If you’re looking for a bar game that is a little more exciting and interactive than a video game, you’re in good company. Some of the best outdoor games are moving into bars and creating a fun, social culture where the objective is to have a good time with friends while having a few drinks. With a few modifications, the games you love to play at parties are going to be available more widely in bars near you.
Cornhole
Among the easiest games to move into a bar is cornhole. Cornhole involves tossing a bean bag into a hole on a tilted board. It’s essentially a simple version of horse shoes that is much more contained since the bean bags won’t go rolling off like a horse shoe. In light of this, cornhole has become a popular game for bars and parties. It’s easy enough to bring a cornhole board into a bar or to a patio area and to let patrons start playing.
Molkky
An ideal game for an outdoor patio, Molkky is a bit like bowling with wooden pegs. Since you can’t exactly set up a bowling alley in the typical bar, molkky is an ideal option since you only need a flat surface and a set of wooden pins along with a tossing pin. The one catch with molkky is that you reset the pins where they stop rolling after each turn. If you don’t have a patio or lawn at your bar where this can be set up, you may have a hard time playing the later rounds!
Table Shuffle Board
You may think of shuffle board as a game that requires discs, poles, and a long stretch of concrete, but many bars offer an adaptation of this classic summer and vacation game. The playing surface is a long wooden board with raised sides. The objective remains the same, landing a small disc on a series of numbers in order to score points. The bar version is far more social since players have less distance between each other. In addition, the game is easy for anyone to pick up and play.
Bocce Ball
Perhaps one of the most surprising outdoor games that has been added to bars of late is bocce ball. A typical bocce ball court takes up quite a bit of space, so you may only find one or two courts in a bar, but the simple clay or dirt course you find is a great addition to many bars that want to stand out from the usual games of pool, ping pong, and darts. Bocce ball is one of the fastest growing bar games among adults in their 20’s and 30’s, with leagues forming around the country both in and out of bars. For a night out on the town, bocce is a great game for socializing with friends over a beer or eating some appetizers. You’ll have plenty of time to chat in between turns. In addition, the rules of bocce ball are easily learned, making it perfect for anyone to pick up and join in. You just need to land your ball closest to the pallino and then your friends will be buying the next round of drinks for you and your date.
Giant Chess and Checkers
You can find chess, checkers, backgammon, scrabble, and plenty of other games at bars, but a fun spin on these classic games is the giant version that is typically intended for outdoors. When you’re hanging at a bar with friends, it’s hard to invite a group to gather around your table if you’re playing regular checkers. However, a giant checker board is far more social and will invite participation from your friends at every move.
Giant Games
Giant games are fun to watch and what is more fun that people watching while tossing back a couple drinks at a bar. Giant games are as fun to play as they are to watch. I guess that it why they are becoming so popular at bars and restaurants these days. Giant Tumble Tower is a great bar game because it is both nostalgic and just as much fun to play in a giant version. In fact, there are many giant versions of childhood games such as Connect Four.