Your Oscar Party: The Games

When it comes to Oscar parties, you might not think of games right away. After all, why would you play games when you’re watching to see if your favorite movie gets an award (or if that certain arrogant actress you abhor falls flat on her face)? There are plenty of games you can play while enjoying the ceremony, however—as well as while the commercials are running. Here are some ideas.

Cast Your Own Votes: Make up a sheet of paper with all of the nominations on it and photocopy it. Pass it out before the ceremony starts and have everyone write their name on their paper and cast their own vote. Then, when the show is over, the person who predicted the most accurate wins gets a prize. You can find mini-Oscar awards to give out, or simply have a gift card or other prize ready.

Pin the Ugly Dress on the Actress: Instead of pinning the tail on the donkey, why not pin an ugly dress on an actress? Print or cut out photos of the actresses nominated and glue them to a big piece of poster board. (It’s okay if they overlap.) Create a really ugly dress and photocopy it so everyone can have a copy. Have each person write their name on their dress before they are blindfolded and attempt to pin the dress on an actress. During the ceremony, everyone can vote on which actress wore the worst getup and the person who pinned the dress on (or closest to) that actress wins.

Which Actor Am I? Play charades—only, each answer must be one of the actors or films nominated. Alternatively, play the guessing game where each actor’s name is placed on a piece of paper and taped to each person’s forehead. (They can’t see their own, but they can see everyone else’s.) They must guess who they “are” by using clues provided by everyone else. Or, try a version where everyone only sees their own piece of paper and must try to portray their personality all night, or however long it takes to guess who he or she is.

Movie Trivia: Scrounge up some great facts and stats about the actors, films, and the awards themselves and host mini trivia challenges during the commercials. Divide into teams and keep points; whichever team has the most points at the end of the night wins.