Birthday party games and keepsakes

On this page7 sections

It starts with the age
The games
The keepsakes
What starts switched on
What your guests see
Common questions
Related articles

If your event is a birthday, InviteBird adds a set of party games and keepsakes called Birthday Party Essentials. Each one is built into your invitation and RSVP, so guests join in as they reply — nothing to print, nothing to install — and each has its own switch. Everything saves as you go.

They appear on birthday events — a birthday, a sweet sixteen or a quinceañera. If you don't see them, set your event's occasion to a birthday.

It starts with the age

Every game follows the birthday star's age band:

Band	Ages
First birthday	1–2
Little kids	3–6
Big kids	7–12
Teens	13–17 (sweet sixteens and quinceañeras too)
Adults	18–59 (a 21st swaps in one question)
Milestone	60+

The band comes from the age you type into your event details, then from the design itself (a "40th" design means a 40th), then from its category. Type an age and it wins: a kids' design for someone turning 46 plays as a 46th, and the suite tells you so in one line. If nothing says how old the birthday star is turning, the suite asks you first — Guess the birthday star waits until you answer.

Nothing in any band asks guests to guess anyone's age.

The games

Guess the birthday star — six quick questions about what will happen on the day, answered inside the RSVP: will the candles go out in one breath, how many presents, who'll be last on the dance floor. Every question is a tap or a number, picked for the band — a first birthday asks what the birthday baby will make of the cake, a milestone asks how many toasts there'll be. On the day you enter what really happened on your Event Day screen, reveal, and the closest guesser wins. Once it's revealed, guessing is closed.

Who knows the birthday star best — the birthday star answers a short quiz about themselves on a private link, and guests guess. Most questions are pick-from-four; if none fits, the birthday star can write their own answer under "Something else", which is shown at the reveal but never scored. Only guests are scored, never the birthday star.

For a first birthday or little kids, a parent answers — every question is a tap, and the grown-ups play.
Big kids can answer themselves, or a parent can.
At a milestone birthday it becomes Then & now — first car, where they grew up, the music of their youth — answered by them or a family member.

On the same private link the birthday star can answer a few bigger questions too: The birthday interview for kids and teens (answered by a parent for little ones), or Their wisdom for adults and milestone birthdays — the best advice they ever got, their secret to a good life. Those answers go into the keepsake with everyone's wishes. See Who knows them best.

Guess the jar — how many candies are in there? Guests tap a number on a big pad, so a five-year-old can shout a number and a grown-up taps it in. You can set the photo and the count ahead of time, or switch on Count it at the party and fill the jar later — the count is only needed when you reveal. Nobody sees the real number until you reveal it on the day; then the closest guess wins, decided by arithmetic.

This or that — pizza or ice cream? Dinosaurs or dragons? Kids get twelve picture pairs that need no reading; teens, adults and milestone birthdays get pairs of their own (coffee or tea, vinyl or radio). Add up to six pairs of your own. Guests answer up to five pairs as they reply. There's no timer, nobody is out and there's no winner — on the day you show how the room split.

Prize drawing — every guest who says yes is entered: one entry for their whole group by default, or one per person if you prefer. Each household can win one prize unless you switch on Let people win more than once. Before the day you can run a practice spin that doesn't count; on the day you draw on the big screen and every phone lands on the same winner. If you switch it on after people have replied, everyone who already said yes is entered too.

The keepsakes

Wishes & memories — instead of a blank box, guests say how they know the birthday star and get the question that fits. A close friend gets "What's one moment with them you keep replaying?"; someone from work gets "What quality did you admire most in them?" Guests can type or record, and guests who reply no are asked as well. At a milestone birthday the questions turn into a memory book — the stories that get told at every family gathering. Download every answer as one keepsake PDF. See Keepsake prompts.

Gift hints — sizes, favorites and current obsessions, shown as a card on the invitation page. For a first birthday that might be "Sizes: 12–18 months · Board books welcome · No toys with small parts."

What starts switched on

When you first open the suite before you send, the games that suit the birthday star's age start switched on. If the suite doesn't know the age yet, they wait until you tell it. For everyone: Guess the birthday star, Who knows the birthday star best and Wishes & memories; for little and big kids, Guess the jar and This or that too; for big kids, teens and adults, the prize drawing. If you send first, nothing switches on by itself. Everything else is one switch away — including a jar or a drawing at a milestone birthday, if that's your family.

What your guests see

In the RSVP — the guessing games share one screen: Guess the birthday star, a few quiz questions, the jar and up to five This or that pairs. The wishes question comes after.
On the invitation page — gift hints.
At the party — every game sits in one list on your Event Day screen: enter today's answers, reveal the quiz, reveal the jar, show how the room split, draw the prize. Quiz questions that didn't fit in the RSVP wait on guests' phones at the party, and every This or that pair plays on the big screen. The scoreboards and winners show on the big screen and on guests' phones together. Once you reveal a game, guessing is closed for good — hiding it again only clears the screens.
After the party — the thank-you page can show who knew the birthday star best, the jar's winner and how the room split.

Common questions

Which games work for a five-year-old? Guess the jar and This or that are built for it: pictures and a number pad, no reading, no timer, nobody out. A parent answers Who knows the birthday star best for them, and the grown-ups play.

What about a first birthday? The games are for the grown-ups: what the birthday baby will make of the cake, what wins over the presents, whether there'll be a nap. A parent answers the quiz. The prize drawing and This or that start switched off.

Who wins This or that? Nobody. It's a poll, not a test — the room's split is the payoff.

Can a guest change their mind? Yes. In This or that, tapping the other picture moves the vote. A jar guess or a guessing-game answer can change until you reveal; after that, guessing is closed.

How is the prize drawing different from the shower raffles? The prize drawing enters everyone who says yes. The baby and bridal shower raffles give a ticket for each pack or bottle a guest pledges.

What happened to the Wishes Wall and next year's interview? Both have been retired. Wishes & memories replaced the Wishes Wall — an event that already collected Wishes Wall messages keeps that step until the party is over, and the suite says so. Next year's interview is no longer offered; the birthday interview questions are now answered on the birthday star's own link.

Do the birthday games cost extra? No — they're included on every plan. You're billed by guest count, per Plans and pricing.

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