15 Christmas Drinking Games for a Grown-Up Holiday Party

Let’s be real: you’ve survived another year, the holiday season is finally here, and you deserve a Christmas party that goes a little beyond pass-the-present and polite small talk.

These 15 drinking christmas party games are designed for adults who want a genuinely fun, unapologetically boozy celebration — think festive sip rules, pong showdowns, blind tastings, and dare cards that’ll have everyone howling by the second chorus of ‘Jingle Bells.’

Whether you’re hosting an intimate gathering or a full-on gift-guide-worthy blowout, there’s something in this lineup for every crew.

One quick but important note before we dive in: please drink responsibly, know your limits, arrange safe rides home in advance, and never drink and drive.

Every single game on this list has a mocktail swap — sparkling cider, festive NA spirits, or flavored soda — so no one has to feel left out of the fun. This list is strictly 21+ content.

Now that the responsible-adult bit is done, let’s get this party started!

1. Christmas Movie Drinking Game

This is the ultimate cozy-yet-chaotic way to kick off the night: pick a beloved Christmas movie — Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, The Holiday, or literally any Hallmark film — queue it up, hand everyone a drink, and work through a printed list of sip-when triggers tied to classic on-screen tropes.

Someone says ‘Christmas miracle’? Sip. There’s an awkward mistletoe moment? Sip. A character wears a truly questionable holiday sweater? Two sips. The romantic leads finally kiss in the snow? Finish your drink.

It sounds simple, but trust me, by minute thirty you will be very merry indeed.

Print one sheet per person (or laminate a master sheet to pass around).

The sheet lists three tiers of rules: single-sip moments (common tropes like a Christmas tree being decorated or a carol playing in the background), double-sip moments (a character who hates Christmas doing a full redemption arc, a Santa cameo, or someone getting ‘snowed in’ for romantic reasons), and finish-your-drink moments (the title of the movie is said out loud, or it snows on Christmas Day and everyone cheers).

For Hallmark fans especially, keep your drink refilled at all times — those movies are basically a masterclass in predictable magic and you will be busy.

The genius of this game is that it works with literally any Christmas movie, so you can rotate films all night and keep the rules fresh.

Host tip: announce the movie choice in your party invite and ask guests to vote beforehand — it builds hype, gets everyone invested, and means nobody spends twenty minutes arguing over whether Die Hard counts (it does, and yes there are rules for it).

Mocktail swap: sparkling cranberry cider works beautifully and looks gorgeous in a wine glass.

2. Jingle Juice Pong

Jingle Juice Pong is beer pong’s festive, slightly unhinged cousin — and honestly it might be the most-photographed game of your whole party.

Set up a standard beer pong table but swap the usual triangle formation for a Christmas tree shape: four cups at the base, three in the middle, two above that, and one star cup at the top.

Fill each cup with your drink of choice — mulled cider, spiked eggnog, or a light holiday ale all work brilliantly — and instead of plain ping-pong balls, use ones painted or decorated like tiny baubles (gold paint pens are your best friend here).

Two teams, two players each, take turns lobbing their bauble across the table.

The rules follow classic beer pong mechanics: when a ball lands in a cup, the defending team removes it and drinks its contents. If both players on a team sink their shots in the same turn, they get the balls back for another round.

Add a Jingle Juice twist: whoever sinks the star cup at the top of the tree makes the entire opposing team sing one verse of a Christmas carol before the next round begins — no exceptions, no mercy.

You can also introduce a ‘naughty reindeer’ rule where if a ball bounces off the table and is caught by a defending player, that player nominates someone to drink.

Why does this game work so well at Christmas parties? Because it’s competitive, it’s visual, and literally everyone knows how to play beer pong — there’s zero learning curve, which means it gets going fast and keeps energy in the room high all night.

Host tip: set up the Jingle Juice Pong table near your main gathering area rather than in a side room so spectators can cheer and heckle freely.

Mocktail swap: fill the cups with sparkling apple juice and use the same rules — the singing penalty still applies and is arguably funnier when everyone is sober.

3. Naughty or Nice Dares

Think of this as your holiday truth-or-dare upgrade — but instead of a coin flip between truth and dare, every card is pre-labelled either ‘Naughty’ (a bold dare or a drink penalty) or ‘Nice’ (a wholesome-ish challenge or a pass).

