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: Fun group games (61–70)
Paper Balloon Battle
In this game, you wear a headband with a paper balloon attached and hit each other with bats.
The bats are soft, vinyl ones, so there’s no need to worry about injuries.
To keep things fair, please play against someone of a similar height.
Take aim, swing your bat, and try to pop the other person’s paper balloon first! You can probably get all the equipment at a 100-yen shop, but if you search for “paper balloon battle,” you’ll also find similar products sold as sets.
linked ring traversal
Why not liven up your party with the Linked Ring Pass-Through Game? Divide participants into several teams.
Each team lines up side by side and holds hands.
When the game starts, players pass a ring over their bodies one by one starting from the person at the end.
Since you’re not allowed to let go of hands, twist and crouch as needed to get the ring through smoothly.
The first team to have everyone pass the ring all the way through wins.
The difficulty changes depending on what you use as the ring, so prepare one that suits your participants.
Playing music during the game will make it even more exciting!
Ugly Face Championship
The best part about this Bad Face Championship is that you can hold it with zero prep.
As the title suggests, you compete to see who can make the “baddest” face.
How you interpret “bad” is up to each participant—get creative with the situation and go for it.
Like I said above, you can play without any preparation, but putting thought into outfits or props can make it even more fun.
The discussion over “whose face was the baddest” is bound to get everyone hyped, too! If you want a big group to laugh out loud together, definitely give it a try.
Shin Takarajima Dance
How about recreating the unique vibe of Sakanaction’s “Shin Takara Jima” music video as a performance? The striking contrast comes from the members gently swaying side to side while dancers in front deliver sharp cheer routines.
The cheer section requires techniques like synchronized choreography, but the members’ swaying is a simple movement, so think creatively about how to position people.
Since doing only these moves throughout the song might not be visually compelling, it’s also a good idea to consider combining them with other performance elements.
No Roman Letters Party
A game where using loanwords is forbidden, often played as a segment on TV variety shows or by YouTubers.
From the moment someone declares, “From now on, no loanwords allowed!!,” you’re not allowed to use words like ‘smartphone’ or ‘glass.’ Even though you know you shouldn’t say them, English-derived words slip out so naturally that it’s guaranteed to get lively! You can make it a forfeit game for anyone who says a loanword, or give a prize to anyone who avoids using any loanwords at all to make it even more exciting!
flash mob dance
Flash mobs, which can create unexpected emotion at proposals or parties, are perfect for entertainment segments.
That said, they can be a bit of a high hurdle for anyone who isn’t especially bold.
And since dance is the main focus, they require more practice time than other types of entertainment.
Still, it’s reassuring if you have a few people with dance experience.
For a company event, it might also be fun to split into groups—like a younger team and a veteran team—and perform separately!
Telepathy Gesture Game
Gesture games, which are frequently played on Japanese variety shows, are always a hit as party entertainment.
Here, rather than the usual communication-style gesture game, we’ll introduce a telepathy-style version that tests whether two people can get on the same wavelength.
First, present a prompt.
If the two performers make the same gesture, it’s a correct answer.
For example, if the prompt is “baseball” and one person acts as the batter while the other acts as the pitcher, that’s out.
If both act as the batter, that’s OK! It’s even more fun if you use a screen so they can’t see each other’s gestures.
Hilarious tablecloth pull
Speaking of tablecloth-pulling, Masahiro Sakai from the New Year’s TV special “Entertainer’s Hidden Talents” used to be famous for it, and more recently, Wes-P has drawn attention.
There’s no way a tablecloth-pulling act won’t get the crowd going.
It does take some practice, but I don’t think it’s impossibly difficult.
If you’re looking to pick up a new trick, definitely give it a try!
air band
Even people who aren’t in a band will definitely have a blast—no doubt about it! Let’s go all-in and play air instruments for real! This is an entertainment show where staging matters more than performance, and energy matters more than technique.
Choosing songs that everyone can get pumped up to might be the key.
slapstick comedy
When it comes to party entertainment, getting laughs with a funny one-shot gag is the classic move.
But this “intentional bombing” act throws a wrench into the idea that you must score laughs with a guaranteed-funny bit.
It’s perfect if you’re not usually the type to perform or you’re afraid of bombing.
The steps are simple: deliberately start with a one-shot gag that probably won’t be funny.
As the room predictably freezes over, soak in the awkwardness and keep stacking more unfunny bits, bombing even harder—and then, like magic, people start laughing at how awkward the atmosphere has become! That’s the idea.
Because you go in expecting to bomb, even if you end up eating it all the way to the end, the damage is minimal—and you can confidently play it off.
The catch is, you’ll need some resolve and a bit of mental toughness to commit.
If you do manage to get laughs out of it, lucky you.