New Year's Eve Party Games for Adults: 45 Questions and Challenges

New Year's Eve has a built-in problem: everyone arrives at eight, midnight is four hours away, and the conversation runs out around ten. A good party game fills exactly that gap. It gets people talking, mixes the groups that do not know each other, and makes the countdown feel like the end of something you did together.

Below are three games made for the last night of the year, with 45 prompts you can read straight from your phone. You do not need cards, a board or any preparation. They work with drinks, and just as well without.

How do you run party games on New Year's Eve?

1. Start early. Games work best between dinner and about an hour before midnight, while everyone is still listening.
2. Pick one person to read the prompts, or pass the phone around so everyone reads one.
3. Agree on the stakes first: a sip, a point, or a small forfeit for those who are not drinking.
4. Let anyone skip a prompt without explaining why. The night is long and nobody should feel cornered.
5. Stop while it is still fun, and save the challenges for the last half hour before the countdown.

Never Have I Ever: the past year edition

The classic rules, with one twist: every statement is about the year that is ending. Whoever has done it takes a sip (or loses a point). It is the fastest way to find out what your friends were really up to since last January.

1. 1.Never have I ever given up on a New Year's resolution before February.
2. 2.Never have I ever forgotten a friend's birthday this year.
3. 3.Never have I ever cancelled plans this year just to stay on the sofa.
4. 4.Never have I ever cried at a film or series this year.
5. 5.Never have I ever sent a message to the wrong person this year.
6. 6.Never have I ever bought something this year that I have still not used.
7. 7.Never have I ever fallen asleep before midnight on New Year's Eve.
8. 8.Never have I ever pretended to like a present this year.
9. 9.Never have I ever taken a day off this year and told nobody why.
10. 10.Never have I ever started a hobby this year and dropped it within a month.
11. 11.Never have I ever looked up an ex online this year.
12. 12.Never have I ever missed a train, a bus or a flight this year.
13. 13.Never have I ever sung karaoke this year.
14. 14.Never have I ever told someone this year that I was five minutes away when I had not left home yet.
15. 15.Never have I ever re-gifted a present this year.

Most Likely To: predictions for the new year

Read the prompt, count to three, and everyone points at the person they think fits best. Whoever collects the most fingers drinks, or gets a point. The arguments afterwards are the best part.

1. 1.Who is most likely to break their resolution first?
2. 2.Who is most likely to move to another city next year?
3. 3.Who is most likely to start a new job next year?
4. 4.Who is most likely to book a trip on impulse?
5. 5.Who is most likely to adopt a pet next year?
6. 6.Who is most likely to fall in love next year?
7. 7.Who is most likely to forget this year's date and keep writing the old one until March?
8. 8.Who is most likely to become famous on the internet by accident?
9. 9.Who is most likely to run a marathon next year?
10. 10.Who is most likely to still be awake when the sun comes up tomorrow?
11. 11.Who is most likely to lose their phone tonight?
12. 12.Who is most likely to make a speech at midnight?
13. 13.Who is most likely to send a long emotional message to the group chat at 2 a.m.?
14. 14.Who is most likely to organise next year's party?
15. 15.Who is most likely to finally learn a language they have been talking about for years?

Countdown challenges for the last half hour

Short, harmless dares that get everyone on their feet before midnight. Go around the circle; anyone who refuses takes a sip or loses a point.

1. 1.Name the best moment of your year in exactly five words.
2. 2.Do your best impression of someone in the room. The others guess who it is.
3. 3.Give a ten-second toast to the person on your left.
4. 4.Tell the group one thing you will do differently next year. No jokes allowed.
5. 5.Sing the chorus of the song you listened to most this year.
6. 6.Show the last photo you took this year and explain it.
7. 7.Describe your year as a film title. The group decides the genre.
8. 8.Say three true things about your year and one lie. The others spot the lie.
9. 9.Give someone in the room a sincere compliment you have never told them.
10. 10.Send a happy new year message to the third contact in your chat list, right now.
11. 11.Do ten seconds of the dance you will open the new year with.
12. 12.Tell the story of your most embarrassing moment this year in thirty seconds.
13. 13.Name one person here you want to see more often next year, and say why.
14. 14.Predict one thing that will happen to the person opposite you next year.
15. 15.Lead the countdown from ten in the most dramatic voice you have.

Frequently Asked Questions