Funniest Roommate Pranks – How to Make Apartment Living Fun

What’s life without a laugh? Having fun together can be key to building good relationships with your housemates and you can even make lasting memories.

So, why not plan one of the funniest roommate pranks on our list? Here’s how you can enjoy the lighter side of life, even just at home.

Do you feel the apartment needs some more fun going around? The funniest roommate pranks can be ideal to lighten the mood and make memories with your flat mates. Or perhaps you’ve done it all and you’re out of ideas, but you need to get back at your roomie who pranked you recently?

We’ve got the goods!

Pranking others doesn’t have to wait for April Fool’s Day. As long as you keep safety in mind, you can have lasting, good memories of trying to outwit each other. Pranking roommates mean there’s the added pressure—and excitement—of planning something while the other person is in the house or returning soon.

To get the best laughs and show them who is Prank Master this year, try our funniest roommate pranks

 

Pranks with Food

Warning: before you try any prank that relates to food, make sure you know about your roommates’ allergies. Discuss it during roommate interviews and use a chore app like Enzo to instantly share other roommates’ food preferences and allergies with newbies.

Food is often the comfort you look forward to at the end of the day. Shocking someone by giving them the opposite of what they expect in the kitchen and pantry is a sure way to get a reaction—and afterwards have a laugh together. Some ideas to try:

• Is there someone who loves a certain flavor ice cream? They always keep a tub waiting—with their name on it so no one else takes a bite? Remove the ice cream (keep it in another container to return to the owner later on) and fill the tub with water and then place back in the freezer. Your roommate will sink onto the couch, stick in their spoon…and only get ice. Make sure you’re in the room to see their confusion. Perhaps it’s a fun way to tell them they should share more.

 

• Pranking someone while they’re still disoriented after waking up makes a prank so much easier. Catch them while making that first cup of coffee in the morning, by switching the sugar for salt. Will you prank everyone else, or get others in on the joke and target the person who is really not a morning person? Remember to inform others if you don’t want them to fall for the joke too.

 

Pranking Them in Their Rooms

Most people are most comfortable in their very own space, such as their cars or bedrooms. This creates many opportunities to catch them off guard and get a big reaction because it’s the opposite of what they expect:

• For the roommates who love their sleep the most, hide multiple alarm clocks in his or her room while they’re out one day. Set the timers to go off from midnight onwards, one every few minutes. Imagine how they’ll struggle finding and silencing the clocks while being half asleep. Just make sure you’re ready to be woken up to help look for the pesky devices too!

 

• Roommates come home from busy days looking forward to falling onto their beds in exhaustion. Make it a bit more interesting by filling their rooms with items that block their way:
  • Hundreds of balloons
  • Mounds of newspaper—an indirect message to the roommate who isn’t doing their share of the house cleaning perhaps?
  • Paper cups stacked next to each other, covering the floor
  • Cling wrap secured across the entry way, ready to give them a hug when they try to walk through it

 

• If it’s confusion you want to bring, switch around someone’s entire room while they’re out, so it’s a mirror reflection of the previous layout. Reactions will range from laughing to frowning, wondering if they’re going a bit crazy.

 

Bathroom Pranks

Most of what happens in the bathroom is very private, which adds an additional layer of tension to bathroom pranks. But you can still have fun without being disrespectful:

• Exchange one container’s content with another, such as body wash for shampoo.
• Place homemade toothpaste in someone’s regular toothpaste tube. They’re sure to come looking for the culprit and demand their better tasting toothpaste back.
• Leave one—or none—sheet of toilet paper on the roll, with a note underneath saying ‘come and get it’. Then see who is brave enough to come out with their trousers still around their ankles.
• Hide all the toilet paper the day after making a scrumptious chili meal for everyone. Will you play nice or request payment for each roll you hand over?
• Paint the bar of soap with a layer of nail polish and see how long someone tries to figure out why it’s not lathering up.

 

Once again, make sure no one is allergic to any of the substances you’re using.

 

General Pranks

For general pranks around the apartment, few will beat the classic ones like leaving fake bugs in their beds. Freezing personal items in a container with ice or putting it in a tub of jelly is also fun.

But what about a modern twist?

If your roommate trusts you enough, he or she may leave their laptop or mobile phone unattended. See if they’re logged into their social media accounts and change basic information—as long as it won’t harm their reputation.

For example, adjust their birthday and wait for the confusion when they start getting calls a month early, or they can’t understand why no one contacts them on their special day.

 

Fake News Pranks

A prank can even just be information. You can prank all your roommates or get others in on the joke, to make it more believable:

• Report to everyone that you have to move out of the apartment for a week because of a roach or rodent infestation. The news alone will have someone checking the floor and cupboards the whole time, even scratching their hair or starting to itch. Also, you can let the joke run on until someone packed their bags to vacate the room. They may not appreciate the wasted time but it’s another way to remind everyone how important it is to keep up with their responsibilities on the apartment chore list.

 

• Have fun getting to know people’s body language. Almost any roommate will be apprehensive sharing a small space with yet another person. So, how would they feel if you announce your boyfriend or girlfriend is moving in for a month—or two? You’ll learn a lot about their ability to be honest about their opinions and possibly see some fake smiles while they’re trying to be nice about it. Add fuel to the fire by organizing a deep cleaning session before his or her arrival. And then have a laugh when you announce it’s a hoax and see everyone’s sighs of relief.

 

Tips for Pranks to Go Off Without a Hitch

The best pranksters will keep the following in mind, to become legends of the trade:

• The better you know and understand your roommate, the better you can prank. You’ll know their pet peeves, fears and habits and that information comes in handy when planning a prank they’ll remember forever. For example, if he or she isn’t a morning person, you’ll know they won’t have their guard up before breakfast, creating the best time for a prank. Or you’ll know which plastic bugs will give them the worst fright next to their beds. In addition, you’ll know how not to take a joke too far.
• Secrecy is key with most pranks. If you’re targeting one person, make sure to get everyone’s buy in if you share the apartment with multiple people. A prank can’t afford to have a leak warn the victim beforehand.
• If you’re setting them up for a surprise, do everything you can to make a scenario believable. From getting roommates to play along to adding details to your chore calendar that adds to the story, every detail will help prevent them suspecting something.

 

That being said, know when to stop and understand someone’s personal boundaries. A prank should be funny to everyone afterward, not leave an individual embarrassed or emotionally scarred.

 

Final Thoughts

Life is so much better when we can laugh, right? And being intentional about having fun with your roommates can create better living environments—more relaxed and welcoming.

You may want to discuss this topic with potential roommates or include it in your roommate compatibility quiz before inviting someone to move in. There are some people who really don’t like being pranked and you need to respect that. It should be about fun, not taking advantage of others. Knowing someone a bit better will tell you where to draw the line.

Now, if you have any other prank ideas, please share them in the comments section. And remember to download the Enzo chore app so you can organize proper apartment cleaning after the messy pranks.