30+ New Year’s Eve Games to Keep Your NYE Party Going

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Ring in the new year with these fun games for kids and adults

Co-authored by Karim McLaren and Hunter Rising

Last Updated: December 29, 2025 Fact Checked

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Party Games

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For Kids

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For Adults

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Card & Board Games

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Drinking Games

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Video

If you want to make your New Year’s Eve more exciting, party games are the perfect way to say goodbye to last year and start the new one with tons of fun! Whether you’re playing games with friends or family, we’ve got so many options for you to try out. We spoke to board game expert Deon Voss and mixologist Karim McLaren to compile a list of New Year’s games for kids and adults that will keep the fun rolling all the way until midnight!

Fun Games to Play on New Year’s Eve

Write down your resolutions and have everyone guess who wrote each one.
Share highlights and achievements from the past year with each other.
Make a New Year’s bingo card to fill out during your party.
Host a trivia game about events that happened over the past year.
Play charades with phrases related to New Year’s Eve.
Have a champagne relay race to see who can fill a glass the fastest.

Section 1 of 5:

New Year’s Eve Party Games

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Write down a list of questions or prompts and put them into a bowl, such as “What was the hardest you laughed this year?” or “Who was the most inspirational person you met?” Have everyone take turns giving their answers and reminisce on all the good times you had over the past year.

Meet the wikiHow Experts

Deon Voss is a board game expert who runs meetups and large-group games at the Voss Media Board Game Cafe in Southwest Michigan.

Karim McLaren is a mixologist from Brooklyn, New York who has experience hosting and bartending for large parties.
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New Year’s Bingo If you want a fun game everyone can get involved with, make bingo cards with pictures or prompts. For a classic bingo game, draw cards randomly and have players cross off any squares that match on their bingo board. Whoever gets 5 in a row (or clears their whole board) wins the game!
- For a more exciting game, have players cross off squares when they see someone finish a prompt on their card. For example, if a square says “Someone falls asleep before midnight,” then you can cross it off if another person dozes off.
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Arrange 12 empty plastic cups in a circle like a clock. Have a person stand in the center of the circle, and give them a ball attached to a long string. Try to knock down the cups in order, starting with the cup in the 1 o’clock position by swinging the ball and string. Whoever does it the fastest wins the game!^{[1]
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Find a Person If you’re hosting a New Year’s Eve party where people don’t know each other well, break the ice with a Find the Person game. Give each person a list of prompts, such as “Find someone with your birth month” or “Find someone who has a pet dog.” During your party, mingle and talk with other people, and write someone’s name down if they match one of the prompts.
- Make the game more challenging by making players write down a different name for each prompt.
Have everyone write down a resolution that they want to make for the next year and put it into a bowl. Draw them out of the bowl one at a time to read aloud, and have everyone guess who wrote it. After everyone decides on an answer, the person who wrote the resolutions raises their hand.
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Family Feud To play Family Feud, split into 2 teams to go against each other. Teams will take turns facing off and trying to guess the answers for a specific category. If a team makes 3 wrong guesses, then the other team has a chance to steal the points they earned. Whatever team has the most points at the end of the game wins!

Section 2 of 5:

New Year’s Eve Games for Kids

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New Year’s Charades If you want to get people moving around during your New Year’s Eve party, play charades with words and phrases that are related to New Year’s. Act out the prompt without using any words so other people guess the secret word. Some New Year’s-themed prompts you can start off with include:
- Balloon
- Noisemaker
- Fireworks
- Midnight
- Confetti
- Father Time
- Countdown
- Resolution
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Scavenger Hunt If you want to keep kids busy during New Year’s, make a list of things for them to find during your party. Whenever they do or find something that’s on their list, they can mark it off. Give whoever finishes their scavenger hunt first a special prize at midnight!
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Ball Drop For this fun minute-to-win-it style game, put a small bucket on the floor and stand with your back toward it. Try to drop a ping pong ball behind your head so it lands in the bucket. Whoever drops the ball into the bucket the fastest wins the game!^{[2]
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- Make the game more challenging by standing on a sturdy chair when you drop the ball.
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Left Right Story Game During a Left Right Story, give one person a small gift or candy. As someone reads the story, pass the gift to the left anytime they say the word “Left” and pass it to the right when you hear the word “Right.” Whoever has the gift when the story is finished gets to keep it!
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New Year’s Word Search If you want a fun puzzle that’s easy for kids, write down a list of words related to New Year’s Eve. Make a word search and print off enough copies for everyone to do. You could even reward whoever finishes their word search first with candy or a special treat!
- Some words you can include in your word search are:
  - NEW YEAR
  - AULD LANG SYNE
  - CONFETTI
  - PARTY
  - FIREWORKS
  - BALL DROP
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Candy Dice Game Set out a bowl of candy and have everyone sit around it in a circle. Have each person take a turn rolling a die, and follow the action that matches the result you rolled. Once the bowl is empty, the game is over, and you get all of the candy you collected!
- 1: Take 1 candy from the bowl
- 2: Take 2 candies from the bowl
- 3: Skip your turn
- 4: Put 1 candy back in the bowl
- 5: Take 1 candy from another person
- 6: Take 2 candies from another person

