Christmas Party Games for Work: 12 Office-Party Games Everyone Actually Enjoys

Why Most Office Christmas Games Fall Flat

Every office has lived through the same party: one brave volunteer gets pulled to the front, everyone else watches in awkward silence, and the “game” turns out to be a talent show nobody signed up for. The problem is rarely the people. It is the game choice. A game built for a family living room does not survive contact with a workplace, where colleagues have different comfort levels, different faiths, and a shared Monday morning afterwards.

The fix is not to skip games. It is to pick games that are voluntary, quick, and kind. The twelve Christmas party games for work below all pass the same three tests, and each one comes with a version for a five-person team, a hundred-person department, and a remote or hybrid crew.

The Three Rules Every Office Game Must Pass

Before the list, run any game — including ones you invent on the day — through these three checks. If a game fails one, change it or drop it.

1. Nobody has to drink to play. Every game here works with water, coffee, or hot chocolate in hand. If a game only gets fun after a drink, it is not a game, it is a liability. SHRM advises hosts to present non-alcoholic options as equal choices, not afterthoughts — and a game list built that way needs no drink to work.

2. Nobody gets singled out. No game should require one person to perform alone, share something personal, or be photographed in a silly pose. Team play and written answers beat spotlight moments every time.

3. Anyone can sit out without it showing. The best office games let people join a team, keep score, or judge a round instead of playing. If opting out means sitting alone in a corner, the game is badly designed. SHRM notes that making attendance voluntary matters — some colleagues may not want an event tied to a particular holiday or to alcohol, and mandatory fun can create wage-and-hour issues too.

12 Christmas Party Games for Work

1. Two Truths and a Snow Lie

Each player writes down two true facts about themselves and one made-up one — all holiday-themed if you like, such as “I once worked a Christmas Day shift” or “I have never seen snow.” Teams guess which statement is the lie. Played in writing, nobody is put on the spot, and the reveals are usually the funniest part of the party.

Supplies: slips of paper and pens. Players: any number, in teams of four to six. Small team: play it as one group, one round each. Big department: run it team against team, with one team’s sheet read out per round. Remote: use a shared form or the meeting chat, and reveal answers on screen.

2. Holiday Trivia Relay

Split into teams and ask holiday trivia in rounds — carols, movies, food traditions, and winter customs from around the world. One point per correct answer, with a bonus round where teams can wager points. Keep questions general knowledge rather than personal, and mix easy and hard so no team runs away with it.

Supplies: a question list and a scorekeeper. Players: teams of four to eight. Small team: everyone answers every question. Big department: captains answer on behalf of their team, and the room votes on tiebreakers. Remote: run it as a quiz with buzzers replaced by raised hands or chat answers.

3. Ornament Jar Guess

Fill a clear jar with small ornaments, candy canes, or baubles and let everyone write down a guess for how many are inside. Closest guess wins. It takes thirty seconds to explain, runs itself all party long, and gives quieter colleagues a way to play without speaking up.

Supplies: a jar and small ornaments. Players: unlimited. Small team: one jar, one winner. Big department: several jars on different tables, one prize each. Remote: show the jar on camera and take guesses in a form, or use a close-up photo.

4. Speed Gift Wrap Race

Teams race to wrap a box neatly against the clock — with a twist, such as wrapping with one hand each, or wrapping an awkwardly shaped object like a mug. Judging is on speed and neatness, and the wrapped boxes can become real presents for a charity toy drive afterwards.

Supplies: wrapping paper, tape, scissors, and boxes. Players: pairs or teams of three. Small team: head-to-head races. Big department: heats with a final between heat winners. Remote: a “wrap what’s on your desk” race on camera, judged by the group.

5. Snowball Toss

Crumple paper into “snowballs” and toss them into buckets placed at increasing distances, worth one, two, and three points. It is active without being athletic, nobody has to touch anyone else, and the whole thing resets in seconds.

Supplies: scrap paper and three buckets or bins. Players: any number, in teams. Small team: each person gets five throws. Big department: team totals, with one thrower per team per round. Remote: players toss into a bin on camera while the team counts hits.

6. Carol Pictionary

One person draws a carol title — “Jingle Bells,” “Deck the Halls,” “Frosty the Snowman” — while their team guesses. Drawing beats singing here: nobody has to perform, and the terrible drawings are the entertainment. Keep a list of easy titles ready so nobody stalls.

