Christmas Party Games for Adults: Easy Ideas With Prizes

Good Christmas party games for adults are the ones nobody has to be good at. They fit in a living room, need almost no explaining and give the room something to talk about besides the weather. This guide lists ten that suit a mixed group, how to run each, and prize ideas, then adds two bigger activities, a gift swap and an ugly sweater contest. The Host Kit of our printable suites includes these ten games with answer keys, but each can be run with a pencil and a printed sheet. For the rest of the evening, see how to host a Christmas party and the planning hub.

Before You Pick: Three Rules for Good Party Games

1. Make joining easy. A game that can be played from a seat, in under ten minutes, will have more players than one that asks everyone to stand up.
2. Keep the rules to one breath. If you cannot explain it in about thirty seconds, it will lose the room.
3. Have a prize and a plan to end it. A small prize and a visible timer keep the energy up and the game from running long.

Ten Christmas Games for Adults

1. Christmas bingo

Each guest gets a card filled with holiday words or images. Call items out in random order, and the first guest to fill a line wins. It is a good opener because everyone can play at once, and a few prizes mean more than one winner.

2. Christmas trivia

Ask questions about holiday traditions, food, music, decorations and general knowledge. Keep to topics that do not depend on any one movie. Play in teams or individually, and keep an answer key so you can settle disputes.

3. Would you rather

Read out a holiday dilemma, such as “would you rather decorate the tree alone or cook the whole dinner for twenty,” and have guests move to opposite sides of the room or raise a hand. It needs no setup, and people tend to explain their choices, which starts conversation.

4. Most likely to

Read a statement such as “most likely to burn the cookies,” and on three everyone points at the guest they think fits. Keep the statements friendly, and avoid ones that single out someone sensitive. It works best with guests who already know one another.

5. Christmas word scramble

Hand out a sheet of holiday words with the letters jumbled, such as “STOCKING” scrambled, and set a timer. The player with the most unscrambled words wins. It is quiet and self-paced, and works as something to do while guests mingle.

6. Christmas word search

A grid of letters with hidden holiday words. It is the lowest-energy game on the list, which is the point: it gives people a way to join in without being in the spotlight.

7. Scavenger hunt

Give guests a list of things to find or do around the room or the house, such as a photo with someone in a red sweater, a snowflake, a candy cane or a guest whose birthday is in December. Keep it inside the party space. The first to complete the list wins.

8. Pass the present

Wrap a prize in several layers, each with a small instruction or a small treat. Pass it around a circle while music plays. When the music stops, the person holding it unwraps one layer. Whoever unwraps the last layer keeps the prize.

9. A drawing game

One player draws a holiday word, such as “snowman” or “stocking,” and the others guess within a time limit. Use a pad, a whiteboard or a printed sheet. It produces laughter because the drawings are bad, so no skill is required.

10. A to Z

Pick a Christmas category, such as food, songs or things in a stocking, and go around the circle naming one item for each letter of the alphabet. Players who cannot answer in a few seconds sit out. It is a good game for a table or a short break between courses.

Two Bigger Activities

A gift swap

If you want the party to have a centerpiece, a gift exchange is a dependable one. Choose between Secret Santa, where each person is assigned one recipient, and a white elephant swap, where gifts can be stolen. The white elephant gift exchange rules page explains the options, and the free rules generator prints a rules card with a shuffled turn order. Put the price limit on the invitation so nobody arrives unprepared.

An ugly sweater contest

If the dress code is an ugly sweater, the contest is already half done. Give each guest a ballot with categories such as most festive, most over the top, best handmade, most lights and best use of a pattern, and have everyone vote once per category. Count the ballots while people eat, and announce winners with small prizes. See ugly sweater party ideas for categories and rules.

Prize Ideas

Prizes work best when they are small and visible. Some ideas:

• A nice chocolate bar or a box of cookies.
• A candle, a mug or a small plant.
• A scratch-off ticket or a coffee shop gift card.
• A bottle of something festive, only for adults of legal drinking age, with a non-alcohol option on the table as well.
• A funny trophy, such as a spray-painted gold ornament on a stand.

Put the prizes on a table where everyone can see them, and remember that guests without a prize should still enjoy the food and company, so a few small prizes beat one large one.

A Sample Run of Show for Three Hours

• First hour: guests arrive, drinks and appetizers are out, and a bingo or word search sheet is on each seat for anyone who wants to play.
• Second hour: run the main activity, such as the gift swap or the sweater voting, and give the prizes.
• Third hour: one short game such as most likely to, then music, dessert and the goodbyes.

If you also want a number-based plan for food and drinks, the food and drink calculator works from your guest count and the length of the party.

Running Games Well

• Announce the game, the rules and the prize before you begin. Then start the timer.
• Pick a referee whose rulings are final.
• Keep the answer keys handy, printed or on your phone.
• Let people opt out. A guest who wants to talk to one person all night is also having a good time.
• Stop while it is still fun. A game that ends a minute early beats one that ends a minute late.

Choose two or three that suit your guests, wrap a few prizes and let the rest of the party take care of itself.