A virtual holiday party presents an opportunity to make lasting memories you can only create online.
Laughing when your friend’s Zoom screen freezes as he’s making the most awkward-possible face. Trying not to laugh when your co-worker’s costumed kid swoops in to achieve the most epic webcam “bomb” imaginable. Seeing how your parents’ attempt at putting up a background has cut off half their faces.
In short, virtual holiday get-togethers provide opportunities to make new kinds of memories in new kinds of ways.
In short, virtual holiday get-togethers provide opportunities to make new kinds of memories in new kinds of ways.
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These events help you maintain strong and natural connections with friends and loved ones you can’t see due to physical or social distance. Online festivities help maintain a sense of normalcy and a feeling of living full lives even when celebrations have to take place through different formats.
Browse the ideas below to be the best virtual party host ever and even create some new holiday traditions.
Any of the ideas below can be used for any holiday you feel inclined to celebrate, whether it’s one of the big traditional ones or one of the small ones you’ve never even heard of before.
Virtual Holiday Party Games
1) Virtual Team Pursuit
Outback’s event experts will connect you to friends and teammates during a 100% online, immersive bonding experience that engages your remote team members with physical and mental challenges you’ll remember for years.
Outback’s other virtual office games include murder mystery, code break, and game show extravaganza.
Standout features:
- Accommodates up to 300 remote workers per group
- Employee engagement consultants provide free guidance
- Dedicated Event Facilitators will handle all of the logistics and set-up
- An app to make game-play a breeze
Tip: Talk to your engagement consultant about catering your experience to whichever holiday you’re celebrating.
Request a quote to get Outback Team Building’s help nailing plans for your virtual holiday office party
2) The Go Game Remote
The Go Game offers a virtual fun fest that’s fast moving and packed with a variety of crowd-favorite games, including pub trivia, giphy challenges, and a ridiculously hilarious drawing game.
The best part of the game might be the Go Game’s virtual event hosts. They’re charming and will keep your event on-pace, making your guests laugh as you all complete challenges and play games.
Standout features:
- No software download required
- Specially designed interface increases engagement
- Dedicated event hosts maximize fun
- The Go Game’s experts will help you split your group into teams
Tip: Do a Go Game demo before your party so you know exactly what you’re getting into.
Contact the Go Game today to set a date and start looking forward to a fun and stress-free virtual holiday party.
3) Werewolf
Party attendees split into two groups—werewolves and townspeople—and face off until all the werewolves are dead or the two groups reach equal numbers.
Standout features:
- An app that makes playing Werewolf easy
- It involves plenty of thinking, strategy, and even a little deception
Tip: Make sure everyone understands the objective of the game before you officially begin.
Get your friends together and download the Werewolf app to start playing at your next holiday party.
4) Let’s Roam Virtual Game Night
The Let’s Roam virtual game night includes one hour of professionally planned and expertly executed virtual games that will get employees laughing, making memories, and most importantly, bonding and boosting company culture.
Enjoy all the crowd favorites, including trivia, charades, drawing games, and more.
Standout features:
- Custom video conferencing interface
- Expert event planners handle all the details and logistics
- Customize game questions with company-focused options
Tip: Take advantage of custom teammate trivia to learn as much about your co-workers as possible
Talk to the Let’s Roam team to find the right option for your team and your needs
5) City Brew Tour Cheese and Beer Tasting
City Brew Tours offers a virtual beer and cheese pairing happy hour that achieves just as much delicious magic as an in-person tasting. Eating cheese and sipping beer together virtually is the perfect way to bring cheer to any holiday celebration. (It also proves you don’t have to be in the same place to enjoy the conviviality of eating and drinking together.)
Standout features:
- Beer and cheese edutainment provided by expert guides
- Get inside the head of a professional beer appraiser
- Gain beer and cheese tasting skills guests can use for years to come
Tip: Ask all your guests to come prepared with their most pressing beer questions so everyone can learn as much as possible from your beer expert/host.
