11 Interactive Trade Show Games and Ideas

Participating in trade shows is a fantastic way to help your business gain recognition, make a name for itself, showcase new products or services, and build direct relationships with customers and suppliers. It will also be helpful in generating new leads for your website and is wonderful advertising at a relatively low cost. An interactive or stationary trade show stand will give you a chance to get customer attention that is difficult to get otherwise. It will make converting traffic into potential customers simple and create a welcoming environment for you and your audience therefore buying a trade show booth will be an investment in growing your business.

But how do you get their attention at a trade show where you have dozens of competitors? What can you do so that visitors do not forget about you right after the fair? What can you use to attract their interest? For all those looking for answers to these questions, we have prepared some great ideas, trade show games and tips to make sure your trade fair stand stands out from the crowd!

1. ⁠Pub trivia - because who does not enjoy a little healthy competition?
2. Quizado - great entertainment for the whole group⁠
3. Arcade games - indulge in the feeling of nostalgia⁠
4. Social Media post competitions - use what the crowds use
5. Wheel of Fortune - an old-school way to engage potential customers
6. Trade Show Bingo - an easy way to engage crowds of visitors
7. Virtual reality - something for those who like technological innovation
8. Mini golf for trade shows - a fun game to play
9. Prize draws - because who doesn't like to win?
10. Photo booth - sentimental souvenir that will not let visitors forget about your company ⁠⁠⁠
11. Treasure hunt - a real show stopper at trade fairs

⁠1. Pub trivia - because who does not enjoy a little healthy competition?

Conducting an energetic round of questions in style is a great way to engage and get the crowd going. A slight hint of competition will appeal to most collectives, and it's a lot of laughs and fun. Such a game will work great both at multi-industry trade shows, where a wide variety of companies exhibit and at trade shows for specific sectors. A great feature of this game is the possibility of adjusting the questions and their difficulty levels to a specific issue, thanks to which it is a universal idea, which can be used at artistic, metallurgical or general business fairs. It is a great way to create a fun atmosphere and activate participants. In addition, prizes for correct and incorrect answers will make everyone leave with a positive attitude towards your brand, company, or foundation. A great way for any visitor to remember you. It is one of the best trade show booth ideas for small budgets that is engaging, entertaining and effective. It will also work well as one of a 10x10 trade show booth ideas because you do not need much space for this game.⁠

2. Quizado - great entertainment for the whole group

Quizado is undoubtedly one of the most interesting creative trade show ideas. Are you wondering what this game is all about? Have you ever heard about Family Feud? Well, Quizado is one of those unobvious but memorable trade show ideas that attract visitors to your exhibition booth. Quizado is humorous and entertaining, reminiscent of the classic American game show Family Feud. The game consists of a series of survey questions based on statistical data, which can be general, in the case of general business trade shows, or specialized, for example when targeting professionals in a particular industry, such as doctors, marketers, or programmers (you can create your own questions with the Questions Editor). The team with the best answers wins. It is a uniquely exciting entertainment experience that works well with any audience and evokes only positive emotions. Unlike other forms of group entertainment, a live quiz competition is a fantastic way to engage all participants, and spark interest around your booth. Quizado is undoubtedly our favourite because it does not cause embarrassment related to ignorance in some areas of knowledge, as the answers are purely statistical. One of the most fun 10x10 trade show booth ideas for small budgets as it does not require much space or equipment as most booths have a TV set anyway. You can download it for free and check how funny is playling Quizado.

3. Arcade games - indulge in the feeling of nostalgia⁠

Arcade games are the promise of entertainment for people of all ages, as the nostalgia factor associated with old-school arcade consoles makes them draw crowds of people, not just at trade shows. Games like pin ball or Skee-Ball with brand emblems will make sure participants do not forget about it, and thus about your company for long time, although this is not one of the trade show ideas for small budgets. Another option is to offer arcade games in a digital format. Nevertheless, if you have a lot of money at your disposal and want to make a truly amazing impression on your trade show attendees, especially if you operate in the entertainment or technology industry, then this trade show booth idea could be a hit for you. The trick here is to find a trade show game that fits with what you actually have to offer. ⁠

4. Social Media post competitions - use what the crowds use

Social Media channels are an important marketing tool, so why not use them at trade shows. Sites like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok are one of the newest and most popular trade show booth ideas because they engage people in action. How do you use social media in your exhibition booths? Can they be used as game ideas for trade shows? Of course, you can! For example, you could display all the latest tweets or Instagram posts with specific hashtags, preferably related to your business or company name, on a screen in your exhibition booth, then launch a competition among trade show attendees and ask them to publish posts with a specific hashtag. Then all you have to do is select and notify the lucky user of their win and give them a prize. In this way, you will almost single-handedly create leads and your image in the media, which as we know is the most important thing these days. Social media competitions are some of the best trade show booth ideas for small budgets because they require almost no financial input. ⁠

