25 Christmas Party Games Just for the Adults

Ornament Guess

Start your Christmas games for adults at your office party or at home with a simple guessing game. When a guest walks in, hand them a slip of paper and ask them to guess how many Christmas ornaments are on your tree. Whoever gets closest to the actual number wins a prize. If there are two or more people who guess the number correctly, put the entries in a bowl and pick one at random.

Christmas Carol Pictionary

The classic drawing game Pictionary gets a holiday twist in this activity. Guests form teams and then race to draw popular Christmas carols. Once their teammates know which Christmas carol is being depicted, they'll have to start singing it to get a point. Keep playing until one team reaches a predetermined score.

Candy Cane Spoons

If you're a fan of the card game Spoons, then you'll love this holiday-themed variation. It's played the same way as the classic card game. But instead of grabbing spoons, participants slyly take a candy cane. This Christmas party game is best for small groups of up to six people.

Christmas Find Out Who

How fast can your guests get to know each other? Print out a list of questions, such as "Who has never had a white Christmas?" and "Who went Christmas caroling last year?" Give each guest a piece of paper and a pen. Then, they'll have to ask people whether they fit any of the questions, which helps to break the ice and encourages mingling. The first person to get all of the questions answered wins a small prize.

Christmas Movie Trivia

Test your guests' knowledge of favorite holiday films. Print a list of trivia questions about popular holiday movies. You can either pass them out for guests to answer on their own, or host a live trivia game. Award a point for each correct answer; the person to get the most points can win a small gift.

Christmas Movie Drinking Game

Choose your favorite holiday movie. Options include A Christmas Story, Elf, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Home Alone, or How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Write out a list of things that happen in the movie; make some more subtle than others. Play the movie for your guests. When they spot one of the things on your list, everyone has to take a sip of their drink.

Christmas Charades

Charades can be a great icebreaker to make a work Christmas party fun or to introduce friends who don't know each other. For Christmas charades, come up with a list of things related to the holiday for guests to divide into teams and act out. Some good options include:

• "Jingle Bells"
• Snow angels
• The Nutcracker
• Decorating a Christmas tree
• "Silent Night"

Two Truths and a Lie

Add a Christmas twist to this popular icebreaker by setting the theme of "worst Christmas gift ever received." Have each guest come up with two that are true and one that is a lie. The other guests have to guess which ones are real and which one isn't.

Blindfolded Christmas Tree Crafting

Give your guests green craft paper, and see who can rip and construct the best-looking Christmas tree while blindfolded. To make the game harder, give them other colors of paper, and tell them to rip out and place ornaments for their tree, too. Setting a time limit will up the game's difficulty level.

Christmas Gift Exchange Game

If your home or office party includes a gift exchange, play this hilarious Christmas gift exchange game before you open the presents. It uses fun poems that will get everyone laughing while they're exchanging gifts. Anytime the words left, right, or across come up in the poem, guests must pass their gifts accordingly.

Christmas Paper Plate Game

For this Christmas game that is suitable for adults or kids, you'll need paper plates and markers. The partygoers will draw a Christmas scene on a paper plate, but they must do it while holding the plate over their head. The best scene wins a prize.

Snowball Throw

If you want to engage in a game that's a little more physical, bring out the marshmallows and let the "snowball" throw begin. Have guests split into two even teams, and then designate one person on each team as the thrower. The rest of the team should line up single file about 5 feet away from the team's thrower. Each thrower must then attempt to throw a marshmallow into all of their teammates' mouths. The team that finishes first wins.

Party Outfit Vote

Do your guests like to go all out in what they wear for your Christmas party? This game will truly reward those who embrace the ugly Christmas sweater. Have guests vote on who they think has the best holiday-inspired outfit, and give that person a small gift.

Two Spoons Ornament Relay

This Christmas party game for adults is a spin on the traditional relay race. Instead of a spoon and ​an egg, your guests will have to carefully race with a spoon and ornament. If someone drops their ornament, that person has to start over. The team that does it the fastest wins. Make sure to use plastic ornaments, so you don't have to worry about broken pieces.

Christmas Party Scavenger Hunt Game

You worked hard to decorate your home for your Christmas party, and it's time your guests realized it with this fun little game. Print out a scavenger hunt list with some of your decorations. Your guests will have to race around the party area to check off items on the list. The guest who finds the most wins.

Christmas Sing-a-Long

Music is a great way to make Christmas fun for adults. Assign each guest a line to sing from the classic carol "The 12 Days of Christmas." Have someone be the conductor of the song, and keep increasing its tempo as the guests jump in to sing their lines. By the end, everyone should be laughing and maybe a little out of breath.

Christmas Card Couples

Cut Christmas cards in half. When a guest arrives, hand them half a card. Their goal is to mingle with the other guests to find their other half. If you'll be playing more Christmas party games later, the duos you paired up with the cards can be partners for those games.

What's on Your Phone?

The Christmas version of "What's on Your Phone?" will have your guests scrambling to find Christmas-related songs, photos, texts, and more on their cellphones. Download a free printable for this game that will steer guests in the right direction. The person or team with the most points at the end is the winner.

Gift Box Guess

This is a great Christmas party game for an office party if you've hosted a toy drive. But it can work in homes as well. Have a large box or bag that contains small gifts, and ask guests to guess how many gifts they think are in the container. The guest who gets closest to the actual number (or guesses it exactly) wins a small prize.

Gift Wrap Relay

If you're hosting a party before Christmas, this might be the perfect way for guests to have fun and get some of their holiday to-do list done. Divide guests into teams with each team having the same number of gifts to wrap. Set out an assortment of wrapping items with each team member taking ownership of a specific item (e.g., tissue paper or tape). The team that finishes wrapping their gifts first—and gets approval from the game's judge that it's a quality wrapping job—wins.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas Trivia

Print out a list of trivia questions about 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. Divide guests into teams, or have them work individually on the questions. The team/player to get the most questions right wins a small gift.

Elf Name Generator

This is a simple, lighthearted Christmas party game that should get all your guests laughing together. Print out the Elf Name Generator key to have guests determine their "elf name" by looking at the first letter of their first and last names. For the rest of the party—or for a set amount of time—guests have to call each other by their elf name.

Christmas Song Scramble

Print out a list of short sections of lyrics from popular Christmas songs with their words scrambled up. Divide guests into teams, or have them work individually. The person/team to correctly unscramble the most lyrics and name which song the lyrics are from wins a small prize.

Unwrap the Gift

For this hot potato-style game, wrap a small box that contains a gift with several layers of wrapping paper. Have guests sit in a circle, and turn on music. While the music is playing, they should pass the box around the circle. Once the music is turned off, the person with the box can take off one layer of wrapping paper. The person to unwrap the last layer gets to open the box and keep the gift inside.

Who's Santa?

This is a murder mystery-like game but with lots of fun festive cheer. Choose one person to be Rudolph, and then have them leave the room. Then, choose one person to be Santa. After that, Rudolph can reenter the room. When Santa winks at another player, that person must say “Ho ho ho, merry Christmas!” Rudolph has to work to identify who’s Santa. Once they do, new people can take turns as Santa and Rudolph.