Christmas guessing games for work, with answers

Screen-share the games

Pick a round, reveal one clue at a time, then show the answer. Share this window on the call or the meeting-room screen.

Round 1: Guess the carol from three words

Read the three words. None of them is in the song's title. Teams write the song.

1 point each. A bonus point if the team sings the next line.

1. Dashing · sleigh · laughing
2. Boughs · yuletide · apparel
3. Figgy · pudding · cheer
4. Partridge · swans · drummers
5. Foggy · glows · games
6. Corncob · button · hat
7. List · twice · naughty
8. Nipping · aglow · goodies
9. Frightful · delightful · popping
10. Listening · snowman · parson
11. Sidewalks · city · ring-a-ling
12. Giddy-yap · pumpkin · Currier

Rather hear the songs than guess them from words? In hosted music bingo, a host plays a few seconds of each holiday hit and everyone marks their card.

Round 2: Guess the wrapped gift

Read one clue at a time. Teams can guess after any clue, but a wrong guess costs them that gift.

3 points after the first clue, 2 after the second, 1 after the third.

1. It's round on top and heavy at the bottom. Shake it and something happens. There's a tiny winter scene trapped inside.
2. It's square-ish and has a cord. It opens like a book. It leaves a grid pattern on breakfast.
3. It's a flat box that rattles. It comes with a picture you're meant to copy. One missing piece ruins it.
4. It's long and thin, and wider at one end. It stays folded most of the year. You'll want it when the forecast turns.
5. It's small, and the paper bunches around a pot. It wants a window more than it wants you. Forget to water it and it may forgive you.
6. It's curved, like a horseshoe. It has two soft halves. It makes an open-plan office bearable.
7. It's soft and squishes when you squeeze it. It comes as a pair. It goes on right before slippers.
8. It has a handle sticking out one side. It holds about 12 ounces. Every office cupboard has too many.
9. It's a short, heavy cylinder. It smells nice even while wrapped. It needs a match to do its job.
10. It's a long tube, light for its size. It unrolls flat on the floor. It's for stretching, not sleeping.

In the office, wrap real objects of odd shapes and let teams shake and squeeze, but never unwrap. The winning team keeps one.

Round 3: Guess the Christmas movie from its plot

Read the one-line plot. Teams write the movie. Half a point for the right movie with the wrong version.

1 point each, plus 1 bonus point for the release year within two years.

1. An angel who hasn't earned his wings shows a desperate man his town as it would be without him.
2. A boy in 1940s Indiana wants one gift, an air rifle, and every adult says no.
3. A divorced dad puts on a fallen Santa's suit and spends the year turning into him.
4. A doubting boy boards a train that stops outside his house on Christmas Eve.
5. Two women, one in Los Angeles and one in Surrey, swap homes for two weeks at Christmas.
6. A reindeer with an unusual nose runs away with an elf who would rather be a dentist.
7. A spoiled postal trainee is sent to a frozen island town and teams up with a reclusive toymaker.
8. The king of one holiday finds a door into another and decides to run it himself.
9. Santa's clumsy younger son races around the world to deliver one gift that got missed.
10. A dad who forgot to buy the year's hottest action figure fights the crowds for one on Christmas Eve.
11. Two army buddies turned stage stars put on a show to save their old general's Vermont inn.
12. A grumpy loner dresses his dog as a reindeer and takes every present in town.

Want a full quiz of holiday movies, music and picture rounds without writing it? A host runs Christmas Trivia Party in teams and keeps the score for you.

Round 4: Closest guess wins

Every team writes a number. Nobody needs to know the answer: the closest guess takes the point.

2 points to the closest team, 3 if it's exact.

1. How many gold rings arrive on day five of The Twelve Days of Christmas?
2. Counting Rudolph, how many reindeer pull Santa's sleigh?
3. How many sides does a snow crystal have?
4. By how many sizes did the Grinch's heart grow?
5. How many lights does Clark Griswold put on his house in Christmas Vacation (1989)?
6. In what year was Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas! published?
7. In what year did NORAD's predecessor, CONAD, start tracking Santa?
8. In what year was the first National Christmas Tree lit near the White House?
9. In what year did Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker ballet first open?
10. In what year was Silent Night first sung?

Bonus: guess how many in the jar

• Fill a clear jar with wrapped candies or small ornaments and count as you fill it.
• Put a mug or a stapler next to it in the photo so remote guessers can judge the size.
• Collect guesses on named slips, or by private chat on a call.
• Closest guess wins the jar. Ties split it.

Round 5: Guess the holiday sound

Make each sound off camera or behind a screen, close to the mic. Play it twice, then teams write their guess.

1 point each. Make the last sound twice as long for a tiebreak.

1. Tearing wrapping paper. Rip a sheet slowly, then fast.
2. Shaking jingle bells. A bell on a ribbon is enough.
3. Cracking a walnut. Use a nutcracker right next to the mic.
4. Pulling tape off the roll. Pull a long strip in one go.
5. Stirring a spoon in a mug. Tap the rim twice at the end.
6. Footsteps in snow. Squeeze a sandwich bag of cornstarch.
7. A crackling fireplace. Play a short fireplace clip, or crumple a crisp bag slowly.
8. Zipping up a winter coat. Zip it all the way up, then halfway down.
9. Biting a candy cane. One loud crunch.
10. Opening a holiday card envelope. Tear along the top edge.

Round 6: Guess whose tradition it is

Two days before, send everyone a short form with two of these prompts. Any winter tradition counts, holiday or not, and nobody has to answer both.

1. A winter food your family makes every year
2. The most surprising gift you ever received (keep it kind)
3. A holiday or winter movie you can quote from memory
4. Your earliest winter memory
5. A tradition you started yourself
6. The most unusual place you've spent December
7. The decoration or keepsake you'd rescue first
8. Your go-to dish for a potluck
9. A winter smell that takes you straight back
10. How you mark New Year's
11. The best thing about winter where you grew up
12. A game your family plays when everyone's together

1. 1Read one answer at a time. Teams write the coworker they think it belongs to.
2. 2Reveal after each answer. The owner tells the 30-second story behind it.
3. 3Score it. 1 point per right name. The answer nobody guesses wins a small prize for its owner.

Mixed team, and not everyone celebrates Christmas? A host can run Holiday Fun & Games, party games about the whole season. For 50 or more people across offices, see our virtual holiday party options with live prices.