The best first game is easy to understand from watching one round.
New groups already have enough cognitive load from names, faces and conversation. A simple card or observation game works because late arrivals and quieter members can understand what is happening without a lecture.
Familiar games can be useful for the same reason: nobody has to prove they are clever enough to learn the rules quickly.
Avoid formats where embarrassment is the main entertainment.
Forced acting, personal confessions or putting one new person on the spot can turn an icebreaker into a reason not to come back. The game should give people something to share, not make vulnerability compulsory.
Team formats can help when they let people contribute at different levels instead of making every turn a solo performance.
Use games to start connection, not to dominate the event.
A game is a tool, not the event. If conversation has started naturally, let it. Do not keep dragging everyone through rounds because the schedule says game time lasts an hour.
The wider Lifted Spirits meet-up archive shows many different social formats. The common goal is giving adults a reason to spend time together, not forcing every event into the same activity template.
Portable, low-friction games fit community days better than giant setups.
Small card games and quick group games can come out during a cafe stop, an indoor evening or a rainy part of a trip without taking over the whole plan.
That is where games such as Dobble, UNO, Codenames or Herd Mentality can make sense later as affiliate recommendations: not because members need to buy them, but because they solve a real social-format problem cheaply.