15 Spicy Cinco de Mayo Games to Play at Your Mexican Fiesta Party

May 5th is around the corner, and you know what that means… It’s time for a Cinco de Mayo party! Tacos are great and all, but that’s not enough. You need ideas for Cinco de Mayo games to play with your friends and family!

This list has fun Cinco de Mayo games and activities for adults and for kids.

Maybe you’re looking for fun outdoor games to keep preschoolers busy for a day. Or perhaps you plan on playing traditional Mexican party games at the office to get everyone through hump day.

Either way, you will definitely find a game that works well for your fiesta party!

These would work especially well for entertaining guests at a Cinco de Mayo birthday party.

The History of Cinco de Mayo

If you’re an American celebrating Cinco de Mayo (and more Americans do than Mexicans, these days), it’s important to know the history of the day.

On May 5th, 1862, the scant militia of the small town of Puebla stopped the French from taking Mexico City. Even though the war was still lost, this holiday was begun to celebrate the idea that nothing is impossible.

The underdog can achieve anything with enough will!

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo as an American isn’t cultural appropriation, it’s cultural appreciation!

The reason Americans started celebrating the holiday is that Mexican-American immigrants were excited to share their customs and traditions.

As long as you don’t use your Cinco de Mayo party to mock Mexican people (and you don’t try to wear sombreros on a daily basis), it’s perfectly acceptable to play some Cinco de Mayo games and have a great party.

Take it a step further, too: buy your food, decorations, and liquor from Mexican-owned businesses!

Now that you know why we celebrate this holiday, choose some Cinco de Mayo games for your party from the list below.

1. Mexican Loteria (Bingo Game)

Very similar to American bingo, the Mexican lottery uses 4×4 bingo cards that have randomized pictures from the deck in each spot. A traditional deck has 54 cards, each with a single image on it.

To play, each player chooses a game card. A winning pattern should be decided whether it’s any straight line of four, a blackout card, etc.

The caller shuffles the deck and plays one card at a time, calling out the image on it. If a player has that image on their game card, they mark it off with a bean (or any type of marker).

Once they’ve marked off the winning pattern, the first person to shout “¡Buena!” wins the game!

Mexican bingo is also a perfect Cinco de Mayo game for Zoom (or any other type of online video party). You can email one bingo card to each virtual attendee to print at home, then hold up the call cards for everyone to see so they can mark theirs off.

Fill out the form below to get my free printable PDF of Mexican lottery bingo cards for your Cinco de Mayo party!

Celebrate Mexican culture with pizzazz this year!

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2. Mexican Train Dominos

If you don’t know how to play this Cinco de Mayo game, don’t worry – it’s super easy (and fun!). This way is very similar to how my parents played it when I was growing up, and I have loved playing it since I was a kid.

It’s appropriate for all ages, too.

Basically, after all the players draw dominos, the highest double drawn gets put in the center of the hub.

One spot is left without a designated player and a train piece (or penny) is put at the top. Any players are allowed to play on this train throughout the game.

Players must build their “train” by matching an end of one of their dominos to the hub, continuing to match end to end until they run out of dominos.

The first one to run out of dominoes wins!

If you don’t have a domino to match your own train, you can play on the unmanned train. Otherwise, you draw from the available dominos.

If you still can’t play, you have to put a train up on your last domino link, and ANY player can now play on yours as well!

This Cinco de Mayo game can be played with any old set of dominos, but if you’re going to have more than four players, it is much easier with a traditional Mexican Train set that comes with a wooden hub (like the one below).

3. Chili Pepper Guessing Game

Only willing adults should be subjected to this party game! There are many ways to play it, too.

Basically, you’ll have samples of various peppers (or hot sauces) lined up on a table. You should have a variety of heat, from bell peppers to jalapenos to chile peppers. Only the host will know what is what.

You can just have players eat each pepper and try to guess what each one is. If using sliced peppers instead of sauces, you’ll probably want to blindfold them.

In addition, non-tasting guests can participate by trying to guess what kind of pepper it is based on the eater’s reaction to the heat!