Supplies: a whiteboard or flip chart and markers. Players: teams of four to eight. Small team: everyone draws once. Big department: team captains draw while their teams guess, with the room as audience. Remote: use a shared whiteboard and guess in chat.

7. Emoji Carol Quiz

Write carol titles as strings of emojis — a bell, a snowflake, a star — and let teams decode them. It is quiet, quick, and works brilliantly as a printed sheet on tables for people to work on between other games. Offer a small prize for the first full sheet.

Supplies: printed quiz sheets. Players: any number, individually or in pairs. Small team: race to finish first. Big department: collect sheets and score them, with a tiebreaker question. Remote: send the sheet as a document or quiz link.

8. Holiday Bingo

Make bingo cards from things people can spot at the party — someone wearing red, a candy cane, a snowflake decoration, a paper chain — rather than personal traits. Call out items as the party goes on, and the first full row wins. It keeps people mingling without forcing conversation.

Supplies: printed bingo cards and markers. Players: unlimited. Small team: one card each, first row wins. Big department: different card layouts per table. Remote: digital cards with items visible on camera, like “someone’s cat walks past.”

9. Cookie Decorating Sprint

Give each team plain cookies, icing, and sprinkles, and ten minutes to decorate a set on a theme — “our team as cookies,” or “the office in gingerbread.” Judging is by applause or vote, and everyone eats the results. It is creative without being competitive in a way that embarrasses anyone.

Supplies: plain cookies, icing, sprinkles, and plates. Players: teams of three to five. Small team: one theme, one vote. Big department: a display table and a people’s-choice vote. Remote: send cookie kits ahead, or let people decorate anything edible at home and show it on camera.

10. Candy Cane Ring Toss

Stand candy canes upright in a foam block or a mug, and toss rings — or rubber bands, or paper loops — to land on them. It is cheap, quiet, and surprisingly addictive, and it works as a background game while people eat.

Supplies: candy canes, a base, and rings. Players: any number, in turns. Small team: best of five throws each. Big department: a leaderboard by the game table. Remote: skip this one live and use it as a photo challenge — best home setup wins.

11. Office Scavenger Hunt

Write a list of things to find around the office — a red stapler, something that jingles, a photo of a pet, a 2026 calendar page — and send teams off to photograph them. No item should require entering someone’s private space or touching anyone else’s desk without permission. First team back with every photo wins.

Supplies: a printed list and phones for photos. Players: teams of three to six. Small team: a ten-item list around one floor. Big department: staggered start times so hallways do not jam. Remote: a home-office version — find a mug, a plant, something red, a charger cable.

12. Year-in-Review Quiz

Finish with a quiz about your own workplace year — the biggest project launch, the funniest all-hands moment, the month the office plant finally died. It celebrates the team instead of testing general knowledge, and it ends the party on a shared joke rather than a competition. Keep every question kind: nothing about individuals’ mistakes.

Supplies: ten to fifteen questions written in advance. Players: teams of any size. Small team: everyone answers together. Big department: team answers on cards, scored by the host. Remote: a quiz link, answered live, with results shared on screen.

How to Run the Games: A Simple Party Plan

You do not need all twelve. For a one-hour party slot, pick four: one icebreaker (Two Truths and a Snow Lie), one active game (Snowball Toss), one table game (Emoji Carol Quiz or Holiday Bingo), and one closer (Year-in-Review Quiz). Put the Ornament Jar Guess and Candy Cane Ring Toss out as background games people can drift to all evening.

For prizes, keep them small and universal — see our Christmas gift ideas for the whole family for prize inspiration that suits any colleague. And if your crew wants to keep celebrating into the new year, our New Year’s Eve party ideas and Minute to Win It Christmas games both scale the same way, from a small team to a whole department.

What to Avoid at a Work Christmas Party

Skip games that need a drink to be funny, games that single one person out, and games that photograph people without consent. Skip “roast” games, truth-or-dare variants, and anything involving physical contact or blindfolds in a room full of colleagues. Employment lawyers warn that party activities must be accessible to everyone — a limbo contest, for example, is a poor choice if colleagues use wheelchairs. The test is simple: would you be comfortable if your manager — or your newest hire — played it? If the answer is no, the game does not belong at work.