You know how party games usually go: one team pulls ahead, the other stops trying, and the second half drags. Showdown is built against that. The team that’s behind picks the next game, and a team far enough behind wins double, triple or more. The TV keeps the comeback secret until the matchup, so the whole room finds out at once.
Birthday party game show for 10–13 year olds A living room full of tweens. Now what?
Showdown is a birthday game show that runs on your TV, for 8–10 kids aged 10–13. A full pass through its 12 team challenges takes 55–70 minutes, or up to two hours with a break and rematches. You need a TV, a browser and party basics like cups and cookies. It costs $7.99.
No phones for the kids. No score sheet for you.
$7.99USD
Party Pass good for 30 days.
Get ShowdownWatch a round ↓8–10 kids · Ages 10–13 · One TV
Five points down, Blue picks the game, the comeback triples the points, and the board comes back level. Watch the round →
No team gets steamrolled.
Blue was losing 9–4. One comeback round later, it was 10–10.
You don’t plan a single game.
The TV carries every round, so you never have to remember rules, invent the next game or do maths mid-party. You read it out, keep it fair and call the winner.
No more “what do we play next?”
The team that’s behind picks from twelve games on the board. The TV keeps a rhythm — two head-to-heads, then a team round — and suggests a card for a side that can’t decide.
Every game gets an entrance.
The name blasts onto the screen with what it takes to win, so everyone knows what’s coming before anyone grabs a cup.
You don’t explain the rules.
What to grab and a tip for you, then the rules on a screen of their own, short enough to read out in one breath.
Everyone gets a turn.
The TV draws who’s up from each team, and nobody goes twice until everyone has gone once. The quiet kid gets a moment as surely as the loud one. A team 3 or more behind finds out here that its win counts ×2, ×3 or ×4.
The clock is the bad guy, not you.
A big 3 · 2 · 1, then the countdown is on the TV. When someone finishes, you press their team’s button. Too close to call? Call it a tie.
No score sheet on a napkin.
Points land on screen the moment you call it, comeback and all. It’s hard to argue with the TV.
There’s always one more round.
The bars climb, the totals count up, and the next pick is waiting. Play for as long as the room wants; you decide when it’s the Finale.
Close until the last round.
Every round pays both teams something, so nobody walks away with nothing, and the team that’s behind always has a way back.
| Round | Win | Other side |
|---|---|---|
| Head-to-head | 2 | 1 |
| Relays, Blowball, the birthday quiz | 5 | 2 |
| Paper Peak, by place | 3 · 2 · 1 | |
| Any of the final three | 10 | as usual |
- A tie pays both sides the winner’s points.
- A team 3 or more behind when a round starts wins ×2, ×3 or ×4 — rolled by the TV, bigger the further behind, and kept quiet until the matchup.
- A loss pays as usual, so the leader only loses what they lose on the floor.
Twelve games. No special kit.
Plastic cups, ping-pong balls, cookies, spoons and paper cover almost all of it. Every game shows what to grab before it starts, so you can set up as you go.
Stack Attack
1 v 1 · 60 sec
Build a 10-cup pyramid, then collapse it into one stack.
Grab: 10 cups per player
Face the Cookie
1 v 1 · 60 sec
Move a cookie from your forehead into your mouth. No hands.
Grab: cookies
Flight School
1 v 1 · 60 sec to fold, then throws
Fold one paper plane. Then three throws each into the scoring zones.
Grab: paper, tape to mark three floor zones: 1, 2 and 3
Sink It!
1 v 1 · 45 sec
Toss ping-pong balls into your container from behind the line.
Grab: ping-pong balls, the same number each, 2 identical containers, a throwing line
Catch Crew
2 v 2 · 45 sec
One tosses, their partner catches in a cup.
Grab: ping-pong balls, 1 catching cup per team, a bowl to empty catches into
Wrong Only
1 v 1 · 60 sec
Easy questions. The answer has to be wrong — and fast.
