Most of us love kissing — anthropologists say 90% of humans do it. Kissing lets us get up close and personal with our partner’s pheromones, and our lips and tongues are so packed with nerve endings that kissing just feels good. With National Kissing Day coming up (it’s either on June 22 or July 6, depending on which calendar you consult), it’s a good time to celebrate kissing. What better way than with a kissing game?
While most of us are familiar with spin the bottle, there are many other kissing games out there. And while these games might be most popular with kids and teenagers, they can be a lot of fun for adults to play, too. As always, consent is important, so make sure everyone at your party is okay with swapping spit with each other before the game begins — or maybe modify a few rules to allow the kiss-ee to choose to be kissed on the lips, cheek, hand, or other body parts.
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Spin The Bottle
Let’s start with a classic. In this game, everyone sits in a circle, with a bottle in the center. One person spins the bottle, and whoever the bottle points to, they kiss. The person who the bottled pointed to then takes their turn.
Seven Minutes in Heaven
Seven Minutes In Heaven is another game you’re probably familiar with from pop culture (remember 13 Going On 30?), if not real life. In this game, two people are chosen to go into a small, enclosed space like a closet, and they must stay there together for seven minutes. (Usually, they kiss during those seven minutes, though they don’t have to.) The people can be chosen by spinning a bottle, drawing names out of a hat, voting, or by having one person be “it.”
Suck And Blow
You might have seen this one in Clueless. “Suck and blow” is played by having a group of people stand in a circle and pass a thin object, such as a piece of paper or a playing card, from mouth to mouth by, well, sucking and blowing. In some variations, if the paper or card gets dropped, both people have to drink. And in other variations, the card gets ripped in half before re-entering the game, making "accidental" kissing a little more likely.
Guess Who?
In this game, one person wears a blindfold. Then, someone at the party kisses them, and the blindfolded person has to guess the kisser's identity. Once the blindfolded person gets it right, the kisser can take their turn with the blindfold.
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Post Office
This kissing game dates back to at least the 1880s, because it makes an appearance in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s autobiography. There at least two ways to play this game. In one variation, the party is divided into two groups (traditionally a “girl group” and a “boy group,” but you don’t have to be so heteronormative at your party). One group goes into another room, which becomes the “post office.” Then, each person from the second group visits the “post office” one at a time and kisses everyone in the room.
In the other variation, one person is chosen to be the “postman.” They go outside and knock on the door. Then, the rest of the group chooses a person to “pay” the postman with a kiss. The people can be selected by voting, drawing names, or volunteering.
Catch and Kiss
Think of this game as tag, but with kissing. One person is “it,” and they chase everyone else. When they catch someone, they kiss them. The caught person can take their turn as "it." In other variations, everyone who gets kissed becomes "it," until there is no one left to chase.
Kissing Word
This game is a fun one to play one-on-one. Together, choose a word that’s commonly used in lyrics — such as “kiss,” “love,” or “baby.” Then, turn on the radio. Every time you hear the word, you have to kiss.