30 New Year's Eve Game Ideas

Whether you're throwing a New Year's Eve party for friends or planning an intimate gathering for just your family, you will need to keep your guests entertained. Check out our loaded-with-fun games to keep the energy up until the stroke of midnight.

Get the Party Started

1. Find Your Other Half - Brainstorm famous couples from history, movies and current celebrities — George and Martha Washington, Han Solo and Princess Leia, Beyoncé and Jay Z. Write each name on separate sticky notes. Stick one name on the back of each guest. Guests mingle around the party while asking yes and no questions to other partygoers. The goal is to figure out who you are and then find your other half.
2. News Headline Charades - Look back and research silly or "good news" stories from the past year's headlines. Write headlines on slips of paper. Fold and place in a bucket. Let your guests in on the news headline theme. Using the charade rules, get people to act them out until someone makes the right guess.
3. Party Conversation Starters - Think of questions about the past year that guests will have to answer in front of the group. The goal is to get your guests to think back on the past year to find their own personal answers. Your sample questions could include — one moment that you care to forget, newsworthy event that impacted you the most and your biggest lesson you have learned. The lucky guests get to tell something great while unlucky ones could reveal an embarrassing moment.
4. Popular Song Lyrics Match - Write down the catchy lyrics of popular pop songs of the year. Cut them in half, fold and place in a hat. Hand each guest one slip of paper. Instruct guests to find the other guest with the rest of their song. While playing this game, have a few of the tunes playing in the background to punctuate this matching game.