Just make sure you have a full glass of milk available to each contestant, especially if you use several hot pepper varieties.

4. Mexican Kickball

You may be familiar with American kickball, which is basically like baseball played with your feet and a big rubber ball.

Mexican kickball is different but still played with teams (usually two, but you could create more if you have a large party).

In this traditional Mexican village game, an obstacle course is set up outside that the kickball must be kicked through. The first team with all its members to complete the course wins!

5. Nacho-Eating Contest

Nothing is more Mexican-American than a nacho-eating contest!

There are two ways to do this competition. You can either set a timer (anywhere from five minutes to 30 minutes, depending on how big the nacho bowls are) or just wait to see who finishes their whole bowl first.

To make it extra humorous for the guests watching from the sidelines, you can blindfold the eaters. Just prepare for a big mess!

When preparing for this contest, make sure each player has a bowl with the same amount of chips and toppings to make it fair. I recommend putting each bowl on a kitchen scale while adding the toppings to make sure they all weigh the same.

6. Pinata

The history of the pinata is long. Originally found in China, then Spain, then Mexico, it was shared with Americans (much like Cinco de Mayo itself) and has never lost popularity.

Children love smacking a paper-mache version of their favorite character with a stick until candy falls out!

Of course, for Cinco de Mayo, your pinata should definitely be Mexico’s long-revered animal, the donkey.

If there aren’t going to be any kids at your fiesta, you could always fill a pinata with tiny liquor bottles (wrapped in bubble wrap!).

Make ‘em tequila bottles, and they can be used to add a nice spike to guests’ margaritas.

7. Pin the Tail on the Burro

In case you didn’t know, “burro” is a Spanish word that means “donkey!”

While many games on this list work better outdoors (almost like it’s usually sunny and warm in Mexico?), Pin the Tail on the Donkey works best as an indoor Cinco de Mayo game.

This simple birthday party game originated in the United States, but the donkey is a historically revered animal in Mexico. The two together make this a fun Cinco de Mayo game for kids celebrating Mexican history in America!

8. Peso Toss

A great game for all ages, kids seem to get a particular kick out of this one.

It’s really simple: just line up five sombreros in a vertical line with increasing point values the farther back they go (like 10, 20, 30, 40, 50).

Give players a certain number of Mexican pesos or pennies (5-10). One at a time, have them stand behind a drawn line a few feet from the lowest-valued sombrero.

Then they can toss their pesos into the sombreros to see who scores the most points!

And yes, the coin must land inside the rim of the hat to count.

9. Mexican Drinking Game with Dice

Despite being reminiscent of Yahtzee, you’ll want to limit this game to adults only.

Not only are losers supposed to take a drink, but the rules are also a bit complicated.

With two dice and a cup, the first player shakes and rolls their dice, slamming the cup down to conceal them.

Peeking at the dice so no one else can see, the roller announces their score. The highest number is always multiplied by ten while with the smaller number added to it (so if you roll a four and six, you would call out sixty-four).

All doubles are announced as normal (eleven, twenty-two, etc.) but for the game, doubles all count as a score better than 65.

A 21 is called a Mexican and beats all other scores.

After announcing their rolled number, the player scoots the cup to the next person. This player must roll a higher score, or they have to take a drink and pass to the next player.

However, they ALSO have the option to call the previous player’s bluff if they think they’ve lied!

If a bluff is called but the previous roller was not lying, the caller has to take a drink. But if they were lying, the liar has to take a drink.

If the previous player rolled a 21 (Mexican), then the current player can either admit defeat and take a drink, or they can claim it was a lie. If they’re wrong about the lie, though, they have to drink twice!

10. Pass the Sombrero

This easy Cinco de Mayo game only requires enough chairs for all of your guests, and the space to arrange them in a tight circle.

That makes this an excellent backyard party game.

Just have everyone sit in the circle of chairs and have someone in charge of starting and stopping the music. While the music is playing, a sombrero should be passed from one person to the next (like when playing hot potato).

