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September 28, 2026
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The office holiday party can be the best afternoon of the year or the most awkward. The difference often comes down to what people actually do once the food is served. Good office Christmas party games give coworkers a reason to talk to people outside their usual circle, create a few shared jokes and let everyone relax without pressure. Bad ones make people stare at the floor.
This guide gathers 30 office Christmas party games that work in real workplaces, grouped by type: quick icebreakers, team challenges, gift exchange games, low-effort games for busy days and options for remote and hybrid teams. For each one you will find how it works, how long it takes and what you need. You will also find planning tips, a sample schedule and advice on keeping things inclusive so everyone can join in.
Before choosing, it helps to know what separates office Christmas party games people love from games people tolerate.
Use these quick office Christmas party games at the start of the party while people arrive and settle in.
Each person shares three holiday-related statements, two true and one false: “I have never seen Home Alone,” “I once ate Christmas dinner at a gas station,” “My family opens gifts on Christmas Eve.” Others guess the lie. It works in groups of five to ten and takes about 15 minutes.
Read famous but short lines from holiday films and let teams guess the movie. Keep quotes brief and well known. Teams write answers on a sheet; the host reveals scores at the end.
Hand out bingo cards with squares such as “has been to a Christmas market abroad,” “prefers eggnog to cocoa” or “has a real tree.” Guests find a coworker who matches each square and write their name in it. It is one of the best office Christmas party games for getting people to talk to someone new.
Collect childhood holiday photos from volunteers in advance and display them on a screen. Coworkers guess who is who. Make it opt-in only; not everyone wants to share.
Read pairs of options, such as real tree or fake, stuffing or mashed potatoes, “Elf” or “Die Hard.” People move to one side of the room or raise a colored card. It takes five minutes and needs no setup.
These office Christmas party games build team spirit and a bit of friendly competition.
Trivia is the most reliable of all office Christmas party games. Split into teams of four to six, prepare four rounds of five questions (movies, music, traditions around the world and company facts), and keep score on a whiteboard. Include a round about your own workplace, such as “In what year did we open our second office?” Our Christmas traditions guides are a good source for question ideas.
Give each team the same gingerbread kit and 30 minutes. Award prizes for best design, most structurally sound and most creative use of candy. Pre-built kits keep it manageable in an office.
Each team chooses a “snowman” volunteer and wraps them in toilet paper, adding accessories like scarves and paper hats. The best snowman wins. It is silly, quick and very photogenic. Always ask for volunteers.
Hide holiday items around the office or create a list of photo challenges: a selfie with the CEO’s plant, a team photo in front of the tree, something red in the break room. Teams race to finish first.
Run a series of 60-second challenges: stack plastic cups into a tree, move candy canes using only a candy cane held in your mouth, or toss ornaments into a bucket. Minute to Win It challenges are among the most energetic office Christmas party games, and spectators enjoy them as much as players.
Write holiday words on slips: sleigh, nutcracker, ugly sweater, snow globe. Teams take turns drawing on a whiteboard while their teammates guess.
Like Pictionary but acted out. Include easy prompts for less confident players, such as “wrapping a present” or “ice skating.”
Play the first few seconds of well-known holiday songs and let teams race to name them. A playlist and a speaker are all you need. Keep it to instrumental intros so it moves quickly.
Invite people to wear their most outrageous holiday sweaters and vote in categories such as most festive, most DIY and most likely to cause a power outage. It is optional by nature: those who do not want to dress up can vote.
Set up four or five mini stations around the office, such as a paper snowball toss, a wrapping race and a desk-chair slalom (safely, on a smooth floor), and rotate teams through them.
Gift exchanges are a staple of office Christmas party games. Set a clear spending limit, often $15 to $30, and share the rules in advance. Gift cards make great fallbacks; our guide to Black Friday gift card deals explains how to buy them for less.
Everyone brings a wrapped gift. Players draw numbers. The first person opens a gift; each subsequent player can open a new gift or steal one already opened. Limit steals per gift to keep it moving.
Similar to White Elephant, but add a dice roll each turn: roll a six and you can swap with anyone; roll a one and you must pass your gift left.
Read a holiday story filled with the words “left” and “right.” Players pass their gifts in that direction every time they hear the word. Whoever holds a gift at the end keeps it. You can find printable stories in our printable Christmas games guide.
If your team runs Secret Santa, turn the reveal into a game: each person guesses who their Santa was before the answer is revealed. Give a small prize to anyone who guesses correctly.
Give everyone play money, perhaps earned through earlier games, and auction off wrapped prizes. It ties multiple office Christmas party games together into one ongoing competition.
Not every team has an afternoon to spare. These office Christmas party games need little preparation.
Print scrambled holiday words and give teams five minutes to solve them. Fastest correct team wins.
“Would you rather have a 6 a.m. meeting on December 24 or answer 200 emails on January 2?” Keep questions light and work-relevant for easy laughs.
Fill a jar with candy and let people submit guesses throughout the day. Announce the winner at the party. It is one of the simplest office Christmas party games and runs itself.
Invite teams or individuals to decorate their desks or team areas. Judges walk around and award prizes. It stretches the fun over a whole week.
Post a funny holiday photo in the team chat and ask for captions. Vote on the best one at the party.
Remote and hybrid teams need office Christmas party games that work on video. Keep sessions short, use breakout rooms for small groups and send any printouts in advance. If your team is setting up home workspaces, our guide to essential tech accessories for remote workers covers cameras, headsets and lighting that make video calls easier.
Use a quiz platform or a simple slide deck. Teams discuss answers in breakout rooms and submit through chat.
