Not everyone has the money to spend on loads of fancy electronic games, or those new silly 'truth or dare' games (apparently girls can't play truth or dare without a few cards and a game board), but there are many fun games that can be played that don't cost much at all. Maybe you'll play them at your next party.

"Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board"
The basic premise of this game is to have one person lie on the floor while everyone else sits on their knees around her with both hands slightly under her. There is one "Storyteller" who sits by the head and tells a made-up story about the person on the floor's life and her "untimely demise." At the end of the story, everyone chants "Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board" repeatedly as they lift her off of the ground. The idea is to have everyone believing that "spirits" are helping to lift her off the ground (in reality, she is probably being lifted because of all the people helping to lift her). Take turns, and tell a story about everyone!

Junk Food Frenzy
This is a great game that will keep your tummy full and keep you laughing. Dig out some of your favorite desserts and copy the instructions on index cards. Buy ingredients for all the desserts and place them on the kitchen counter. Shuffle the cards and divide the guests into two teams. Have players take turns drawing cards. Each player reads the card and takes the listed ingredient. When all the ingredients have been distributed, give the teams 30 minutes to prepare a dish using the ingredients accumulated by the individual players. When the dishes are complete, have each player taste and eat the results, then vote on the best tasting dessert! For a fun variation, give both teams the same ingredients and see what different desserts they come up with (without using recipes).

Do-It! Dice
Buy or find two square cardboard boxes and paint them both white, like dice. On every side of the square, write a command or a stunt, such as "Sing our National Anthem," "Hop up and down," "Spin around in circles," and so on. Have the kids gather in a circle with the "Do-It! Dice" in the middle. Have one player roll BOTH dice to determine his/her stunts, then have the player perform both stunts AT THE SAME TIME. This should provide lots of laughs.

Panic Word
Write down 100 words on index cards (one word per index card), such as blink, stare, lint, thread, plate, bra, shoelace -- any words you like. Stack the cards and put them in the center of the room. Divide the players into 2 teams and seat them opposite each other. Set the timer or stopwatch for one minute. Have the first player from Team One draw a card from the pile and give clues to the word to his/her teammates before the timer ends the play. If the word is "blink", the team member might say, "What you do if dust gets in your eyes?" Players from Team One try to guess the word; if they are successful before the time is up, they get a point. If the timer runs out and the word is not guessed, the other team gets a point. Take turns until all the cards are gone, then add up points to see who wins.

Who Am I?
Write the names of famous people on index cards and tape one card to the back of each guest. Have everyone walk around in the same room, and instruct them not to mention the name on each person's back, but to talk to everyone as if they are the person on their card. As people begin to correctly guess their identity, they have to continue to treat the people who still don't know their identity like the people whose name is taped to their back. When everyone guesses their "true identity" then the game is over.

Name the Murderer
Put slips of paper into a hat (the number of papers should be the same as the number of guests). Have your guests each choose one slip of paper; they should not show it to anyone else. Each slip of paper will be blank with the exception of one that says "Murderer." The guest who picks "Murderer" has to walk around the party and "kill" people by winking at them. As soon as one of the guests is winked at, he/she has to count to three and then fall on the floor, without doing anything to let people know who killed them. If someone knows who the murderer is, they have to say, "Stop! I know who the Murderer is." If the accuser is wrong, then he/she is "dead" and out of the game. If the accuser is correct, then the game is over, and he/she is the winner.

These games are fun, and they really don't cost much at all. Fun. Low (to no) cost. Works for me.

Goodbye darlings,
Firecat