Talk to a City Brew Tours expert to start planning the festive virtual holiday event of your dreams.
6) The Escape Game Virtual Escape Room
Investigate a physical escape room through your game guide—someone rigged with a live camera feed—as your eyes and ears. Use your guide to explore the room and, with hope, make your escape.
All in all, you’ll get an authentic escape room adventure that doesn’t feel virtual at all.
Standout features:
- An online game dashboard helps you track progress
- Search 360° options from your virtual space to get a comprehensive, life-like view of the environment
- Long-distance capabilities let players 1,000 miles and several time zones away from the physical escape room have as much fun as on-site players
Tip: Ask beginners to prime themselves on escape room best practices so they can have fun and not be too stressed out.
Get in touch with the Escape Game to start planning an unforgettable virtual holiday adventure today.
7) QuizBreaker
QuizBreaker is a platform you can use to create and distribute quizzes that highlight fun facts about your virtual holiday party guests. Have everyone fill in the quizzes during your party to create a fun and enriching virtual game that helps you get to know guests better and maybe even learn a few things no simple conversation would have revealed.
Standout features:
- Automate your quiz so you don’t have to worry about manually launching them during your party
- Guests can earn achievement badges through the interface as they play
- Play with virtual teams of all sizes, from 3 to 1,000+ players
Tip: Crowd source question ideas from your friends and co-workers to build a truly comprehensive quiz experience
Try QuizBreaker for free to see firsthand what it can add to your holiday party.
8) Water Cooler Trivia
Dazzle your work friends or remote employees with trivia that entertains and also makes the bonds between you stronger. Simply use Water Cooler Trivia, an online trivia interface, to create and distribute quizzes and then peruse the results to learn fun facts about co-workers.
This game will feel like attending a trivia night where you and your teammates are the star subjects. Who wouldn’t love that?
Standout features:
- Shared group results spark conversations about who knows what about whom
- Customize trivia difficulties and question quantity for a catered experience
- A Slack integration allows guests to play using an interface they know
Tip: Send the answers to the trivia questions out after the event as a fun-facts digest.
Play Water Cooler Trivia during your next virtual holiday party to take friendships to the next level.
Virtual Holiday Party Ideas
9) Send A Gift Box
Give your virtual office party some in-person flair by sending a gift box full of edible, tangible, delightful themed treats, perks, and goodies.
For example, you could send sunglasses and sunscreen for Independence Day, a mug and tea gift set for the winter holiday season, or a box of wholesome snacks for Thanksgiving.
Find even more gift box ideas in this post, or dream up your own perfect holiday party themed box by heading to these sites:
Why we love it: Virtual events + tangible treats create a well rounded-experience
Which holidays does it work for? Appropriate for any holiday
10) Host A Virtual White Elephant Gift Exchange
For this virtual party idea, each guest has to bring a random, ridiculous, weird, hilarious or otherwise traditionally “unwanted” gift (maybe a vintage chia pet). All you have to do is have guests open the gifts, and voila — you’ve got instant hilarity with minimal planning and fanfare.
Why we love it: It’s great fun to see what everyone brings and also how everyone reacts to what everyone brings.
What holidays does it work for? Christmas, Hanukkah, and other traditional gift-giving holidays
11) Send, Snacks, Beverages, or Recipes
Send a box of snacks, a bottle of bubbly, a gift card to a local delivery service, or even just a recipe that everyone can make.
Why we love it: Even people who aren’t in the same room will feel closer together when they’re consuming the same treats and goodies.
What holidays does it work for? Appropriate for any holiday
12) Send Decorations or Props
Send decorations, photo-booth props, or party favors centered around the theme of your virtual party.
Why we love it: It helps solidify feelings of togetherness when friends and family can’t literally gather in the same room.
What holidays does it work for? Appropriate for any holiday
13) Virtual Secret Santa Gift Exchange
Each guest brings a gift for another. The gift-giver’s identity remains a secret until after all the presents are open and each person tries to guess the identity of their secret Santa. Make sure everyone wears their Santa hat.
