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The short answer The best Christmas party games for work are easy to join, clean and optional: find-a-coworker bingo to break the ice, winter holidays trivia in teams, work-edition This or That, a holiday survey game and a gift swap with a firm price cap. None of them assume everyone celebrates Christmas. Below are 20 office holiday party games for in-person, remote and lunch-hour parties, plus wording tips to keep the whole team included.
Holiday Party Find a Coworker
How to play: Hand everyone a card and a pen at the door, or send the PDF out ahead of time. Mingle and find a coworker who matches each square. They sign or initial it. Each coworker can sign only one square on your card.
- Has worked here less than a year
- Has worked here more than five years
- Has worked in another department here
- Commutes more than 30 minutes
- Speaks more than two languages
- Has been to another continent
- Can say happy holidays in another language
- Has a holiday tradition from another country
- Has baked something for coworkers this year
- Has a desk plant that's still alive
- Has a pet with a funny name
- Plays a musical instrument
+ 18 more in the printable.
Find a coworker works in almost any office. Each card has 25 squares like “has worked here less than a year” or “can say happy holidays in another language,” and people mingle to find a colleague for each one. New hires meet the veterans, departments that only talk by email finally meet in person, and nobody has to perform. Add your team name to the top, print a card per person, or send the PDF out before the party.
The prompts are about work, travel and hobbies, not religion or personal life, so the card works for any team. That’s the standard to hold every game on this list to.
How to keep an office holiday party inclusive
An office party is a work event, even with a tree in the corner. A few choices keep it fun for everyone who shows up.
- Call it a holiday party. Some coworkers celebrate Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or another holiday, and some celebrate nothing at all for religious or personal reasons. In 2026, Hanukkah starts at sundown on December 4 and ends December 12, and Kwanzaa runs December 26 to January 1.
- Make every game optional. Let people watch, keep score or run the music instead. Nobody should feel their review depends on a relay race.
- Skip the drinking games. Even if there’s an open bar, games built around drinking put people in an awkward spot.
- No touching, no mistletoe. Leave out anything with lap sitting, blindfolded guessing of coworkers or kissing jokes.
- Keep questions off religion, money, relationships and bodies. It rules out a lot of “never have I ever” cards, and that’s fine.
- Plan for everyone. Include seated games, check dietary needs before any food game, and give remote staff a way in.
Here’s how to swap the wording on common games:
| Instead of | Try |
|---|---|
| Christmas party | Holiday party, end-of-year party, winter party |
| Christmas trivia | Winter holidays trivia |
| Secret Santa | Secret gift swap, secret snowflake |
| Ugly Christmas sweater contest | Ugly sweater contest, cozy sweater day |
| Merry Christmas on signs and cards | Happy holidays, season’s greetings, cheers to the new year |
The Game Maker lets you change the words on bingo cards, find-a-coworker cards, word lists and card decks before you print, so you can swap out anything that’s too Christmas-specific for your team.
Icebreaker games
1. Find a coworker (free printable)
The card above. Hand it out at the door with a pen. Each coworker can sign only one square per card, so people have to talk to at least five others to win. Let it run 15 minutes, then give prizes for the first five in a row and for the most squares signed.
2. This or That, work edition (free printable)
“Would you rather have unlimited vacation days or a 20% raise?” Read a card and everyone raises a hand for one side. Someone from the smaller side explains their choice in one sentence. The deck has 45 work questions, and only one mentions the holidays, so it fits any team.
This or That: Work Edition
How to play: Cut the cards apart and shuffle them. Start a meeting or party by drawing one card and reading it aloud. Everyone raises a hand for the first option and keeps it down for the second.
- Would you rather have a four-day workweek or work from anywhere in the world?
- Would you rather have a boss who micromanages or a boss you never hear from?
- Would you rather give a presentation to the whole company or run the office holiday party?
- Would you rather have a 30-minute commute every day or work from home with a loud neighbor?
- Would you rather have unlimited vacation days or a 20% raise?
- Would you rather share a desk with a coworker who hums or one who eats tuna at their desk?
- Would you rather have your email inbox at zero forever or never have another meeting?
- Would you rather be the best-paid person on the team or the best-liked?
- Would you rather have a standing desk or a desk with a view?
