42 Exciting New Year’s Eve Party Games To End The Year
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New Year’s Eve is the perfect time to get together with your favourite people, reflect on the past year, and welcome the upcoming year with a bit of fun! That’s why these New Year’s Eve games are perfect!
It doesn’t matter if you’re hosting a big bash with a large group of friends or having a quiet night in with just a few of your nearest or dearest, New Year’s Eve party games are a fantastic way to keep the celebration lively.
I have put together a huge list of NYE games, with most of them being family-friendly plus a few adult party games for the grown up fun too!
Fun New Year’s Eve Party Games For Groups
The party games for New Year’s Eve on this list include a mix of classic games that are fun for any party or gathering, plus a few more specific New Year’s themed games too. Most of the ideas on this list can be adapted to suit all ages too!
Want them ready to go? My New Years Party Game Bundle has 27 printable New Years games and activities, so you can print the lot instead of prepping each one from scratch.
So choose your New Year’s party theme, plan some New Year’s party food and let’s get onto the fun!
1. Who Am I?
How to Play:
Write the name of a famous person, fictional character, or New Year’s-related word (like “champagne flutes” or “ball drop”) on a sticky note. Stick a note on each player’s forehead without letting them see it. Players take turns asking yes-or-no questions to figure out who or what they are. The first person to guess correctly wins!
What You Need:
- Sticky notes or slips of paper
- Pen or marker
2. Charades
How to Play:
Write down New Year’s-related words, famous people, or fun ideas on slips of paper and place them in a bowl. Divide into teams. Players take turns drawing a slinew yearp and acting out the word or phrase without speaking while their team guesses. The team with the most correct guesses wins!
Or make it easier and grab my free printable New Year’s charades game!
GET THIS PRINTABLE IN MY FREE PRINTABLES LIBRARY!
What You Need:
- Slips of paper with words or phrases
- A bowl
- A timer
3. Ball Drop Relay
How to Play:
Players race to carry balloons on spoons from the starting line to the finish line without dropping them. The next person in line takes over until all team members have raced. It’s soooo much harder than it sounds to keep a balloon balanced on a spoon while walking.
Players can’t hold their balloon in place while they walk and must stop to put their balloon on their spoon again before they can move again. The first team to finish wins!
What You Need:
- A starting line and finish line
- Balloons
- Large spoons
4. Saran Wrap Game
How to Play:
Create a ball by wrapping a prize in layers of plastic wrap, and adding small items like candy, trinkets, or coins between the layers. Players take turns unwrapping as much of the ball as they can before the next player rolls doubles with a pair of dice. Any items they unwrap during their turn are theirs to keep.
You can make the plastic wrap ball game more challenging by adding challenge cards. If you unwrap a challenge card during your turn, you must follow the instructions. These can be hilarious and add a little extra excitement to the game.
This has become the most popular party game at all our kids’ birthday parties as well as family holiday celebrations.
I have a set of New Year’s Eve-themed wrap challenge cards in my store.
What You Need:
- A large roll of plastic wrap
- Small prizes (e.g., candies, gift cards, coins)
- Dice
- Optional: Wrap Challenge Cards
5. Would You Rather?
How to Play:
Take turns asking questions like “Would you rather watch fireworks at midnight or sleep through the countdown?” or “Would you rather relive last year or skip ahead to next year?” This is a fun way to engage all ages and keep the conversation lighthearted.
What You Need:
- A list of “Would you rather…” questions or make them up on the spot. Grab my free printable New Year’s would you rather game.
6. New Year’s Bingo
How to Play:
Create Bingo cards with New Year’s-related items like party horns, “Auld Lang Syne,” or “countdown.” As items are mentioned or spotted throughout the night, players mark them off. The first person to get five in a row wins a small prize!
You can get a printable New Year’s Eve bingo game in my store with 30 unique bingo boards.
What You Need:
- Printable New Year’s Eve Bingo cards
- Markers or tokens
7. Scavenger Hunt
How to Play:
There are a few ways you can do a New Year’s Eve scavenger hunt. For the easiest option, create a list of items you know are within your home or yard and see if participants can tick each one off (e.g., a clock, confetti, a party horn).
For another option, hide items around the house or party area and give players a list of things to find. The first player or team to find all the items wins.
Or for older kids, teens and adults, have a scavenger hunt with puzzles and games to solve to find the next location. Get my codebreaker scavenger hunt to challenge your group:
What You Need:
- A New Year’s themed scavenger hunt
8. Junk In the Trunk
How to Play:
Collect a few empty tissue boxes. Fill each tissue box with the same number of ping-pong balls and tie it around the player’s waist. Players must shake their bodies to get all the balls out of the box within a time limit. The person who clears their box the fastest wins!
