Capture the Flag
Our go-to nerf game for big groups is Capture the Flag. It’s simple to play and the kids enjoy being on teams. We start out by breaking the kids up into two teams and giving them a base. Each team has a different colored flag they need to hide and guard. We use bandanas as flags that way if they get ruined you can just throw them out.
Next, we set the 2 teams up on different sides of the yard and they hide the flag on their side. When players start they are searching to find the other team’s flag. If a player is hit by an opponent’s nerf bullet they need to go back and tag their base before they resume their search. The winning team is the one that finds the flag first.
The nice part of capture the flag is no players is ever out. This allows everyone to continue enjoying playing the game the whole time.
Humans VS. Zombies
For this game break the kids up into teams of Humans and Zombies. Humans get to use nerf guns. The zombies try to tag the Humans without getting hit. If they tag a human they are out and if a Zombie gets hit they are out. The winner is whichever team has a player left at the end of the game.
To make it fairer have the Humans use a gun that only holds a few bullets at a time. This way the zombies have a chance when the humans reload.
Freeze Tag
For Freeze Tag, you again break the kids up into two teams. If a player is hit by a bullet you need to freeze in your spot. The only way to unfreeze a player is to have a fellow teammate tag or shoot the frozen player with a nerf bullet. The goal is to freeze all of the other team’s players.
The team at the end who is unfrozen wins. Another way to play this is to set a timer and see who has the most players unfrozen when the timer goes off.
Hide and Seek
What kid doesn’t love hide and seek so why not make it into a nerf game? In this game, one team is the hiders and one team is the seekers. The hiders run out and hide. The seekers must try and find all the hiders. The challenge is the hiders can shoot the seekers from their hiding spot and knock them out of the game. The seekers shoot the hiders when they find them and knock them out of the game.
The hiders win if they shoot all the seekers and the seekers win if they find all the hiders.
Every Man for Himself
In Every Man for Himself, there are no teams. The player’s only goal is to make it to the end without getting hit with a nerf bullet. As soon as you are hit you have to sit out of the game. The last player left is the winner.