PULTEVENT
Graduation party games: 7 ideas for an open house where guests come and go
A two-car garage in suburban Wisconsin, swept out and hung with streamers in the school colors. A trifold poster board on an easel: kindergarten photo, a T-ball team photo, the prom picture, a senior portrait by the lake. Sloppy joes in a slow cooker, a sheet cake with the grad's face printed on the frosting, and a sign on the mailbox that says Open House 1 to 5. By half past one there are eleven people. By three, forty-five. By four, the neighbors from two streets over.
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That rhythm is what makes a grad party different. Guests don't arrive at seven and stay till eleven. They drop in for forty minutes, sign the card, eat, talk to the grad and leave. Games built for a seated crowd don't fit. What fits is something that runs all afternoon on its own, plus one or two moments when everyone who's there gathers round.
PULTEVENT does both from one laptop connected to a TV or projector. Guests scan a QR code and play on their phones, nothing to install. The phones need internet: the house Wi-Fi if it reaches the garage, or mobile data. The grad's family runs the laptop between refilling the chips.
7 graduation party games for a come-and-go crowd
1 The looping photo screen
A splash screen with the grad's name, school and class year over a slideshow of photos from preschool to senior year. Fanfare and confetti when you tap a button, silence otherwise.
How to run it. Put the trifold's photos on the slideshow too. Guests who can't get near the easel will watch the TV instead.
It's the backdrop every guest photographs, and it gives people something to look at while they wait for the grad.
2 Predict the grad
A live vote that stays open all day: where will they live in ten years, first to get married among the cousins, will they call home every week in the first semester. Bars grow on screen as guests arrive.
How to run it. Screenshot the final results and hand them to the grad. Open them again at the five-year reunion.
Every guest does something the moment they arrive, and nobody needs to be told the rules twice.
3 The grad quiz
A short quiz from phones at the busiest hour: first word, first pet, favorite teacher, how many times they got the car keys taken away. Four options per question, answers revealed on the TV.
How to run it. Announce it ten minutes in advance so people gather round. Run it once, around three.
It's the only point of the afternoon when everyone is in the garage at once. Grandparents love being right.
4 Messages from teachers and coaches
Short video clips from the people who shaped the grad: the chemistry teacher, the soccer coach, the band director, a grandparent who couldn't travel. They play as one-tap buttons on the TV.
How to run it. Ask early. Teachers get a lot of requests in May, and some will prefer to record a clip at their desk after school.
It's the emotional peak of the day. The grad pretends to be embarrassed and watches every second.
5 The grad's timeline
Moments from the grad's life, scrambled: the broken arm, the first job at the ice cream stand, the state tournament, the college acceptance email. Guests put them in order on their phones.
How to run it. Use the same photos as on the trifold. Nobody will have the order right, which is the fun.
It's quick and works for guests of any age, even the ones who have only known the grad for a year.
6 The dorm raffle
The QR raffle gives every guest a ticket as soon as they join. At the end of the afternoon, draw a winner for something the grad's friends want, or flip it and have guests win something the grad donates, like the old bike.
How to run it. Say the draw time on the TV so guests know when to be back. A countdown on screen helps.
Guests who came at one have a reason to come back at half past four.
7 The end credits
When the last guests are leaving, roll the credits on the TV: the grad's teachers, coaches, friends, family, the grandparents who came four hundred miles, and the people who made the sloppy joes.
How to run it. Add every name you can. People stand still to find their own.
It's a warm way to say thank you to everyone without a speech the grad would dread.
A screen that never goes dark
A looping slideshow of the grad's life with name and class year, playing all afternoon.
Games you join anytime
Predictions and the raffle stay open, so guests who drop in at four still take part.
One main moment
At the busiest hour, a short quiz or the teacher videos bring the whole garage together.
Parents stay hosts
Set it up once in the morning. After that it's a click every half hour.
Planning around drop-in guests
Think in layers. The first layer runs itself all day: the photo slideshow, the prediction vote, the raffle. The second layer is one short event when the most people are there, usually in the middle of the afternoon. Keep that event under twenty minutes: the quiz and the teacher videos. Then the first layer carries on.
Guests who arrive at four have missed the quiz. That's fine. They still vote in the predictions, still get a raffle ticket, still see the slideshow. Nobody feels they turned up too late.
The garage, the yard, the living room
Where to put the screen depends on the weather. In a garage, a TV on a folding table against the back wall works well and stays out of the sun. In a backyard, a projector needs shade or evening. In the living room, the family TV is already there. Bring a long HDMI cable and a power strip either way.
Check that phones connect wherever the screen is. Garages are sometimes a Wi-Fi dead zone, and a crowd of forty on the same mobile tower can slow things down.
High school, college, or both
A high school grad party is mostly family, neighbors and parents' friends, with the grad's own friends circulating between four other parties the same weekend. Aim the quiz at the adults, and keep the predictions light. A college graduation party is more often the grad's own friends, later in the day. There, a proper quiz and a karaoke battle work better than a slideshow.
"Are you coming to Kyle's after this?"
"After the raffle. I have ticket nine."
Grandparents who couldn't make it
Graduations bring relatives from all over, and some can't make the trip. Put the video call on the laptop, share the stage window, and they'll see the slideshow and the teacher videos live. If they want to vote in the predictions, they scan the QR code from their own screen with their phone.
Testing it before the big weekend
Grad party season is crowded; half the class has open houses on the same two weekends. Get it built early. The free 3-day demo requires no card, so load the photos, record the teacher clips and run a trial on your own TV. Afterward, the full version is a one-time license, no subscription, and the price is on pultevent.ru/en.
About the author
PULTEVENT was built by Ruslan Barashkin, who has hosted weddings, birthdays and office parties since 2014: over 500 events, best host of Moscow 2024 and of Saint Petersburg 2023 at the TOP 100 Awards. He made it for his own nights first. The rest is at pultevent.ru/en.
How to run graduation party games at an open house
- 1
A month out, ask teachers, coaches and far-away relatives for short video messages.
- 2
Scan the trifold photos and build the looping splash screen with the grad's name and class year.
- 3
Write the grad quiz, the timeline and the prediction questions in the console.
- 4
On the day, set up the screen in shade, connect the laptop and check phone signal where guests stand.
- 5
Keep the slideshow, predictions and raffle running all afternoon; run the quiz and videos at peak hour.
- 6
Draw the raffle in the last hour and roll the credits as the last guests leave.
FAQ
Do guests need to download anything?
Can people join halfway through?
Can I show a slideshow of the grad's photos?
Is there a ready-made graduation quiz?
What if the Wi-Fi doesn't reach the garage?
What does it cost after the demo?
See also
Run brighter events — with PULTEVENT
All audience interactions, a second screen and timing in one app. Guests join by QR — internet is needed for you and for them.
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