Tallynight
Christmas and New Year · December 2026

Christmas games for family and parties

Games for the Christmas party, the family table and the slow days between Christmas and New Year. Each one says how many it suits, how long it takes and how loud it gets, with a way to keep score across the holidays.

Keep score for every Christmas game on your iPhone or iPad, from charades to Catan. Tallynight is free, with no ads.

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Quick picks by situation

Short on time? Start here, then find each game further down the page.

Christmas party games for large groups

At a party, the games that work are the ones a new arrival can join halfway through. Two teams, slips of paper and a timer cover most of them.

CharadesTeams take turns acting. A point for each phrase guessed in time. PictionaryBoard game: race to the finish. Without the board: a point a word guessed in time. TabooA point a word guessed. Passed or buzzed cards score for the other team. BuncoRoll for the round's number. A bunco is 21. Most wins over the night takes the prize. Trivia nightA point a right answer, a joker to double a round, a tie-breaker for first. ScattergoriesA point for each answer nobody else wrote. Highest total after the last round.

In two teams, add each team as a player in Tallynight and start the turn timer for each turn, or put the online score keeper on the TV. Each team gets a big tile in its colour, easy to read from across the room.

Christmas party games for adults

For a grown-up party, or the evening after the kids are in bed: games with a bit more competition, some strategy, and room to talk.

TabooA point a word guessed. Passed or buzzed cards score for the other team. ScattergoriesA point for each answer nobody else wrote. Highest total after the last round. Skull King10 rounds. Bid made: 20 a trick plus bonuses. Missed: −10 a trick off. Wizard (card game)Exact bid: 20 plus 10 a trick. Missed: −10 a trick off. Highest total wins. Oh HellExact bid: 10 plus a point a trick. Missed: a point a trick. Highest total wins. Nertz+1 a card in the centre, −2 a card left in your Nertz pile. First to 100. Dutch Blitz+1 a card in the Dutch piles, −2 a card left in your Blitz pile. First to 75.

Christmas games for families indoors

When it's dark by five and too cold to go out, these fill an afternoon with three generations at one table.

Mexican Train13 rounds from double 12 down. Count the pips left, lowest total wins. UnoGo out first and score everyone else's cards. First to 500 wins. RummikubLosers take off their tiles, the winner adds them. A joker left costs 30. Five Crowns11 rounds, a new wild card each round. Lowest total wins. Phase 10Finish all ten phases first. Points left in hand break ties, lowest wins. Hand and FootFour rounds in teams. Clean books 500, dirty 300, highest total wins. FarkleSix dice, bank before you farkle. 1s are 100, 5s are 50, first to 10,000. Yahtzee13 turns, one box each. Upper bonus at 63, Yahtzee is 50. DominoesWin the pips left in other hands, or score in 5s with All Fives to 200 or 250.

Christmas games for kids

Games kids can play with each other or with the grown-ups, from simple card games to things to make and throw.

Crazy EightsThe first out scores everyone's cards. Eights 50, pictures and 10s 10, aces 1. Kings CornerPenalty points for cards left in hand, 10 for a king. Lowest wins at 25 or 50. UnoGo out first and score everyone else's cards. First to 500 wins. Sushi GoThree rounds. Maki 6 and 3, sets of tempura and sashimi, pudding ±6 at the end. Qwirkle1 point a tile in each line you play to. A Qwirkle is 12, going out 6. Shut the BoxShut tiles that add up to the dice, and score the tiles left. Lowest total wins. Golf (card game)Nine holes, lowest wins. Kings 0, twos −2, a pair in a column scores 0.

Board games for the long evenings

The days between Christmas and New Year are made for a longer game. If a new one came out of the wrapping paper this morning, the guides explain how it's scored, so the first game doesn't stop for the rulebook.

CatanSettlements 1, cities 2, road and army 2 each. 10 on your turn wins. Ticket to RideRoutes 1 to 15 as you claim them. Tickets plus or minus, longest path 10. WingspanBirds, bonus cards and round goals, plus 1 each for eggs, cached food and tucked cards. AzulEach tile scores its row and column, the floor costs points, bonuses 2, 7 and 10. Sushi GoThree rounds. Maki 6 and 3, sets of tempura and sashimi, pudding ±6 at the end. ScrabbleAdd each word's letters and premium squares. A bingo is 50, highest wins. Qwirkle1 point a tile in each line you play to. A Qwirkle is 12, going out 6. CarcassonneRoads 1 a tile, cities 2, monasteries 9. Fields 3 a finished city at the end. 7 WondersSeven categories after Age III. Science scores squares, plus 7 for each set.
Every game guide

Card games for the days after Christmas

A deck or two of cards and a plate of leftovers. These suit an evening on the sofa as well as the dining table.