Why we love it: It gives all your guests a chance to give creative gifts without feeling pressured to get a gift for every single person.
What holidays does it work for? Christmas, Hanukkah, and other traditional gift-giving holidays
14) Enjoy A Class or Lesson Together
Center your party’s festivities around an exciting virtual class such as a virtual painting lesson, an online cooking experience, or a virtual beer-making class from City Brew Tours.
Why we love it: It gives guests a chance to pick up new skills while also enjoying each other’s company
What holidays does it work for? Appropriate for any holiday
15) Bond During A Virtual Scavenger Hunt
Work with Let’s Roam to host a themed scavenger hunt that turns a virtual party into an epic adventure everyone can play right in their own home.
Why we love it: It’s a holiday activity that feels festive, exciting, and adventurous.
What holidays does it work for? Appropriate for any holiday
16) Work With The Go Game To Develop A Custom Themed Remote Event For Any Holiday
Let the Go Game use their years of event expertise to help you design a virtual extravaganza appropriate for any holiday and any occasion. These event rockstars will cover all the details and leave all the fun up to you.
Why we love it: Their event hosts make sure you, the event host, enjoy the virtual event as much as any guest.
What holidays does it work for? Appropriate for any holiday
Virtual Holiday Party Themes
17) Virtual Christmas Holiday Party Themes
Festive factor: Any of these easy themes will make absolutely any games or activities you choose to play just a little bit more Christmasy and festive.
- Reindeer Games. Have guests don their best reindeer antlers, reindeer hats, reindeer sweaters, and any other wearable reindeer themed apparel, makeup and accessories they can find.
- Christmas Cookie Show and Tell. Everyone makes and decorates their best Christmas cookies to show off in the video feed.
- Christmas Tree. Costumes, sweaters, sweatshirts, pajamas — guests can wear anything they want to your Christmas party as long as it’s covered in Christmas trees.
18) Festivus Virtual Holiday Party Themes
Festive factor: Any simple round of trivia or remote game can be turned into a Festivus extravaganza with some easy themes.
- Airing of grievances. Start your event with some good-natured airing of grievances. (Consider a different kind of icebreaker.)
- Seinfeld dress up. Pretend to be characters from the episode of Seinfeld that introduced Festivus to the world.
- Festivus pole show and tell. Have all guests come prepared to show off their best DIY festivus pole.
19) Hanukkah Virtual Holiday Party Themes
Festive factor: These themes make any average virtual game night feel like a true holiday celebration and get everyone in the holiday spirit
- Hanukkah sweater party. Have guests come in their favorite sweaters, outfits, or jammies in shades of blue, silver, and white.
- Festival of lights. Decorate your video chat space with a collection of the shiniest lights you can find. Ask guests to do the same.
- Donut decorating. Decorate and show off any kind of donut you want.
20) New Year’s Virtual Holiday Party Themes
Festive factor: Celebrating New Year’s virtually will feel as warm and toast-worthy as any in-person celebration if you incorporate these themes.
- Parisian New Year. Get your best Paris backdrop, find some authentic French champagne, and put together a French classic playlist you can listen to as you toast in a New Year.
- Big Apple Classic. Find a classic New York city backdrop and watch the ball drop together.
21) Independence Day Virtual Holiday Party Themes
Festive factor: When you have these themes, you don’t need in-person fireworks and campfires to feel like you’re getting all the fun that Independence Day has to offer.
- Cookout. Have everyone plan to join the party on their mobile devices so they can participate from their yard, patio, or a local park.
- Virtual Beach Party. Ask everyone to put up a beachy backdrop (Zoom backdrop or paper lanterns work great) and wear their cheesiest beachwear, including Hawaiian shirts and flower necklaces.
22) Thanksgiving Virtual Holiday Party Themes
Festive factor: These themes make it possible to play any game and activity you want and still cultivate those turkey-day vibes.
