13 Easy New Year's Eve Games For The Countdown To Midnight

Fun games are a great way to get everyone mingling if you're hosting a New Year's Eve party. They're also a fun way to spend time while waiting for the countdown to midnight. Funny stories and questions, heated races, and hunting for elusive holiday items will keep guests on their toes. Here are 13 New Year's Eve games that require very few props and little preparation, plus they will inspire hilarious memories for the year to come.

Get-to-Know You Games

What better way to get to know other party guests than with a fun game? These ice-breaker games will have everyone laughing and bonding in no time. Here are great games for getting to know each other while waiting for the ball to drop.

Highlights of the Year

This game is a beautiful way to reminisce and swap funny stories from the past year. The host pulls questions out of a hat. Think: "When was the hardest you laughed this year?" or "What was the event that had the most impact on you?" Participants take turns answering the questions. You can download 15 free, printable question cards from Alice & Lois.

Taboo Words

This game penalizes players who say the wrong words. Tell your guests that during the evening the words yes and no are off limits, as well as any words that contain those words, such as yessir, yesterday, snow, and casino. If someone says the taboo words while mingling with other guests, they get a sticker to wear. The guest with the least stickers at the end of the night is the winner.

Adult Loaded Questions

If you're unfamiliar with the board game Adult Loaded Questions, the idea is to test players on how well they know each other through suggestive and silly questions. An example includes "What would you be willing to do to get out of an expensive speeding ticket?" Feel free to DIY your own version with questions that pertain to the year's events. If they succeed in making your guests blush, you've accomplished the goal of the game.

Active Games

Who doesn't love a little competition? The festivities will get underway when party-goers leave their seats and compete for a winning title.

New Year's Eve-Themed Charades

Charades make the perfect New Year's Eve party game. This year, try it with a bit of an update. Use this list of New Year-inspired words for topics to act out. Add a few related to popular culture, news, or events of the year for an extra chuckle.

The Ultimate Champagne Race

Don't worry. This game is not a chugging match. For this one, players race to fill their Champagne flutes using only a teaspoon to transport the Champagne from a bowl to the glass. The first person to finish stands up and taps their drink with the spoon. The winner gets to give a toast for the New Year. If you don't want to waste Champagne, just substitute it with water.

Pass the Mirror Ball

While waiting for the ball to drop, play a game about not doing that very thing. If you're not willing to risk breaking an actual disco ball, use a balloon for this game instead. Instruct your party guests to form a circle. Give the ball to someone and have them turn to face one of the people on either side of them. The game's goal is to pass the ball around the circle without using their hands. Once the first person has successfully passed off the ball to their partner, participants continue passing it around the circle until it reaches the original starting point. If a player drops the ball, that individual leaves the circle, and the game continues with the next person. Continue playing the game until only two people are remaining, at which point they are both the winners.

Guessing Games

These games will keep everyone guessing—and laughing. Guests will learn a lot about the people who are spending New Year's Eve at their party.

Two Resolutions and a Lie

Based on the famous ice-breaker Two Truths and a Lie, this game is a great way to get guests to know each other better over a few laughs. The premise: Guests must figure out what statements guests provide are lies or the truth. In the New Year's Eve version, they'll have to figure out which two resolutions you want this year and which one is false.

Guess the Resolution

Similarly, when guests arrive and people are still warming up, ask each person to write down five resolutions on separate slips of paper, then drop the papers into a hat or bowl. Later in the evening, once everyone's had a few drinks, mix up the answers, pull one slip of paper out at a time, and read it aloud. Everyone has to guess or write down who they think made each resolution.

Who Am I?

As guests arrive, have them write a name on a slip of paper and put it in a hat. Use the names of newsmakers from the past year, characters from recent shows or movies, celebrities in the spotlight, or people in the room. To play, divide partygoers into teams. A player from one team chooses a slip of paper from the hat and draws or acts out the famous person listed for their teammates to guess. Limit the amount of tries teams have to guess correctly. The team with the most correct guesses wins.

Name That Tune

Cue the music for this party game where players try to be the first to guess a song. Choose songs in a variety of genres that were released during the past year and decide how long to play each song, such as 10 seconds. Split players into groups or play as individuals and play (or hum) a short portion of a song from the list. Players try to be the first to guess the song correctly. The team or person who guesses the most songs correctly wins.

Search Games

Give guests a mission with a game full of surprises. From finding hidden treats to completing secret tasks, party-goers will undoubtedly find a reason to smile.

Collect the Kisses

Before your guests arrive, hide a certain number of Hershey's Kisses around your home. Once your guests arrive, announce that they have until midnight to collect as many kisses as possible. Be sure to award whoever has the most kisses at midnight with an exciting prize.

New Year's Eve Scavenger Hunt

If you're going to leave your home to play this game, be sure you do it earlier in the evening's festivities. Create a list of New Year's Eve-related items or scenarios (like Champagne at a grocery store, a couple kissing, a mirror ball, a New Year's party at a bar, or a decorated holiday house) around your town for guests to find.

As guests arrive, have them pull a number from a jar to designate their team number. Once everyone is at the party, announce the beginning of the scavenger hunt and give them a set time frame to find as many items as possible on the list. The team with the most items found (they should take photos as a group with the items or scenarios listed) gets a prize. Alternatively, you can also set up a scavenger hunt in your own home by hiding things before guests arrive.

Hear the New Year's Ring

As your guests arrive at your party, hand each of them a certain number of bells. Once your guests arrive, explain that the game's goal is to get rid of their bells by midnight without being caught.

They accomplish this by hanging the bells on a clothesline you have strung up somewhere in your home. If someone sees them or hears one of your guests trying to get rid of their bells, that guest cannot add their bell. In addition, the person caught must remove one of the bells currently hanging on the line and add it to their collection. Whoever has the least number of bells left by midnight wins.