Adult lawn games
When you’re a kid, outdoor games help you develop both fine and gross motor skills. They can increase your coordination, teach you admirable character traits such as good sportsmanship and help you burn off excess energy.
However, when you become an adult, outdoor games serve a different purpose. While they still provide entertainment and recreation, outdoor games encourage and facilitate social interaction. The best outdoor games for adults create an atmosphere that sparks conversation and healthy but not too serious competition.
Read on for a list of favorite outdoor games that are best suited for backyard gatherings of adult friends and family members. To make it easy for you to find one that’s best for your needs, they’re organized in five categories: classic games, tossing games, active games, supersized games and novelty options.
Classic games
These lawn games are timeless favorites that have been around for a hundred years or more.
Franklin Sports Croquet Set
Croquet is a fun game of skill that’s been around for nearly 200 years. It involves hitting a ball through a course made of wire hoops and a peg. This set comes with everything you need: six durable mallets, six balls, nine hoops, two pegs and a carrying case.
Sold by Amazon and Bed Bath & Beyond
Hey! Play! Family Bocce Ball Set
Bocce is a simple game of skill that’s been around for over 7,000 years. This set from Hey! Play! offers quality materials at a low price, which translates to value. The balls come in two colors with two distinct patterns to facilitate four-person play.
Sold by Amazon, Home Depot, Overstock and Wayfair
Long Game Outdoor Bowling
You thought bowling was only an indoor sport? In 5,000 B.C., ancient Egyptians used to have fun knocking down objects by rolling stones. With this quality set of ten hardwood pins and two hardwood balls, you can carry on the tradition at your next picnic. This game works best on level, short-cut lawns or dirt.
Sold by Amazon
Tossing games
Whether tossing steel or beanbags, these fun adult games are designed to test your underarm throwing skills.
St. Pierre American Professional Series Horseshoes
This is not a set for kids. The durable blue and gray horseshoes in this kit are manufactured using forged steel. The set also includes two solid steel 24-inch stakes, an official rule book and a carrying case.
Sold by Amazon, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Overstock and Wayfair
GoSports Premium Metal Ladder Toss Game Set
If you’re looking for a high-quality ladder toss game, this model is made out of steel, is easy to assemble and comes with a carrying case. The bolos are manufactured using soft rubber with thicker strings to help prevent tangles.
Sold by Amazon, Best Buy, Overstock and Wayfair
GoSports Classic Cornhole Set
This regulation-size cornhole game has a vintage style and is manufactured to look like steel-framed barnwood planks but is UV- and water-resistant. The set comes with eight 16-ounce, all-weather beanbags.
Sold by Amazon and Wayfair
Active games
These active games are best for individuals who like to get a little workout in while playing.
Hammer Crown Paddle Ball Set
For the individual who takes paddle ball seriously, this high-quality, solid wooden set is made using pine, sapele and beechwood to create a distinctive design. The handles are wrapped in neoprene to provide a confident grip, and the set comes with a canvas drawstring bag for storage and transport.
Sold by Amazon
Franklin Sports Family Badminton Set
If you’d like to save a little money and still get a great badminton set, this is the way to go. This family-friendly unit features a net that is 20 feet x 1 foot, 6 inches. It’s easy to set up and comes with four steel badminton rackets, two nylon birdies and six ropes and stakes.
Sold by Amazon, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Kohl’s
Park & Sun Sports Permanent Outdoor Tetherball Set
Tetherball is a fun and challenging game that is permanently installed so you can play whenever you’d like. The object is simply to wrap the rope completely around the pole. This kit features a two-piece galvanized steel pole to resist rusting along with a soft-touch ball with a durable nylon-wound bladder.
Sold by Amazon, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Overstock
Supersized games
The fun only gets bigger when you play these tabletop games in extra-large size.
Hasbro Giant Jenga Party Game
This is the official Hasbro version of the popular stacking game. However, in this supersized version, you can use the 54 hardwood blocks to create towers that are over 3 feet tall.
Sold by Kohl’s and Macy’s
ECR4Kids Jumbo 4-to-Score Game Set
Yes, this is the popular kids’ game that goes by a slightly different name when sold by other manufacturers. The object is to connect four giant rings in a straight line on the huge 4-foot tall game grid. It’s manufactured using lightweight, weather-resistant material so it can be played either indoors or outdoors.
Sold by Amazon and Wayfair
Triumph Sports 28-Piece Lawn Domino Set
If you’ve ever wanted to play dominoes outside, this is your chance. This wooden set features 28 pieces that are 3 1/2 x 7 inches, making them large enough to play on a picnic table or in the grass. The color-coded pips add a splash of fun while the varnish finish helps with durability. Sold by Amazon, Home Depot, Kohl’s and Wayfair
Novelty options
If you’d like to look a little off the beaten path for backyard entertainment, these outdoor novelty games might be the best option for you.
University Games Flickin’ Chicken
This creative novelty game is modeled after golf. There’s a target which serves as the hole, and each round, players see who can land their chicken on the target with the least number of throws. Up to four players can play a game.
Sold by Amazon, Bed Bath & Beyond and Macy’s
GoSports Foam Fire Trophy Hunt
Admittedly, this game was designed for kids, but that doesn’t mean adults can’t have just as much fun playing. Players take turns shooting foam balls at a target that features big game animals to try and earn the most points. The set includes two blasters, 40 foam balls, a target, a carrying case and a rule book.
Sold by Amazon, Overstock and Wayfair
GoPong 8-Foot Portable Beer Pong Table
Yes, we’ve saved the best for last! This regulation-size beer pong table is what every serious competitor needs. The compact, fold-up design turns this table into a 2-foot square case in a matter of seconds. While the table comes with six pong balls, you need to supply your own red Solo cups.
Sold by Amazon and Wayfair
Allen Foster is a writer for BestReviews. BestReviews is a product review company with a singular mission: to help simplify your purchasing decisions and save you time and money.
Copyright 2021 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved.
Be the first to comment