Simple yet exciting! Recommended games and activities for year-end parties
Many of you probably attend several year-end parties—at work, with friends, and in your neighborhood—every year, right?
Looking back on the past year and chatting with colleagues and friends makes for a great time.
And the entertainment games—like bingo and quizzes—might be part of the fun, too.
But when you’re in charge of the entertainment, it can be hard to decide what games to play.
Ideally, you want something simple that everyone can enjoy and get excited about.
In this article, we’ll introduce classic games that meet those needs!
Once you’ve decided on the games for this year’s year-end party, don’t forget to prepare the prizes!
- Simple mini-games that liven up a party
- Party games collection that get everyone excited in a big group
- Roundup of easy party tricks. A collection of ideas that require no preparation.
- Ideas for team-based games to enliven a party
- Party games to liven up your New Year’s celebration: a fun collection that will keep everyone laughing non-stop
- Entertainment ideas for year-end and New Year parties: games everyone can enjoy together
- Party Games That Will Liven Up Your Workplace [2026]
- Office party games that get everyone excited
- A fun, everyone-joins-in game that gets everyone excited!
- [For Kids] Popular party games. Fun games that get everyone excited
- Fun quizzes to liven up New Year’s parties: a collection of questions everyone can enjoy
- Get the office buzzing! A collection of recommended entertainment and performance ideas for year-end and New Year parties
- Popular ranking of entertainment ideas for year-end and New Year parties
Simple yet exciting! Recommended Games and Recreational Activities for Year-End Parties (41–50)
Earphone Loud Telephone Game
You often see this game on variety shows too, right? I think the classic “telephone game” format is fun for all ages.
Preparing the music device is easy nowadays since we have smartphones.
If you don’t have headphones, earphones will do just fine.
For older participants, pick prompts about trends among young people; for younger participants, choose prompts with a Showa-retro vibe—add a little twist in how you select the topics.
The limit might be around 20 characters that people can memorize at once.
Getting some bitter tea ready as a penalty could make it even more exciting!
Kappa Plate Ball-Carrying Race
It’s also great to use paper plates at the party venue for an obstacle-course-style game! If you’ve got a large space, the excitement doubles.
Balance a paper plate on your head, hold it in place with your hands, and put a ping-pong ball on top.
The winner is the person who finishes with the most ping-pong balls still on their plate after clearing all the obstacles.
Simple obstacles made from tables and chairs are plenty.
Even just doing one lap around the venue along the walls works well.
You can customize the obstacles in many ways—like greeting the department head or playing rock-paper-scissors with a junior colleague.
Don’t forget to prepare classic sports day-style background music to play during the game!
Gesture Game
Can you convey a given prompt to your partner using only gestures? You know, the kind you often see on TV shows.
If the prompts are simple, even with kids joining in, everyone can enjoy it.
When the prompts are full sentences, the difficulty goes up—and so does the excitement.
Newspaper Rock-Paper-Scissors
It’s a very simple game that only requires newspapers.
First, hand out newspapers to the participants and have them stand on them.
Next, the person who acts as the leader plays rock-paper-scissors; anyone who loses to the leader folds their newspaper once.
Watching everyone desperately try to keep their balance as their newspapers get smaller and smaller is hilarious.
It’s great fun with both small and large groups, so it’s recommended for any party!
Photo guessing game
This is a game where preparation and cooperation are key! Participants are asked to bring photos from their own childhood or of their children.
The photos are then chosen at random, and everyone guesses, “Whose child is this?” If the person looks very different from how they do now, the quiz gets harder; if they look the same, it’s sure to get a laugh.
It’s bound to be a fun time!
100 Kaki-no-Tane Speed-Eating Contest
You know those bulk-value packs of Kaki no Tane they sell at variety shops? Prepare one of those, line up 100 pieces of Kaki no Tane in a row, and at the start signal, eat them one by one from the end.
Naturally, the person who finishes all 100 the fastest wins.
People who love Kaki no Tane might have an advantage in this game!
Drawing Telephone Game
You know the game of telephone where a prompt is passed along from one end to the other? This is the drawing version of that.
The first person looks at the prompt and turns it into an illustration to show the next person.
The viewer then draws their own interpretation and shows it to the next person, and the last person gives the answer.
It gets harder with longer prompts.