- Virtual Recipe Swap. Have everyone come prepared to swap and talk about a favorite family Thanksgiving recipe.
- Gratitude. A classic Thanksgiving activity, sharing gratitudes great and small will fill a room with warmth — no decorations required.
23) Halloween Virtual Holiday Party Themes
Festive factor: Take advantage of these themes to cultivate spooky or kid-friendly Halloween vibes.
- Murder Mystery Party. Celebrate Halloween by donning your detective hat and immersing yourself in mystery and intrigue.
- Pumpkin Party. Guests can bring pumpkins to carve, decorate with pumpkins, wear pumpkin colors and prints — and otherwise do anything they want to pay homage to the noble pumpkin.
Outback Team Building is offering 50% off their Virtual Clue Murder Mystery to help teams connect and engage while working remotely. Learn more here.
How To Host A Virtual Holiday Party
1) Make your guest list. This is especially important for your video or conference call technology decision. Head counts matter as much for virtual events as they do for in-person events. Your guest count determines what kinds of games you can play.
2) Select your games and your themes.
3) Choose your video chat/conference call service. (Even if your party activities don’t require face-to-face interaction, it’s good to see everyone’s face.) Some popular options are:
4) Test your video chat/conference call service.
5) Send virtual invitations (via email or social media) and collect rsvps. Include the event length and a brief outline and description of your activities and themes.
6) Get your costume/outfit ready and encourage everyone to do the same.
7) If you’re running your own games, test them all to make sure you know how to play.
8) Send reminders on the day of the event. Virtual events can be easy to forget about since they don’t involve travel time. Make your guests’ lives easier by sending event reminders several hours before your holiday party.
People Also Ask These Questions About Virtual Holiday Parties
Q: What are virtual holiday parties?
- A: Virtual holiday parties are festive online gatherings that often involve unifying themes and exciting games and always lead to memories and shared laughter with friends and loved ones.
Q: Why are virtual holiday parties important in 2020?
- A: Virtual holiday parties are important in 2020 because they help maintain strong and natural connections with friends and loved ones you can’t see in person due to physical distance or social distance necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. These virtual parties maintain a sense of normalcy and feeling of living full lives even when celebrations have to take place through different formats.
Q: How do you host a virtual holiday party?
- A: Host a virtual holiday party primarily by selecting video or conferencing technology, exciting games and activities, and a festive theme to tie it all together. Find a complete list of steps, plus lots of themes and ideas in this post.
Q: What makes a virtual holiday party unique?
- A: Creative themes, one-of-a-kind ideas, and lots of personal touches will make a virtual holiday party unique.
Q: How many people can attend a virtual holiday party?
- A: Around 300 people can attend a virtual holiday party if you work with a premium vendor, such as Outback Team Building. If you host your own holiday party, then you can invite as many guests as your video conferencing platform allows.
Q: How much does a virtual holiday party cost?
- A: If you work with a premium virtual event vendor, such as the Go Game, a holiday party might cost around $299. You can also host your own virtual holiday party by using a video conferencing software and focusing your event around a cool theme and playing some easy DIY games.
Q: What are some virtual holiday party ideas for small companies?
- A: Some virtual holiday party ideas for small companies include having an online beer and cheese tasting or playing trivia. You can find a full list of party ideas in this post.
Q: What are some virtual holiday party ideas for large companies?
- A: Large companies should take advantage of virtual holiday party ideas that rely on premium vendors, such as the Escape Game and the Go Game. Find a full list of party ideas in this post.
Q: What are some virtual holiday party ideas for enterprise companies?
- A: Virtual holiday party ideas for enterprise companies include those that take advantage of premium event vendors who can accommodate up to 300 guests, such as Outback Team Building. Find a full list of virtual holiday party ideas here.
Q: Are there good virtual holiday party games to play?
- A: Some good virtual holiday party games to play include a virtual escape game, virtual scavenger hunt, and specially themed trivia. Find other games and ideas in this post.
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