
15 min
4–100 people
Any age
No prep
Up and about
Inside or out
What you need
A list of twenty prompts
How to play
1Read a choice. One answer is this side of the room, the other is that side. Everyone moves.
2Ask two people from each side why. The arguing is the game.
3Start silly, get harder. Stop before it turns into a real argument.
How it ends
No winner. Best used in the first twenty minutes while people are still arriving.
05
Fishbowl
Free
Everyone writes names on slips for the bowl. Three rounds with the same slips: describe them, then one word only, then act them out.
45 min
4–30 people
Any age
No prep
Up and about
Inside or out
What you need
Slips of paper, five each · Pens · A bowl or a hat · A timer
How to play
1Everyone writes five names on slips, real or made up, famous or known to the whole room, and folds them into the bowl.
2Split into two teams. Teams take turns, a different player each time, sixty seconds a turn.
3Round one: describe the name on each slip without saying it. Your team guesses as many as they can before time runs out.
4Round two: the same slips back in the bowl, but you may say only one word.
5Round three: the same slips again, acted out without a sound.
6Score a point for every slip guessed. A round ends when the bowl is empty.
How it ends
Most points after three rounds wins. By round three everyone knows every slip, and the running jokes do the rest.
06
Console Tournament
In the event kit
One game, a bracket, short matches, and a rotation so nobody sits watching for an hour.
75 min
4–20 people
Any age
Minutes to set up
Sit-down
Indoors
What you need
The console and enough controllers · A printed bracket · A second screen if you have one
How to play
1One game everybody knows. Ask the birthday child, not the internet.
2Two-player rounds on a bracket, or four-player heats with the top two going through.
3Second screen with a different game for whoever is knocked out. Otherwise half the party is waiting.
How it ends
Final on the big screen with everyone watching.
07
Karaoke
Free
A lineup on paper, two songs each. The list is what stops it stalling.
60 min
6–40 people
Any age
Minutes to set up
Running around
Indoors
What you need
A karaoke app or backing tracks · A microphone · A printed lineup
How to play
1Write a lineup rather than taking requests. Two songs each, names down as they arrive.
2You go first with something undignified. Nobody volunteers until someone has been bad at it.
3Duets for the shy ones.
How it ends
It ends when it ends. Have a last song planned that everyone knows.
Planning the whole birthday?
The planner takes the date, the headcount and who it is for, then works out which of these fit the time you actually have.
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This permanently deletes your account, every event saved to it, your published invitations and the replies your guests sent. It cannot be undone. Events kept on this device stay here.
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One account keeps the same event on your laptop and your phone.
Tell it about your party once. The invitations, the menu, the printed kit, the shopping list and the games build themselves from your answers — so the time goes into the gathering, not the planning.
Say what the party is, when, for how many and for whom. The invitation, welcome sign, menu, banner, toppers, food cards and thank-you tags are made in one design with your words already on them. Type a name here and it is set on every sign below in that design’s own lettering. Nothing typed is kept or sent anywhere.
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Prop a laptop on the table and the screen runs the game: one person taps, everyone else shouts. Or deal the cards, with the rules right there on the page. Nothing to install.
Free, all of it — the theme, the menu with quantities, the guest list, the budget, the shopping list, the checklist. What costs money is the printed kit, once.
Just play a game tonight
Open a pack for your occasion on any screen. No account, nothing to install. Add the names at the table and it is personal before the first round.
Part of the game library didn’t arrive. We’re not showing a partial list, because it would leave packs missing formats with nothing to tell you so. Everything else on the site works, and nothing you have saved is affected.
Game night
Games people ask to play again.
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Build my game night
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Tonight, in playing order
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Tonight
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How many are playing?
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On the TV
The screen runs the game.
It reads out the rules, keeps the score and runs the clock, so whoever is hosting gets to play too. Open this page on the laptop or the TV and press Play.
Every game the TV hosts needs at least three players, so a night for two is played at the table. The best of it is just below.
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At the table
Or deal it out.
Card games, dice games and the ones that need nothing but a pen, each quick to learn and hard to stop playing. The rules are on every card.
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Built for the room, not the download.
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Fill this in first
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Your side
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Nothing in the colour library answers to that. Try the city with its sport, or the country.
On the screen tonight
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Fills the screen and sizes the board for the room. Escape to come back.
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WHO IS IT ABOUT?
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IN THE GAME NOW
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EDIT THE QUESTIONS
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Saved on this device only. Nothing you type here is uploaded, and it stays put if you close the tab.
LOADING THE GUIDES
We couldn’t load the guides
Part of the content library didn’t arrive. We’re not showing a partial index. The planner and the games are unaffected.
Planning guides
Guides for the event you are actually planning
Written to answer the question, not to rank for it. Every figure in them comes from the same engines the planner runs.
For the events that go away — costed per head for a long weekend, with the months worth going. Pick a place and the planner starts with the trip already known.
Each one answers in a single screen, prints as a list you can take to the shop, and uses the same arithmetic as the planner — so the number does not change if you carry on there.
Forguests
Every answer below is worked for this many, and each calculator opens on it.
The planner takes the date, the headcount and who it is for, then works out which of these fit the time you actually have.
NOT FOUND
This page isn’t here
The link may have been copied incompletely, or the page it pointed at has moved on. Everything the site knows is still one step away.
Why it exists
Planning a party is mostly admin
Somebody has to work out how much chicken feeds thirty, whether the sprouts and the potatoes can share an oven, what a fourteen-year-old will find embarrassing, and which of the eleven things on the list has to happen before the invitations go out.
None of that is the fun part, and all of it is knowable. That is the whole idea behind Kit & Occasion: the answers exist, they are just spread across forty browser tabs and the memory of whoever hosted last year.
How it works
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What is free and what is not
The planning is free. All of it — the menus, the quantities, the guest list, the budget, the shopping list, the games, the checklist. Not a trial, and not capped at one event.
What costs money is the printing: a coordinated set of signs, labels, table cards and game materials in your own colours, sized correctly, with the paper worked out and the assembly written down. It is the gap between having a plan and having a party, and it is the part people dread. One payment, no subscription.
Start with whatever you are planning next
What the printing is
One set, drawn for the occasion and coloured for yours
The welcome sign, the menu, the place cards, the labels and the games, on six of the tables it has been set for. Pick one and the planner opens knowing what you are planning.