Players take turns drawing a card from the shuffled deck. If you complete your dare, you’re safe. If you refuse, you take a drink. If you draw a Nice card and successfully complete the challenge, you get to assign a Naughty card to someone else.

The beauty is in the escalation: Nice cards tend to run out fast and the deck gets progressively more Naughty as the game goes on.

Print and cut the cards before the party (card stock is ideal so they feel substantial and don’t fall apart after one round).

Naughty dare examples on the cards include: ‘Do your best impression of Santa for 30 seconds,’ ‘Text the last person you matched with on a dating app a Christmas emoji with no context,’ ‘Let the group choose a contact in your phone and you must send them a holiday voice note,’ and ‘Do 10 holiday-themed dance moves to whatever Christmas song is currently playing.’

Nice card examples include: ‘Give a genuine compliment to every person in the room,’ ‘Lead a group toast,’ and ‘Teach everyone a Christmas carol verse.’

This game is a brilliant icebreaker for parties where not everyone knows each other well, because the ‘nice’ cards give shyer guests a gentler on-ramp before the game gets properly Naughty.

It also works at office Christmas parties if you calibrate the Naughty cards appropriately (more silly, less scandalous — your call, but maybe read the room before the ‘text your ex’ dare).

Mocktail swap: non-drinkers simply skip the drink penalty and take a ‘bonus nice card’ instead, keeping them fully in the game.

4. Santa’s Little Helper Flip Cup

Flip Cup is a relay-race drinking game where two teams line up on opposite sides of a table, each player with a cup in front of them.

On ‘go,’ the first player on each team drinks their cup, sets it rim-side-up on the edge of the table, and flicks it with one finger so it flips 180 degrees to land face-down. Only once it lands can the next teammate start drinking.

The first team to flip all their cups wins.

Santa’s Little Helper Edition adds a festive twist: every player wears an elf hat or reindeer headband during play, and any player who knocks their hat off mid-flip has to re-fill and re-drink their cup before attempting the flip again.

Set up is genuinely thirty seconds: line up plastic cups along the edge of a long table, one per player, filled about a quarter of the way. Split into two equal teams — odd numbers? One person drinks twice, no big deal.

The cups must only be touched with one hand and one finger for the flip. Break that rule? Reset your cup, accept your shame, and go again.

A suggested Christmas playlist set to upbeat 120bpm carols keeps the energy absolutely frenetic in the best possible way. Between rounds, rotate player positions so nobody gets too comfortable at a strong spot.

This game is the single best high-energy game you can run at a Christmas party — it’s loud, fast, competitive, and requires zero explanation for anyone who’s been to a college party in the last decade.

It also naturally brings out everyone’s competitive side, which is wildly entertaining when normally-reserved colleagues suddenly become very intense about flipping a plastic cup.

Host tip: keep a roll of paper towels nearby because things will get splashy, and wipe the table between rounds so slippery surfaces don’t slow the flips.

Mocktail swap: fill the cups with sparkling grape juice or Christmas punch — the frantic energy remains completely intact.

5. Advent Wine Roulette

This one is pure Christmas chaos in the best way. Before the party, the host fills 24 small numbered envelopes or paper bags (think mini advent calendar) with folded slips of paper, each describing either a drink instruction or a fun social challenge.

Guests take turns picking a number between 1 and 24 — the corresponding envelope is opened and the group follows whatever is inside.

Some envelopes contain wine-related dares (‘Everyone refills their glass and toasts to the worst gift they ever received’), some contain sip rules (‘Sip if your birth month falls in winter’), and some contain wild-card challenges that mix things up spectacularly.

Print the slip inserts from the provided sheet and cut them apart.

Suggested slip contents include: ‘Sip if you’ve ever regifted a present (no judgment, we see you),’ ‘The person who decorated most of their house this year — everyone drinks to them,’ ‘Host pours a mystery wine: first person to correctly guess red or white wins, loser drinks,’ ‘Everyone does a cheers and names the Christmas movie they’ve watched the most times,’ ‘Pick someone whose drink you’ll finish — they pick yours,’ and ‘No one can say the word ‘drink’ for the next five minutes or they sip.’

