Christmas games for adults online, and a virtual holiday party in your browser

The online Christmas party has a reputation, and it is mostly deserved: a long call, a quiz someone wrote at lunchtime, and a festive jumper competition nobody entered. It does not have to be like that. With the right games and a bit of planning, a virtual holiday party for adults can be the best one of the season, especially when half your people are in another city or another country.

Here are our picks for Christmas games for adults online, each with a festive twist, and a way to finish the night somewhere that feels like going out. Facts about every game were checked in October 2026 and are listed at the bottom. The picks are our opinion.

Festive twists on games you can play free

Christmas Pictionary on skribbl.io

skribbl.io is a free online drawing and guessing game; a private room takes 2 to 20 players. The host can add custom words, or play with custom words only. Fill the list with Christmas: crackers, the office secret Santa, “Uncle’s speech”, the turkey that went wrong in 2021. Drawing “mince pie” as a stick figure is harder than it sounds.

Holiday telephone on Gartic Phone

Gartic Phone is the telephone game with drawings, free in a browser on phones, tablets and computers. Ask everyone to start their chain with a Christmas memory, and see what it becomes three drawings later. It is also on Discord, if your group already lives there.

Codenames with a theme

Codenames Online is free in a browser, from the board game’s publisher, and takes up to 64 players a session, which makes it good for an office party. Split into teams by department, or by family branch, and let the losing team pick the next game.

Board games, the family way

Board Game Arena has put free board games in the browser since 2010, with some Premium titles that a Premium member can open to free players. If your family always plays the same board game at Christmas, this is how to keep the tradition when you cannot all sit at the same table.

If someone owns Jackbox

Only the host needs a Jackbox pack. Everyone else joins at jackbox.tv on their phone with the room code from the host’s shared screen. Quiplash 3 takes 3 to 8 players and up to 10,000 in the audience, so the whole office can vote even if only eight write the answers. Ask everyone to keep their answers on a holiday theme.

A virtual December night in Lagos

December in Lagos is famous for its parties, and if you cannot be there, there is a version you can visit together. AJ Cities, our free open-world browser game set on the edge of Ajegunle, Lagos, has a party mode: a live, virtual Lagos night with other real players.

To be completely clear: this is a virtual party inside the game. There is no real venue, no real date and no real ticket, and nothing in the game gets anyone into a real party in Lagos or anywhere else. What it gives you is a shared place to end the evening.

• The gate. Everyone arrives outside the main gate, where the police decide who gets in. Ask nicely: most nights about four in five who ask get in free.
• The dress code. The Palmline Unisex Salon and Gatefold Clothing next to the gate change your hair, skin tone and clothes free. Make it a festive outfit contest.
• The club. Joe-Izzy plays Prizm every night from 9 pm to 1 am Lagos time. Every ticket opens the ground floor; VIP tickets open the pool deck, the rooftop and backstage.
• The beach party. Past the bush, opened by tickets from ₦400.
• One radio. The estate radio plays the same song at the same moment for every player.

When is it 9 pm in Lagos?

Lagos is on West Africa Time, UTC+1, and Nigeria does not change its clocks. In December that means:

If that does not fit your party, pick the always night world. It is 10 pm there all the time, so the club is open whenever you arrive. There is also an always day world, and a Lagos time world that follows the real Lagos clock.

A plan for the office or family call

1. Arrivals, 10 minutes: Christmas Pictionary on skribbl.io while people join.
2. Teams, 30 minutes: Codenames Online, by department or by family.
3. The big one, 20 minutes: a Jackbox game with the audience voting, if someone owns a pack; a second round of Gartic Phone if not.
4. Going out: send the party link. Everyone picks the same world, signs in with their email and meets at the gate. Each estate holds up to 60 players.

Good to know

• AJ Cities is 18+. Everyone signs in with an email and must be 18 or over, so it suits an adults’ party, not a family call with children.
• It runs in a browser on a phone or a computer, with nothing to install.
• Tickets are optional, last 24 hours and are priced in naira: ₦250 to ₦1,500 at the gate, ₦10,000 to ₦60,000 for Prizm VIP. See the tickets page.

Planning for friends abroad? Read a virtual Christmas party for Nigerians abroad and virtual Detty December.

What Christmas games can adults play online?

Our picks: Christmas Pictionary on skribbl.io with custom words, a holiday chain on Gartic Phone, Codenames Online in teams, Board Game Arena for family board games, and Jackbox if someone owns a pack.

Is the AJ Cities December party a real event?

No. It is a virtual party inside the game. There is no real venue, date or ticket.

What time is 9 pm in Lagos in London in December?

8 pm. Lagos is on West Africa Time, UTC+1, one hour ahead of London in December.

Can children join the AJ Cities party?

No. AJ Cities is 18+; everyone must be 18 or over to join party mode.