You found our list of the best virtual New Years Eve party ideas.
Virtual New Years Eve parties are online New Years celebrations held on web conference software, such as WebEx, Zoom, Skype, or Microsoft Teams. Ways to celebrate New Years online include virtually swapping resolutions, sending champagne candies, and posting a countdown clock. The purpose of these parties is to have fun and celebrate the passing year.
These parties are usually held after virtual Christmas and at work can be a virtual team celebration.
This article contains:
- Zoom New Years Eve party ideas
- games to play at a virtual New Years party
- ideas for virtual New Years Eve events
- online New Years Eve activities
Here are the ideas!
List of virtual New Years Eve party ideas
From icebreakers to best of the year lists, here is a variety of virtual ways to celebrate New Years Eve that are sure to start the year right.
1. Virtual New Years Bingo (Free Template)
Virtual New Years Bingo is a version of the classic game that you can play on Zoom. To play, guests strike up conversations to find folks who fit the descriptions on the card. For larger groups, divide participants into breakout rooms. The first player to mark five consecutive squares wins.
Here is a template you can use;
Be sure to randomize the squares, so not all players win at once! Feel free to add your own clues, too.
2. Champagne or Sham? (Popular)
Champagne or Sham? is a trivia game dedicated to New Year’s Eve’s official drink of choice. To play, divide the group into small teams of two or three. Then, read the statements, and challenge players to decide whether each declaration is truth or fiction, a real fact about champagne or a sham. 
Here is the entire list of questions with the answer key.
3. Guess the Resolution (Fun Game)
To play Guess the Resolution, collect resolutions from each of your guests pre-party using a Google Form to simplify this process. Then, copy and paste the answers into the chat box, or display them through a poll, and ask guests to guess which attendee wrote the resolution. For extra challenge, include bogus resolutions like climbing Mount Everest or launching a podcast and ask players to root out the fakes.
4. Guess the Resolution: Celebrity Edition
A variation on Guess the Resolution, this game challenges players to guess the identity of famous figures. To play, write a fictional New Years resolution for a historical figure, fictional character, or current celebrity. Then, challenge other players to identify the superstar.
For example, Wyle E. Coyote’s resolution would be, “find a more reliable booby trap supplier, and eat more poultry.”
5. Never Have I Ever: This Year
The New Years atmosphere revolves around adventure and adult beverages, so there may be no better game to play at a New Year’s party than Never Have I Ever: This Year.
At the start of the game, players hold up ten fingers. Each player takes a turn naming a New Years activity prefaced by the phrase, “this year, never have I ever…” Players who have performed the described action in this calendar year lower one finger. You can choose to require players who have put down fingers to also take a sip from their drink.
Some New Years Eve Never Have I Ever prompts include:
- Spilled champagne on myself
- Spilled champagne on someone else
- Fallen asleep before midnight
- Spent New Years Eve in Times Square
- Celebrated New Years Eve in a foreign country
- Kept a New Years resolution
- Broke a New Years resolution
- Abandoned a New Years resolution on New Years day
- Crashed a New Years Eve party
Another virtual version of Never Have I Ever is sudden death, in which players turn off their camera upon hearing an applicable statement, and the last player to remain on camera wins.
Check out our list of fun online group games for more activities like this.
6. Send Virtual New Years Invitations
While guests access your online New Years party via meeting link, no one says that you have to settle for a boring URL invite. Instead of sending a plain hyperlink, incorporate the link into a fancy e-card. Formal invitations lend legitimacy to your event and make the online party feel more momentous. Canva contains templates and tools to design impressive invitations. We created a few examples for inspiration.
For more tips, check out our article on virtual holiday party invitations.
7. Invite International Guests
Virtual events can accommodate a geographically diverse range of guests, meaning you can invite distant friends, relatives, and colleagues to your online soiree. As midnight strikes in each location, celebrate with each other. Even if all your guests live in the same time zone, consider ringing in the dawn of the New Year around the world. Display digital clocks from various time zones and initiate multiple midnight countdowns as the party progresses.
Make sure everyone follows good virtual meeting etiquette.
8. Family Friendly Activities
Although New Years Eve fits into the category of “adult holiday” more than “family holiday,” many folks do spend New Years with relatives. Inviting children, spouses, parents, roommates, and other relatives to join in the online festivities creates a welcoming atmosphere and makes your party more lively.
By asking invitees to RSVP with numbers and names of guests, you can plan accordingly to include all attendees in activities. For instance, send extra goodies in care packages and divide teams for games more fairly. While furry friends do not require RSVP’s, they are welcome onscreen as well!
Here is a list of virtual team activities you can do, and one with virtual scavenger hunt ideas.
9. Champagne Candies
Shipping champagne across state lines can be a real hassle thanks to mailing regulations, so consider sending champagne-flavored candies instead. A candy care package adds a tactile aspect to your online affair and is a fun and tasty way to celebrate the holiday.
Suggestions:
Speaking of candy, you could also send Hershey kisses to represent midnight kisses.These treats are a sweet start to the new year and a great way to include nondrinkers in the festivities.
10. Countdown Clock
Midnight is the main event at New Year’s Eve parties, and anticipation builds as the night progresses. Posting a countdown clock helps build suspense.
