White Elephant
Swap, steal and unwrap mystery gifts in a lively Christmas gift exchange where the most wanted presents can change hands several times.
Up and aboutOne at a timeA winnerLots of talking
Christmas Games for Adults
For a grown-up gathering, an office party or a late evening: games with a bit of edge to them.
A table of grown-ups does not need a game made simpler; it needs one in the style it is in the mood for. Some groups want to sit and argue over a dilemma, some want a winner, some want to watch a friend act out a carol, and some would rather nobody was made to do anything of the kind. Those are the differences that matter, and the records say where each game falls.
These 8 are the ones we would put in front of a grown-up gathering first, chosen for range: 5 are played sitting down, 3 run in teams, 1 have no winner at all, and one is a proper competition. Every one of our 23 games can be played by adults; if the style you want is not here, the rest is one link away.
The eight
Choose by the kind of evening
Players and time from each game’s record, and the four things that set its style — seated or up, in teams or all at once, whether anyone wins, and how much of it is talking.
Play here
Christmas Trivia
Test your Christmas knowledge with festive questions covering traditions, movies, music, food and celebrations from around the world.
Sitting downIn teamsA winnerSome talking
Play here
Christmas Charades
Act out Christmas characters, traditions, songs and festive activities while your teammates race to guess the answer.
Up and aboutIn teamsA winnerSome talking
Play here
Christmas Categories
Race to think of Christmas words that fit a list of categories and begin with the chosen letter before time runs out.
Sitting downEveryone at onceA winnerSome talking
Play here
Christmas Would You Rather
Choose between two funny or festive Christmas scenarios, then compare answers and explain your choice.
Sitting downEveryone at onceNo winnerLots of talking
Christmas Emoji Challenge
Decode Christmas songs, movies, characters and festive phrases represented by combinations of emoji.
Sitting downEveryone at onceA winnerSome talking
Play here
60-Second Christmas Games
Play a series of quick Christmas challenges using simple household items, with each round designed to last about one minute.
On your feetIn teamsProperly competitiveLittle talking
Name That Christmas Song
Listen to a short musical clue and race to identify the Christmas song before anyone else.
Sitting downEveryone at onceA winnerSome talking
Try this when…
Six things a group of adults usually knows about itself before it chooses, and the game in this set that fits each one — chosen from the records, with the reason shown.
- …everyone would rather stay seated and talk
- Christmas Would You Rathersitting down · lots of talking
- …the group wants something to win
- 60-Second Christmas Gamesproperly competitive · in teams
- …nobody wants to be the one performing
- Christmas Emoji Challengeno one on the spot · everyone at once
- …you want to play in teams
- Christmas Triviain teams · sitting down
- …the group likes a bit of performance
- Christmas Charadessomeone performs · up and about
- …there is a quarter of an hour to fill
- Name That Christmas Songabout 15 min · no prep
Choosing a Christmas game for adults
The cards above carry the facts; these are the questions to put to them, in the order they usually decide it.
Talking or doing?
2 of the eight are conversation with a structure — a dilemma to take sides on, a gift to argue over — and the rest are something to do: guess, act, race, recall. A group that has been talking all evening often wants the second kind; a group that has just met wants the first, because it gives them something to say.
Does anyone need to win?
The trait line says whether a game has a winner and how seriously it takes one. Only one of these is properly competitive; 1 have no winner, and the rest keep score lightly. Choose on purpose: a competitive group given a game with no winner will invent one, and a gentle group given a proper contest will stop enjoying it.
Who is on the spot?
Acting a carol for the room is the whole point of one of these games and the reason two people at the table will refuse to play it. Games where everyone plays at once — a card to fill, a choice to make, a clue to read — put nobody on the spot; games in teams share it. Look at the participation trait before the name.
How many, and how long?
The smallest of these works from 2, the largest needs 6 to start, and three have no upper limit. Rounds run from about 15 to 35 minutes; pick for the time you actually have between courses or before the film, not for the evening you would plan if you had all of it.
What has to be ready?
3 of the eight need nothing at all — no paper, no phone, no bowl. One needs a wrapped gift from every player, which is a decision for the invitation, not the evening. Everything else wants a minute with pen and paper before you sit down.
Not the style you were after?
Every game in the library can be played by adults; this is a selection for range, not a ruling. The Game Finder takes who is there, how many and the mood, and picks from all twenty-three — or browse the full list with every game’s rules.
Getting the group to actually play
Read the room’s appetite, not its size
Adults decline games for two reasons: they do not want to perform, or they do not want to compete. Choose a game that asks for neither, and the people who said “I’ll just watch” will be playing inside a minute.
Explain it in two sentences and start
Every game here can be explained faster than it can be argued about. Say what a turn is and how it ends, run one round as the example, and let the rules settle themselves. A rules debate before the first round is how an evening loses the game.
Never volunteer someone
Ask who wants to go first; where a game has a spotlight, let the people who enjoy it take it. Someone who was pushed into acting out a carol in front of colleagues remembers that longer than they remember the game.
Use teams to lower the stakes
A team answer is nobody’s fault. Where a game runs in teams, mix the people who know each other with the people who do not, and let the quiet ones contribute by conferring rather than announcing.
If there is a second game, change the style
After a seated game, one on your feet; after a contest, one with no winner; after a performance, one where everyone plays at once. Two games of the same kind in a row feel like one long game, and one is usually enough. Do not plan a programme.
Not the style you wanted? Browse all 23 Christmas games
Every game in the library can be played by adults — the quiet ones, the quick ones, the ones for two and the ones for a crowd — with full rules, or the Finder to pick one for the group you have.
Let the Finder choose