Cup Control
Cup Control
A Fun Youth Group Game
Watch the Tutorial Video
Overview
Ideal # of Participants: 6 to 40
Where to Play: Indoors
Age of Participants: Elementary School / Middle School / High School
Approximate Time to Play: 10 to 30 Minutes
Materials Needed: Solo cups, tables
How to Play Cup Control
Start by splitting your group into even teams. Cup Control works best with 4 teams of 4 players, but you can comfortably play with anywhere from 3 teams of 2, up to 6 teams of 6.
Each team gets:
- One table
- 20 plastic solo cups in their team color
Space the tables about 20 feet from the center of the room. Teams should spread their cups out unstacked on the table with the opening facing downward.
The goal of the game is simple:
Get as many cups on your table as possible.
Players do this by:
- Running to another team’s table
- Grabbing one cup using only their non-dominant hand
- Bringing it back to their own table
- Placing it open-side down
Important rules:
- Players may only carry one cup at a time
- No guarding tables
- No blocking players
- No throwing or sliding cups
- No knocking cups off another team’s table
Because of these restrictions, the game quickly turns into a chaotic race to see which team can retrieve cups the fastest!
The Twist
There’s one additional strategic layer that makes Cup Control especially fun.
At the end of the round:
- Cups from other teams are worth 1 point each
- Cups that match your own team’s color are worth 2 points each
This creates interesting decisions:
- Should your team focus on stealing random cups?
- Should you prioritize recovering your own color?
- Should you target another team’s bonus cups to lower their score?
Winning Cup Control
Play each round for about three minutes. At the end of the timer, the leader yells: “Freeze!”
Teams count their points to determine the winner of the round, and the first team to win five rounds becomes the champion!
Lesson Handout
Want to make this easy to share with your volunteers or students? Download the “Cup Control” Lesson Handout (PDF) below!
More Youth Group Games
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