Christmas Scattergories lists: 8 sets of 12 holiday categories

8 Christmas Scattergories lists, 12 categories each

Use one list per round and a new letter each time. Every list is also on the board above and on the printable answer sheets.

Team more into questions than lists? Christmas Trivia Party is an hour of holiday movie, music and tradition rounds with a live host and a scoreboard.

How to play Christmas Scattergories at work

Five steps, then the scoring. You need paper, pens and the board above.

1. 1Hand out paper and pick a list. Everyone needs a pen and a sheet numbered 1 to 12, or print the answer sheets from the board.
2. 2Roll the letter and start the clock. Two minutes suits most groups. Give Hard mode or first-time players three.
3. 3One answer per category, all on the letter. Skip a tough one and come back to it. Spelling doesn't count; the letter does.
4. 4Read out together, category by category. Each person reads their answer for 1, then for 2, and so on. Matching answers cancel out.
5. 5Play three lists and add up. Three rounds take about 15 minutes. The winner picks the next playlist or goes first at the gift swap.

Scoring

• A point for each answer that starts with the letter and that nobody else wrote.
• Two people wrote Gingerbread for G? Both lose it, so the obvious answer is a gamble.
• Skip a leading the, a or an: The Nutcracker counts for N.
• A stretch goes to a quick table vote, and a tie keeps the answer.
• On list 1, a made-up reindeer name counts if the room laughs.

In the office, hybrid or on video

• In the office: tables of four to six, one printed sheet each, a phone timer in the middle of the table.
• Hybrid: put the board on the room screen and share it to the call. Remote players DM their answers to the host before the read-out.
• On video: share the board, everyone writes on paper, and when the clock stops people hold their sheet up or type answers in the chat.
• Big group: teams of three to five in breakout rooms agree on one answer per category, and the host reads each team's sheet.

Past about 40 people, the read-out takes longer than the writing. That’s the point where a hosted virtual holiday party works better than a list game.

6 festive ways to play

Same lists, a new reason to play another round.

• Ornament points. Hand out a paper ornament for every unique answer and hang them on a team tree. The fullest branch wins.
• Alphabet relay. One category, the whole group goes A to Z, one answer each. Stall for five seconds and you sit out.
• A letter a day in chat. Post one letter and three categories each workday before the break. Answers go in the thread, and a pinned tally runs all month.
• Scores set the swap order. Final totals decide the order for the gift exchange, so the top scorer picks or steals first.
• Holiday double. On lists 5 to 8, an answer that also fits Christmas scores two, like Stockings for S on the cabin category.
• Pass the sheet. Each person fills one category and passes the sheet left. The table shares one score, so nobody gets stuck alone.

Running the gift swap after? Our gift exchange games pick up where the scores leave off. For 80 or more people on one call, a host-run virtual game show keeps every team in play.

More games for the same party

Pair a list round with Christmas charades, the Christmas emoji quiz or our Christmas guessing games. For year-round play, see our Scattergories lists for work, and for the whole afternoon, our holiday party games for work.

Scattergories is a trademark of its owner. KraftyLab isn’t connected to it, and every list here is original.