The numbered advent format builds a wonderful sense of anticipation and works whether you have 6 guests or 20.

The reason this game earns its spot is that it’s self-pacing and works across the whole party rather than needing everyone to stop and gather for a dedicated game session.

Leave the advent calendar on a table and guests drift over to open envelopes organically throughout the evening — it keeps energy moving without requiring everyone to be engaged at the same moment.

It also doubles as a gorgeous visual prop that photographs beautifully for Instagram. Mocktail swap: write ‘sip your festive mocktail’ anywhere a sip instruction appears — exact same rules, same fun.

6. Drink If: Christmas Edition

This is the fastest game to get started at any Christmas party because it needs zero setup: one person reads a ‘Drink If…’ statement out loud and everyone who relates to it takes a sip.

It sounds simple, but a well-curated list escalates from ‘drink if you’ve watched at least five Christmas movies this December’ to ‘drink if you’ve ever cried at a Hallmark film and then immediately defended your choice’ in about four rounds, and the shared moments of recognition and embarrassed laughter are genuinely priceless.

It’s the perfect opening game while people are still arriving and drinks are being poured.

You can run this game verbally with someone holding the list, or print a sheet and pass it around so each guest reads one statement.

Some favourite prompts to rotate in: ‘Drink if you’ve already started your Christmas shopping’ (followed immediately by ‘Drink if you haven’t started at all’), ‘Drink if you’ve ever lied about where a gift came from,’ ‘Drink if you’ve rewrapped a regifted present,’ ‘Drink if you’ve eaten an entire advent calendar in one sitting,’ ‘Drink if you’ve fallen asleep before midnight on New Year’s Eve,’ and ‘Drink if you have an opinion about whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie.’

That last one will start a conversation that lasts forty-five minutes — you’re welcome.

What makes Drink If so brilliant for a Christmas party is its versatility: it works for literally any group size, needs no table or equipment, and can be picked up and put down all evening long as a running thread between other games.

You can also personalise the prompts with inside jokes about your friend group, which elevates it from generic party game to something that feels totally bespoke to your crowd.

Host tip: write 20–30 prompts in advance and keep a few spicy ones back for later in the evening when inhibitions are lower. Mocktail swap: non-drinkers can do a thumbs-up instead of a sip to stay engaged and in the group dynamic.

7. Beer-vent Calendar Tasting

This is the sophisticated, slightly nerdy cousin in the drinking games lineup — and honestly the one that generates the most interesting conversation of the night.

Before the party, the host curates a selection of 6–12 small pours of different beers, ciders, or mulled wines, each numbered and poured into identical tasting cups or small glasses (hiding the labels with numbered tape or wrapped paper).

Guests work through the numbered pours in sequence, writing tasting notes on their score card after each sip — flavour, strength, festivity rating (yes, that is a real category), and whether they’d gift this drink to someone they actually like.

Print individual score cards with numbered rows, each with space to note: aroma, first taste, finish, overall rating out of 5 Christmas trees, and a ‘Naughty or Nice?’ verdict. After working through all the numbered pours, the host reveals what each drink was.

The person with the highest number of correctly identified styles (craft IPA vs. stout vs. cider vs. mulled wine) wins a small prize — something from the Christmas wish list maybe?

The group also votes on the overall favourite, which the host then serves in full glasses as the confirmed party drink of the evening.

This game works beautifully as a mid-party palate cleanser between the louder, higher-energy games — it gives guests a moment to sit down, chat, and actually taste what they’re drinking rather than chugging it out of a Solo cup.

It’s also genuinely educational in the loveliest way, because people discover new seasonal drinks they love and leave your party with recommendations they’ll actually use.

Host tip: source your tasting selection from a local craft beer shop or deli a few days ahead, and choose at least one wildcard (like a Christmas spiced stout or a clementine cider) that nobody will see coming.

Mocktail swap: include numbered NA craft beers, sparkling waters with different fruit infusions, or artisan sodas — scored by the same criteria, same fun.

8. Sip the Carol (Word Cue)

Sip the Carol is a deceptively simple game that turns a Christmas music playlist into a drinking game engine.