What You Need:
- Empty tissue boxes
- Ping-pong balls
- Rope, cord or belts
9. New Year’s Resolution Mad Libs
How to Play:
Hand out Mad Libs sheets with blanks for resolutions, goals, or New Year’s-themed phrases. Have each player fill in the blanks with random words without seeing the full context. Once everyone is done, read the hilarious results aloud.
What You Need:
- Printable Mad Libs templates (you can find free printable mad libs games online)
- Pens or pencils
10. Back-to-Back Balloon Pop
How to Play:
Divide players into pairs and give each pair a balloon. Players must stand back-to-back and pop the balloon by pressing against each other without using their hands. The pair that pops their balloon first wins.
What You Need:
- Balloons
11. Hot Sauce Roulette
If you’re spending New Year’s Eve with adventurous friends, this is the game for you! Set up a bunch of soda cans on a bench with straws, adding hot sauce to one of them. Players must pick a drink to sip from and hope they don’t get the hot sauce drink.
What you need:
- Cans of different flavoured soda
- Hot sauce
- Straws
12. Musical Chairs
How to Play:
Can’t go past this classic game! Arrange chairs in a circle and play music while players walk around them. When the music stops, players must quickly find a seat. Remove one chair each round until only one player remains. Add a fun twist and make them dance their way around the circle!
What You Need:
- Chairs
- Music
13. Pictionary
How to Play:
Have a large pad of paper or a whiteboard and split everyone into two teams. Choose the first team to go, set a 30 second timer and have one player draw out a word on a slip of paper (or just make it up on the spot). They must draw the word or phrase without using any actual words or speaking out loud. The other players on their team must try and guess what the drawing is before the timer goes off.
If they don’t get it in time, the other team has the chance to guess instead. Then switch teams. Gameplay continues until one team has a certain number of points (i.e. 5 or 10 points).
My free New Year’s charades cards are perfect for this game too!
What You Need:
- Large pad of paper or whiteboard
- Markers
- Pictionary words
14. Balloon Tennis
How to Play:
If you’re looking for an active indoor game that shouldn’t end up with any breakages, balloon tennis is a fun idea. Using fly swatters (clean ones, ideally) and balloons. Inspired by this balloon tennis gross motor play, with a more competitive twist.
Create a “net” with a strip of tape along the floor and split into 2 teams. Swat the balloon over the line and if the balloon touches the ground on the other side, you score a point for your team.
What You Need:
- Balloons
- Fly swatters
- Coloured tape
15. New Year’s Trivia
How to Play:
Divide players into teams. Ask trivia questions and award points for correct answers. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.
What You Need:
- A list of trivia questions about New Year’s traditions, history, and last year’s events
16. Left-Right Game
How to Play:
This storytelling game is perfect for groups of all ages. Write a story that includes the words “left” and “right” multiple times. Players sit in a circle and pass a gift or item around as the story is read aloud. Every time the storyteller says “left,” the item is passed to the left, and when they say “right,” it’s passed to the right. The person holding the item at the end of the story keeps it!
What You Need:
- A small gift or prize
- A pre-written “Left-Right” story – check out my New year’s left right across game
17. Pass the Parcel
How to Play:
Prepare a small prize and wrap it in multiple layers of wrapping paper. Players sit in a circle and pass the prize around while music plays. When the music stops, the person holding the prize unwraps one layer. Continue until the last layer is unwrapped, and the final player gets to keep the prize.
You can hide smaller prizes in some of the other layers.
What You Need:
- One prize or many smaller prizes (e.g., candy, gift card, or toy)
- Wrapping paper (enough for several layers)
- Music
18. What’s On Your Phone?
How to Play:
Create a scavenger hunt style list of things commonly found on a person’s phone, with a few obscure ones thrown in. Give each item a points value, like 1 point for common things, 2 points for less common and 5 points for really uncommon things found on a phone.
The items might include things like a fitness app, an event invite for this New Year’s Eve party, over 5000 photos, a selfie from today, etc.
Have each person go through their phone and score how many they have from the list.
What You Need:
- List of items with points or this printable What’s On Your Phone game
19. Champagne Flute Tower Challenge
How to Play:
Each player has one minute to build the tallest tower they can using plastic champagne flutes. The player with the highest, most stable tower wins.
For a cheaper alternative, use disposable cups instead! Same concept.
What You Need:
- Plastic champagne flutes or disposable cups
- A timer
20. Directed Drawing Game
How to Play:
Players close their eyes while one person reads out step-by-step instructions for drawing something (e.g., a snowman or a party hat). The results are guaranteed to be hilarious! At the end of the round, their drawing is scored based on accuracy and detail and points are awarded.
Create your own list of drawing challenges before your party, or grab my list of drawing prompts with a New Year’s Eve theme.
What You Need:
- Paper
- Markers, pencils, or crayons
- A list of drawing prompts and instructions
21. Egg & Spoon Race
How to Play:
You don’t always have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to party games! Egg and spoon races is a classic party game for a reason!
