Kids playing in hot tub

Hot tubs aren’t just fantastic places to relax and unwind: your spa can also serve as your own personal game room.

Whether you’re looking for games for children, adults or both, we’ve got you covered. These are our top five fun hot tub games:

  1. Hot tub pong.
  2. Cards.
  3. Submarine.
  4. Cold shower.
  5. Who am I?

1. Hot Tub Pong

You’ll need:

  • One plastic cup per player.
  • At least two ping pong balls per player.
  • The beverage(s) of your choice.

This is an aquatic version of the party favorite game of beer pong. If you’ll be playing with a group of adults, feel free to use beer (just be sure no one drinks too much, since alcohol and hot tubs can be a risky combination).

If any children will be playing, use a non-alcoholic substitute like soda, juice or sparkling water.

To play, simple arrange your plastic cups in any location near your hot tub. Use one cup per player, and write each player’s name on their corresponding cup.

You can line your cups up on the rim of the hot tub, or set up a table outside the hot tub. If you’re a true hot tub pong enthusiast, you can even purchase a floating pong table — the one below doubles as a Bluetooth speaker:

Then, fill each cup with your chosen beverages, and give each player two ping pong balls.

The rules are as follows: During their turn, each player gets two chances to toss a ping pong ball into a cup. If a player misses both of their shots, they take a drink. If a player’s ball lands in your cup, you have to take a drink.

Depending on how many players you have, you may want to increase the number of chances each player gets per round.

2. Cards

You’ll need:

  • Waterproof playing cards.

To play cards in your hot tub, you’ll have a wide variety of card games to choose from. For example, you might choose to play an adults-only game of hot tub poker.

Or, you could purchase a waterproof deck of UNO cards for a card game the whole family can enjoy.

To get started, just make sure that everyone knows the rules before breaking out the cards. If your chosen card game requires dice, no worries: floating dice can be easily purchased from a number of retailers.

If you’d like to make things your interesting, set up some fun penalties for players. For instance, you could add a rule that the loser of each round must stand outside the hot tub for five minutes, or do a cannonball into the pool.

3. Submarine

You’ll need:

  • Two plastic cups.

This is a simple game that a group of any size and players of all ages can enjoy. No matter how many players you have, all you’ll need is two plastic cups.

To start, fill one plastic cup with about an inch of water, until it will float upright in the hot tub water without tipping over. This is your submarine.

Place the submarine in the middle of the hot tub, with all players sitting around it. Then, use the other plastic cup to pour just a little bit of water into the submarine. Pass the plastic cup to the next player and repeat until all players have taken their turn.

The goal is to avoid being the player who sinks the submarine. The penalty for sinking the submarine is up to you: players could be required to do a silly dance, run around the hot tub or be splashed with a cup of water.

4. Cold Shower

You’ll need:

  • Balloons
  • Cold water.

To play this exciting game, all you need to do is fill a standard balloon with cold water. Try to get it as full as possible without breaking.

Then, have each player sit in the hot tub and hold the balloon above their head while counting to five. Once they’ve reached the count of five, the balloon is passed along to the next player.

The water balloon will eventually break, dousing the unlucky player in cold water — that’s the cold shower. If a player gets a cold shower, they’re out. Continue playing with the remaining players until only one is left.

5. Who Am I?

You’ll need:

  • Paper cards and masking tape, or…
  • Blank water-resistant name tag stickers.

This is a fantastic party game that everyone loves to play, no matter their age.

To get started, simply write down the names of several famous people on your paper cards or blank stickers. You can do this yourself beforehand, or have each player make a couple.

Remember, you’ll need more name tags than players — otherwise, players might be able to guess their assigned name tag by process of elimination.

Then, shuffle the name tags together and hold them face down. Each player then takes a name tag and affixes it to their forehead so that they can’t see it, but everyone else can.

Next, each player takes turns asking questions about the person they’ve been assigned to. These questions could include things like:

  • Am I American?
  • Am I a singer?
  • Am I an animated character?
  • Am I an actor?
  • Am I a woman?

The goal is to guess the name of your assigned person as quickly as possible. The person who guesses last is the loser, and the penalty for losing is up to you (or, you could play without any penalties).

If you have children playing, remember to only use names they’ll recognize.

With these five games, you’ll be ready to enjoy hours of hilarious fun in the hot tub with family, friends and everyone in between. Whether you’re playing with adults, children or both, your hot tub is sure to become the next hottest party destination.