Section 3 of 5:

New Year’s Eve Games for Adults

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Year in Review Trivia Test how well everyone paid attention to what was happening in the world during the past year with some simple trivia questions. You could include questions about current events, movies from the past year, or even the history of New Year’s celebrations. Whoever answers the most correctly wins the game!
- For an even more fun twist on a trivia game, make a Jeopardy game with different categories and point values for questions. Whoever raises their hand first after the question gets the chance to answer it.
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Two Resolutions and a Lie On this twist on 2 Truths and a Lie, each person lists 3 things they want to do in the new year, but one of them is completely made up. The other players have to guess which resolution is the lie. One example could be:
- Travel to a different country
- Learn how to cook
- Give up social media
Rather than doing a scavenger hunt in person, have everyone look through their pictures and messages from the past year. Award points to each person if they have specific things on their phone, like a picture with a celebrity or a picture of you completing last year’s resolution.
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Carrot in a Box In this simple bluffing game, 2 players have boxes in front of them and one of them has a carrot inside. One person gets to look inside their box, and then they have to convince the other player to keep or swap their boxes. Try to trick your opponent so you’re the person who has the box with the carrot inside.
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Would You Rather If you want to start some funny or deep conversations with your friends, Would You Rather is the perfect opportunity to learn more about them. Give 2 options to choose between and have everyone explain which one they’d pick. Some good Would You Rather questions include:
- Would you rather…
  - Stay up until midnight or get a good night’s sleep?
  - Party at home with friends or celebrate New Year’s with strangers?
  - Host a New Year’s party or go to a New Year’s party?
  - Set one resolution to focus on or attempt multiple resolutions for the year?
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Jackbox Jackbox puts the games on your TV, but everyone uses their phones to put in answers and play. Each Jackbox pack features a variety of games, such as trivia, drawing, and fill-in-the-blanks, so you’re bound to find one that the whole party enjoys!

Section 4 of 5:

New Year’s Eve Card and Board Games

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NYE Scattergories In a game of Scattergories, each person gets the same list of categories and has to name something in each category that starts with a specific letter. Play 4 rounds and use the letters Y-E-A-R, so each word has to start with Y during the first round. If 2 people write down the same word, then they don’t earn any points for it.
- Check out our suggestions for Scattergory categories to get more ideas to make your game unique!
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Emoji Pictionary This fun twist on Pictionary uses emojis instead of drawings for clues. Choose a bunch of phrases related to New Year’s Eve, and create emoji combos for each one. Have everyone give their best guesses for each clue, and whoever gets the most right wins the game! Try these simple ideas for clues to get started:
- 🕛💋: Midnight kiss
- 🪩⬇️: Ball drop
- 👶🆕🗓: Baby New Year
- 👨‍👦⏰: Father Time
- 🥂🍞: Champagne toast
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New Year’s Taboo In this classic word game, split into teams and give each one a set of New Year’s Eve words. One person gives clues so their team guesses the word, but be careful not to say the “taboo” words listed, or else you don’t earn any points! Some good words and their taboo clues are:
- Resolution (taboo: goal, plan)
- Ball drop (taboo: Times Square, New York)
- Confetti (taboo: glitter, streamers, decoration)
- Countdown (taboo: numbers, ten, backwards)
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Wavelength Voss suggests Wavelength as a perfect party game with as many people as you want. To play Wavelength, split into teams. One player spins the game wheel to see where the scoring markers are. They’re then given a category like “Hot/Cold” and have to give a clue to help their team guess where the scoring markers are.^{[3]
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- Example: If the category is “Hot/Cold” and the scoring marker is closest to the “Cold” side, you might give a clue like “ice cream.”
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Hues and Clues Voss explains that in a game of Hues and Clues, the board is filled with different colors, and one player has to give clues to get others to guess a specific one. Players will set their piece on the color they think matches the clue, and they score points depending on how close they are.^{[4]
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Deon Voss
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Expert Interview}
- Example: The clue “ripe banana” would be perfect to make players guess a bright yellow.
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Cards Against Humanity To play Cards Against Humanity, one player is the judge each round and places down a black card with a ridiculous prompt. The other players secretly place one of their white cards to answer the prompt, and the judge chooses their favorite.
- If you want a fun twist to make Cards Against Humanity a drinking game, McLaren suggests, “Whoever wins gets to pick someone to take a shot” or sip from their drink.^{[5]
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  Karim McLaren
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- Keep in mind that Cards Against Humanity has some adult themes, so if you want a New Year’s game for the whole family, try Apples to Apples instead.

