Holiday party games for work and family: 60 and 90 min plans

How to think about the plan: pace, group and exit

Every party that works follows an energy curve. It starts with something light that asks for no exposure (people arriving, eating, chatting), rises into a team activity, settles into the gift swap, which is more intimate, and closes with something short and festive, like a prize draw. When the plan inverts that order, say with a prank game right at arrival, half the room ends up looking at their phones.

Three rules prevent most problems. First, the host talks less than the activity does: explain each game in one sentence and start. Second, every game has an exit: anyone who does not want to take part passes the turn, no explanation needed. Third, teams are drawn, never picked, because picking exposes whoever is left. The team generator splits the list into teams at random and in a balanced way, by number of teams or by team size, with at most one person of difference between the largest and the smallest.

The timings in this guide come from two sources: the range the site itself lists for each game (for example 15 to 30 minutes for charades and 20 to 45 for team trivia) and our own estimates for the other activities. Treat them as planning numbers, not measurements: large groups take longer at any game, and a lively conversation is worth more than keeping to the clock.

Two ready-made plans: 60 and 90 minutes

The plans below fit a group of 10 to 20 people at the office or at home. Each block points to the game or tool that runs it. If the group is bigger, split into two or three tables and run the same game in parallel, with one person in charge of each table.

Icebreakers that do not expose anyone

A good icebreaker gets people talking without exposing them. Skip “tell us a secret” and anything about money, looks or love life. The best options are quick picks, where the answer is a preference rather than a confession: This or That? offers pairs by category (general, food, style and Christmas), and Would You Rather? presents dilemmas in seven categories, including a Christmas and year-end one, with a group vote.

For groups that already know each other, Most Likely To? and Never Have I Ever get good laughs, and both have a Christmas category. Stick to the light categories and agree up front that no line will be accepted if it embarrasses someone. In a mixed work group with managers and direct reports, lean toward This or That: “most likely to…” points a finger at specific people, which can weigh on a room with a hierarchy.

For the office: teams, prizes and the gift swap

At the office, the goal is to mix departments that do not talk during the year. That is why teams come out of a draw, and why the game must be something where nobody is forced to act silly in front of the room. The table collects the easiest activities to run, with group size, time, materials and where to play.

White Elephant deserves a spot at the office because it costs almost nothing and gets people talking. Everyone brings a wrapped gift within the agreed ceiling; turn order is drawn; on your turn you open a new gift or steal an opened one, and a gift stolen a set number of times (typically 3) “freezes” (Elfster and DrawNames describe this same format). The site’s host tool draws the order, shows whose turn it is, blocks illegal moves and counts the steals, with a big-screen mode that casts to a TV. If the group would rather have each person receive a gift from a specific someone, use Secret Santa and see the complete guide to organizing a Secret Santa.

For door prizes, the giveaway picker lets you paste the list, set the prizes and enter a public seed; the draw is reproducible, and anyone with the proof and the list gets the same winners. That settles the “was it fair?” question, which matters more in large teams.

For the family: kids, grandparents and anyone with little patience

In a family, the challenge is a room with very different ages. The rule is to pick games everyone understands in ten seconds and where nobody has to run, write fast or use a phone. Bingo, for example, works from youngest to oldest: the cards are printed, the numbers are called out loud, and the tool even checks the winner against the code printed on the card.

The left-right gift game is the crowd-pleaser for big families: everyone sits in a circle with a gift on their lap, someone reads a story, and each “right” or “left” passes the gift along. The generator brings six original stories in three lengths, with your family’s names in place of the characters, and counts how many rights and lefts the story has. With 8 people and a net of 8, for example, the circle goes all the way around and everyone ends up with the gift they brought. For the kids, the scavenger hunt generator builds the whole chain of hiding spots with rhymes and riddles from the theme, the age and the location.

Two notes for the grandparents’ table: avoid games where someone has to read small print on a phone screen, and give a useful role to anyone who would rather not play, such as calling the bingo numbers or judging the charades. Taking part is not only playing.

For remote teams: a video call that does not turn into a meeting

On a video call the biggest enemy is the silence of dozens of cameras. That is why a remote plan needs more structure than an in-person one: few people at a time, an emcee who hands over the floor, and activities that fit on a shared screen. In groups of more than 12, use breakout rooms for the team game and bring everyone back for the reveal.

Two practical notes. Mind Meter was designed for a single device: in a remote setting, the host shares the screen and the group discusses out loud, which works but needs someone to run it. And a remote Secret Santa needs a deadline: set the shipping cutoff with room to spare, because mail runs later in December. The Secret Santa guide explains how to send one link per person, with no sign-up.

How to play each activity in 3 steps

Open an activity to see the short step-by-step. These are the instructions the host reads out loud, so the game can start without a long introduction.

Inclusion and safety at work events

What makes a holiday party good for HR is the same thing that makes it good for people: nobody is forced into anything. SHRM, the US human-resources association, recommends making participation voluntary and making clear that skipping will not affect anyone’s standing; considering a two-part party, with an alcohol-free first stretch for thank-yous and announcements; making the gift exchange optional so nobody feels pressured to buy; and checking an interfaith calendar before setting the date (see the sources). The Brazilian labor guide we consulted treats the event as an invitation and advises the employer to keep decorum and step in when something gets out of hand.

The list below mixes what those sources say with practical advice of our own, which is common sense and not a rule. Adapt it to your context; for legal questions about the event, ask your HR team or the company’s legal counsel.

• The invitation says participation is optional, and managers confirm it to their teams. (SHRM)
• The gift exchange is optional, with a low ceiling set in writing. (SHRM, practice)
• There are non-alcoholic drinks and real food, and alcohol is not the point of the party. (practice)
• Nobody pours or presses a drink; declining needs no explanation. (practice)
• The date does not fall on a major religious observance for part of the team. (SHRM)
• The venue has step-free access, an accessible restroom and a quieter corner. (practice)
• Games have an exit (pass the turn), teams are drawn and no activity depends on physical contact. (practice)
• On video calls, the camera is optional, and captions or a transcript are on where possible. (practice)
• No jokes about bodies, age, money, personal life or religion, in any game. (practice)
• Someone plans ahead how everyone will get home. (practice)

In games with personal questions, always use the light categories. The site’s games (Never Have I Ever, Most Likely To and Would You Rather) have light content suitable for all ages, but that does not replace the host’s judgment: if a line sounds heavy for your group, skip it. For more on circle games and consent, see also the safe rules and variants for spin the bottle.