HeartsLowest score wins. 1 point a heart, 13 for the queen of spades. SpadesTeams bid tricks: 10 a trick bid, 1 a bag, first to 500 wins. EuchreTeams of two. 1 for 3 or 4 tricks, 2 for all five, 4 alone. First to 10. CanastaTeams meld for canastas: natural 500, mixed 300. First side to 5,000 wins. CribbageRace to 121. Fifteens 2, pairs 2, runs 1 a card, nobs 1. Gin RummyTwo players. Knock or go gin, score the difference, first to 100 wins. Rummy 500Your melds minus your hand, every hand. First to 500 wins. Golf (card game)Nine holes, lowest wins. Kings 0, twos −2, a pair in a column scores 0. Skip-BoWinner scores 25 plus 5 a card left in other stock piles. First to 500.

Most guides come with a score sheet to print, with the rounds and totals already laid out.

Christmas charades and Pictionary prompts

Copy them onto slips of paper, fold them into a bowl or a stocking, and draw one a turn. Act it out for charades, or draw it for Pictionary with no letters, numbers or talking. Give each turn a minute, and a point for each one guessed in time. These first 20 suit younger players.

Harder prompts for teens and adults

How to score charadesHow to score Pictionary

A family Christmas tournament

Christmas comes with days to fill, so a tournament can run from Christmas Eve to New Year's Eve. Play a game or two a day, keep one leaderboard, and crown the winner as the year turns.

Three ways to keep the leaderboard

In the Tallynight app. Score each game in Tallynight as you play it. Every finished game is kept with its winner and scores, and whoever wins outright takes the belt. For the overall standings, start one more game: choose Something else, then Rounds, with the highest score winning, and add each team. After each game, type everyone's tournament points as a round. The table keeps the totals and who's in front, and the race chart replays the whole holiday at the end.

With Tallynight Pro, the Family Hall of Fame keeps wins, longest streaks, head to head and records across every game you finish, from one Christmas to the next.

In a browser. The free online score keeper works on a laptop or the TV, with Full screen for the whole room. The game stays in that browser until you clear it.

On paper. Print a blank score sheet, write the teams across the top and one game on each row, and pin it to the fridge.

Online score keeperBlank score sheet

New Year's Eve games

Games that run until midnight, with a winner as the year turns.

Five Crowns11 rounds, a new wild card each round. Lowest total wins. UnoGo out first and score everyone else's cards. First to 500 wins. BuncoRoll for the round's number. A bunco is 21. Most wins over the night takes the prize. CharadesTeams take turns acting. A point for each phrase guessed in time. Trivia nightA point a right answer, a joker to double a round, a tie-breaker for first.
Tallynight

Keep score through the holidays

Tallynight is a score keeper for iPhone and iPad, free with no ads. Pick a game and its scoring is ready, or set up your own for snowman bowling. Each player or team gets a big tile in their colour, and a turn timer runs for charades and Pictionary.

  • 39 games set up with their rules, Catan, Qwirkle and Scrabble included
  • Rounds that add up, with who deals next
  • A winner card for the family chat, and the belt for whoever wins
  • With Tallynight Pro, the Family Hall of Fame: wins, streaks, head to head and records
Download on the App Store
A party game with the turn timer: one minute for Sam's turn, and a big tile per team

Questions

What are good Christmas party games for large groups?

Games in two teams that a new arrival can join: Fishbowl, charades, Pictionary and Taboo. Bunco works for 12 or more at tables of four, a gift swap works for any number, and a round of Christmas trivia suits teams of up to 6.

What are good Christmas party games for adults?

Taboo, Scattergories with your own Christmas categories, and two truths and a lie for the party. For a table of friends, card games with bidding like Skull King, Wizard or Oh Hell, or Nertz if you like it fast.

What Christmas games can a family play indoors?

Mexican Train dominoes for up to 10, Uno, Rummikub, Five Crowns and Phase 10 at the table, the oven mitt present game for a mixed-age crowd, and charades or Pictionary with the prompts on this page.

What are good Christmas games for kids?

Snowman bowling, pin the nose on the reindeer, a Christmas scavenger hunt and freeze dance. For cards and boards, Crazy Eights and Kings Corner from about 6, Uno from about 7, and Sushi Go from about 8.

What board games are good to play at Christmas?

Ticket to Ride and Azul are quick to teach, Catan and Wingspan fill an evening, and Sushi Go takes 15 minutes. Each guide on this site explains how the game is scored, with a score sheet to print.

How do you keep score for a family Christmas tournament?

Give tournament points for each game's places, like 3 for first, 2 for second and 1 for third, and add them up as you go. Keep the totals in the Tallynight app as a game of rounds with one round per game, in the free online score keeper, or on a printed blank score sheet.

Are there free printable Christmas games?

Yes. This page prints with its charades and Pictionary prompts, the Christmas trivia prints with its answers on a page of their own, and most game guides have a free score sheet to print.