Party Novelties
Party games, costumes, inflatables, glow gear and decorations — the manufacturers and publishers behind the card game on the table and the ridiculous thing in the pool.
Archie McPhee
Seattle's long-running purveyor of deliberately absurd novelties, from rubber chickens and tiny hands to bacon-scented everything and finger monsters. The catalogue leans hard on Bigfoot, crows, pickles, cats and axolotls, and much of it is designed in-house.
Beistle
Founded in 1900 and describing itself as the world's largest manufacturer of party goods, Beistle makes tissue decorations, cutouts, hats and banners for every occasion. Much of the range has barely changed in decades, which is the appeal.
Professor Puzzle
A UK designer and wholesale manufacturer of metal and wooden puzzles, party games, escape-room games and trivia sets, including licensed ranges like Sherlock Holmes and Great Minds. It also distributes Metal Earth in some markets.
Renegade Juggling
A Santa Cruz juggling supplier making balls, rings and clubs and stocking contact juggling, diabolos, LED props, fire wicks, slacklines and unicycles. Everything is aimed at people who actually practise.
Gift Republic
A UK gift publisher with a broad novelty range: scratch-off posters, adopt-a-plant kits, trivia games, novelty mugs and grow-your-own sets. Products are grouped by joke theme as much as by category.
Toysmith
A toy and gift wholesaler with a deep bench of impulse novelties, fidgets and classic playthings alongside licensed brands. Much of the small weird stuff on gift-shop counters comes from here.
Dube Juggling
Manufactures professional juggling balls, clubs and rings plus a wide range of circus props including diabolos and unicycles. Long-standing supplier to working performers and beginners alike.
Aerobie
Engineers flying rings and discs designed to travel absurd distances, the original Aerobie ring having once held the Guinness record for the farthest thrown object. The same company also made the AeroPress coffee maker.
Big Potato Games
A British board game publisher making party games that are easy to learn and quick to play, with loud packaging and short rulebooks. Titles are designed to get going within a minute of opening the box.
BigMouth Inc.
Best known for giant, ridiculous pool floats shaped like everything from slices of pizza to unicorns, plus oversized drinkware and novelty gifts. The brand trades on scale: if a normal version exists, BigMouth makes an absurdly large one.
Crab Fragment Labs (Cheapass Games)
The design studio of James Ernest, who founded Cheapass Games on the premise that you already own dice and pawns so the box should only contain the game. Titles include Kill Doctor Lucky and Button Men.
Cyanide & Happiness (Explosm)
The webcomic studio behind Cyanide & Happiness, which also publishes the card games Joking Hazard and Trial by Trolley alongside shirts and merchandise. The humour is bleak and the games are built to match.
Exploding Kittens
The game studio behind Exploding Kittens, Throw Throw Burrito, Bears vs Babies and You've Got Crabs. Its titles are built around silly art and physical chaos rather than heavy rules, and several started as record-setting crowdfunding campaigns.
Ginger Ray
A UK designer partyware brand supplying balloons, banners, photo props and themed decoration kits for birthdays, hen parties and weddings. Ranges are built as coordinated themes rather than loose items.
Hog Wild Toys
Makes deliberately absurd toys for kids who like a laugh, best known for its squeezable poppers that launch soft foam projectiles out of an animal's mouth. The catalogue is built on silly physical gags.
Paladone
A licensed consumer-goods maker that turns gaming and entertainment properties into lamps, mugs, desk gadgets and novelty homeware. If a franchise has a glowing icon, Paladone has probably made a lamp of it.
Ridley's Games
A games and gift publisher with a heavily illustrated house style, producing party games, trivia sets, light card games and jigsaw puzzles. Much of the range is built around a visual gag or a retro-print look.
Rocket Fizz
Sells thousands of bottled sodas in deliberately ridiculous flavours alongside nostalgic and novelty candy, through independently owned shops across the US. Bacon soda and pickle soda are house specialities.
Rubies
One of the biggest costume manufacturers in the world, making licensed character costumes, wigs and accessories for Halloween and year-round dress-up. It holds licences across most major film and game franchises.
Smiffys
A British fancy-dress manufacturer with over five thousand costumes and accessories, covering everything from historical outfits to deliberately terrible inflatable suits. Supplies both retail and trade.
What Do You Meme? / Relatable
The studio that launched the What Do You Meme? party game and now trades as Relatable, publishing meme-driven card games and gift products for adults, teens and families. Its games pair a caption deck with photo cards that players match for laughs.
Wow! Stuff
A toy and pop-culture gift inventor working with licensed brands, best known for its RealFX Puppetronic range of hand-operated animatronic characters. The company describes its mission as bringing great brands to life.
Fun.com
A large online retailer of costumes, geeky gifts, collectibles and novelty products, operating the FUN.com and HalloweenCostumes.com storefronts. Also produces exclusive costume designs in-house.
flowtoys
Makes LED flow props for spinning and performance: glow poi, batons, juggling clubs and the levi-wand, plus rechargeable glowsticks they pioneered. Popular at festivals and in flow-arts circles.
Schylling
Revives classic playthings and makes the NeeDoh squishy line, which comes in a growing catalogue of textures and fillings for stress-squeezing. Also known for tin toys and stretchy hand puppets.
ZURU
A large toy company behind impulse and novelty lines including Bunch O Balloons, 5 Surprise capsule toys and Mini Brands miniature grocery collectibles. Built around fast, surprise-driven play.
PlayMonster
A toy and game company whose brands include 5 Second Rule, Colorforms, Fashion Plates and the Ann Williams craft kits. It leans on reviving recognisable classics alongside new party games.
Basic Fun!
A global toy designer and marketer that owns a shelf of classic and novelty brands, reissuing recognisable playthings alongside new items. It specialises in nostalgia-driven impulse toys.
Numskull Designs
A UK maker of officially licensed movie and gaming merchandise, including TUBBZ collectible rubber ducks styled as game and film characters. Also produces apparel, lamps and desk items.
Ginger Fox
A UK games and gift company producing family party games alongside licensed titles, mixing recognisable brands with original ideas. Games are built for quick play with minimal rules.
Talking Tables
A London brand making design-led partyware, tableware and games for hosting, including cracker jokes, trivia sets and themed table kits. Leans festive and charming rather than crude.
Ellusionist
A magic company making magicians since 2001, selling trick decks, gimmicks and video training aimed at turning buyers into performers. Also produces its own designer playing cards.
Meri Meri
Makes whimsical, high-quality party supplies, children's dress-up and toys with an illustrated, slightly storybook aesthetic. It is the tasteful end of the party-novelty spectrum.
Steve Jackson Games
The Austin publisher behind Munchkin, the card game that turns dungeon crawling into backstabbing, plus Illuminati, Car Wars and GURPS. Long-running and unapologetically nerdy.
Fizz Creations
A UK gift and games developer producing licensed products and ready-to-go novelty gifting ranges, plus bespoke items for retailers. Strong on light-up and desk novelties.
Looney Labs
An independent game publisher best known for Fluxx, the card game whose rules change as you play, plus Loonacy and pyramid games. Family-run and deliberately small-batch.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What counts as party novelties?
Party games, costumes, inflatables, glow gear and decorations — the manufacturers and publishers behind the card game on the table and the ridiculous thing in the pool.
What counts as party novelties?
Party games, costumes, inflatables, glow gear and decorations — the manufacturers and publishers behind the card game on the table and the ridiculous thing in the pool.
Are these real businesses?
Yes. Every listing links to a live site we checked. Some are one-person shops, which is part of the charm.