When the music stops, the person holding the sombrero is out!

After each elimination, the loser should remove their chair and the remaining players should scoot their chairs in to close the gap.

The last man standing not holding the sombrero when the music stops is the winner!

11. Cinco de Mayo Scavenger Hunt

Playing this game requires a strong plan ahead of time.

But I love scavenger hunts for all kinds of parties because they are so versatile and easy to fit with any theme.

Around your house and/or yard, you can hide items associated with Mexican cultures such as a mini sombrero, a bottle of hot sauce, a margarita glass, a maraca, a small bag of tortilla chips, a real Mexican peso, or even a little bottle of tequila.

Come up with cute clues (I like to make rhyming ones) to hide with each object that gives a hint as to where the next item will be found.

The “prize” at the end could just be letting the player keep all the things they’ve found!

If you have several hunters, just put multiples of each item in each hiding spot and instruct everyone to only take one and leave the clue card for others to read.

12. Marbles

I’m not sure which was the last American generation to be into marbles (mine barely was), but it’s actually still a really popular game in Mexico!

You’ll need to create a circle on the ground (it can be chalk if you’re playing outside or tape if you’re playing inside).

The traditional size is ten feet in diameter, but you may want to limit it to three to six feet if no one has played before.

Arrange smaller marbles inside the circle a few inches apart, usually in the pattern of a plus sign. The more marbles you use, the longer the game will be.

Each player should have a shooter marble that is larger than the ones inside the ring. Players take turns shooting, starting outside of the ring and always with a knuckle on the ground.

The goal is to hit other marbles and knock them out while keeping your shooter in the ring.

Each marble knocked out is a point for that player. If their shooter exits the ring, they can shoot from anywhere outside of the ring on their next turn.

But usually, you want your shooter to stay inside the ring so it’s easier to knock the smaller marbles out.

The shooter should be shot from wherever it is at the start of the turn.

This game can be played just for points, or it can be played for keeps (where each player gets to keep any marbles they knock out of the ring).

Playing for keeps usually takes all of the friendly fun out, though, so I don’t recommend it!

13. Futbol (Soccer)

This is another team sport, great for larger parties. It’s also familiar all over the world!

Soccer is super popular in Mexico. If you suspect your Cinco de Mayo party guests won’t be interested in learning the rules of a new game, you can always initiate a familiar game to make your party fun for everyone.

Just take a soccer ball outside, set up a couple of goals (or one goal for a half field), and let everyone – kids and grown-ups alike – have fun!

14. Printable Cinco de Mayo Games

I love having printable games to play on Cinco de Mayo!

They’re really cheap to put together and can be scaled for any size party.

This downloadable pack from Etsy has nine different Cinco de Mayo games, including:

• Trivia
• A to Z
• Dice-Rolling Game
• Finish the Phrase
• Word Scramble
• Guess How Many
• Matching Game
• Word Race
• This or That

15. Limbo

Everybody will recognize this party game (but their backs may scream in agony)!

All you need is some music and a long stick to play it.

Whether you’ve got a live mariachi band at your party or a small speaker connected to your phone, limboing under a broom handle is a fun physical challenge for all ages.

Plus, it’s just about the only game that kids are likely to win playing against adults, so they love it.

If you don’t have a broom, look around for a painting extension pole or a yardstick!

Have two designated stick-holders around the same height that hold the pole at shoulder height. After all the partiers limbo through once, the holders can notch it down about an inch and let everyone dance under again.

Keep notching it down and watch the limbo get more difficult!

Each dancer loses when they can’t get under the stick face-up without touching it in any way.

Prize Ideas for Cinco de Mayo Party Games

While winning a party game is an awesome feeling, nothing gets more guests excited to play than the promise of getting a prize!

Below are some of my favorite prize ideas (for every budget) to give away after your Cinco de Mayo games.

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Don’t forget the other holidays coming up FAST after Cinco de Mayo!

You’re probably gonna want to read these while you’re here:

• Mother’s Day Gift Ideas
• Memorial Day Quotes to share on social media