Everyone decorates their video background, physical or virtual, and the team votes. It needs zero prep from the host.
Each person shares one ornament, mug or decoration and its story in 60 seconds. It is a gentle way for remote colleagues to get to know each other.
Call out items and give people 30 seconds to find them at home: something red, a candle, a holiday card, a pet in a festive hat. First to show it on camera earns a point.
Browser-based drawing games let teams play Pictionary together with a shared link. Create a custom word list with holiday and workplace terms.
The size of your group changes which office Christmas party games will work best.
| Team size | Best games | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 5 to 15 people | Two Truths and a Lie, Secret Santa reveal, Pictionary, gingerbread build | Everyone can take a turn and hear each other |
| 15 to 50 people | Trivia, bingo mingle, White Elephant, scavenger hunt | Teams keep things organized |
| 50 to 200 people | Name That Tune, Minute to Win It stage challenges, ugly sweater contest, candy jar guess | Spectator-friendly games work for big rooms |
| 200+ people | Stations or a festival-style layout with several games running at once | People choose what suits them |
For very small teams, cooperative office Christmas party games are often better than competitive ones. For large companies, run several games at once so nobody waits in line.
You can run excellent office Christmas party games on almost any budget. Here is a rough guide for a team of about 30 people.
| Budget level | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Under $50 | Printed bingo cards, trivia sheets, candy jar, a few small prizes |
| $50 to $200 | Gingerbread kits, Minute to Win It supplies, gift cards as prizes, a traveling trophy |
| $200+ | A hired host or DJ, photo booth props, larger prizes, catered themed snacks |
The biggest cost is usually prizes, not materials. Buying supplies during holiday sales helps; our early Black Friday deals guide explains how to find genuine discounts.
It is tempting to see games as filler between food and speeches, but well-run office Christmas party games do real work. They break down silos between departments, give new hires an easy way to meet people, and create shared stories that carry into the new year. A team that laughed through a gingerbread collapse together tends to find it easier to collaborate in January. For managers, games are also a chance to step back and let others lead, which builds goodwill.
Here is a two-hour schedule that uses office Christmas party games without feeling overplanned.
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 0:00 to 0:20 | Arrivals, food and Holiday Bingo Mingle |
| 0:20 to 0:50 | Christmas Trivia Showdown |
| 0:50 to 1:10 | Food, drinks and free time |
| 1:10 to 1:30 | Minute to Win It or Gingerbread Build-Off |
| 1:30 to 1:55 | White Elephant gift exchange |
| 1:55 to 2:00 | Prizes, thanks and group photo |
A small startup team and a 300-person department need different approaches. Survey people briefly in advance: would they prefer competitive games, relaxed activities or a mix? A quick poll also signals that participation is welcome, not mandatory.
Choose an upbeat host who can explain rules clearly, keep time and encourage people without singling anyone out. A good host is the secret ingredient behind successful office Christmas party games.
Create teams across departments and seniority levels. Mixing people is one of the biggest benefits of office Christmas party games, because it builds connections that help at work later.
For office Christmas party games that run smoothly, print cards, buy prizes, test the speaker and set up video links a day ahead. A small box with pens, tape, scissors and spare batteries saves last-minute scrambling.
Stop each game while people are still enjoying it. It is better to leave people wanting more than to drag on.
A good office party welcomes everyone, including people who do not celebrate Christmas, introverts, people with disabilities and remote staff.
Prizes add motivation to office Christmas party games without costing much.
Keep physical office Christmas party games safe. Clear space around active games, avoid standing on chairs or desks, keep floors dry and have a first aid kit nearby. Check with HR or facilities before using open flames, confetti or anything that might trigger smoke detectors. If alcohol is served, provide plenty of non-alcoholic drinks and food, and never tie drinking to game rules.
The best office Christmas party games do not have to end when the party does. Share photos in the team chat, announce winners in the next team meeting and hang the traveling trophy somewhere visible. Ask for quick feedback with a two-question survey: which game did you enjoy most, and what should we try next year? Save your trivia questions, printouts and rules in a shared folder so next year’s organizer does not start from scratch. Over time, a few favorite office Christmas party games become part of your company culture, the ones people ask about as soon as December arrives.
Some of the best office Christmas party games are adapted from other celebrations. Costume contests become ugly sweater contests; Halloween trivia becomes Christmas trivia. For more inspiration, see our guides to Halloween party themes and Halloween trivia questions and answers, which show how to structure themed games for groups.
Trivia, bingo mingle, Name That Tune, scavenger hunts and Minute to Win It challenges scale well because teams can be any size.
Holiday This or That, Two Truths and a Lie, charades and Would You Rather need almost no setup.
Aim for 10 to 30 minutes per game and two or three games in a two-hour party.
Make participation optional, avoid alcohol-based games, offer non-physical options and use broadly inclusive holiday or winter themes.
Virtual trivia, a holiday background contest, show and tell, a virtual scavenger hunt and online Pictionary work well on video calls.
Prizes are not essential, but small ones add motivation and a sense of occasion. A traveling trophy or bragging rights often work just as well as gift cards.
Most teams choose between $15 and $30 so everyone can take part comfortably.
The best office Christmas party games are simple, inclusive and a little bit silly. Choose a mix of icebreakers, one team challenge and a gift exchange, appoint a cheerful host and keep every round short. With a little planning, your holiday party becomes something people actually look forward to, and the connections made during a round of trivia or a gingerbread build-off often last well into the new year.
Want more festive ideas? Browse our free printable Christmas games for family gatherings and our guide to Chinese restaurants open on Christmas Day if you are planning a relaxed December 25.
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