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Printable party game

Majority Rules

You are not trying to be right. You are trying to think like the room.

Everyone answers the same question about the guest of honour with a single word, in secret, then flips together. Only the biggest matching group scores.

  • Prediction
  • 4-20 players
  • 20-35 minutes
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A printed Majority Rules answer sheet
A printed page of Majority Rules question cards
A printed Majority Rules question card

How to play

Three things happen each round, and rounds are fast.

  1. A printed question card about the guest of honour

    Step 1

    Somebody reads out the question

    Every question is about the guest of honour. Anyone at the table can read, so nobody has to sit the game out to run it, and the reader can just rotate.

  2. A printed answer sheet with a row for each round

    Step 2

    Everyone writes one word, in secret

    Exactly one word each, on your own sheet, all at the same time. You are not writing what you think is right. You are writing what you reckon most of the table is about to write.

  3. PriyaPavlova
    TomPavlova
    SamPavlova
    AvaHalloumiOn its own

    Step 3

    Flip together, biggest group scores

    Everyone in the largest matching group takes a point. The clever answer nobody else thought of gets you precisely nothing, and first to eight wins.

Why the arguing is the point

01

The questions are about them

It is not trivia. Every question names the person the party is for, so the answers come from your group and nobody can prepare for it.

02

It rewards agreeing

Most party games reward being clever. This one punishes it. The obvious answer is almost always the winning one, which takes people a couple of rounds to accept.

03

Every reveal ends in a row

Somebody always insists their answer means the same thing as the winning one, and the table has to rule on it. The printed rule is that if you would lose the argument, it matches. That row is the game.

What makes it yours

Every question is about them

This is not trivia. You tell us about the guest of honour and the questions come back naming them, so the answers come from your group rather than from general knowledge.

Ava always brings the same thing to gatherings

Which snack is Ava guaranteed to bring?

Ava is always the last one to leave

What time does Ava sneak out?

Ava has strong opinions about drinks

Which drink does Ava point-blank refuse?

Printed question cards, each one naming the guest of honour
Nobody at the table is trying to be right about Ava. They are trying to guess what everybody else will say about her, which is a completely different problem and a much funnier one.

What you print

  • Question cards, built around the guest of honour36+
  • Player answer sheets, one per player1 page
  • Score sheet1 page

Prints on plain A4 or Letter. Black and white is fine. Cut along the guides and you are ready.

See a real printed pack (PDF)

Before you play: a pen for every player and a phone timer, so rounds keep moving.

Is this one for your group?

Perfect for

  • ✓Mixed groups where not everyone knows each other well
  • ✓A sit-down moment between food and the next thing
  • ✓Big tables, it happily runs to thirty
  • ✓Groups with at least one person who will die on a hill
  • ✓Anyone who wants a game running in under a minute

Maybe not if

  • ×Four is the floor, and honestly it wants more. A majority of four is two people agreeing.
  • ×People who want a right answer. The popular answer wins here.
  • ×Standing around a bar. Everyone needs somewhere to write.

Questions

What actually counts as a match?

Exact matches always score. Close ones score if the table agrees they mean the same thing, and arguing about whether they do is genuinely half the fun. Let the room decide and move on.

What if nothing gets a majority?

There is always a biggest group, even if it is only two people. Everyone in it scores. If two groups tie for largest, everybody in both of them scores, which happens more than you would think and nobody minds.

Is there a penalty for being the only one with your answer?

Only if your table wants one. The pack mentions it as an optional variant worth 1 point, but the game works fine without it and most groups never bother. Decide before you start, not after somebody gets caught out.

Do we need the printed answer sheets?

No. Scrap paper, napkins, or the back of a receipt all work. One word is one word. The sheets are in the pack because it is easier than hunting for paper.

How long does a full game take?

Twenty to thirty five minutes. First to 8 points wins, but rounds are fast, so most groups end up playing past the winning point because someone wants a rematch.

Does it work if some people barely know the guest of honour?

Better than you would think. The people who know them least tend to answer with the obvious stereotype, and the obvious stereotype is very often the biggest pile.

Is it too simple?

Simple to learn, not simple to win. Guessing what everyone else wrote is a very different job from knowing the answer yourself, and it is harder than it sounds.

How do scoring and winning work?

Everyone in the largest matching answer group scores 1 point. If largest groups tie, all tied groups score. First to 8 points wins.

Build out the box

Secret Missions

Secret tasks that turn the whole event into the game.

See game

The Outsider

The whole group knows the word. One person has to fake it. Nobody knows who.

See game

Bet Your Mate

Guess the number. Bet your chips.

See game

Sketchy Business

Everyone is drawing the same thing. One person has no idea what it is.

See game

The Pitch

Talk your way out of a Case using one absurd Curveball.

See game

Great for these occasions

BirthdayBridal shower

Ready to play?

Build a party around Majority Rules.

Choose the games that fit your group, then print the pages you need.

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