New Year's Eve games until midnight

While everyone arrives

People trickle in, coats pile up and not everyone knows each other. Pick games that anyone can join halfway through.

1. Whose photo is it?

Ask everyone to send you one photo from their year before the party. Show them one by one on a laptop or TV. The group guesses whose photo it is and what happened. It's the easiest way to catch up on everyone's year.

2. Resolution guessing

Everyone writes a resolution for next year on a slip, no names. Mix them in a bowl. Read one out, and the group guesses who wrote it. Keep the slips. Next New Year's Eve, you read them again.

3. Who Am I, people of the year

Write names on sticky notes: people, characters or even pets everyone at the table knows. Stick one on each forehead and ask yes or no questions until you know who you are. In the app, the phone goes on your forehead and the others explain.

4. One word for the year

Everyone writes one word that sums up their year on a name tag. The others ask about it throughout the evening. Quiet guests love it, because the conversation starts on its own.

After dinner: the year in review buzzer quiz

This is the main event. You read the questions, and everyone buzzes on their own phone. With GameClique, you open a buzzer room and guests join by scanning a QR code. They play in the free app, and joining costs nothing. You see who buzzed first, down to the millisecond, and award points with a tap. The buzzer is free with up to four guests or teams.

5. The year in review quiz

Plan four rounds of five questions each:

• Our year. Questions about your group: who moved, who got a dog, where you all were in July.
• The news. Big and small stories of the year. Only ask what you're sure of.
• Music, movies and shows. Hum a song of the year, or describe a movie in three words.
• What happened first? Two events of the year, and the first to buzz says which came earlier.

Play in teams if you have more than eight people. One phone per team, and the team name as the nickname. The online buzzer page explains the setup in three steps.

Later in the evening

The food is done, the energy is up. Time for games with a bit more tension.

6. Imposter

Everyone gets the same secret word, except the imposter. One clue each, then everyone votes. Use words from the year, or pick from our imposter game words. The app deals the words, so nobody has to sit out as the host.

7. Most Likely To, New Year's edition

"Who's most likely to keep their resolution past January?" On three, everybody points. Add your own questions about the year, or use our 150 most likely to questions.

8. Fact or Fake: my year

Each player tells one short story from their year. The others vote: true, or made up? Good bluffers will surprise you. The GameClique app also has Fact or Fake with ready-made claims and their sources.

9. The year in pantomime

In teams, one player acts out a moment from the year without words: a trip, a new job, a kitchen disaster. The team has one minute to guess. Use the countdown in the app's toolbox.

10. Werewolf

For groups of six to 18 who like to argue. A few secret werewolves hide in the village, and everyone tries to find them before it's too late. The app deals the roles, narrates night and day and counts the votes. Start it by eleven, and you'll finish a round or two before midnight. The Werewolf roles page explains every role.

The last hour

Things slow down, people get a little thoughtful. These games bring everyone together for the countdown.

11. Predictions for next year

Everyone writes three predictions for next year, about the group, the world or themselves. Seal them in an envelope with the date. Next New Year's Eve, you open it and score a point for every prediction that came true.

12. Letter to future me

Five minutes, one page, a letter to yourself one year from now. Seal it, and give it to the host for safekeeping. Nobody reads it but you.

13. Balloon countdown

Before the party, put a small slip into each of several balloons: a question, a mini challenge, a song to sing together. Pop one every half hour, or every ten minutes in the last hour. Great with kids, who may even stay awake for it.

14. One-minute challenges

Quick tasks against the clock: stack five cups into a pyramid with one hand, name ten songs from the year, build the tallest tower from playing cards. Set the countdown to one minute. Teams take turns.

15. One sentence for the year

At 11:45, let the turn order tool in the app's toolbox shuffle everyone's names. In that order, each person says one sentence about their year. Just one, and passing is allowed. At 11:59, everybody stands up for the countdown.

A plan for the night

You don't need all fifteen. Pick one or two games for each part of the night and keep a spare in case a game falls flat. Plan breaks for food and talk, because the best moments on New Year's Eve often happen between the games. And if kids are there, move the countdown games up and celebrate an early midnight with them.