I do pretty much the same stuff at parties now that i did when i was a teen, or in my 20s, or in my 30s, or…
Depends on the party. At most parties, i sit around talking to other people, while partaking of the refreshments the host has provided. But there are special-purpose parties where i watch TV with other people, or play board games with other people, or dance with other people…i guess that’s a style of party i added to my repertoire in my 40s.
Some people never grow up, I guess.
We talk, we drink, we play games, the big difference is that now we have to make sure the kids don’t kill themselves or each other.
The last party I went to was a 6 year old’s birthday party and they had an bounce hose combo with a water slide. I spent about half the party keeping my 2 year old from climbing to the top and pushing other kids down the slide. Once that was over and we got the kids inside the 7 parents (9 kids) that were left got into the hosts whiskey cabinet and did a whiskey tasting for a couple of hours before we went home.
I’ve got to mention that I’ve had a couple parties (informal, 10-15 guests, 50+ years old) where I ran a shuffle of 80s music videos in the den. (I have over 1000 music videos on my server.) My wife has been a bit miffed because it seems like over half the guests migrated to the den to sit and watch the videos, rather than “circulating.” I pointed out that there was a reason that bars in the 80s played MTV.
Frankly, I avoid most parties because I don’t want to hear about how well Joe’s company is doing and where Tim’s latest vacation home is, or how many awards their kids received for dressage. (“She’s really quite naturally good at it.”) I don’t want to talk about my own profession or anyone else’s. I don’t have kids myself. It’s a party, for God’s sake!
People party when they’re over 30? Why didn’t I get the memo??
Drink better beer.
Catch up, because everyone has jobs and kids and has moved out of town, so the only time you see everyone is that Halloween party that the hosts throw every year, and it’s really the event you start looking forward to the most so you get a sitter and everything.
Also, Cards Against Humanity.
Better food, better booze, better conversation, generally fewer assholes.
Later we all don our eldritch robes and attempt to raise Gol-goroth, the Forgotten Old One.
Then Scrabble.
What is “party”? 
In my experience, they discuss their own and their family’s health problems and milestones in the lives of their parents/children/grandchildren.
He’s only Olmos the best.
When I was a kid, the people over thirty would just sit around and talk politics while us kids went off and played. Or so it seemed.
At parties without kids, they’d drink too much and wear lampshades on their heads. I still don’t get that one.
I’m almost 49, and the (limited) parties I’ve been to in the last 5-10 years have mostly been a lot of catching up and/or trading news about others we know, since the get-together frequency went down significantly once we passed our early 30s and/or people got married/had children.
That and with some of my friends, shop talk eventually comes out (several of us are IT types), and we opine on the latest fads within the industry and stuff like that.
I didn’t get it either.
My 60th birthday was a bit special. But it wasn’t really any ,different from any other Thanksgiving dinner that I’ve had over the past seven years and no different than many Christmas parties I had when I was a kid. Except for some alcohol.
My friends and I are in our middle 50’s. Usually, parties are not spontaneous, and involve an event of some kind - A graduation, a birth, a promotion, a holiday, etc. We’ll focus on the event details, and then get into catching up in person, sharing the details we can’t get into on Facebook. We’ll then usually get a board game, or Cards Against Humanity, for a few rounds, until its about 10 or 11, and time to go home.
Depends on the parties really, but generally the ones I go to involve nice food and alcohol, or a backyard BBQ. There’s less “WOO YEAH LOUD MUSIC AND DRINKING! GET WRECKED, SON!”, that’s for sure.
Not that I go to (or get invited to) actual “parties” anymore, but when I do, we eat, drink (typically the hosts offer a range of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks), and sit around talking. Sometimes it’s an opportunity to meet people I don’t already know, other times it’s catching up with what’s going on in friends’ lives, and sharing old stories.
Sometimes, there might be a party game being played, or music, but those aren’t as common, and aren’t the primary reason why people have gathered.
We discuss deep, philosophical subjects in calm, measured tones. It helps to hold one’s chin and nod politely while replying, “Precisely, old man.”
Or cars and lawn mowing.
This should have been “Not that I go to (or get invited to) very many actual “parties” anymore” – pre-COVID, I’d guess maybe one or two parties a year. In addition, I regularly get together with friends and/or relatives for meals, playing a role-playing game or a board game, watching a movie, etc., but those aren’t formal “parties.”
When we were in our '30s we talked about child care issues, child support and divorce issues, and we gossiped about everyone we knew who was not at the party.
In our '40s we talked about the issues of raising teenagers, teaching them to drive, regretting that, and we gossiped about everyone we knew who was not at the party.
In our '50s we talked about whether we should really send the little shit who just totaled our car to college or spend the money on a new Corvette instead. And we gossiped about everyone we knew who was not at the party.
In our '60s we talked about retirement, our wonderful grandchildren from the little shit who totaled our car and turned out just fine, and we gossiped about everyone we knew who was not at the party.