How to play the viral “pen game” on TikTok

TikTok users have become obsessed with the ‘Pen Game’ after it started going viral on the platform. Here’s everything you need to know about how to play it. 

Over the past few years, TikTok has been home to a whole host of popular trends and challenges that pretty much everyone has had an attempt at.

Some of these are still going strong – you’ll see plenty of Moon Phase TikToks and AI Filter trends cropping up on your feed – but there are still new ones too, including the pin game. 

In a now-viral video made by c_trap_house, which has amassed over 2.5 million views in three days, a group of friends is seen sitting around a table, playing what they called the “pen game”.

Despite looking like an easy game to play, over 174,000 people have since flooded the comment sections, wondering how the game works. Here’s everything you need to know if you want to try it yourself.

How to play the viral “pen game” from TikTok

During the game, one person says “I can play the pen game, can you play the pen game?” while pointing to a different person with a pen when saying each word.

The person who is pointed to at the end of the sentence will have to say yes or no, which will determine whether or not they truly understand the game.

However, while watching the game unfold, both players and the millions of viewers watching have been left confused as to what the secret rule to the game is, but it’s much easier than you might think.

If the first person says “okay” before they start pointing, the answer to the question will be yes. If they don’t, the answer will be no.

Although it’s not known where the game originated, several people in the comment section said the video gave them flashbacks to playing it at summer camps when they were younger.

The pen game is not the only game to go viral on the app recently. In 2023, the marshmallow game took TikTok by storm as thousands of people decided to participate in the viral trend.