- Would you rather get a free lunch every day or leave an hour early every Friday?
- Would you rather work with your best friend or never have to see your coworkers outside of work?
- Would you rather have every meeting be a video call or every meeting be in person?
+ 33 more in the printable.
3. Two truths and a lie, winter edition
Each person shares three facts about their winters (a favorite food, a trip, a disaster in the kitchen), one of them made up. The team guesses the lie. Allow a minute per person, so split into tables of six if you have more than 20 people.
4. Paper snowball fight
Everyone writes a little-known fact about themselves on a sheet of paper, crumples it and throws it across the room on the count of three. Pick up any snowball, open it, and find the person who wrote it. It takes five minutes and ends with everyone in conversation.
5. Guess the coworker’s winter photo
Ask people to send in a winter photo from childhood, or a photo of a favorite winter place, a week before. Number them on a slideshow or a wall, and have everyone match photos to names. Make it opt-in and tell people exactly where the photos will be shown.
Team games
6. Winter holidays trivia (free printable)
Twenty-two multiple-choice questions on Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, the winter solstice, Las Posadas, Boxing Day and New Year’s traditions from Scotland to Japan. Every answer is checked against a published source. Play in teams of four to six; it runs 20 to 30 minutes.
Winter Holidays Trivia
How to play: Print one quiz per team, or play on a TV and read each question aloud. Teams of three to six circle one answer per question. No phones. Swap sheets and mark them as the host reads the answer key.
- How many nights does Hanukkah last?
- How many branches does a Hanukkah menorah have?
- What is the helper candle on a Hanukkah menorah called?
- Latkes and jelly doughnuts are Hanukkah favorites because they're fried in what?
- How many sides does a dreidel have?
- Kwanzaa begins on which date each year?
- How many days does Kwanzaa last?
- In what year was Kwanzaa first celebrated?
- The name Kwanzaa comes from a phrase in which language?
- What is the candle holder used during Kwanzaa called?
- In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice (around December 21) is the ___ day of the year.
- Boxing Day is a public holiday in the UK, Canada and Australia. What date is it?
+ 10 more in the printable.
Teams that celebrate one of these holidays will know a few answers cold, and that’s a feature. People end up explaining their traditions to each other, which is the point of an office party anyway.
7. Holiday survey game (free printable)
Two teams guess the most common answers to questions like “Name something people do after a big holiday dinner.” The questions cover several holidays, from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve. The point values are our editors’ best guess at the most common answers, not a real poll. Run it on the conference-room TV with Play mode and reveal answers one at a time.
Holiday Survey Game
How to play: Split into two teams and line them up. Two players face off: the host reads the question and the first to slap the table answers. The winning team guesses one player at a time until the board is clear or they get three strikes.
- Name something people buy only around Christmas
- Name a Thanksgiving side dish
- Name something people do on New Year's Eve
- Name a popular Halloween costume
- Name something you'd find in an Easter basket
- Name something associated with the Fourth of July
- Name something people give on Valentine's Day
- Name a job Santa's elves might have besides making toys
- Name something people do after a big holiday dinner
- Name something that goes wrong at a family holiday
- Name a holiday song people are tired of hearing
- Name something people put on top of a Christmas tree
8. Name that holiday tune
Play the first few seconds of a seasonal song and teams write the title. Mix in winter songs that never mention Christmas, like “Winter Wonderland” and “Let It Snow,” so the round isn’t all carols. Twenty songs take about 15 minutes.
9. Office trivia
Write 15 questions about your own workplace: What year did the company open? How many floors does the building have? Which department ordered the most pizza this year? Keep it light and don’t single anyone out. It’s usually the game people talk about afterward.
10. Gingerbread build-off
Each team gets graham crackers, frosting and a bowl of candy, plus 25 minutes to build something. It doesn’t have to be a house; “our office building” or “the break room” are more fun. Judge on creativity, not neatness. Ask about food allergies first.
Gift exchange games
Set a low price cap that everyone on the team can manage, and make the gift swap opt-in. People who don’t join can still watch and cheer.
11. White elephant with a steal limit
Everyone who’s joining brings one wrapped gift and draws a number. Player 1 opens a gift; everyone after that opens a new one or steals an opened gift. Cap every gift at three steals, or a team of 30 will still be at it when the cleaning crew arrives.
