12 Christmas Minute-To-Win-It Games For Adults And Office Parties

An office party or a grown-ups-only Christmas Eve game night needs a different lineup than a kids’ party. These 12 Christmas minute-to-win-it games skip anything that needs supervision or choking-hazard caution, and lean into the kind of games that work with a glass of something festive in hand. They’re fast, need almost no setup, and work whether you’re running a work Christmas party, a couples’ game night, or the grown-ups’ table after the kids have gone to bed.

Here’s how the list breaks down: skill and dexterity games, team and relay games, guessing and icebreaker games, and a handful of true no-prop options for when the party’s already loose and you just need something to keep the energy up. Jump to whichever section fits your group.

Want to make party planning easy? Grab our Christmas Minute To Win It Games Bundle instead of printing this whole post. It has all 12 games below on ready-to-print cards, plus 12 more, along with a summary sheet and a score sheet to track the winner.

Skill And Dexterity Games

1. PEPPERMINT PAYOUT

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A genuinely clever real-money variant that plays like candy cane fishing, and the one game on this list that only really works with an adult crowd.

• Number of players: Any
• What you need: A board or piece of cardboard, several dollar bills taped loosely to it, one candy cane per player
• How To Play: Using only the hooked end of your candy cane, hook and pull as many bills free as you can in 60 seconds. Whatever you free, you keep.

2. A BIT DICEY: CHRISTMAS EDITION

A genuine Minute to Win It classic, unchanged because it’s already perfect.

• Number of players: Any
• What you need: 6 dice, one popsicle stick per player
• How To Play: Hold the popsicle stick in your mouth. Using only the stick, stack all six dice on top of each other as fast as you can. First to stack all six, or whoever gets furthest in 60 seconds, wins.

3. THIS BLOWS: CHRISTMAS EDITION

Balloon-powered chaos, another straight-from-the-show classic that always gets loud.

• Number of players: Any
• What you need: One balloon per player, a row of small paper cups
• How To Play: Blow up the balloon, then let go and aim the released air at the row of cups to knock as many over as possible. Most cups knocked over in one go wins.

Team And Relay Games

4. WRAPPING PAPER RELAY

A team race that doubles as genuinely good gift-wrapping practice before the actual presents need doing.

• Number of players: 4+ (teams of 2+)
• What you need: One random object per team (a book, a mug, a shoe), wrapping paper, tape, scissors
• How To Play: Teams race to wrap their object as neatly as possible before time runs out. Judge on both speed and how presentable the finished gift looks.

5. PRESENT PASS UNDER THE CHIN

A hands-free relay based on the classic orange-under-the-chin game, and a solid icebreaker for a work party where not everyone knows each other yet.

• Number of players: 6+
• What you need: One small wrapped gift
• How To Play: Players stand in a line. Pass the gift from chin to chin down the line without using hands. If it’s dropped, that pair starts again. Fastest team to get it end to end wins.

Guessing And Icebreaker Games

6. CANDY CANE CHARADES

A quick-fire charades round with a Christmas twist. There’s a set of 30 Christmas Charades prompts in our printable Christmas Games Bundle if you’d rather skip writing your own.

• Number of players: 4+
• What you need: Slips of paper with Christmas movies, songs, and characters written on them
• How To Play: One player draws a slip and acts it out silently while their team guesses within 60 seconds. Rotate through players until everyone’s had a turn.

7. SANTA’S SACK FEEL AND GUESS

A tactile guessing game that works well as a lower-key round between the louder games.

• Number of players: Any
• What you need: A pillowcase filled with small Christmas-shaped objects (a bell, a mini candy cane, a pinecone, a bauble)
• How To Play: Players reach into the sack without looking and try to guess each item by touch alone. One point per correct guess.

8. WHO’S ON THE NICE LIST?

A Christmas-character spin on the classic sticky-note guessing game, and a good one for a group that doesn’t all know each other well.

• Number of players: 4+
• What you need: Sticky notes, a pen per player
• How To Play: Each player writes a Christmas character (Santa, Rudolph, the Grinch, an elf) on a sticky note and presses it onto the forehead of the person next to them, without that person seeing it. Going around the circle, each player asks yes/no questions to guess who they are.

9. THIS OR THAT: CHRISTMAS EDITION

A quickfire icebreaker adapted from the classic teen party game, and an easy way to get conversation going at the start of a work party.

• Number of players: 4+
• What you need: Nothing, or a pre-written list of pairs if you want it ready to go
• How To Play: One player asks a Christmas-themed “this or that” (eggnog or hot chocolate, Elf or Home Alone). Everyone answers at once and compares. Rotate who’s asking each round.

No-Prop Party Games

10. SANTA SAYS

Simon Says, but only the naughty list gets eliminated. Genuinely funnier once everyone’s a couple of drinks in.

• Number of players: Any
• What you need: Nothing
• How To Play: Give instructions starting with “Santa says”. Players only follow the instruction if those words are said first. Anyone who moves on a command without “Santa says” is out. Last player standing wins.

11. CHRISTMAS FREEZE FRAME

A silly scene-acting elimination game that needs absolutely nothing but a bit of nerve.

• Number of players: 4+
• What you need: Nothing
• How To Play: Call out a Christmas scene (“opening a present,” “decorating the tree,” “being caught by Santa”). Everyone freezes into position immediately. Anyone still moving after a beat is out.

12. WHISPER DOWN THE LANE: CHRISTMAS EDITION

The classic telephone game with festive phrases, and a reliable way to close out the night on a laugh.

• Number of players: 6+
• What you need: Nothing
• How To Play: The first player whispers a Christmas phrase or song lyric to the next person, who passes it on the same way down the line. The last player says the phrase out loud, and it’s compared to the original.

However many of these you use on the night, the ones that work best back to back are the skill and dexterity games, so open with a couple of those and save the no-prop rounds for when the room’s already warmed up.

If you’re planning for a mixed-age crowd instead, our 12 Christmas Minute-To-Win-It Games For The Whole Family covers the kid-friendly side of the format. And check out our 27 Christmas Activities For Teenagers and Christmas Sleepover Ideas For Teens guides for more ways to fill the night. Our sister site Big Heart Little Star also has a bigger year-round roundup of 100+ Minute To Win It Games if you want options beyond the holiday season.

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Loved these games? The Christmas Minute To Win It Games Bundle puts all 24 on print-ready cards, so you can skip the scrolling on party day and go straight to playing. Summary sheet and score sheet included.