Entertainment ideas for year-end and New Year parties: games everyone can enjoy together
Are you struggling to decide on entertainment to liven up your year-end or New Year’s party? Bingo and karaoke are classics, but having games that make everyone smile can really boost the energy of the event.
If the rules are simple, easy to prepare, and anyone can join right away, it keeps things light for everyone.
In this article, we’ve gathered a wealth of ideas—from acts that instantly lift the mood to a wide variety of games that work regardless of group size.
You’ll find everything from show-stopping performances to conversation-sparking mind games and energizing activities that get people moving—plenty of variety to keep everyone engaged!
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Entertainment ideas for year-end and New Year parties: group-pleasing game ideas (141–150)
Yamanote Line Game (Categories)
The Yamanote Line game is where you take turns listing keywords that fit a given theme.
It’s a party game you can enjoy anywhere—not just at year-end or New Year gatherings.
Because it’s so simple, it’s super easy to customize, making it a great activity anyone can join regardless of age or gender.
You can see how long you can keep it going, but adding a penalty for mistakes might make it more thrilling.
Rather than using general hot topics, choosing themes close to home—like things about your company—will probably make the conversations afterward more lively.
Musical chairs
It brings a nostalgic feeling that reminds you of childhood and a fun twist that sparks grown-up competitiveness.
Preparation is simple, and the key point is that you can start right away as long as you have a large space and some chairs.
This game, which puts smiles on everyone’s faces, is perfect for lightening the mood at work.
Just be careful about safety so no one gets injured if things get too heated!
ring toss
You can get everything ready easily by setting up a pole in the ground and preparing a few rings.
You can even make a pole just by turning over a chair like the ones you find at school, where each leg is separate.
If classmates, seminar members, or club members each bring a local specialty or famous product from their hometown or neighborhood to use as prizes, you’ll likely end up with an attractive selection of prizes.
Entertainment acts for year-end and New Year parties: Game ideas that everyone can get excited about (151–160)
Easy card magic with an iPhone
It’s a simple card trick where you just guess the card, but it’s a new style that cleverly mixes in iPhone features.MagicIt is.
I couldn’t find the link to the app “Magic Shuffle.”
Well Ghost
@makkei104 Entertainment at the 2023 year-end party. I got to perform my favorite Ido routine again!Year-end partyentertainment#Christmas
♫ Original Song – The Mackay – The Mackay
The Well Ghost is a character that appears in Kazuyuki Sakuma’s comedy skits and also in the drama “The Hero Yoshihiko.” When it comes to wells and ghosts, the classic pattern is a ghost emerging from the well, but here the well itself appears as the ghost.
The striking look—unusual, vivid costume colors and carrying a well—is memorable, and the routine flows like a self-introduction set to lively music.
With its overall comical movements, simply reproducing the original actions straightforwardly should be enough to get laughs.
NG word game
Attach a piece of paper to each participant’s forehead with their own forbidden word written on it, making sure they themselves can’t see it.
Participants look at everyone else’s forbidden words and try to steer the conversation to make others say their words.
Anyone who says their forbidden word during the conversation is eliminated, and the last person remaining wins.
This game tests sharp insight into what others are trying to make you say.
Atama-Oshiri Game
It’s a game where you’re given the first and last letters, and you compete by thinking of a word that fits and has as many letters as possible in between.
The more letters you can put in the middle, the higher your score.
Your knowledge of words is tested by whether you can recall one within 10 seconds.
If it turns into a phrase or compound expression, it doesn’t count, so be careful about that while aiming for long single words.
The prompts are given in hiragana, but trying to think in katakana or using other tricks to bring words to mind can be key to winning.