Valentine’s Day Danger Word Game

This fun Valentine’s Day game will have people trying to guess a Valentine’s Day themed word without guessing the Valentine’s Day danger word. Plus, a free printable Valentines danger word game list to play at any celebration!

If you’re looking for a fun Valentine’s Day game, look no further. Okay well read this post then you can also look at these Valentine’s Day would you rather questions, this Valentine’s Day trivia, and maybe even this Valentine’s Day outburst game.

But for now, let’s talk about this Valentine’s Day danger words games because it’s a fun one.

If you’ve never played danger words, it’s a game inspired by one on Ellen’s Game of Games, but the printable version is a bit less intense than the one on her show. The basic idea is the same – you’re trying to get your partner or teammates to guess a particular word without accidentally guessing the danger word.

The danger words will be things that are very close to the word you need to guess or things that would likely have similar clues. So for example if the main word is roses, the danger word might be flowers.

While there is strategy behind the game and adults may be better at the game, it’s still fun and playable for both teens and even kids. My oldest son loves playing with us!

Supplies Needed

You don’t need much to play this game! In fact, pretty much everything is included in the PDF at the bottom of this post (or get it in my shop here) – unless you’re going to do this with some added consequences to make it a bit more like the game show version.

If you want to use these cards again and again, I recommend printing on white card stock then laminating. I have this laminator and these laminating pouches that I use all the time. They’re super easy to use and work great!

Game setup

Let’s get ready to play! Before you actually start playing you need to:

1. Print and cut out the danger word cards (file at the bottom of this post).
2. Put the cards into a bag, box, or container of some sort.
3. Split your group into two-person teams. Or if you have a larger group, read my notes on larger groups below.
4. Give each team a number (e.g., 1, 2, 3), these will be important for keeping track of who goes when.
5. Pick one person from each team to be the first clue giver and one team to be the first guesser. Have guessers go on one side of the room and clue givers on the other.

how to play danger words

This game is pretty easy to play but there are some nuanced rules that make a big difference in the game play. I’ll explain the basic rules then have a quick list of other things to note for when you play!

1 – give clues

Have one of clue givers pick a card out of the card box randomly. Show the card to all of the clue givers so everyone knows what the word to be guessed is and what the danger word is.

Just as a reminder, the danger word is the word you do NOT want your team to guess!

There are a few examples of cards in this post. I tried to make them tricky enough that it’s fun trying to avoid the danger word.

Starting with the team 1, the clue giver should give a ONE word clue to their teammate to try and get them to guess the word, also avoiding the danger word.

Clue rules:

1. Cannot use any part of the main word or the danger word
2. Cannot be the word in another language
3. Must be one only word, no hyphenated words or phrases
4. Must be a clue that describes or relates to the actual word, not the spelling/writing of the word (e.g., A if the word is apple would not be okay but red would.)
5. No explanations allowed – just the clue

2 – Guess Words

Once team 1 gives their clue, their teammate guesses what they think the word is. If they guess correctly, their team gets a point and the round is over. This is pretty rare to have the word guessed on the first clue.

If they get it incorrect, move to team 2. Team 2 gives a clue and their teammate tries to guess the word.

Keep going through teams until someone has guessed the correct word. If you get through all the teams, go back to team 1.

If at any point a team guesses the danger word, the round is immediately over. If you’re playing with just two teams, the other team would win a point. If you’re playing with multiple teams, no one wins a point for the round.

If you’re using consequences, the team who said the danger word would get a consequence.

3 – consequence ideas

If you need some consequence ideas, these are some that we’ve used in the past that have been fun!

• Skip a turn in clue giving the next round
• Lose 3 points
• Some physical punishment such as a pie to the face, have to drink a bottle of water, eat something gross, etc. There are lots of good ideas in these kid-friendly truth or dare questions that might work

If you do plan on doing physical punishments, make sure to let people know beforehand so they can dress appropriately.

4 – Repeat

After a round is over, switch clue givers and guessers for each team. Then start with team 2 (should move to the next team for starting each subsequent round) and do the same thing. It’s important to rotate through who starts to keep things fair.

Team 2 gives a clue and guesses. Team 3 gives a clue and guessers. And so on.

Keep going through as many cards as you’d like or for a designated time period.

How to Win

If you’re doing a point based consequence (e.g., lose 3 points) for danger words, keep track of points on a scoresheet. Otherwise, just give teams the card for each round that they win. One card = one point at the end of the game.

The team with the most points at the end wins.

large group play

While isn’t my favorite game for playing in a large group (I prefer these Valentine’s Day minute to win it games or something like Valentines bingo), it can still be done. And still be fun.

Start by splitting your group into teams with even numbers, ideally teams of six or less so everyone actually gets a chance to play.

Then to play there are a couple of ways you can structure it:

1. One person guesses each round and the rest of the team discusses and gives clues together as a team.
2. One person guesses each round and the rest of the team switches off giving a clue to the guesser.
3. One person gives clues and the rest of the team works together to come up with the word they want to guess, kind of like in this Valentines Family Feud game.

Just make sure that no matter which way you decide to play that you are rotating people so everyone gets a turn guessing, clue giving, etc. It’s not fun for anyone if the same person or people are always playing.

Expert Tips

Play virtual! Split into teams then when you’re ready to show the card, put the clue givers into a breakout room on Zoom to show them the word card. Join everyone back to the main room for guessing!

Pair kids with adults if you’re doing larger teams. A team full of kids versus a team full of adults may sound fun, but it’s not.

If you’re going to play, don’t read through all of the words closely or have someone else cut out the words for you. That way you can play without “cheating” by knowing the word combinations.

Go through the cards and pick out the ones you want before you play. There are some that you may not want to use for kids (lingerie mainly). This works mostly if you’re not planning to play and just going to observe since you’ll know all the cards.

Game FAQs

More Valentine’s Day Games

If you like this danger words game, you’ll love these other fun games! Great to play at home, virtually, or in the classroom!

• Valentine’s Day Games – 30 of the best ever Valentine’s games! Something for every type of celebration!
• Romantic comedy two truths and a lie – a fun printable Valentine’s Day version of the classic two truths and a lie game. See if you can pick out the lie!
• Valentines scavenger hunt – clues and riddles to send kids (or adults!) around the house searching for a surprise they’ll love!
• Valentine’s Day Card Game – a Valentine’s Day version of the popular Cards Against Humanity game, but a kid-friendly one!
• Romantic comedy games – minute to win it games inspired by popular romantic comedies, great for Galentine’s Day or a girls night!

Download the Printable

Enter your first name and email address in the form below to get the printable PDF. You will receive a link to download the PDF to your email within minutes.

If you’d rather not provide your email, you can get a copy in my shop here.

If you do not see the form, click here to get to it.

The PDF will include:

• Instructions
• 50 Valentine’s Day danger words

If you do not immediately receive the email, make sure to check your promotions, spam, and junk folders!