12. Left-right gift pass
Everyone sits in a circle holding a wrapped gift. The host reads a short story, and every time it says LEFT or RIGHT, gifts get passed that way. It takes under 10 minutes and nobody gets their gift stolen, which some people strongly prefer. Our story is printable from the Christmas party games for adults page.
13. Dice gift swap
Put the gifts in the middle and take turns rolling a die. A 6 lets you take a gift from the pile, a 1 lets you swap with anyone. Once the pile is empty, set a three-minute timer and keep rolling. It’s quick, and nobody has to make a speech.
14. Desk gift drop
For teams that can’t all get together at once, run the swap over a week. People leave wrapped gifts on the recipient’s desk anonymously, with one clue a day about who the giver is. On Friday, everyone guesses their giver.
Quick games for a lunch-hour party
If the party is an hour in a conference room, pick one or two of these and leave time to eat.
15. Guess the jar
Fill a jar with wrapped candy, count it and leave slips beside it for a week before the party. Announce the closest guess at lunch. No host needed.
16. Ornament stack
Volunteers get one minute to stack shatterproof ornaments into a tower. The tallest standing tower wins. Everyone else watches from their chairs, which suits a crowded room.
17. Desk or door decorating contest
Teams decorate a door, a cubicle row or a whiteboard in any winter theme. Everyone votes on the last day. Set a budget and a rule about fire codes (no candles, keep exits clear).
18. Cookie contest
Anyone who wants to bakes one batch; everyone else is a judge. Label every plate with its ingredients so people with allergies can choose safely.
Games for remote and hybrid teams
19. Screen-share trivia
Share your screen with the winter holidays trivia in Play mode. Players type their answers in a private chat to the host, or teams use breakout rooms. It works the same for 8 people or 80.
20. Find it at home
The host calls out something to find (“something red,” “a mug with a logo,” “the oldest thing in your kitchen”) and the first person to hold it up to the camera gets a point. Ten rounds takes about 15 minutes, and nobody needs to download anything.
- Printed find-a-coworker cards and pens, one per person plus spares
- The trivia quiz and This or That cards, or a TV for Play mode
- Scrap paper for the snowball fight
- Graham crackers, frosting and candy for the build-off
- A die, a jar of wrapped candy and shatterproof ornaments
- Name tags if departments don’t know each other
- Small prizes: gift cards, snacks, a parking spot for a week, first pick of the gift pile
A 90-minute office party plan
Say you’re hosting 40 coworkers from 3:00 to 4:30 on a Friday. A plan that keeps things moving:
- 3:00: find a coworker, while people get food.
- 3:20: winter holidays trivia in table teams, two rounds of 11 questions.
- 3:50: two or three This or That cards to reset the room, then the survey game.
- 4:15: left-right gift pass for anyone who brought a gift, then prizes.
That’s four games in 90 minutes, which is plenty. People want time to talk, too.
Put someone who isn’t the boss in charge of the games. People loosen up faster when a coworker hosts, and the manager gets to play instead of watching everyone watch them.
For a crowd of 80 or more, our Christmas party games for large groups covers microphones, table teams and bigger gift swaps. For more questions to break the ice, try our would you rather questions, and find every holiday printable we make on our Christmas games page.
Questions hosts ask
What are good games for an office Christmas party?
Find-a-coworker bingo, team trivia, a holiday survey game, This or That cards, a paper snowball fight and a white elephant swap with a steal limit all work well.
How do you make an office holiday party inclusive?
Call it a holiday party, make games optional, skip drinking games and anything physical, keep questions off religion, money and relationships, and plan seated and remote options.
What holiday games can remote teams play?
Screen-share trivia with answers sent privately to the host, a find-it-at-home race on camera, and a This or That vote in the chat all work on any video call.
How many games should an office party have?
Three or four for a 90-minute party: an icebreaker as people arrive, one team game, a quick reset game and an optional gift swap at the end.
What can we call Secret Santa at work?
Secret gift swap or secret snowflake are common alternatives that keep the same rules without tying the game to one holiday.
By the Party Game Book editors. Every game here is free to print for personal, classroom and non-commercial use. How we make and check our games.
