How to pick the right Christmas party games
Every party has its own crowd. A team of coworkers who barely know each other needs different Christmas party games than a group of old friends on their second mulled wine. Three questions help:
- How well do people know each other? Strangers need icebreakers. Old friends want games with a little competition.
- Who's there? Kids, grandparents, managers? Pick games where nobody feels silly or left out.
- How much space and time? A tiny apartment means table and couch games. A living room or office means you can run around.
Each game below lists how many people it needs, how long it takes and what to prepare.
Christmas icebreaker games
For the first half hour, when people are still standing around with drinks.
1. Two truths and a lie: holiday edition
- Best foradults, offices
- Time10 to 15 minutes
Each person shares three holiday facts about themselves, two true and one made up. "I once ate Christmas dinner at a gas station", "I still have my childhood stocking", "I've never seen a Christmas movie". The group guesses the lie. No prep, works for 4 to 20 people.
2. Who am I?
- Best foreveryone
- Time15 minutes
Write famous Christmas characters on sticky notes (Rudolph, the Grinch, Mrs. Claus, a nutcracker, Frosty) and stick one on each guest's forehead or back as they arrive. People ask yes or no questions to figure out who they are. Great because it gets everyone mingling.
Tip: Use a mix of easy and tricky characters. Kids get the easy ones, the uncle who claims he knows everything gets "the fourth wise man".
3. Find the guest who…
- Best foroffices, bigger groups
- Time15 minutes
Hand out a sheet with 12 squares: "has been to a Christmas market abroad", "can name all of Santa's reindeer", "opens presents on Christmas Eve", "has a tree that's still in the box". People find someone who fits each square and get their name. First full sheet wins.
Team games for adults
The heart of the evening. These Christmas party games for adults work best in teams of three to six.
4. Christmas trivia
- Best foradults, offices, families
- Time20 to 30 minutes
Three rounds of five questions: movies, traditions around the world, music. Teams write answers on paper, the host reads them out and keeps score. Add one silly round ("What's the most disappointing gift you ever got?" with points for the best story).
Tip: Write your own questions and check the answers before the party. Mix in a few about your group: "Which of us has never seen snow?"
5. Christmas charades
- Best foreveryone
- Time20 minutes
Write Christmas movies, songs and activities on slips (building a snowman, untangling lights, getting stuck in a chimney). One player acts, the team has 60 seconds to guess. No words, no sounds. Simple, always funny.
6. Holiday Pictionary
- Best foreveryone
- Time20 minutes
Same idea with drawing. Use a whiteboard or big sheets of paper. Christmas words get harder fast: try drawing "Boxing Day" or "fruitcake" in 60 seconds.
7. Wrapping race with oven mitts
- Best foradults, offices
- Time10 minutes
Each team gets a box, a roll of paper, tape and scissors. One player wears oven mitts and has to wrap the box in two minutes while teammates may only give instructions. Best-looking (or funniest) wrap wins. Prep: boxes and two pairs of oven mitts.
8. Finish the carol
- Best foradults, families
- Time15 minutes
The host plays or sings the first line of a carol or Christmas song and stops. The first team to sing the next line correctly gets a point. Turns into a group sing-along within three rounds, which is the point.
9. Emoji movie quiz
- Best foradults, remote teams
- Time15 minutes
Write Christmas movies and songs as emoji strings (a house, two burglars and a scared kid; a snowman and a sun) and send them in the group chat or show them on a screen. First team to name the title scores. Works on a video call too.
10. Most likely to
- Best forfriends
- Time10 to 20 minutes
Read prompts like "Who's most likely to start decorating in October?" or "…to regift this year's present?". On three, everyone points at someone. No prep beyond a list of prompts, and it gets everyone talking. Keep prompts kind, especially at work.
11. Minute-to-win-it challenges
- Best foradults, offices, families
- Time20 to 30 minutes
Quick one-minute challenges: stack ornaments into a tower, move candy canes from one cup to another using only a candy cane, shake ping pong balls out of a tissue box tied to your waist. Prep a few stations and let teams rotate.
Gift exchange games
Most Christmas parties end with gifts. These turn the exchange into a game.
12. White Elephant
- Best foradults, offices
- Time30 to 60 minutes
Everyone brings one wrapped gift. Players draw numbers, the first opens a gift, everyone after can open a new one or steal an opened one. A gift can only be stolen three times. Also known as Yankee swap or Dirty Santa. More on the differences in our Secret Santa guide.