5. Wheel of Fortune - an old-school way to engage potential customers

Wheels of Fortune is an excellent, simple and undemanding fun trade show idea. It is as old as time itself, but despite the passage of time it has not lost its popularity. Why? After all, everyone likes pleasant surprises, gifts and at the same time the thrill of waiting for good luck. The prize wheel works because it is eye-catching and well-known, while at the same time it offers the chance of free stuff, and that never fails. Free things are always a good reason to stop by an exhibition booth, and the prize wheel can serve as the simplest and most effective ice-breaker, and is therefore a brilliant idea for games for trade shows where we need to connect with visitors as much as possible to give them details of our offer. If you provide opportunities to win small and large prizes, it turns into a competition, which we know can be very engaging. Moreover, it is one of those trade show booth games that attracts visitors without a large financial outlay, because the prizes can be your company's products, free consultations with employees, or promotional merchandise.

⁠⁠6. Trade Show Bingo - an easy way to engage crowds of visitors

Bingo is one of those fun trade show booth ideas that does not require complicated equipment, high-speed internet or expensive software, yet does the job of engaging people, providing an icebreaker of sorts and offering you time to present your offer. It is suitable entertainment for both large and smaller groups at trade shows with narrow or broad specialisations, the rules of Bingo are simple and the game is extremely versatile and varied as it is not limited to just finding numbers, but you can create your own Bingo board and put your own slogans related to your business on it. A super addition to the exhibition booth that will work well for both in-store and online trade shows.

7. Virtual reality - something for those who like technological innovation ⁠

We all know that virtual reality is the future. Such attractions are making waves among visitors, so if you want to make a truly remarkable impression on your visitors, then be sure to stock up on this type of equipment. Virtual reality is one of those fun trade show ideas that will appeal to young and old alike. Sure, you can create an epic video showcasing your product or service or take some great photos, but why not make the whole process a little more interactive by incorporating virtual reality? You can let customers experience a day in the life of your business by putting on a headset and heading straight for your various doors, or use this opportunity to highlight the most positive features of your products or your business. Such an addition to your exhibition booth is an extremely memorable experience for your visitors. It will go down particularly well with companies dealing with technology, applications and other modern services from the IT world.

8. Mini golf for trade shows - a fun game to play

Golf is a popular game all over the world and it is undoubtedly worth considering as one of the creative trade show booth ideas. It is a great way to entertain and engage trade show visitors with a game that is physically interactive for a change. Hence, it is only natural that it is featured in trade show booth activity ideas. The relaxed atmosphere and only a touch of competition is what even makes it a great option for a trade show game. Yes, it is expensive, however it is also the easiest to deal with at stand level amongst all the golf related activities that are available, when it is simple to attract people to your stand, it can reward them as well. If a potential customer hits a hole in one, let this be a way for them to get exclusive access to an offer, win a service or your new product.

9. Prize draws - because who doesn't like to win? ⁠⁠

Promotional raffles are always popular with crowds of visitors to exhibitions, because who would not love to win at the lowest possible cost. The opportunity to win a prize for an invented advertising slogan, a fun photo, filling in a form or providing some information will be the perfect incentive needed to attract an eager crowd, to whom you can meanwhile communicate the details of your sales offer. The advantages of a raffle at a trade show are abundant and include positive branding, the collection of personal contact information to your consumer base and the focus on your company and its products throughout the show before a possible draw at the end of the day, which helps to build a close relationship with your clientele. The raffle prize can be a product from your or a partner brand, or simply included in a social media post, so this is one of those stand ideas at the show for smaller budgets.

10. Photo booth - sentimental souvenir that will not let visitors forget about your company ⁠

A photo booth is one of the creative trade show ideas that can serve as a conversation starter about your company's business and on top of that, it will not let visitors forget about it as shared photos, especially from the booth, are a great sentimental souvenir that will definitely not be thrown away right after the trade show. Everyone loves to pose and take home entertaining and unforgettable reminiscences of the event in the form of photo slips, so adding your company's emblems to them is just perfect for trade show advertising. To make the most of it, you can add a person dressed in a costume with your company logo, set up a custom background with your company emblem, and provide props that are related to your products or services, or use your photo booth. Best yet, if you come up with a distinctive hashtag under which users can post the photos in question on social media. This means you kill two birds with one stone - you have one of the best trade show booth ideas that will not only win the affection of your trade show visitors, but you will also gain free advertising on social media.

11. Treasure hunt - a real show stopper at trade fairs ⁠

A treasure hunt is a great way to attract visitors to a trade show and get rid of the competition in one fell swoop. Why? After all, Treasure Hunt is a fun and engaging game that requires constant movement and exploration. Add interesting prizes, necessarily related to your products, services or company logo. Prepare a fun video with a treasure hunt theme, prepare clues or involve people from the trade fair to animate the whole event.

These are just some of the masses of creative trade show booth ideasto enhance your trade show that you, or your company, can use at your next business event. For more great ideas for games, you can play in a business environment, check out our previous posts available on our company blog, and now it is time to wrap things up, so go ahead and choose any of the ways to make potential clients and trade show attendees not forget your exhibition booth for a long time.