New Year party games that get everyone excited: a fun collection of ideas from classics to DIY

Ubongo

Super-easy 5-minute explanation! The puzzle game “Ubongo”

This is a game for small groups of 1 to 4 players.

Complete your puzzle before the sand in the hourglass runs out.

Players who finish first choose valuable gems in order.

The game lasts 9 rounds.

The player with the highest total gem score wins.

Each puzzle has a front and back with different difficulty, so you can adjust it per participant.

Roll the die, flip the hourglass, and start! Use the puzzle indicated in the section matching the symbol on the die and complete it.

When you’re done, shout “Ubongo!” and claim gems in the order the word was called.

It’s a game you can’t help getting absorbed in—sure to get everyone excited.

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moko

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Prey of the Vulture

[Board Game] For Sale: Easy How-to-Play Video

This is a game where you play numbered cards to compete for vulture cards.

Each player plays one card, and the player with the highest number on their card gets the vulture card.

If the vulture card has a minus sign, the player with the lowest number gets it instead.

If there is a tie for the same number, no one takes the card, and it goes to the next highest number.

The game ends when the vulture card deck runs out, and the player with the highest total from their collected cards wins.

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moko

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menko (a traditional Japanese card-and-coin-flipping game)

menko (a traditional Japanese card-and-coin-flipping game)

It’s a simple game where you slap one menko down onto those lined up on the ground, and if you flip one over, you win.

You don’t see it much these days, but trying it again after a long time might feel fresh and fun, don’t you think? Back in the day, many menko featured figures admired by boys—baseball players, sumo wrestlers, and movie stars—and now there are people who collect them as a hobby.

Sugoroku

New Year! NIJISANJI Sugoroku Tournament

Sugoroku is one of the New Year’s games that has long been loved in Japan.

It is said to have become established as a New Year’s pastime because, in the Edo period, it was used as a test of luck to decide who would get ahead in that year.

The rules are simple and easy to understand—you just roll the dice and move your piece the number of spaces shown—so it’s appealing because everyone from adults to children can enjoy it together.

Another highlight of sugoroku is that you can write whatever instructions you like in the squares and have fun with them.

Try making your own family-original sugoroku and enjoy it together!

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yuri

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Ponkotsu Paint with Everyone

[Board Game Review] “Everyone’s Ponkotsu Paint” – A drawing game where you communicate using only straight lines and perfect circles

Recommended for people who love drawing! Let me introduce a New Year’s party board game called “PonKotsu Paint for Everyone.” The rules are very simple: you draw a picture based on a prompt, and everyone guesses what it is.

There’s a rule that you can only use circles and straight lines to draw.

You’re not allowed to use ovals or curves.

You also can’t watch others while they’re drawing, so wait until everyone is finished.

The player who used the fewest total lines shows their drawing to the guessers first, so figuring out how to draw with as few lines as possible is part of the strategy.

Give it a try over the New Year holidays!

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kepiko

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kite flying

New Year’s fun! Great for indoors too ♪ Instant kite-flying

Kite flying is a pastime that dates back to the Edo period and has spread not only as a New Year’s activity but also as a sport, such as with sport kites.

There are various theories as to why it became firmly associated with New Year’s play, but it seems to carry a meaning well-suited to the start of the year: sending one’s wishes up to the heavens.

Battledore and shuttlecock

[New Year] A serious battledore-and-shuttlecock showdown with hagoita! [Hilarious] Play Battledore

Hanetsuki is a game played using hagoita paddles—it’s like a Japanese-style badminton.

The shuttlecock used in hanetsuki traditionally contains the seed of a plant called mukuroji (soapberry).

Because the kanji for mukuroji literally mean “a child does not fall ill,” there is a folk belief that it brings good health and wards off misfortune.

It’s considered an auspicious game, perfect for the New Year.