An Italian Themed Halloween Party Game: Bocce Pumpkins

Many people have watched the game of bocce ball and wondered where the excitement is. In reality it is a game that is a tradition for many Italians. Yet, I doubt they've ever played the Halloween Party of the game called Bocce Pumpkins. The basics of Bocce Pumpkins are very similar to bocee ball, you will be throwing a ball (well in this case a pumpkin) trying to get it closest to a target ball, of course in this case once again the target ball is in reality a pumpkin.

Set Up

The set up for this game is probably the easiest of many games I have written articles on. You just need to purchase a large number of pumpkins. You will need one large pumpkin, which you will set out in the playing area. You will also need many smaller pumpkins, at least one for each player. The ideal size smaller pumpkins is just slightly larger than a softball. For the smaller pumpkins paint them different colors so everyone has a different colored or designed small pumpkin.

Playing The Game

Playing the game is very similar to bocce, except each game only lasts one round and you are playing with pumpkins. Every player needs to stand behind the "foul line" and roll their pumpkin towards the target pumpkin when it is their turn. Whoever gets closest to the target pumpkin is the winner of that game. The winner will receive a prize. Considering there is only one winner in this game, I highly recommend the prize in this game being a jumbo sized candy bar.

Variations

There are many different ways you can adjust this game to meet your needs. The first is that you can award more than one prize. Have the closest person receive a jumbo candy bar, second closest a regular sized candy bar, and then the third closest a snack sized candy bar. You also can change how the pumpkins are thrown. Instead of having players go one at a time you can have everyone throw their pumpkin at the same time. This way the later players don't have an advantage of those that go first. Oh, and it's up to you whether you have your contestants roll or throw their pumpkins.