Virtual Holiday Party Games for Remote Teams: A 45-Minute Plan

What makes a remote holiday party work

The end-of-year party is the one social most remote teams actually turn up to, which is exactly why it is worth getting right. The ones that work have a few things in common:

• Everyone plays on their own device. One person screen-sharing a quiz while everyone shouts answers works for six people, not thirty. A room code that everyone joins from a phone or laptop puts the whole team in the game at once.
• It has a plan and a finish time. Forty-five minutes with three games and a few awards beats an open-ended video call that slowly empties.
• Nobody is put on the spot. Simultaneous answers, anonymous votes and team scores keep it fun for the quieter half of the team.
• It is about the team's year. The best moments come from your own in-jokes, projects and wins, not from generic festive trivia.

The games

1. A year-in-review quiz. Write ten questions about your team's year in a custom Trivia Blitz pack: which project ran longest, who sent the most-reacted message, what the office plant is called. It takes twenty minutes to write and gets more laughs than any question bank.
2. Hot Takes as the warm-up. Mildly spicy statements, anonymous votes, a split revealed at once. The minority always wants to explain themselves, which is the point.
3. Two Truths & a Lie with a holiday twist. Ask everyone to make their three statements about holidays: traditions, disasters, the worst present they ever received. You learn something real about each colleague.
4. Imposter with your own word list. A custom Imposter pack of office in-jokes, project names or festive foods makes the bluffing much funnier.
5. Guess Who Said It for teams that know each other a little. Everyone answers a light question (“best holiday food”, “a skill you picked up this year”), then the team matches answers to people.
6. Drawing Blind for the closing laugh. One person describes a picture, everyone else draws it without seeing it, and the gallery at the end does the rest.

No tool needed for these, and they fit between games:

• Team awards. Three or four light categories voted on beforehand: best meeting background, most helpful Slack message, the “it works on my machine” award. Keep them kind.
• Show one thing. Everyone holds up one festive (or entirely unfestive) object within reach and says why it is there, in a sentence.
• Background contest. An optional festive or end-of-year video background, with a quick vote. Cameras stay optional.

A 45-minute plan

1. Arrivals, 5 minutes. Room code in the calendar invite and the chat. People join as they arrive, and the lobby fills up while you wait for stragglers.
2. Warm-up, 10 minutes. Hot Takes. Gets everyone talking without asking anyone to perform.
3. Main event, 15 minutes. Your year-in-review quiz in Trivia Blitz. The podium at the end is the moment people remember.
4. Awards, 5 minutes. Read out the team awards. Small, inclusive prizes if you want them: a voucher, an afternoon off, choosing the next team game.
5. Finale, 10 minutes. Drawing Blind or Imposter, then wrap up on time.

Running a bigger session? The virtual team building games round-up has more to swap in.

Planning checklist

• Two weeks out: pick a time in working hours. For teams across time zones, schedule two sessions.
• One week out: write the quiz questions and any custom word lists, and open the award voting.
• The day before: open a test room and play a round on your own phone so you know what everyone will see.
• On the day: open the room ten minutes early and put the link in the chat. Nobody needs an account or a download to join.

Keep it inclusive

• Not everyone celebrates Christmas. Call it an end-of-year or holiday party and keep the theme light.
• Make it opt-in and hold it in working hours. A party people feel obliged to attend in the evening is not much of a party.
• Do not build it around drinking. A drinks-themed game shuts out anyone who does not drink.
• Cameras optional, always. Everything above works with cameras off.
• Keep personal questions light. Holiday traditions and favourite foods, not family plans or finances.

For quick openers to use through the rest of the year, see icebreaker games for work meetings or the icebreaker question generator.

Frequently asked questions

How long should a virtual holiday party be?

Forty-five minutes to an hour. Long enough for two or three games and a few awards, short enough that nobody is checking the clock. If your team spans time zones, run two short sessions rather than one long one at an hour that suits nobody.

What games work best for a large remote team?

Games where everyone answers at the same time on their own device: trivia, opinion votes and guessing games. Avoid anything that goes round the room one person at a time; with 30 people that is most of the hour gone.

How do we make a holiday party inclusive?

Call it an end-of-year party rather than a Christmas party, keep it opt-in, do not centre it on drinking, and make cameras optional. Pick games where nobody is put on the spot, and hold it in working hours.

Can we play our own holiday questions?

Yes. Teams on Pro and Business can write custom packs for Trivia Blitz, Imposter and Emoji Story, so you can run a quiz about your own year or a word list of in-jokes.