Best Drinking Games for Holiday Gatherings
By Drunkdeck · Published July 24, 2026 · Updated July 25, 2026
Holiday gatherings mix generations, in-laws, and people who only see each other once a year, which rules out most of the sharper drinking games by default. The games that actually work stay fun without leaning on anything too personal or too adult, and they don't require everyone at the table to be drinking alcohol.
Categories
Categories is close to a universal fit. Everyone can name a movie or a food, no matter their age or how well they know the group. It also works without alcohol at all, which matters when half the table is driving home or under 21. See the Categories drinking game guide.
Would You Rather
Kept to lighter dilemmas, Would You Rather is genuinely fun across a big age range. It's the kind of debate that gets a grandparent and a teenager arguing the same side for once. The Would You Rather guide has plenty of silly, non-adult dilemma ideas to pull from.
Most Likely To
This works well for a family that's known each other for years. The "most likely to" prompts land differently, and harder, when everyone has decades of context on each other. Keep it affectionate rather than pointed. Rules are in the Most Likely To guide.
Never Have I Ever, kept casual
The casual prompt bank in Never Have I Ever, travel mishaps, food opinions, childhood mistakes, tends to work well at a family table specifically because it gives younger and older relatives equal footing. Everyone has an embarrassing travel story. Not everyone wants to compare dating histories with their in-laws in the room.
Save the sharper games for later
If the older relatives head to bed and a smaller group of cousins or in-laws is still up, that's the moment to bring out something with more edge, Truth or Drink or a NSFW-deck round. Keep that switch explicit rather than letting a family-table game quietly drift somewhere uncomfortable while grandparents are still at the table.
In-laws specifically
A holiday gathering is often the first time in-laws are playing anything together, and a light, structured game is a better icebreaker than open conversation for people who don't know each other's sense of humor yet. Stick to the safest end of the prompt bank until you've got a read on the room, and let the game do the work of breaking the ice instead of forcing small talk.
Handling the non-drinkers at the table
Holiday gatherings usually have more non-drinkers than a regular party: a pregnant relative, someone driving, a teenager who's technically at the kids' table but wants to play too. Decide on a non-alcoholic substitute before the first round so nobody has to awkwardly opt out mid-game. A sip of cider or a point system works fine.
Games about family stories
The strongest holiday rounds tend to lean into shared history rather than avoid it. Most Likely To prompts about who always burns the dinner, or Never Have I Ever confessions about childhood mishaps everyone already knows about, turn into an excuse to retell favorite family stories rather than reveal new ones. It's a lower-risk way to get the same laughs a sharper game would produce with strangers.
When someone doesn't want to play
Not every relative wants to join in, and that's fine. A holiday game works best when it's optional, not a group activity everyone gets pulled into. Let people watch, jump in for a round or two, or sit it out entirely without making it a thing.
Setting the tone before you start
The one house rule worth setting explicitly at a family gathering: anyone can skip a prompt without explanation. It keeps the game from accidentally landing on something someone doesn't want to get into in front of an aunt they see once a year.
Playing it in Drunkdeck
The SFW deck is the right call for a mixed-generation holiday table. It's the same format as the sharper decks, just with prompts that work in front of anyone, and it's free to start with no account needed. Passing a single phone around the table works fine even for a group that would never agree on which board game to play.