Before the party, agree on a list of five to eight ‘trigger words’ — common carol words like ‘bells,’ ‘snow,’ ‘jolly,’ ‘night,’ ‘joy,’ ‘glory,’ ‘come,’ and ‘bright.’

Every time any of those words are sung in whatever carol or Christmas song is currently playing, everyone takes a sip. The catch? You have to be listening and paying attention, which gets progressively harder and funnier as the evening goes on.

There’s no winning or losing — just increasingly merry guests who are suspiciously well-versed in carol lyrics.

Set up a Spotify or Apple Music ‘Christmas classics’ playlist on shuffle and let it run through the party. Write the trigger words on a chalkboard, a sticky note on the fridge, or a printed card on the drinks table so everyone can reference them.

You can make the game more dynamic by adding a ‘bonus sip’ for any song where the title word itself appears in the lyrics (spoiler: ‘Jingle Bells,’ ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,’ and ‘Silent Night’ will all absolutely destroy you).

For an extra layer of chaos, mid-game you can vote to swap one trigger word for a new, rarer one — ‘chestnuts’ and ‘frankincense’ are reliably safe choices that barely show up.

What makes Sip the Carol such a great party game is that it runs completely in the background and doesn’t interrupt conversation — it just adds a layer of delightful chaos to whatever is already happening.

You’ll get moments where a song starts and everyone suddenly freezes mid-sentence to count sips, which is both hilarious and brings the whole room together in an instant.

Host tip: ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ is the game’s final boss — play it last, right before midnight, and brace yourselves. Mocktail swap: same rules apply completely identically; just swap the alcohol for whatever festive non-alcoholic drink guests are holding.

9. Mulled Wine Blind Tasting

Mulled wine blind tasting is the drinking game for the person at your party who insists they have a refined palate — and it is absolutely magnificent for proving them magnificently wrong.

The host prepares two to four batches of mulled wine ahead of time, each made with a different base wine (a cheap supermarket red, a mid-range Merlot, a fruity Shiraz, and maybe a cheeky white mulled wine for chaos), different spice ratios, or different sweeteners.

They’re served in numbered glasses with all labels hidden, and guests taste, score, and try to guess the variables in each version.

Each guest gets a printed score card with numbered rows, space for tasting notes, a spice-detection checklist (cinnamon? star anise? cloves? orange peel? cardamom?), and a column to guess whether the base is a cheap, mid-range, or premium wine.

After everyone has scored all four, the host reveals the answers — and the inevitable chaos of discovering that two-thirds of the room preferred the cheapest bottle is genuinely one of the funniest moments of any holiday party.

The person who correctly identifies the most variables wins a small prize; everyone else is required to top up their glass as consolation.

This game earns its place because it’s genuinely interactive, encourages conversation, and teaches guests something interesting while they drink — which is always a winning combination.

It also works brilliantly for the slightly older crowd at your Christmas party who might not want to play Flip Cup but absolutely want to compete about wine knowledge.

Host tip: make the mulled wines the day before and reheat them in a slow cooker at the party — it fills your home with the best smell imaginable and means you’re not stressed in the kitchen during the game.

Mocktail swap: make mulled apple juice or spiced cranberry punch batches and run the exact same tasting format — it works surprisingly well and the spice-detection element is equally entertaining.

10. Reindeer Antler Beer Pong

Reindeer Antler Beer Pong is standard beer pong with one brilliant, game-changing rule: the defending team gets to wear reindeer antler headbands and use them to physically block incoming shots.

Set up 10 cups in a triangle on each side of the table, fill them with beer (or your drink of choice), and divide into two teams of two. Players take turns throwing ping-pong balls at the opposing team’s cups.

When a ball lands in a cup, that cup is removed and the opponent drinks. So far, so classic.

But here’s the antler twist: the two players on the defending side can lean in and try to deflect the ball with their antlers while keeping their hands behind their back.

The antler-blocking rule changes the entire geometry of the game. Shots need to be higher arcs to clear the antlers, which makes trick shots and bounces more tempting but riskier.

If a defender uses their hands instead of their antlers to block, the shooting team gets to nominate any cup on the board as an automatic removal — no shot needed.

If both teammates sink their shots in the same turn, the balls come back for another turn.