Grab: nothing — the questions are on screen
Flip Rush
Whole-team relay · 90 sec
Flip the cup off the table edge until it lands upright. Then pass it on.
Grab: 1 plastic cup per team, a table
Spoon Relay
Whole-team relay · 90 sec
Carry a ball on a spoon around the marker and back. Hand off.
Grab: 1 spoon and 1 ping-pong ball per team, markers for two equal courses
Stack Relay
Whole-team relay · 90 sec
Build a six-cup pyramid, collapse it into one stack, tag the next teammate.
Grab: 6 cups per team, a table
Blowball
Everyone plays · 90 sec
Blow the ball off the other team's edge of the table.
Grab: a table, a ping-pong ball
Paper Peak
Everyone plays · 90 sec
Build the tallest freestanding tower from two sheets of paper.
Grab: 2 sheets of paper per player, something to measure with
Who Knows Best?
Midpoint break · 10 min
Fifteen questions about the birthday kid. Then they reveal their answers.
Grab: an answer sheet and pencil per player, the birthday kid's prepared answers
“That’s not fair” has an answer.
Before the first round the TV puts six house rules on screen for you to read out. Then it asks whose birthday it is, and the birthday kid gets a quiz all about them.
- Everyone gets a turn before anyone repeats
- Close calls can be ties, and the host decides
- A birthday quiz, Who Knows Best?, all about the birthday kid
You run the room, not the paperwork.
One button on the screen moves the party along. Undo takes back a wrong call, Pause holds the clock when the pizza arrives, and the Finale comes whenever you say so.
Get ShowdownWho is it for?
A birthday party of 8 to 10 kids, about 10 to 13 years old, in two mixed-age teams. Where it matters, the TV gives you a tip for the younger ones, like a closer line or an extra beat to answer.
What do we need?
A TV with a browser, or a laptop connected to one, a table, and party basics: plastic cups, ping-pong balls, spoons, cookies and paper. Every game shows what to grab before it starts.
How long does it take?
One pass through all twelve games takes roughly 55–70 minutes. A break and rematches can stretch it toward two hours, and you decide when it ends.
Ready for the Showdown?
The bars grow under a drum roll, the winning team lands on screen, and every round rolls past. Then somebody asks for a rematch.
$7.99USD
Party Pass good for 30 days.
Get ShowdownA ping-pong crowd? Grand Slam is the same show with ten games and power-up cards.
Print these before the party.
A setup sheet to shop from, the rules for every game in one place, and an answer sheet for each kid in the birthday quiz.
Guides
Free to read before you run Showdown, whether or not you buy it.
Before the Showdown.
How many games are there?
Twelve: five one-on-ones, one two-on-two, three whole-team relays, two everyone-plays games, and a birthday quiz the host can call as a break.
What if one team gets way ahead?
A team behind by 3 or more when a round starts plays a comeback round: anything it wins pays double, triple or quadruple, and nobody knows until the matchup. It switches off once the gap closes.
Does everyone get a turn?
Yes. Each team works through its own shuffled order, and nobody goes twice until everybody on their team has played. If one team is bigger in a relay, its extras sit that one out and go first next round. Whole-team games include everybody.
What if people arrive late or leave early?
Add, remove or move players whenever the clock isn't running. The score stays with the team, and anyone who joins a team goes first on it.
How do I keep it fair with mixed ages?
Put older and younger kids on both teams. Where it matters, the TV suggests a change for that game, like a closer line for younger players, a shorter route or an extra beat to answer.
Do the kids need phones?
No. The TV runs the show and the host runs the TV. Players need no phones, controllers or app.
How does it end?
When the room is ready. The host can call the final three rounds — a win in each is worth 10 — or go straight to the Finale, where the team with more points wins the Showdown. Then Rematch.
What arrives when I buy?
A code by email that opens Showdown on your TV for 30 days from purchase. Play it as often as you like in that window.