I always invite a ton of people over but never know how to entertain them with out staring at a screen!
what are you after? parlour games? board games? icebreaker activities? how many is "a ton of people", mate?
btw, when you said screen, you meant, a mobile phone? you can sing along and have a karaoke party or play a game: put all your mobile phones face down. do any activity that you want. whoever picks up his phone last wins the game
i think games on a mobile phone is becoming more and more popular in our era, i wouldnt be surprised if games on phone are going to be the best games 10 years from now. just aninsight
Apples to Apples or Cards Against Humanity. If you've got an older group maybe the second choice is best! You can play with a lot of people for that one.
Well... a number of 20 something people should really just entertain themselves. Just set a scene, play some music, and make something like changing partners dance... maybe even divide your hosting space into sectors. So people can go for drinks, can see something if they wish, can dance, etc. Social itneraction is the reason people gather in crowds, so give them oppourtunities to do what they came and sit back. It's why the biggest sites, like FB generate so many users, it's content free. While entertaining people on a personal level takes knowing them and a certain "persona" you have to be good at. Hence, you would need to specify gender and age. Plus, you can't practically entertain everyone of your guests, because they don't all share the same desires and memories. (Some people might have played RPG-s and hence are more into character oriented interactions, while others will be bored out of their wits, they require muscular agility.) Something most well done games have in common is "not robbing people of their sourroundings and speech". It's why it such a hard thing to pull. Probably something about correct couple guesses might be a good choice if your guests are couples. While, if your friends are young or single, it might be awkward. It hasn't yet been my turn to entertain guests. But I think that a few people can be close and pass the time great together, and the narrative of the night doesn't even have to be dictated by anyone in particular. Yes, peopel are that picky. Not too much, not too little.