Arrange the cups in a Christmas tree shape rather than a standard triangle for extra festive flair — four cups at the base, then three, two, and the star cup at the top.

This game is the life of a Christmas party because it’s visually ridiculous, genuinely competitive, and produces incredible moments when someone’s antlers accidentally deflect the ball perfectly into their own cup (house rule: they have to drink it).

The antler headbands are cheap to buy in bulk from any dollar store or party shop in December — grab a dozen and nobody has to share.

Mocktail swap: fill the cups with sparkling cranberry juice or ginger ale; the competitive energy is completely unchanged and the antler blocks are just as dramatic. Plus you can check out our Christmas budget tips if you’re watching party spend.

11. Twelve Shots of Christmas

Sung (or read) to the tune of ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas,’ this is a structured shot or sip challenge game that works either as a printed card dealt to each player or as a group call-and-response activity.

The host reads through twelve rounds, each corresponding to a number from one to twelve. On round one, one person takes a sip. On round two, two people nominated by the previous drinker take a sip — and so on, snowballing up through round twelve.

The twist is that each round also has a festive challenge attached: complete the challenge, and you can reassign your sip to someone else. Fail or refuse, and you take it yourself.

Print the challenge list cards before the party.

Round challenges include: Round 1 — ‘Sip and name one Christmas movie from the last decade’; Round 2 — ‘Sip and do a reindeer impression convincing enough for the group to vote thumbs up’; Round 3 — ‘Three players nominated, but the one who correctly names all of Santa’s nine reindeer fastest drinks last’; Round 4 — ‘Four players sip, but whoever makes the group laugh first during the next 60 seconds gets to skip their round-five sip’; Round 7 — ‘Seven swans a-swimming: everyone holds one arm behind their back and drinks with the other for the next full round’; Round 12 — ‘Twelve drummers drumming: everyone drums on the table while the last player finishes their drink to an applause countdown.’

The game builds beautifully and peaks hilariously at round twelve.

The genius of this format is that it mirrors the escalating structure of the carol itself — which everyone already knows and loves — giving the game a familiar rhythm that makes it feel intuitive even in the first play-through.

It also scales perfectly whether you have eight guests or twenty, because you simply nominate more people per round for larger groups. Host tip: play this game around a table or in a circle so the nomination chain can travel smoothly and nobody gets lost.

Mocktail swap: designated non-drinkers take a sip of their festive punch on every sip cue — the challenge elements apply to everyone equally and that’s what makes it work.

12. Ugly Sweater Sip Roulette

This one works best when you’ve asked guests to wear ugly Christmas sweaters — which you absolutely should do because it makes every photo from the night ten times better.

Ugly Sweater Sip Roulette is a spinning-verdict game: each player takes a turn standing up and doing a slow sweater spin while the group secretly votes on their sweater in four categories on a printed score card.

Categories are: Ugliness (1–5 Christmas trees), Effort (1–5 stars), Nostalgia factor (‘Does it look like it came from a gran’s attic — yes/no’), and Overall Festivity Rating.

The scores are tallied and announced, and the player with the lowest score across all categories has to take a drink — twice if they’re wearing something that’s clearly just a normal red jumper with one bauble safety-pinned to it.

Print one score sheet per player before the party and hand them out at the start of the evening. Each sheet has a numbered table with six rows (one per sweater contestant) and the four scoring columns.

Players fill in their scores discreetly while each person takes their spin, then fold the cards and pass them to the host for tallying.

Bonus rule: if any sweater is deemed ‘so ugly it’s actually iconic’ by unanimous vote (all players give it 5/5 ugliness), the wearer gets to assign one drink to anyone in the room.

Crown the overall Ugly Sweater Champion with a cheesy prize — a chocolate trophy, a gift voucher, or a crown made of tinsel.

This game rewards guests who committed to the dress code and gently penalises those who didn’t (which is its own kind of beautiful justice).

It also creates a natural mid-party moment where everyone is focused on the same thing, energy peaks, and great photos happen organically.

Host tip: announce the ugly sweater contest in your party invite so people actually come prepared — a last-minute grab from the wardrobe never produces the truly transcendent ugliness you’re hoping for.