Divide players into teams. Each team member must carry an egg on a spoon from the starting line to the finish line without dropping it. You can do this as a solo race or make it an egg and spoon relay where players must pass the egg to the next person’s spoon. The first team to finish wins.
Make it more challenging by making players go back to the starting line if they drop their egg.
What You Need:
- Real or plastic eggs (or ping pong balls)
- Spoons
22. Resolution Match-Up
How to Play:
Each guest writes a New Year’s resolution on a slip of paper and places it in a bowl. Draw resolutions one at a time and let the group guess who wrote it.
What You Need:
- Slips of paper
- Pens
- Bowl
23. Balloon Countdown Game
How to Play:
Write a task or trivia question on a slip of paper and place it inside each balloon. Label each balloon with a time (e.g., 8 PM, 9 PM, etc.). Pop a balloon at each hour to reveal the task or challenge for players to complete.
The best thing about the balloon countdown game is that it’s a game played for the duration of the party, so make sure you prep balloons right from the beginning of your event.
What You Need:
- Balloons
- Slips of paper with tasks
- A pin
- Any items needed for your challenges
24. Auld Lang Syne Lyrics Scramble
How to Play: Give each player or team a list of scrambled lyrics. Players race to unscramble the words and complete the song. The first person or team to finish wins!
What You Need:
- Scrambled words from the song “Auld Lang Syne” printed on paper, pens
25. Two Truths and a Lie
How to Play:
Each player takes turns sharing two true statements and one false statement about themselves. The rest of the group tries to guess which statement is the lie. This game works well for getting to know each other or just having a good laugh.
What You Need:
- Nothing—just players and their imaginations
26. Drink If…
How to Play:
This lighthearted game involves taking turns reading statements that start with “Drink if…” followed by a condition, such as “you’ve ever fallen asleep before midnight on New Year’s Eve.” Players who relate to the statement take a sip of their drink.
It can work for both kids (with juice or soda) and adults (with champagne or cocktails). You can also make it a candy grab game – take a candy if…
What You Need:
- Drinks for everyone (juice, soda, or adult beverages)
- A list of “Drink if…” statements
27. Balloon Stomp
How to Play:
Tie a balloon to each player’s ankle using a string. The goal is to pop other players’ balloons by stomping on them while protecting your own. The last person with an intact balloon wins!
We have played this balloon game at a few kids’ birthday parties and it’s always so funny!
What You Need:
- Balloons (one for each player)
- String or ribbon (to tie balloons to ankles)
- Open space for stomping
28. New Year’s Eve Reflection Questions
For a more sentimental and sweet New Year’s Eve family game (that is also fun to play with friends), a New Year’s reflection game is a fun idea. Have some pre-prepared New Year’s Eve reflection questions ready.
Take turns reading a question out loud and listening to each other’s responses. This one is sure to bring up some great memories from the year that is almost over and quite a few laughs hopefully too, maybe with a couple of tears mixed in.
What You Need:
29. Truth or Dare
How to Play:
Players take turns choosing between answering a personal question (truth) or completing a fun or silly challenge (dare). This classic game can be tailored to fit any age group by adjusting the questions and dares. For a New Year’s Eve twist, focus on dares and truths related to resolutions, the past year, or the upcoming year.
What You Need:
- Optional: Slips of paper with pre-written truths and dares for players to draw randomly
30. Fill Your Glass
Set up a large bowl and pour in your drink of choice, such as some cheap wine (or just water if you don’t want to let any of the good stuff go to waste). Participants must race to fill their champagne flute using nothing but a teaspoon. The first person to fill their glass to the top and then drink it is the winner!
What You Need:
- Large bowl (like a punch bowl)
- Drink of choice
- Plastic champagne flutes
- Teaspoons
31. Highs and Lows of the Year
How to Play:
Each player writes one high and one low from the past year on a piece of paper. Mix all the slips in a bowl and read them aloud. Players can guess who wrote each one or simply enjoy reflecting on the moments shared.
What You Need:
- Slips of paper
- A large bowl
32. Ever or Never
How to Play:
Go around the circle asking players if they’ve ever done certain things (e.g., “Have you ever stayed up until sunrise on New Year’s Day?”). Players hold up a card or their hand to indicate “Yes” or “No.” It’s a fun way to spark laughter and learn fun facts about your friends and family.
What You Need:
- A list of “Have you ever…” questions
33. Escape Room Challenge
How to Play:
Set up an escape room with a New Year’s theme, such as solving puzzles to “escape” before midnight. Players work together to crack codes, solve riddles, and find clues.
What You Need:
- An escape room kit (store-bought or DIY)
34. The Bowl Game
How to Play:
The bowl game is a bit of a twist on truth or dare or 2 truths and a lie, where players all add a unique truth about themselves to a strip of paper and add it to a bowl. You don’t want it to be obvious who wrote them.