Section 5 of 5:

New Year’s Eve Drinking Games

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Give everyone a champagne glass and a small bowl filled with champagne. Race to transfer all the champagne from your bowl into the glass using only a teaspoon. Whoever fills their glass and drinks it first wins the game!
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Beer Pong If you’re looking for a classic game for your New Year’s, you can’t go wrong with a quick game of Beer Pong. Set up cups in a triangle pattern on opposite ends of a table, and put a little beer into each one. Take turns throwing a ping pong ball across the table and try to get it to land in a cup. If you do, the other person removes that cup and drinks the beer. If you get rid of all your opponent’s cups, you win!
- Alternatively, use large wine or champagne glasses instead of cups with beer for a more festive drinking game.
On this twist on a classic game of Telephone, McLaren explains, “You ask the person next to you a question, and they whisper their answer to the next person. The last person has to say the name out loud.” If the named person wants to find out the original question, they have to take a drink.^{[6]
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Karim McLaren
Mixologist

Expert Interview}
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Never Have I Ever To play Never Have I Ever on New Year’s, take turns saying things that you didn’t do during the past year. If someone has done the thing that you said, then they have to take a sip from their drink. Some example statements you could use are:
- Never have I ever gotten a kiss at midnight on New Year’s
- Never have I ever kept my New Year’s resolution
- Never have I ever fallen asleep before midnight
- Never have I ever gone on a trip this year
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Drink or Dare McLaren notes that Drink or Dare is fun and easy to learn with new people. To play, he says, “Someone gives you a dare, and if you don’t want to do it, you have to take a drink or a shot.” Take turns challenging each other to dares to see who will actually do them and who would rather drink instead.^{[7]
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Karim McLaren
Mixologist

Expert Interview}
- Alternatively, play Truth or Drink by asking a question the person has to answer honestly. If they don’t want to answer, then they take a drink instead.
- Instead of coming up with your own dares, play Do or Drink, which has dares written on cards you draw from a deck.
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Ring of Fire Ring of Fire is a classic drinking game, so it’s perfect to include in your New Year’s festivities. Surround a large glass with a face-down ring of cards. Take turns drawing a card from around the glass. Each card value has a different rule you have to follow, and the game ends after you draw all 4 Kings! The rules are:
- 2: Choose someone to take a drink
- 3: Take a drink
- 4: Everyone touches the floor, and whoever does it last takes a drink
- 5: All the men take a drink
- 6: All the women take a drink
- 7: Everyone points to the sky, and whoever does it last takes a drink
- 8: Choose a person to drink anytime you have to take a drink
- 9: Take turns saying rhyming words, and whoever can’t think of one drinks
- 10: Take turns naming objects in a category, and whoever can’t think of one drinks
- Jack: Make a new rule for the rest of the game
- Queen: Become the Question Master, and whoever answers a question you ask drinks
- King: Pour some of your drink into the cup in the middle
- Ace: Everyone drinks until their cup is empty or until the person to their right stops drinking
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Pizza Box If you ordered a pizza for your NYE party, have everyone write their name somewhere on the box. Flip a coin onto the box, and whoever’s name it lands on has to take a drink. If there isn’t a name where the coin lands, write a rule on the box and put a circle around it. If the coin lands on the rule, then the person has to follow it.
- Some example rules could be:
  - Post an embarrassing selfie to your story
  - Sing loudly for the rest of the group
  - Call someone else’s mom
  - Chug your drink