Mocktail swap: the drink penalty applies equally to alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks — a sip of festive punch is still a penalty sip.

13. Elf Dares or Drinks

Elf Dares or Drinks is a Christmas-themed truth-or-dare-style game with a very important twist: there are no truths, only dares — and your only alternative to completing the dare is to take a drink.

The dares are all themed around Elf the movie and its wonderful catalogue of chaos: think ‘sing ‘World’s Best Cup of Coffee’ at full volume,’ ‘do your best Buddy the Elf spaghetti-breakfast face when someone offers you a snack,’ ‘compliment every person in the room using only the word ‘joyful’ as an adjective,’ or ‘run to the front door, knock, and announce yourself as Santa’s head elf.’

It’s joyful, it’s silly, and the ‘drink instead’ option means less confident guests never feel pressured to actually perform.

One person is designated ‘The Elf’ each round (rotate after each dare is resolved). The Elf spins a bottle, points to a spinner on the printed wheel, or simply picks a person and issues them a dare from a prepared list.

That person has ten seconds to decide: dare or drink. If they attempt the dare, the group votes thumbs up or thumbs down on whether they sold it convincingly — thumbs down means they still take a sip.

If they drink instead, The Elf role passes to the person to their left for the next round. Keep a running dare list of fifteen to twenty prompts on a printed sheet so The Elf never runs dry on ideas.

This game has a magical momentum to it: early rounds tend to be cautious (lots of ‘I’ll drink’), but by mid-game the competitive spirit kicks in and people start attempting the most unhinged dares with complete conviction.

It’s also genuinely inclusive because the ‘drink instead’ option removes all real social pressure — everyone chooses their own level of participation.

Host tip: write your dare list in advance and read the room for which dares to deploy when, keeping the spicier ones for later in the night when energy is highest.

Mocktail swap: non-drinkers simply do a ‘bonus nice dare’ — a second, gentler challenge — instead of taking a drink penalty, keeping them fully in the game loop.

14. Guess the Cocktail or Drink

Guess the Cocktail or Drink is a Christmas party game that rewards the one friend who thinks they know everything about spirits (and absolutely humbles them when they don’t).

The host prepares five to eight mystery drinks in numbered glasses — a mix of classic cocktails, festive tipples, and a couple of wild cards — with all visual cues removed (same glass shape, same ice, labels hidden).

Each guest gets a printed score card and tastes the numbered pours in order, writing down their best guess at what each drink is. Clues on the card hint at the style (Is it spirit-forward? Is it sweet? Does it have a citrus finish?)

to help guests narrow it down without giving it away entirely.

The score card lists the numbers 1 through 8, each with a write-in line for the drink name guess, a checkbox for ‘spirit-forward / mixer-forward / toss-up,’ and a 1–5 festivity rating.

Suggested mystery drinks include: classic eggnog, a peppermint schnapps hot chocolate, a mulled cider, a Baileys-on-ice, a cranberry cosmopolitan, a dark rum and ginger beer, a Christmas Aperol spritz, and a non-alcoholic mulled spice punch as the wildcard (if anyone guesses it as alcoholic, they take an extra sip for the insult to the host’s mocktail skills).

After all guests have scored, the host reveals each drink in sequence — whoever correctly names the most wins a prize.

This game works brilliantly because it genuinely tests knowledge, triggers conversation (‘wait, I taste cinnamon — is this a Baileys?’), and produces amazing moments when the person who declared themselves a cocktail expert completely misidentifies the eggnog.

It also means guests are actually paying attention to what they’re drinking, which is a rare and underrated gift at a party. For a less competitive version, skip the scoring and just do the reveals as a group discussion.

Mocktail swap: make all eight drinks non-alcoholic — festive sodas, NA spirits, shrubs, and spiced juice blends — and run the exact same game; it’s genuinely just as tricky and twice as surprising.

15. Christmas Card Ring of Fire

Ring of Fire — also known as Kings Cup — is one of the most beloved card-based drinking games ever played, and the Christmas Card edition gives it a full festive makeover that makes it feel completely fresh even for people who’ve played the original a hundred times.

The setup is identical to classic Ring of Fire: shuffle a standard deck, spread it face-down in a ring around a large central ‘Santa’s Cup’ in the middle of the table, and have every player keep their own drink nearby.

