Christmas Party Games for One Phone

The three games

1. Christmas charades

Open charades on the Christmas words. One person holds the phone to their forehead and their team acts out or describes the word: Decorating the tree, Hanging a stocking, Tying a ribbon bow, Rolling a giant snowball and 44 more. Nod down for correct, tip back to pass. Rounds last 60, 90 or 120 seconds and each team's score is kept. If you would rather play without a phone, the printable Christmas charades cards put all of them on one page.

2. Christmas Imposter

Open Imposter on the Christmas category. Everyone gets the same secret Christmas word except the imposter; players give one-word clues and vote. The Christmas category has 44 words and 10 undercover pairs such as Eggnog / Hot Cider and Fruitcake / Christmas Pudding, where the imposter gets a similar word and does not know it. It works for 3 to 20 players and suits a table after dinner.

3. Who's most likely to

Open Most likely to and choose the Family or Coworkers set. Someone reads the question, everyone points, and the phone records who won the title — questions like "Who's most likely to call to make sure everyone got home safe?". There is no Christmas-only set; the Family questions are written for mixed ages, and the night ends with a title board you can save as an image.

Which game for which group

Group	Start with	Why
3–5 people	Imposter	Needs no teams; one imposter is enough.
6–12 people	Charades, then Imposter	Two teams of 3–6 keep everyone involved; Imposter with 2–3 imposters for the second half.
Up to 20, or a mixed-age room	Most likely to	Everyone answers at once by pointing, so nobody waits for a turn.
Office party	Most likely to (Coworkers), Charades	Questions are about habits and talents, not looks or relationships.

Player limits come from the games themselves: Imposter and Most likely to take 3 to 20 players, and Charades plays two teams of any size. Planning for an office crowd? Office Christmas party games covers 8, 20 and 50+ coworkers and which games put people on the spot; for grandparents and young children at the same table, see Christmas games for family.

A running order for about an hour

These times are estimates for planning, not measurements; groups vary a lot.

1. Charades, about 15 minutes. Two teams, 90-second rounds. Six rounds are 9 minutes of play (6 × 90 s), plus hand-overs and checking the word list after each round. Within one visit the game leaves out words already shown in earlier rounds; with only the 48 Christmas words, mix in Party Time if you play many rounds.
2. Imposter, about 20–25 minutes. About four rounds with the Christmas category: dealing the cards, the clues, the default 3-minute discussion and the vote make each round several minutes.
3. Most likely to, about 10–15 minutes. Ten questions from the Family or Coworkers set, then show the title board.

Tips for the host

• Turn on Big screen if you cast the phone to a TV, so the whole room can read along.
• Untick categories your guests would not know; in a room with young children, Kids' Classics in charades is easier than Christmas.
• Add family in-jokes on the My words page — a list of relatives' favourite dishes makes a good charades round.
• Nothing to install: once a game page has loaded, rounds keep working without a connection.

Questions

More games