Hand-game songs were sung before or while gambling by an individual or a team. A person would hide something in their hands, usually a bean or a button, while the other person would guess where it was hidden.

The following is the text of one hand-game song:

"When I am singing,
When I am singing,
I am hollering for the bean,
For that bean" (Nettl 33)

Hand-game songs were actually forgotten by many Arapaho but experienced a revival during the Ghost Dance movement. Most of the hand-game songs are like those of the Ghost Dance, and the texts of both groups of songs make references to one another.