Make this year’s Super Bowl party even more fun with this pick a play Super Bowl party game! It’s super simple to play, only takes a few minutes, and is fun for everyone – football fans and non-football fans!
Quick and Easy Super Bowl Game
This year I’ve been trying to share some fun Super Bowl party games that work for everyone – football fans, commercial fans, and people who are just there because it’s a party!
This fun Super Bowl game that I call pick a play is just that – picking a play and whoever can pick the most plays correct wins!
It’s great because it’s literally just picking one out of three play options, it’s just played for a few minutes at the beginning of the game (or at the beginning of halftime) and there’s really no skill involved other than raising your hand!
You can even play this along with something like Super Bowl bingo or this super scorers Super Bowl game and none really distract from the game!
Why you’ll love this
- Short and sweet – this game typically lasts just a few plays into the game, making it the perfect way to start your Super Bowl watch party!
- Good for any age – unlike something like Super Bowl trivia, really anyone can play this as long as they can put their hand in the air like they just don’t care!
- Simple setup – it’s literally just printing, cutting, and handing out cards!
How to Prep
This game is super simple to prep, especially since I created a free printable for you to download with the cards you can print out. You can of course just write out the words as well, but printing them is easier!
1 – Print and Cut out the Play Cards
You can download the printable cards at the bottom of this post. There are three pages – a page with run cards, a page with short cards, and a page with long cards.
You can technically print them all out on white paper since they have the words on them, but I personally prefer to print them on colored paper. It makes it a lot more fun and you can quickly see who’s in and who’s out!
You’ll need to print one set of cards (one run, one long, one short) for anyone who wants to play. Everyone needs all three cards to be able to play.
How to play
Okay, now here’s how to play. And make sure everyone understands all of these rules before the game starts or the game won’t work.
You’ll start the game as soon as kickoff happens with everyone making their first choice before the first actual play of the game. You can do the same thing after halftime (or just do it during halftime) as well if you want to play twice.
- Before the play begins, everyone picks one of their cards and puts it up in the air. If they want to hide their choice until right before the play, that’s totally fine, but it has to be up before the play actually begins.
Important!
Cards have to put it up in the air before the play starts or they are disqualified from the game. Make that clear and be strict about it because if someone waits until after a play starts, it’s easy to guess the play correctly.
- After the play is complete, anyone who picked the correct play moves onto the next round immediately and chooses their next play just like they did the first time around. Anyone who got it wrong is out and their game is over.
- Keep going until only one person remains as the person who choose the correct play and they win a prize. If two people get “out” at the same time, have them continue choosing plays until only one person chooses the final play correctly.
Play Definitions
While I know technical NFL terms and stats may be different than this, for the sake of keeping this game as easy as possible, here are the definitions of the three different plays (run, short, long) for this game. It’s important to make sure people understand these before the game starts!
- Run – any run play no matter the distance (positive or negative) as well as any quarterback sack.
- Short – any passing play where the total yards gained on the play is under five yards AND any incomplete passes.
- Long – any passing play where the total yards gained on the play is five yards or more.
If there is a turnover or a penalty of any kind, just skip that play like it didn’t even happen and just move onto guessing the next one.
Super Bowl Game Prize Ideas
Since you’re just going to have one (or two if you play at halftime) winner, I like to make the prize something a little more substantial and more universal. Here are some things we’ve done in the past that have worked well:
- Cash
- Gift cards to universal places like Amazon, restaurants, etc.
- Team gear like a Chiefs beanie, Chiefs board game, and so on (just keep it universal so sizes aren’t an issue)
- Sports related prizes like camping chairs, water bottles, and even things like electric hand warmers
Feel free to give out something specific to your group – you’ll know them best!
Make It Kid-Friendly!
You can always do two different games at the same time – one for adults/teens and one for kids if you want the kids to be able to play but are worried about them being able to go fast enough or understand the game. Have the adults and teens play at the beginning of the game and then once they’re game is over, have the kids play with the adults help!
Printable FAQs
What happens if there’s a penalty? How about a turnover?
If there is a penalty called on the play, skip the play and just guess the next one. Same thing if there’s a turnover on the play.
How do I know how long the pass was?
Short and long is determined by the total yards gained on the play, not how long the pass was. So if the ball was passed one yard but the receiver ran for an additional ten for a total of 11 gained yards on the play, it would be a long play – even though technically it was a short pass.
The announcer will typically tell the audience how far the play was and you can typically see where the ball is each play, telling you the difference between the last play and this one.
What if someone doesn’t pick a play in time?
Unfortunately, they are disqualified from the rest of the game. This is a short game that if you don’t get your card up for a round, you can’t just move onto the next round.
More Fun Super Bowl Games
While this is one of our favorite Super Bowl party games, here are some more that would go great with this one for your next Super Bowl party!
- Super Bowl guessing game – how many questions can you guess right? No football knowledge, just a guessing game!
- Super Bowl cities trivia game – another fun printable game that’s easy to play before the big game but this one’s about the cities competing!
- Super Bowl squares template – a free printable version of the classic Super Bowl squares game!
- Football scavenger hunt – while not Super Bowl specific, this football is still a fun one to get kids involved!
- Super Bowl games – a bunch of active and hilarious games to play pre-game or during the commercials!
Download the Printable
Click the button below or this link to download the play cards!
Printing Recommendations
I recommend printing each of the sheets on different color papers to make it easier to recognize the cards and whose in and out quickly!
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