Players take turns drawing a card clockwise, and each card value triggers a different Christmas-themed rule.

The person who draws the final King has to drink the contents of Santa’s Cup — which by that point is a mixed concoction of everyone’s poured-in contributions, so, uh, good luck with that.

The Christmas-themed card rules are what make this edition special. Ace = ‘Snowflake Waterfall’ (everyone drinks and can only stop when the person to their right stops — just like the original waterfall, but you announce it with ‘LET IT SNOW’).

2 = ‘Elf gives’ (you pick someone to drink). 3 = ‘Three wise men’ (you drink). 4 = ‘Chimney sweep’ (touch the floor — last person drinks). 5 = ‘Five golden rings’ (everyone sing-shouts ‘FIVE GOLDEN RINGS’ — last to join drinks).

6 = ‘Mrs Claus’ (women drink). 7 = ‘Christmas heaven’ (point to the ceiling — last to point drinks). 8 = ‘Secret Santa mate’ (pick a drinking partner for the rest of the game).

9 = ‘Rhyme with Rudolph’ (say a word, everyone must rhyme — first to fail drinks). 10 = ‘Twelve days categories’ (name things in a Christmas category until someone fails). Jack = ‘Naughty rule’ (set a new rule — no saying ‘drink’ or you sip).

Queen = ‘Christmas questions’ (ask a question, pass it on — first to answer directly drinks). King = ‘Pour into Santa’s Cup and set a rule.’ Break the card ring while drawing? Drink immediately — that’s the spirit.

This game scales effortlessly from six to twenty players, is instantly familiar to most adults, and the Christmas theming makes old rules feel completely new.

It’s also a game that naturally fills an entire evening if you let it — there’s no time limit and each round is different, so energy stays consistent without requiring host management.

Host tip: pre-write the Christmas card rules on a printed cheat sheet and tape it to the table so nobody argues mid-game about what a Queen means — clear rules from the start means a smoother, funnier night.

Mocktail swap: non-drinkers follow all the same card rules with their festive drink — the game works identically and Santa’s Cup can be filled with layers of different mocktails for its own delightful reveal.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best drinking games to play at a Christmas party?

The best drinking christmas party games combine festive theming with classic game mechanics your guests already know.

Top picks include the Christmas Movie Drinking Game (a sip-rule overlay on any holiday film), Jingle Juice Pong (beer pong in a Christmas tree cup formation), Christmas Card Ring of Fire (Kings Cup with holiday-themed card rules), and Santa’s Little Helper Flip Cup for high-energy team competition.

For a calmer vibe, Beer-vent Calendar Tasting and Mulled Wine Blind Tasting are brilliant conversation-starters. Mix active games with tasting games across the evening for the best overall flow.

What are some fun Christmas drinking games for large groups?

For large groups, the best drinking christmas party games are ones with no player cap or easy scaling. Drink If: Christmas Edition works with any number of people and needs zero setup. Sip the Carol runs as background music all night for the whole room.

Christmas Card Ring of Fire scales easily to 15–20 players (use two decks). Santa’s Little Helper Flip Cup and Reindeer Antler Beer Pong can run as tournaments with eliminator rounds to keep large crowds engaged over a longer evening.

How do you play Christmas movie drinking games?

Pick any Christmas movie and play with a printed list of sip-when trigger rules tied to on-screen moments.

Rules are split into three tiers: single-sip moments (common tropes like carol music, tree decorating, or mistletoe appearing), double-sip moments (a Santa cameo, a character getting snowed in, or the main couple almost kissing), and finish-your-drink moments (the movie title is spoken out loud, or it snows on Christmas Day).

Print one rule sheet per person, queue the movie, and keep refills within arm’s reach — Hallmark films will keep you very busy.

What are good Christmas drinking games for work or office parties?

For office Christmas parties, stick to lower-stakes, socially comfortable formats. Drink If: Christmas Edition is perfect because participation is always voluntary — you only sip if a statement applies to you. The Christmas Movie Drinking Game works well for a team movie night.

Beer-vent Calendar Tasting and Guess the Cocktail or Drink are elegant and conversation-focused without requiring anyone to do anything embarrassing.

