Christmas drinking games for the office party, the family and friends
The best Christmas drinking games use what is already at the party: a Christmas movie drinking game for a night in, ugly sweater rules, a gift swap where stealing costs a sip, Christmas Never Have I Ever, and Most Likely To about the holidays. All of them work with sips, and with soft drinks for anyone who wants them.
Quick picks
| Game | Players | You need | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christmas movie drinking game | 2+ | A Christmas film | A night in |
| Ugly sweater rules | 4+ | Sweaters | Parties where everyone dressed up |
| Gift swap with sips | 6+ | A wrapped gift each | Bigger parties |
| Christmas Never Have I Ever | 3+ | Nothing | Friends |
| Holiday Most Likely To | 4+ | Nothing | Friends and family |
| Carol karaoke Categories | 3+ | Nothing | Quick rounds |
| Christmas bingo | 6+ | Printed cards | Mingling parties |
| King’s Cup, Christmas rules | 4-10 | Deck, a cup | House parties |
| Wrecked (app) | 2-16 | One phone | Keeping the night going |
1. Christmas movie drinking game
Pick a classic and agree on four or five rules before it starts. Sip when:
- Someone says “Christmas spirit” or “the true meaning of Christmas”
- A character falls, slips or gets hit by something
- A Christmas song starts playing in the film
- Snow starts falling at a convenient moment
- Someone is about to miss Christmas and somehow doesn’t
Choose rules that happen a few times per film. A long family comedy with seven rules is not a film night any more.
2. Ugly sweater rules
Everyone came in an ugly sweater; now it has a job. The ugliest sweater (voted by the room) makes the first rule. Anyone who touches someone else’s sweater decoration sips. Anyone whose sweater lights up has to sip whenever it blinks during a toast. Add one rule an hour.
3. Gift swap with sips
The white elephant or Yankee swap, with sips. Everyone brings a wrapped gift and draws a number. Player one opens a gift; every next player opens a new gift or steals one already opened. Stealing costs a sip; being stolen from earns you the right to hand one out. A gift can be stolen three times at most.
4. Christmas Never Have I Ever
The usual rules, with a holiday round:
- Never have I ever re-gifted a present.
- Never have I ever opened a present early and wrapped it back up.
- Never have I ever pretended to love a gift.
- Never have I ever gone back to the shop on Christmas Eve.
- Never have I ever fallen asleep during a Christmas film.
- Never have I ever eaten a whole chocolate advent calendar in one day.
- Never have I ever hidden from a relative at a family party.
- Never have I ever sent a Christmas card to the wrong person.
Run out? The never have I ever generator deals real Wrecked cards.
5. Holiday Most Likely To
Point on three; most votes sips:
- Who is most likely to have their tree up in November?
- Who is most likely to wrap presents on Christmas morning?
- Who is most likely to cry at a Christmas advert?
- Who is most likely to eat the cookies left for Santa?
- Who is most likely to give everyone the same present?
- Who is most likely to fall asleep after lunch?
6. Carol karaoke Categories
Someone names a category; go round naming things in it. First to blank or repeat sips, and has to sing a line of a carol. Categories: Christmas songs, reindeer names, things on a tree, Christmas films, foods you only eat in December.
7. Christmas bingo
Print bingo cards with things that will happen: “someone wears antlers”, “a song from the 80s plays”, “a gift needs batteries”, “someone mentions the weather”. First line wins; the others sip. Make cards on our drinking bingo page.
8. King’s Cup with Christmas rules
Play King’s Cup with three Christmas swaps: a 7 is “sing a line of a carol or sip”, a Jack makes a Christmas rule, and a Queen means everyone toasts the host. The online deck on that page deals if nobody has cards.
9. Let an app run the rest
Themed games are fun for a round or two. For the rest of the night, Wrecked keeps one game going on one phone: one person reads each card aloud, the app decides who drinks, King’s Rules stack up and every five cards a mid-game event hits the room. At the end everyone gets a personal verdict.
Keep it a good night
December is a month of parties, which is a reason to pace each one. Play with sips, keep water and food on the table, and offer good soft drinks. Plan the way home before the party starts. More on our responsible drinking page. Next up: New Year’s Eve drinking games.
Questions people ask
What is a good Christmas drinking game?
A Christmas movie drinking game is the easiest: pick a classic film and four or five sip rules (someone says 'Christmas', snow falls, a character falls over). For a party, ugly sweater rules and a gift swap with sips keep everyone involved.
What are the rules for a Christmas movie drinking game?
Agree on a few things that happen several times a film and sip each time: someone says 'Christmas spirit', a character gets hurt in a slapstick way, a song starts, snow appears. Five rules is plenty.
What Christmas games work for an office party?
Keep them friendly: ugly sweater rules, a gift swap with sips (or no sips), Categories and Most Likely To with clean questions. Skip Never Have I Ever with colleagues unless you know them well.
Is there a Christmas mode in Wrecked?
No. Wrecked has no Christmas cards, but it works well between the themed games: one phone runs the game for 2 to 16 players and the app decides who drinks.
Who's gettingwrecked tonight?
Wrecked turns all of this into one game on one phone: 1,800+ cards, rules that stack, chaos every 5 cards and a personal roast for everyone at the end.