Once all the strips are in the bowl, someone can start the game by taking out a strip of paper and reading it out loud. Don’t reveal if it’s you! Starting from the person right of the reader, players go around the circle guessing whose truth they think it is.
After each player has guessed, the owner of the truth admits it was them and anyone who guessed correctly gets a point.
What You Need:
- Bowl
- Paper cut into strips
- Pens
- Candy for scoring (optional)
New Year’s Eve Minute To Win It Games
Minute to win it games are the easiest way to fill the stretch between dinner and midnight, especially with a crowd where not everyone knows each other. One player, one minute, everyone else watching and heckling. Set a timer, give each player a turn, and whoever does best takes the round.
You can run these as single rounds or score them across the night and crown an overall winner just before the countdown.
1. Confetti Scoop
How to Play:
Tip a pile of confetti into a bowl and set an empty cup a metre away. Players have one minute to move as much confetti as they can from the bowl to the cup using only a drinking straw and suction. No hands, no tipping the bowl. Count the confetti in the cup at the end, or just eyeball whose cup is fullest.
Metallic confetti is heavier and much harder than paper, so use paper if you’ve got kids playing.
What You Need:
- Confetti
- A bowl and a cup
- One straw per player
2. Countdown Cup Stack
How to Play:
Write the numbers 1 to 12 on twelve plastic cups, one number per cup. Shuffle them. Players have one minute to build a pyramid with the numbers in the right order, 12 across the bottom row down to 1 at the top, then take it back down to a single stack. Knock it over and you start the row again.
What You Need:
- 12 plastic cups
- A marker
- A timer
3. Streamer Sprint
How to Play:
Give each player a full roll of crepe paper streamer. In one minute, they have to unroll the entire thing by wrapping it around a partner, head to toe, mummy style. Nobody wins if the streamer tears and you have to restart, so the trick is going fast without going hard.
Best played in pairs, and it makes a mess, so do it before you bring out the good snacks.
What You Need:
- One roll of crepe paper streamer per pair
- A partner willing to stand still
4. Midnight Coin Toss
How to Play:
Set out twelve plastic champagne flutes in a row and label them 1 through 12, one for each chime of midnight. Players stand behind a line and have a minute to land a coin in each glass in order. You can’t move to glass 4 until you’ve landed glass 3. Furthest through the sequence wins.
Put a little water in each glass so they don’t tip, and so the coins don’t bounce straight back out.
What You Need:
- 12 plastic champagne flutes
- A handful of coins
- Masking tape for the line
5. Blow The Year Away
How to Play:
Balance a full deck of cards on top of an empty bottle. Players have one minute to blow the cards off one at a time, leaving as few on the bottle as possible without knocking it over. Sounds simple until you realise a big breath takes half the deck off and a small one takes none.
Count what’s left on the bottle. Lowest number wins.
What You Need:
- A deck of cards
- An empty bottle
- Steady lungs
6. Party Hat Pile Up
How to Play:
Give each player a stack of cone party hats. In one minute, they have to build the tallest freestanding tower they can by stacking the hats point to point and base to base, alternating. They can’t lean it against anything and it has to stand on its own for three seconds at the end to count.
What You Need:
- 15 to 20 cone party hats per player
- A flat surface
7. Noisemaker Knockdown
How to Play:
Line up ten paper cups along the edge of a table. Players have one minute to knock every cup off using nothing but a party blowout, the kind that unrolls when you blow into it. No hands, no leaning across the table.
This one is far funnier to watch than it is to play, which is exactly what you want at 10pm.
What You Need:
- Party blowouts, one per player
- 10 paper cups
- A table
8. Resolution Scramble
How to Play:
Write a New Year’s resolution on a strip of paper, then cut it into individual words and drop the pieces into an envelope. Each player gets an envelope with a different resolution in it. One minute to tip it out and reassemble the sentence in the right order. First one finished, or whoever gets closest, wins.
Make the resolutions silly rather than sincere. “I will stop eating cheese standing up in front of the fridge” plays much better than “I will exercise more.”
What You Need:
- Paper strips with resolutions written out
- Scissors
- Envelopes
Printable New Year’s Eve Game Bundle
GET MY MEGA NEW YEAR’S EVE GAME BUNDLE WITH MORE THAN 25 FUN PRINTABLE PARTY GAMES FOR FRIENDS AND FAMILY! GET YOUR BUNDLE HERE.
With these New Year’s Eve party games, your celebration is guaranteed to be a huge hit with ideas on the list for everyone—kids of all ages, teens, and adults alike. Best of all, many of these games require minimal setup, making them a great way to entertain party guests as you count down to another year!
Which of these New Year’s party games will you be trying this year? Let me know in the comments!
