New Year party games that get everyone excited: a fun collection of ideas from classics to DIY
When it comes to New Year’s, it’s a special time spent with family and relatives.
Osechi dishes and New Year’s money are exciting, but having games everyone can play instantly livens up the gathering.
In this article, we’ll introduce game ideas perfect for the New Year.
From classic New Year’s games and easy DIY activities to popular board games and active play, these are all things people of all ages can enjoy! As the new year begins, why not put down your phones and spend some fun time laughing together?
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Exciting New Year’s Games: A Fun Collection of Ideas from Classics to DIY (71–80)
Sushi Go Party
Perfect for New Year’s! Let me introduce the board game “Sushi Go Party!” that lets you get into the mood of a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant.
The rules are simple: you create a sushi course and deal menu cards that match the course, then pass your hand around the table.
The menus include nigiri, rolls, side dishes, desserts, and more.
Everyone takes the cards they want, and when your hand runs out, the round ends.
After three rounds, the player with the highest total score from their collected cards wins.
The feeling of passing hands between players is just like sushi on a conveyor belt.
Give it a try!
Slide Quest
Let me introduce “Slide Quest,” a recommended board game that gets both adults and kids excited during New Year’s home time.
It’s for 1–4 players.
The rules are simple: operate the lever in front of you to tilt the board and guide the piece to the goal.
It’s fun to play solo with focus or together while calling out to each other.
There are 20 stages, and the mission changes on each one.
As you progress, obstacles increase and the difficulty ramps up, so you can enjoy it over plenty of time.
Ball in darts
These are darts where the ball sticks to the target when you throw it.
Real darts use sharp-pointed darts, but with these, the texture is gentle and even children can play safely and have fun.
You can throw from above or below, and I think it’s interesting in a group because everyone can get creative with their throwing style and show their individuality.
Mario Party
How about enjoying a board game session on Nintendo Switch this New Year? Here’s an introduction to Mario Party Superstars.
It’s the second entry in the Mario Party series on Switch, and this one features five fully remade boards from the Nintendo 64 Mario Party titles.
With more mini-games and a richer board game experience than the previous installment, it’s perfect for getting into the New Year’s board game spirit.
Both the mini-games and the board game mode support online play, so you can compete with players around the world.
Wishing you a fun and festive New Year!
Two-person hane-ori showdown
Let me introduce “Nininbaori,” a game that livens up New Year gatherings with a big crowd.
In Nininbaori, one person puts on an oversized garment without putting their arms through the sleeves, while a second person slips in behind them, reaches their arms through the sleeves from inside the garment, and feeds the person in front or performs other actions.
The fun comes from the mismatch between the front person’s facial expressions and the movements of the arms, making it perfect for recreation.
If adults and children are playing together, prepare a garment that can fit any pairing.
It’s also recommended to make one yourself by taping together colored plastic bags—the size can be adjusted to fit.
HANABI
This game is for 2–5 players and takes about 30 minutes to play.
All players cooperate to launch as many cards as possible in numerical order by color.
Interestingly, you can’t see your own hand in this game.
Instead, you can see other players’ hands and use deduction—making it a fresh, innovative experience.
It’s recommended for anyone looking to try something unusual.
akinator
There’s an app and website called Akinator.
It’s a game where you imagine a person, then answer a series of questions about them, and somehow it figures out who you’re thinking of.
It can even guess people you wouldn’t expect, which makes it really surprising and a lot of fun to try.
Riddle Karuta
When it comes to New Year’s, it’s karuta time! Let me introduce “Riddle Karuta,” a game that excites both adults and kids.
In this version, the reading cards are riddles, and the picture cards are the answers to those riddles.
For example, the riddle card says, “What kind of neck comes out of your mouth?” and the picture card shows a yawn (in Japanese, ‘akubi’—a play on words with ‘kubi’ meaning neck).
You might end up memorizing the answers after playing many times, but since it’s karuta, the fun is in grabbing the cards.
It’s also great fun to think up riddles together and make your own original karuta set.
Geister
Geister is a game where you advance while capturing your opponent’s pieces, like in shogi.
You use blue “good” ghosts and red “bad” ghosts.
First, place four blue ghosts and four red ghosts in any arrangement you like on the eight squares on your side.
Arrange them so your opponent cannot see which colors are where.
Then, take turns moving one ghost one square at a time.
If you move onto a square with an opponent’s ghost, you capture it.
You win if you are the first to capture four of your opponent’s blue ghosts.
However, if you capture four red ghosts, you lose.
There’s another way to win: if you manage to move even one blue ghost out through your opponent’s side of the board, you also win.
It’s a real brain-teaser of a game!
Spinning a top
Because a spinning top twirls around, it has been interpreted as a symbol of money circulating, and it has long been cherished as a lucky charm at New Year’s in the hope of improving one’s finances.
Besides the ordinary top you typically imagine, there are various kinds such as beigoma and gyroscope tops, so it might be fun to collect each type.