Quick answer
For New Year's Eve, mix team games that fill the evening (trivia, charades, hangman) with quick rounds to keep energy up before midnight. On Apple TV, Pass the Remote! has all of these, played by passing one Siri Remote. For kids, count down early with a time zone where it's already midnight.
New Year's Eve games at a glance
| Game | Good for | Players | Prep | What you need |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trivia Battle | Team rounds | 2–4 color teams of any size | None | Apple TV and its Siri Remote |
| Charades & More | Energy before midnight | One guesser, the room gives clues | None | Apple TV and its Siri Remote |
| Read the Room | Grown-up parties | 2–4 colors | None | Apple TV and its Siri Remote |
| Hangman | This year's inside jokes | 2–4 colors | None | Apple TV and its Siri Remote |
| Flap Shot | A high-score showdown | Solo or 2–4 colors | None | Apple TV and its Siri Remote |
| Splat! | Quick rounds | 2–4 colors | None | Apple TV and its Siri Remote |
| Resolution guessing | Any group | 4 or more | 2 minutes | Paper and a bowl |
| Two Truths and a Lie (year edition) | Older kids and adults | 3 or more | None | Nothing |
Pass the Remote! is rated 9+ on the App Store.
Why do TV games work well on New Year's Eve?
The night is long, the TV is already on for the countdown, and games played with one remote let everyone join without phones, apps or controllers.
Up to four color teams keep a big group together, games pause easily when it's time to watch the ball drop, and short games fill the awkward gaps between dinner, dessert and midnight.
Which Pass the Remote! games are best for New Year's Eve?
Trivia Battle for team rounds, Charades & More to keep energy up, Read the Room for the grown-ups, Hangman with this year's inside jokes, and Flap Shot or Splat! for a high-score showdown before midnight.
There are no New Year's packs in the game. These are the regular games, and they work because of who's in the room.
Trivia Battle
Five rounds with color teams. 90s Nostalgia, Y2K's Nostalgia and Guess the Era suit a night about looking back; they come with Unlock Everything, and Around the World, Wild Science and Odd One Out are free.
Charades & More
The guesser turns their back to the TV while the room shouts or acts out the clue. Sixty-second rounds keep the energy up as midnight gets closer.
Read the Room
One person sees where the target hides on the dial and gives a one-word clue; everyone else guesses. A good fit once the kids are in bed.
Hangman
Pick CREATE YOUR OWN WORD and spell out the year's big moments and inside jokes on the letter board.
Flap Shot
Everyone flies the same court, one run each, and the highest score wins. Make it the last game of the year.
Splat!
Three quick rounds of keeping a falling item bouncing before it splats. Perfect for the fifteen minutes before the countdown.
Is there a New Year's trivia game for the TV?
Trivia Battle works for the whole party: split into color teams and pick from 27 categories, with a fun fact after every answer. It doesn't have a New Year's pack; nostalgia categories like 90s Nostalgia and Guess the Era fit a night about looking back.
Each color answers one question per round for five rounds, passing the remote between teams. How Trivia Battle works · '90s trivia questions · 2000s trivia questions · More trivia questions
No-prep New Year's Eve games
Resolution guessing, Two Truths and a Lie (year edition), Name Five and a story chain about the year ahead need little or nothing.
Resolution guessing
Everyone writes a New Year's resolution on a slip of paper and drops it in a bowl. Read them out one by one; the room guesses who wrote each one.
Two Truths and a Lie, year edition
Each person shares three things that happened to them this year, one of them made up. Everyone else votes on the lie.
Name Five
Someone calls a category (things that happened this year, songs from the year you were born, places you want to go next year) and the next person has ten seconds to name five.
Story chain: next year
Go around the room adding one sentence each to a story about what happens to the family next year. Read it back at midnight.
New Year's Eve games for kids
Short, quick games before an early countdown: Splat!, Stack It and Memory on the TV, and Name Five at the table.
Put each child on a color team with a grown-up. Pass the Remote! is rated 9+, so grown-ups can decide which games suit the youngest kids.
New Year's Eve games for adults
Read the Room, Trivia Battle with Double Down, resolution guessing and Two Truths and a Lie keep a grown-up party talking until midnight.
An early "kids' midnight" plan
Count down with a time zone where it's already midnight. On New Year's Eve, midnight in London is 7:00 p.m. Eastern, 6:00 p.m. Central and 4:00 p.m. Pacific, so the kids get a real countdown before bed.
Printable game plan
Kids' midnight: 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. Eastern
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6:00–6:10
Make color teams
Each kid teams up with a grown-up. Give the colors silly names and avatars on the TV.
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6:10–6:30
Quick games: Splat! and Stack It
Short turns, big laughs. Three rounds of Splat!, then a stacking showdown.
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6:30–6:50
Team trivia: Trivia Battle
Five rounds in a free category like Around the World or Wild Science.
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6:50–6:58
Story chain: next year
One sentence each about the family's year ahead.
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6:59–7:00
Count down with London
Ten, nine, eight… it's midnight in London. Happy New Year, then off to bed.
On Central time, start at 5:00 p.m.; on Pacific, at 3:00 p.m.
A countdown-to-midnight game plan
Start the games at 10:30, play team trivia while everyone's fresh, get loud with charades, finish with a high-score showdown, and leave five minutes for the countdown.
Printable game plan
New Year's Eve: 10:30 to midnight
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10:30–10:40
Resolution guessing
Everyone writes a resolution; read them out and guess who wrote each one.
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10:40–11:00
Team trivia: Trivia Battle
Five rounds with color teams. Try a nostalgia category for a night about looking back.
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11:00–11:20
Get loud: Charades & More
One guesser per round turns their back to the TV while the room shouts the clues.
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11:20–11:40
Read the Room or Hangman
Read the Room for a grown-up crowd; Hangman with the year's inside jokes for a mixed one.
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11:40–11:55
Last game of the year: Flap Shot
One run each on the same court. The highest score of the year gets bragging rights until next December.
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11:55–12:00
Switch to the countdown
Pause the games, find the countdown on TV, and ring it in.
Running late? Skip Read the Room and go straight to the high-score showdown.
New Year's Eve games: questions
What are good New Year's Eve games for families?
Team games that fill a long evening: team trivia, charades, hangman and quick turn-taking games. Mix ages on every color team and plan an early "kids' midnight" so the youngest players get a countdown too.
How do you do a kids' New Year's countdown early?
Count down with a time zone where it's already midnight. Midnight in London is 7:00 p.m. Eastern, 6:00 p.m. Central and 4:00 p.m. Pacific on New Year's Eve, so kids can ring in a real new year somewhere before bedtime.
Are there New Year's Eve games you can play on the TV?
Yes. With an Apple TV, Pass the Remote! turns the TV into 11 party games played with one Siri Remote, including Trivia Battle, Charades & More and Hangman. It has no New Year's packs; the regular games fill the hours before midnight.
What New Year's Eve games need no prep?
Resolution guessing, Two Truths and a Lie and Name Five need nothing at all. TV games like Pass the Remote! need only the remote, and they're easy to pause when it's time for the countdown.
More family game night ideas · All 11 games · Christmas party games
