The baby shower games men actually enjoy are competitive, knowledge-based, and fast — trivia, Price Is Right-style guessing, and team-based emoji pictionary projected on a screen, not individual worksheets or belly-measuring games. According to Pew Research, modern fathers spend three times as much time on childcare as dads did in 1965, and that shift means more men at baby showers than ever before. A 2025 survey by The Knot found that 68% of showers now include male guests, making co-ed-friendly game selection essential rather than optional.
The fix isn't to skip games entirely. It's to pick games with broader appeal — competitive, knowledge-based, or funny. Here's what actually works.
Why Most Baby Shower Games Alienate Men
Classic games like "guess how big mom's belly is" or "pin the sperm on the egg" are either embarrassing, passive, or require a level of investment in the occasion that many guests — male and female — simply don't have. They're not fun for anyone who isn't deeply excited to be there.
Games that work for everyone share a few traits: they're competitive, they require zero preparation from guests, they don't require physical participation that feels weird, and they reward general knowledge or quick thinking.
The Best Co-Ed Game Formats
Trivia — The Universal Equalizer
Nobody feels awkward doing trivia. Baby Facts That Will Blow Your Mind works great in co-ed groups because the facts are genuinely surprising — even the guys who've never thought about babies before will get drawn in by "only 4% of babies are born on their due date." According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, newborns are born with about 300 bones (compared to 206 in adults), which is the kind of surprising fact that gets everyone talking. Old Wives' Tales: True or False creates debate, and debate creates engagement. Celebrity Baby Names is a pop culture game that anyone can play.
Price Is Right
Men are often better at this one than they expect, and they love being competitive about it. The "without going over" rule creates genuine strategy. The National Retail Federation reports that baby product prices have increased 12% over the past three years, making even experienced parents' guesses unreliable. It's also low-stakes enough that losing is funny rather than embarrassing.
Emoji Pictionary (Team Format)
Men tend to be more competitive than cooperative in these settings, so team-vs-team format helps. The Baby Phrase Emoji Pictionary and Children's Book Emoji Pictionary games work well because the clues are clever without being exclusively baby-world knowledge.
Games to Avoid at Co-Ed Showers
- Anything involving physical measuring (measuring mom's belly, etc.) — uncomfortable for everyone
- Diaper-themed games — these are funnier in theory than in practice
- Long individual worksheets — men will not do these, and the social pressure to pretend to try creates awkwardness
- Craft activities — unless it's genuinely optional, men feel conspicuous not participating
The Format That Saves Everything
Team-based, projected on a screen, played in under 20 minutes total. This works for every co-ed crowd regardless of how invested people are in the shower itself. Everyone can shout an answer. Everyone feels included. And the host doesn't have to manage individual participation.
The best baby shower is one where even the guests who didn't want to come end up having fun. Pick the right games and that's very achievable.