An office Christmas Party is a great opportunity for companies to treat their employees and reward them for a year of hard work. However, many of these events unfortunately are drab affairs with little more than a good meal and drinks. Considering the holiday season is often the busiest time of year for most people, many will opt to forgo the annual office gathering. This is a bummer. So what is to be done?
For a really memorable and enticing office Christmas celebration, you need to entertain the guests not just feed them! If you are an office manager, HR rep, or part of your office party planning committee sit tight and get ready to take notes as we provide you with a list of awesome games to make any yuletide gathering merry and bright!
Office Christmas Party Games
1. Secret Santa: A Mystery Christmas Party Game
People like new and interesting things. That is especially true with entertainment and games. This game hits that target. “Secret Santa: A Mystery Christmas Party Game” is a feisty and engaging game ideal for large holiday parties and group gatherings. It is designed to be played by seven or more players, making it a perfect choice for office Christmas parties.
This game is very unique and will have a bit of a learning curve, so as the organizer you will want to be very familiar with the rules so you can explain and provide a walk-through to get people up to speed.
Here are the basics:
- Teams: Players are secretly assigned to either the Naughty or Nice team. The Naughty team aims to covertly eliminate Nice players, while the Nice team tries to identify and vote off the Naughty players.
- Setting Up: Prepare a deck with one card per player, including one narrator, one Santa, and a mix of Nice (red) and Naughty (blue) cards in a 3:1 ratio. Santa counts as a Nice player.
- Starting the Game: Shuffle and deal the cards secretly. Players keep their roles confidential.
- Gameplay: The game alternates between “Silent Night” and “Day” phases, led by the narrator.
- Silent Night: Players close their eyes. Naughty players silently choose a Nice player to eliminate. Secret Santa can check a player’s allegiance, guided by the narrator.
- Day: The narrator reveals who was eliminated. Players then discuss and vote on who they suspect is Naughty. The player with the most votes is out.
- Endgame: The game ends when all Naughty players are voted out (Nice team wins) or when Naughty players match or outnumber the Nice players (Naughty team wins).
2. What Do You Meme
Not all games need to have a “Christmas” theme to make for a rousing holiday party activity. “What Do You Meme” capitalizes on the cultural phenomenon of memes and meme-making. Players take their turn and submit their ideas for the most hilarious meme to be judged by the group.
Everyone enjoys a good meme and you can put a holiday twist on the game very easily by adding some of your own Christmas images into the game.
3. Secret Santa Mystery
Secret Santa is a pretty common method of giving gifts in an office setting. No one knows who is getting them a gift until the office Christmas party when all the gifts are headed out. This is fine but you can really increase the entertainment factor by turning it into a game.
In “Secret Santa Mystery” Instead of simply going down the list and revealing who was everyone’s Secret Santa, instead provide clues to each participant as to who their “Secret Santa” is. You can also make people complete riddles or challenges to get clues that will lead them to the person who has their gift.
4. Tell Me Without Telling Me
Tell Me Without Telling Me is an excellent choice for an office Christmas party due to its modern and trendy twist on “charades”. The game involves players trying to convey a message or idea without using the most obvious words or phrases associated with it. This indirect communication makes for a great challenge that leads to hysterical and amusing misunderstandings.
For example, if the topic is “Christmas Tree,” a player might say, “I’m a tall, fragrant, and festive figure often found in living rooms during December, adorned with lights and ornaments.” The goal is to guess the topic based on these indirect clues.
This game doesn’t require specialized knowledge, making it inclusive for all employees. Plus, it’s easy to set up and explain the rules so everyone can get playing quickly.
5. Ugly Sweater Contest
Earlier we talked about turning Secret Santa (a holiday party staple) into a game. An ugly sweater contest is another popular Christmas party element that can be turned into a more engaging game to turn the fun up to eleven.
Obviously, you can have a contest where party attendees vote for the ugliest sweater. Categories can include ‘Most Creative’, ‘Funniest’, and ‘Most Outrageous’. But here are some other creative ways to bring this game to life:
- Sweater Scavenger Hunt: Incorporate elements of the ugly sweaters into a scavenger hunt. For example, find someone with a sweater that has a reindeer on it.
- Ugly Sweaters as Team Jerseys: Hand out ugly sweaters as team jerseys for another game or contest.
- Ugly Sweaters as a punishment: Raising money for a charity is a fantastic holiday tradition. You can split into teams and compete to see who raises the most for your cause. The losing team can be made to wear ugly Christmas sweaters at the party.
6. Monikers
There are two crucial criteria needed for a great office Christmas party game: they need to be easy to learn and easy to play with a large group.
Monikers is built to satisfy both of these criteria. Prepare for big laughs as your team races to guess the celebrities, fictional characters, historical figures, and more. You only get a minute and the game gets progressively harder each round as the clues you can give become more restrictive.
The most current version available provides culturally relevant and trending people and figures. This ensures your crowd won’t feel they are playing an outdated game.
7. Elf Decathlon
This game will help to settle once and for all who is the most festive light gifted in the office. In this contest, Participants race to complete a series of traditional Christmas preparation tasks that make up the “Christmas Elf Decathlon”. The different events in the race could include wrapping presents, decorating a tree, unwrapping Christmas lights, decorating cookies, etc.
Dressing as an elf is optional, but it would definitely add Some holiday cheer to this event.
8. Christmas Carol Meme Pictionary
Many people enjoy a classic party game, but if you are going to go the traditional route, you should consider implementing a modern holiday-themed twist. For example, Christmas Carol Pictionary is a refreshing take on Pictionary, where instead of drawing, players use memes to guess Christmas carols.
This modern and humorous variation can be a big hit at any Christmas gathering, especially in an environment like an office party where office members are used to sharing and enjoying memes.
9. Christmas Memory Game
Looking for something truly unique? the Christmas Memory Game will put your group’s cognitive abilities to the test. first gather about 15-20 small holiday-themed items (think ornaments, candy canes, mini stockings, etc.) and display them openly on a tray or a holiday-decorated table.
The game is simple: players get one minute to memorize the items on the tray. After time’s up, cover the tray and have everyone write down what they remember within 2-3 minutes. It’s a fun, straightforward game that tests memory and adds a dash of holiday spirit!
Tip: To boost the festive mood, play some soft Christmas music in the background or play some Jeopardy music to increase the urgency.
10. The Voting Game
The Voting Game is an excellent choice for an Office Christmas party because it blends humor and camaraderie. This game encourages participants to anonymously vote on fun questions about each other, leading to surprising revelations and often hilarious discussions.
Since the game revolves around personal opinions and not general knowledge, it levels the playing field, making sure everyone has a chance to compete. The spontaneous and often humorous nature of the game ensures a lively, engaging party atmosphere, making it a memorable part of any office holiday celebration.
11. Guess What Christmas Card Game
A surefire way to get a room full of your co-workers to laugh out loud is by putting them into awkward situations. The “Guess What Christmas Card Game” is designed to do just that. Suited for large groups, this party game is perfect for enlivening your office Christmas party.
It is a very simple game to play. You draw a card and then you have an option to either mouth an action that is written on the card or produce a sound of an action written on the card. If you mouth an action, the first player to do that action wins. If you make a sound, then the first player to guess what the sound is wins.
For example, a card might say mouth ‘‘Twas The Night Before Christmas” or make the “Sound of wrapping presents”.
Final Thought
These original and unique games offer a fresh opportunity for competition that will entice and delight your co-workers at this year’s office Christmas Party.