13. The gift exchange dice game
- Best foreveryone
- Time20 to 40 minutes
Gifts in the middle, roll a die: 1 or 6 means take one. Then a timer starts and each number means swap, pass or steal. When it rings, you keep what you hold. Full roll chart in our White Elephant dice game rules.
Free toolDraw Secret Santa names online14. Secret Santa guessing game
- Best foroffices, friends
- Time15 minutes
If you drew names in advance, don't reveal right away. Each person opens their gift, reads a clue card from their Secret Santa and gets one guess. Right guesses get a small prize. Drawing the names takes two minutes online, and each person gets a private link.
15. Pass the parcel
- Best forfamilies, UK and Australia
- Time15 minutes
A party classic in the UK and Australia. Wrap a gift in many layers with a tiny treat or a dare between each. Pass it around while music plays. When the music stops, whoever holds it unwraps one layer. The last layer holds the real prize.
Christmas games for families and calmer evenings
Games that work from age six to ninety, and some you can play from the couch.
16. Gingerbread house contest
- Best forfamilies, offices
- Time45 to 60 minutes
Teams get the same kit or pieces of gingerbread, icing and candy. One hour, then everyone votes. Categories help: most beautiful, most structurally doubtful, best story. Put down paper on the table first.
17. Christmas bingo
- Best forfamilies, big groups
- Time20 minutes
Print bingo cards with Christmas words instead of numbers (sleigh, mistletoe, snowman, stocking). The caller draws words from a hat. Or play "movie bingo" during a Christmas film: tick off a square every time something cliché happens.
18. Christmas alphabet
- Best foreveryone, no prep
- Time10 minutes
Go around the circle. The first person names something Christmassy starting with A (angel), the next with B (bells) and so on. Hesitate for more than five seconds and you're out. X and Z are where it gets interesting.
19. Ugly sweater contest
- Best foreveryone
- Time10 minutes
Ask everyone to come in their worst holiday sweater (say so in the invite). Later, guests vote in categories: ugliest, most handmade, most lights, best pun. Small prizes make it feel official. Our Christmas party invitation wording has a sample for an ugly sweater party.
20. Indoor snowball fight
- Best forfamilies, offices
- Time10 minutes
Everyone writes a fun fact or a holiday wish on a sheet of paper, crumples it into a "snowball" and throws it across the room. After 30 seconds of chaos, everyone picks up one snowball, reads it out and guesses who wrote it.
A simple game plan for the evening
| Time | What | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Arrival | Icebreaker that runs by itself | Who am I? with sticky notes |
| After food | Big team game | Christmas trivia or charades |
| Short break | Quick challenge | Wrapping race or minute-to-win-it |
| End | Gift game | White Elephant or the dice game |
If your gift exchange is a Secret Santa, sort out the draw a few weeks before the party. Nobody wants to draw names from a hat while people are still arriving.
psst … this makes it easier
Draw Secret Santa names in two minutes
- Add names and exclude couples if you like
- Everyone gets their own private link by text or WhatsApp
- Free, no sign-up, no email addresses
More on planning the rest of the party, from themes to food: Christmas party ideas and themes.
Frequently asked questions
What are good Christmas party games for adults?
Christmas trivia in teams, charades with holiday movies, a wrapping race with oven mitts and a White Elephant gift exchange work in almost any adult group. They're easy to explain and nobody needs to be good at anything. For a livelier crowd, add Most likely to or a carol lyric challenge.
What Christmas party activities work for an office?
Keep it inclusive and low pressure: team trivia, a gingerbread house contest, an ugly sweater vote and a gift exchange with a low budget. Avoid drinking games and anything that singles people out. Short games of 10 to 15 minutes fit better than one long tournament.
What Christmas games can the whole family play?
Christmas bingo, pass the parcel, Who am I with sticky notes, a gingerbread decorating contest and holiday Pictionary work from about age six to grandparents. Mix ages in teams so kids and adults play together instead of against each other.
How many games should I plan for a Christmas party?
Three to four is plenty for an evening. Start with a quick icebreaker as people arrive, play one bigger team game once everyone's there and end with the gift exchange. Keep one or two backups in case a game flops.
What is a good Christmas game without prep?
Two truths and a lie, Most likely to, Christmas charades and the Christmas alphabet game need nothing but people. Write a few prompts on your phone and you're ready.