Naughty or Nice Dares can work at an office party if you curate the Naughty cards to be silly rather than personal — keep the dare list workplace-appropriate and you’ll be fine.

What are some easy Christmas drinking games that don’t require any supplies?

Drink If: Christmas Edition requires nothing but a pre-prepared list of prompts (you can memorise ten and go from there). Sip the Carol needs only a music playlist and your drinks.

Elf Dares or Drinks can be played verbally if someone memorises or improvises the dare list. Christmas-themed Never Have I Ever (where players take a sip if they’ve done the named festive thing) needs absolutely nothing and works anywhere, any time, with any group size.

How do you play Christmas-themed Never Have I Ever?

Christmas-themed Never Have I Ever follows the classic format but uses holiday-specific statements. Players take turns saying ‘Never have I ever…’

followed by a Christmas action or experience — for example, ‘Never have I ever fallen asleep before midnight on Christmas Eve,’ ‘Never have I ever eaten an entire advent calendar in one day,’ or ‘Never have I ever regifted a present.’

Anyone who HAS done the named thing takes a sip. The statements escalate in specificity and boldness as the game goes on, and the shared recognition moments (‘wait, you too?!’) are some of the best parts of any Christmas party.

What are the rules for Christmas beer pong (Rein-beer Pong)?

For Reindeer Antler Beer Pong, arrange 10 cups per side in a Christmas tree shape (4-3-2-1). Fill each cup with beer or your drink of choice. Two teams of two take turns throwing ping-pong balls at the opposing side’s cups.

When a ball lands in a cup, that cup is removed and the defending player drinks it. The defending team may wear reindeer antler headbands and use them (not their hands) to block incoming shots.

Using hands to block means the shooting team removes any cup of their choice penalty-free. The first team to eliminate all opposing cups wins.

Can Christmas drinking games be played without alcohol?

Absolutely — every game on this list works with a mocktail swap. For sip-based games, use sparkling cranberry cider, spiced apple juice, festive NA cocktails, or flavoured sparkling water. For pong games, fill the cups with ginger ale or sparkling grape juice.

For tasting games like Beer-vent Calendar Tasting and Mulled Wine Blind Tasting, use craft NA beers, spiced punches, and artisan sodas — the guessing and scoring elements are genuinely just as entertaining.

The social fun of drinking christmas party games comes from the rules and interaction, not the alcohol itself.

What are some printable Christmas drinking games for adults?

Several games on this list come with printable sheets that make them easy to prep and play. The Christmas Movie Drinking Game has a sip-rule card for each guest. Naughty or Nice Dares are printed on cut-out card-stock dare cards.

Advent Wine Roulette uses printed numbered slip inserts for envelopes. The Twelve Shots of Christmas challenge list is a host read-aloud card. Ugly Sweater Sip Roulette has individual score cards. Beer-vent Calendar Tasting and Guess the Cocktail or Drink both use tasting score cards.

All of these printable drinking christmas party games are designed to be print-and-play with no extra prep.

What are funny Christmas drinking game ideas for family gatherings?

For adult-only family gatherings where you want something festive but not too wild, Drink If: Christmas Edition with family-friendly prompts works beautifully (think ‘drink if you’ve ever fallen asleep during Christmas dinner’ or ‘drink if you know a family member’s exact gift budget’).

Sip the Carol is gentle enough for any crowd. Beer-vent Calendar Tasting and Mulled Wine Blind Tasting feel grown-up and conversational rather than rowdy. The Christmas Movie Drinking Game during an annual family film screening is a time-honoured tradition waiting to happen.

Always offer strong mocktail options so every adult at the table can play along.

There you have it — 15 drinking christmas party games to take your holiday bash from ‘pleasant gathering’ to ‘party they’re still talking about in February.’

Mix and match the active games with the tastings and the printables, keep mocktail swaps on the table for everyone, and most importantly: drink responsibly, arrange safe rides home, and let someone else be the designated responsible adult so you can actually enjoy the Jingle Juice Pong tournament you’ve been training for.

Need more holiday inspiration? Check out our full gift guide for colleagues to sort your Secret Santa while you’re at it — and pin this list so you never have to scramble for party ideas again. Happy holidays and cheers! 🎄

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