# Kitty party games: 12 ideas that work for eight to twenty ladies, and how to run Tambola

Source: https://spolvero.design/articles/kitty-party-games-ideas/
Updated: 2026-10-06
Tool: https://spolvero.design/tools/play/tambola-tickets/

> A kitty party runs best on three games: one quick one-minute challenge to break the ice, one paper game everyone plays sitting down, and one round of Tambola with six prizes as the main event. Budget 15 minutes, 20 minutes and 30 minutes, with tea between. Print two Tambola tickets per member and check claims by ticket number so nobody argues.

A kitty party has a rhythm: arrive, tea, one quick game while the last member finds parking, one sitting-down game, then Tambola as the main event before the kitty is drawn. Here are twelve games that fit that rhythm, grouped by how long they take, and a proper plan for the Tambola round.

## Quick games, 10 to 15 minutes

1. **One-minute challenges.** Stack ten coins, thread five needles, name fifteen cities starting with M. Everyone plays at once, so nobody is waiting.
2. **Guess the price.** Ten everyday items in a tray; write the price of each. Closest total wins.
3. **Who am I.** A name on each member's back; yes-or-no questions to find out whose. The [kitty party chits maker](/tools/play/kitty-party-chits/) prints twenty ready names with cut lines.
4. **Dumb charades in pairs.** Films of the year, thirty seconds each.

## Sitting-down games, 15 to 20 minutes

5. **Theme quiz.** Twenty questions on the month's theme: sarees, Bollywood, the 90s, food. In pairs, so new members have a partner.
6. **The memory tray.** Twenty objects shown for one minute, then covered. Write down what you remember.
7. **Passing the parcel with dares.** Each layer has a dare or a question. The music decides who unwraps. Ready task and question chits, and more games to play with them, are in [kitty party chit games](/articles/kitty-party-chit-games/).
8. **Tick the list.** A checklist of twenty things in your handbag; the most ticks wins. Always funnier than it sounds.

## The main event: Tambola, 30 minutes

9. **Tambola with six prizes.** The classic, and the game most kitties are built around. It works because everyone plays at once, the newest member has the same chance as the founder, and the caller gets to perform.

Here is how to run it so it takes 30 minutes and ends without an argument.

**Tickets.** Two per member. One is fine for the newest members; regulars like two or three so they always have something to mark. The [Tambola Tickets tool](/tools/play/tambola-tickets/) prints proper 3×9 tickets, twelve to a page, so a group of fifteen is three sheets. Print at 100% and cut along the gaps.

**Prizes.** Agree six before the first call and read them out: early five, top line, middle line, bottom line, four corners and full house. If members pay in for a pot, split it 10% for early five, 12% for each line, 14% for four corners and 40% for full house, or let the [Tambola prize calculator](/tools/play/tambola-prize-calculator/) turn any split into rupees, rounded to ₹10. If it is gifts, make full house the best one and keep the others small.

**Calling.** One number every ten to fifteen seconds. Say the call, then the plain number: "Legs eleven, heels on, number eleven." Kitty calls make it a show: "Pehla number, the first sip of chai" for 1, "Lucky seven, kitty heaven" for 7, "Twenty-three, chai for me". Rotate the caller each month so the same member is not always left out of the prizes.

**Checking a claim.** When someone shouts, ask for the ticket number printed on her ticket and type it into the caller's **Check a ticket** box. It shows which prizes that ticket has completed against the numbers called so far. Nobody reads fifteen numbers aloud, and nobody disputes the result.

**House rules.** A claim must come before the next number is drawn. A wrong claim is a bogey: in most kitties that means the claimant brings the sweets next month.

## Longer variations, if the group likes them

10. **Themed Tambola.** The same tickets, with prizes named for the theme: "Mangalsutra line" for middle line, "Bindi" for the middle number. It costs nothing and members remember it.
11. **Temperature and breakfast-lunch-dinner.** Extra prizes for the lowest and highest numbers on the ticket, and for all the numbers in the left, middle and right thirds of the ticket. Adds ten minutes; see [breakfast, lunch and dinner in Tambola](/articles/breakfast-lunch-dinner-in-tambola/) for how they work.
12. **Two-round Tambola.** A second round with fresh tickets and a new game number, so the members who were close in round one do not start round two with the same near-complete tickets.

## Timing the afternoon

| Slot | Game | Minutes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Arrivals | One-minute challenge | 15 |
| Tea | Sitting-down game | 20 |
| Main event | Tambola, six prizes | 30 |
| Close | Kitty draw and next host | 10 |

Two hours, three games, six prizes, and the kitty drawn before anyone has to leave for the school run. To draw next month's host on a phone or the TV, with no name drawn twice until everyone has hosted, see [how to pick the next kitty host fairly](/articles/how-to-pick-next-kitty-host/).

## Related guides

- [How to organise Tambola at home](/articles/how-to-organise-tambola/) covers the prize pool and the caller's pace in more detail.
- [Tambola games list](/articles/tambola-games-list/) has fifteen prize patterns for groups that want a longer game.

## Questions

### What games are played at a kitty party?

Tambola is the classic, usually with a themed twist. Around it: one-minute challenges, paper-and-pen games like 'Guess the price' or 'Who am I', passing-the-parcel with dares, and a quiz on the host's chosen theme. Three games fill a two-hour afternoon.

### How do you run Tambola at a kitty party?

Print two tickets per member, agree six prizes and the split before the first call, and have one member call a number every ten to fifteen seconds. Check each claim by typing the ticket number into the caller, which shows what that ticket has completed.

### What are good kitty party prizes?

Small and useful: a scented candle, a box of dry fruit, bangles, a plant, a voucher for the next month's host. Six prizes in Tambola means six members go home with something, which matters more than one big gift.

### How many Tambola prizes for a kitty party?

Six: early five, top line, middle line, bottom line, four corners and full house. It fits a 30-minute round. Add temperature or breakfast-lunch-dinner as a seventh if the group likes long games.