Side Quest Ideas With Friends (Fun, Cheap, IRL)

6 min read · Brainrot Test

The best side quest ideas with friends are small group missions with a clear goal: a $5 / £5 thrift-store outfit challenge, a sunset race to the highest spot in town, a blind taste test of every flavor of the same crisp or chip, a photo scavenger hunt on disposable cameras. They're cheap, a little chaotic and they turn "wyd?" "nothing" into a story. Below are group side quests for 13+, sorted by night, weekend, school and summer.

If your hangouts keep ending with everyone silently scrolling on the same sofa, Check my brainrot and see where your own phone habit sits.

Rules for a good group side quest

A side quest is an optional mission. It's not the plan, it's the detour. With a group, a few rules keep it fun instead of messy:

• One clear goal. "Find the best fries in town" beats "go out and do stuff."
• A time limit. 30 minutes, one hour, until sunset.
• Everyone can afford it. Keep it under $10 / £10 or free, so nobody's left out.
• Phones for maps and one photo only. The rest of the time, pockets.
• Safe and legal. Tell a parent or guardian where you're going. No trespassing, no dares that can hurt someone.
• Somebody's the quest giver. Take turns picking.

If you're after solo missions, those live in our side quest ideas IRL list. This one is all about your crew.

Side quest ideas with friends at night

Night side quest ideas feel extra because everything's a bit more cinematic in the dark. Keep it safe: stay in lit, familiar areas, go as a group and know your curfew.

1. Stargazing on a blanket. Download a star map before you go, then put phones away.
2. Flashlight or torch scavenger hunt in someone's backyard or garden.
3. Late-night pancake cook-off. Everyone brings one topping.
4. Midnight snack ranking. Buy one snack each from a 24-hour shop, blind taste test, crown a winner.
5. Glow stick walk around the block.
6. Ghost story circle with a candle (battery tea lights count).
7. Drive-thru tour (if someone can drive): one item from three places, rank them.
8. Sunset-to-stars: catch the sunset, stay until you spot the first star.

Night side quests at home

If going out isn't an option, these fun side quest ideas with friends work from a bedroom floor:

• Build the biggest blanket fort possible in 20 minutes.
• Write and perform a three-minute play.
• Learn a TikTok dance without watching it again. From memory only.

Weekend side quests

Weekends give you time for bigger side quests to do with your friends.

More weekend ideas:

• Library mystery swap. Everyone picks a book for someone else. You have to read it.
• Farmers market mission. Each person gets $3 or £3 and has to buy the strangest thing they can find.
• Hike to a viewpoint and eat lunch at the top.
• Charity shop or thrift store band merch hunt. First to find a band shirt of a band nobody's heard of wins.
• Make a short film in one afternoon with one phone as the camera and a script written on paper.

Here's where it gets tricky: in the moment, everyone swears they'll keep their phones away, then 20 minutes in, three of you are on TikTok. Brainrot Test has duels, where you send a friend a link to 10 yes-or-no questions, no sign-up needed. Settle who's the most chronically online before the quest starts, and the loser holds the phone basket. Check my brainrot

Side quests at school

Short, low-key, and nothing that gets you in trouble. Side quests at school should fit in a lunch break or free period.

1. Compliment chain. Each person has to compliment three people they don't usually talk to.
2. Lunch swap. Swap one item from your lunch with a friend.
3. Join one club meeting as a group that none of you would normally go to.
4. Silent library challenge. Everyone reads for 20 minutes in the library, no talking, no phones.
5. Find the oldest thing in the school (a trophy, a yearbook, a plaque).
6. Paper airplane contest at the end of the day, outside.
7. Handwritten notes. Everyone writes a note to someone in the group and swaps.

Summer side quests with friends

Summer is side quest season. These summer side quests with friends work great for longer days:

• Sunrise mission. Stay up or wake up, meet somewhere to watch it.
• Picnic with only homemade food.
• Water fight with a clear winner rule.
• Swim somewhere new (supervised, safe, lifeguarded).
• Cycle to the next town and back.
• Start a summer bucket list with 20 group quests and a prize for the most completed.
• Outdoor movie night projected on a sheet, if someone's got a projector.

Our how to not waste your summer guide has a full bucket list if you want to plan bigger.

Make it a competition

Nothing gets a group moving like points. Here's how to turn side quest ideas into a game:

Side quest bingo

Make a 5x5 grid of quests. Everyone gets the same card. First to complete a line wins. Winner picks next weekend's plan.

Points system

• Easy quest: 1 point
• Medium quest: 3 points
• Legendary quest: 5 points
• Phone checked during a quest: minus 1

Season pass

Run it for a month. Keep a shared paper scoreboard on someone's fridge or bedroom wall. At the end, loser buys the winner a drink or snack.

Fun side quests to do with friends aren't about going big. They're about making ordinary days slightly weirder. Start with the one that made you laugh reading this list.

Settle who's most chronically online

Before your next side quest with friends, see who in the group needs it most. Brainrot Test gives you a score from 0 to 100 after 17 quick questions and shows how you compare with everyone else, and duels let you send a friend 10 yes-or-no questions with no sign-up.

Check my brainrot

FAQ

What are fun side quests to do with friends?

Thrift outfit challenges, snack blind taste tests, disposable camera scavenger hunts, best fries rankings and sunrise missions are all fun group side quests. Keep each one specific, cheap and time-limited. Rotate who picks the quest each week.

What are good side quest ideas with friends at night?

Stargazing, a torch or flashlight scavenger hunt, a late-night pancake cook-off, a midnight snack ranking and ghost stories all work well. Stay in safe, familiar places and let parents know your plans. Night quests at home, like blanket fort builds, are great too.

What are side quests to do with your friends at school?

Try a compliment chain, a lunch swap, joining a random club together, a silent reading challenge or a paper airplane contest. Keep them short and rule-friendly. They're a nice way to break up the week.

How do you make side quest ideas into a game?

Use side quest bingo or a points system, with bonus points for harder quests and a minus point for checking your phone. Keep a shared scoreboard for a month. The winner picks the next quest or gets a small prize.

What are cheap things to do with friends without phones?

Park Olympics, cooking together, board game nights, library book swaps and long walks to a viewpoint are free or nearly free. Put phones in a basket for the duration. Cheap quests are often the ones people remember most.