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!
- Simple! Easy one-shot gags. Surefire bits that liven up parties and performances [2026]
- [Easy] A Collection of Party Dances to Liven Up Year-End and New Year Parties
- Get the office buzzing! A collection of recommended entertainment and performance ideas for year-end and New Year parties
- [Definitive Guide] Guaranteed Crowd-Pleasers! Party Acts and Gags Everyone Will Enjoy
- Roundup of easy party tricks. A collection of ideas that require no preparation.
- Simple yet exciting! Recommended games and activities for year-end parties
- Party games to liven up your New Year’s celebration: a fun collection that will keep everyone laughing non-stop
- Party acts that hype up the crowd: Recommended entertainment and performances for banquets and drinking parties [2026]
- [Hilarious] Rhythm Gags That Kill at Parties and Performances
- [Hilarious] One-Liner Gags That Kill at Parties and Events
- Year-end/New Year party crowd-pleasing performance dance [2026]
- [Easy to Imitate] Comedian Impressions: Crowd-Pleasing Entertainment and Performance Ideas
- Simple mini-games that liven up a party
Entertainment ideas for year-end and New Year parties: Fun group games (21–30)
Body Clock Game
The “Is Your Body Clock Accurate? Game,” which relies solely on your own sense of time, is exactly what it sounds like: trust your internal clock and measure 30 seconds.
Participants will be blindfolded.
The host will start the stopwatch on the cue.
Participants should raise their hand when they believe 30 seconds have passed.
The person who raises their hand most accurately wins.
The longer the duration, the higher the difficulty, so you can start with shorter intervals and gradually make them longer.
Ranking Battle
How about trying “Kakuzuke Check,” the TV program that’s become a New Year’s favorite, as entertainment for your welcome party? The rules are simple: participants choose between a luxury item and a cheap one using their sense of taste or smell, and they take on the challenge while blindfolded.
Prepare two rooms, A and B; have people enter the room that corresponds to their chosen answer, and once everyone has chosen, reveal the correct answers.
It’s a surefire way to get both participants and spectators excited.
Inviting the newcomers themselves to join in should also help deepen interaction.
Entertainment ideas for year-end and New Year parties: Group-pleasing game ideas (31–40)
wotagei
Wotagei is a performance that idol fans dedicate to idols at concerts and live shows.
Seeing your usually serious boss or coworkers swinging glow sticks without minding the sweat can look comical to some and rather stylish to others.
Especially when performed crisply by a group, it’s very beautiful—one could even say it approaches the realm of art.
Yamanote Line game where only one person doesn’t know the theme
The Yamanote Line Game is a game that’s often played at parties, but how about trying a variation called “The Yamanote Line Game Where Only One Person Doesn’t Know the Topic”? In this version, one person on the team isn’t told the topic, and they have to try to join in based on the answers given by the people before them.
The others should play as a team by giving answers that make the topic easy for the uninformed player to guess, indirectly conveying the theme to them.
It might be difficult if there aren’t many participants.
Toilet Paper Rolling Game
Here’s a super simple but guaranteed crowd-pleaser: the Toilet Paper Rolling Game! First, set a roll of toilet paper on a rod, and have participants place their hands on their hips and wait for the signal.
When the host shouts “Start!”, everyone begins rolling up the paper as fast as they can.
Whoever finishes rolling the fastest wins, and the excitement skyrockets! The rules are simple, but dexterity and rolling technique make all the difference.
Offering prizes will heat things up even more! It’s a classic game that instantly brightens the mood at any party.
Word Wolf
Do you know the game Word Wolf? One person is the Wolf and everyone else is a Citizen, and only the Wolf receives a different prompt.
Since the Citizens all start talking about a shared topic, the person playing the Wolf has to keep talking while pretending to follow that topic.
At the end, everyone points to who they think the Wolf is; if they’re wrong, the Wolf has a chance to earn a high score.
Even if someone points to the Wolf, the Wolf can still earn a high score by correctly guessing the Citizens’ prompt.
Love Dance
The Koi Dance became a social phenomenon when the drama aired.
In the drama ‘We Married as a Job’ (Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu), the cast danced to Gen Hoshino’s theme song ‘Koi’ during the ending.
It was frequently featured on TV, and practically everyone knows it, so it’s guaranteed to get the crowd excited!