Here is the easiest way to watch the clock during your party:
- Customize a countdown clock on timeanddate.com.
- Devote one device, such as a spare computer or tablet, to display the clock.
- Enter the meeting from the designated device, load the clock, and share the screen.
Or, you can create a series of Zoom backgrounds with phrases like “one hour to midnight,” and “thirty minutes to midnight.” Then, you can update your background periodically throughout the night.
11. Dress-up Party
New Years Eve is one of the fanciest holidays, with a dress code that calls for cocktail dresses, suits, and sparkles. Tempting as it may be to greet midnight in pajamas on the couch, dressing up adds an air of elegance to your online affair. Regardless of whether you hang around your living room all night, dress up and invite guests to do the same. You could even stage a virtual fashion show, provide outfit commentary, and award a prize for the best dressed guest.
12. Daytime Party
Maybe your guests have other New Years Eve party plans. Or kids. Or maybe, like me, your guests struggle to stay up until midnight. Hosting a party during the day attracts a wider audience, and is an especially good idea for workplaces, since employees will not need to cancel plans or sacrifice personal time for the sake of team bonding.
Consider holding a New Year’s-themed online happy hour or afternoon virtual coffee break. Or, hold your web gala immediately after the end of the workday to accommodate party hoppers and folks with early bedtimes.
To simulate nighttime, turn out the lights in the room and turn on string lights, or use a custom Zoom background. Also consider launching a fake countdown at the party’s end.
13. Virtual New Years Icebreakers
To encourage guest interaction, pose New Years Eve icebreaker questions during your online party.
New Years icebreakers include:
- Have you ever fulfilled a New Years resolution?
- What is one New Years resolution you will never make?
- What are you most excited about this upcoming year?
- What change do you hope to see this year?
- Which year would you most like to revisit?
- What is your New Year’s Eve drink of choice?
- Parties or staying at home on New Years Eve?
For larger groups, split up attendees into Zoom breakout rooms to facilitate more intimate discussions.
Here is a list of good icebreaker questions for more inspiration, and here is a list of either or questions.
14. Virtual New Years Resolutions
New Years is a time of self-reflection and new beginnings. Writing and sharing resolutions is one of the most integral virtual New Years traditions.
Here are a few ways to share virtual New Years resolutions:
- Solicit responses through a Google Form and compile the resolutions into a shareable slideshow or graphic.
- Create a resolution board using digital whiteboard software
- Share resolutions verbally during the Zoom call
- Collect comments on a social media post or ask guests to post resolutions with a custom hashtag
Besides relaying resolutions, guests can also share tips and resources to help others achieve their New Years goals. Consider creating a group chat or social media group to help hold members accountable.
15. Photo Slideshow
One of the most meaningful virtual New Years Eve party activities is to show a slideshow of the year in review. Before the party, collect pictures and video clips from each attendee using a cloud sharing platform, such as the Google Suite or Dropbox. Or, guests can email you submissions. Once you gather contributions, edit the images into a video or slideshow. Then, screen the final product during the party by sharing your screen.
16. Best of the Year Lists
Every December, entertainment outlets compile and disseminate retrospectives of the best songs, movies, books, and products of the year. You and your guests can join in on the fun by making your own lists. Simply pose categories to your invitees pre-party and collect responses via Google Form or email, or create polls and ask guests to vote. Consider including personal categories such as “best jokes,” or “coolest accomplishments.” When you reveal the results, encourage guests to discuss and debate the outcomes.
17. Watch the Ball Drop
Watching the broadcast of the ball drop in Times Square is the pinnacle of many New Year’s Eve parties, and virtual parties are no exception. For optimal authenticity, queue up a livestream of this year’s ball drop and either share your screen or sync video through an app like Watch2Gether. If your party does not line up with midnight in New York City, then watch a comparable celebration in your region, or view a YouTube playlist of past ball drops.
18. Virtual Escape Room
Virtual escape rooms are a fun small group activity. You can add a unique New Years’ twist by starting a one hour escape room at 11:00pm. If the group escapes the room during the hour, then they celebrate as normal. If the group doesn’t escape in time then they celebrate the turning of the year from within the room.
Here is a list of virtual escape games you can do.
19. Virtual Murder Mystery
A good old-fashioned “who dunnit?” is a great activity for ringing in the New Year. With online murder mysteries, you and your guests can take on roles and act out the murder investigation. This game encourages conversation, participation and engagement at your party.
Here is a list of virtual murder mystery games you can start with.
20. Virtual New Years Eve Trivia
Another popular game year-round, and especially on New Years is trivia. You can play virtual trivia with your party guests and ask either general questions, or those specially related to New Years Eve. As a rule of thumb, a minimum of 10 questions and maximum of about 20 is good.
Here is a list of virtual trivia questions you can use.
Conclusion
While in-person New Years bashes benefit from the buzz of real live crowds, virtual New Years parties conducted over Zoom and other platforms enable you to celebrate with faraway folks, homebodies, and early-risers. Best of all, no one has to drive home afterwards, so you can indulge in all the bubbly you want.
Next, check out this list of Zoom games you can play at your party, one with virtual event ideas and these virtual mixology classes.
Angela Robinson