See who can come up with the most items in one holiday category in this family-friendly Christmas outburst game! Great for parties, virtual Christmas celebrations, family nights, and more!
It’s time for another fun addition to our Christmas party games collection! I shared Thanksgiving outburst last month and it so popular that I knew I needed to do a fun version for Christmas too!
If you’ve never played outburst, it’s one of the best party games if you like guessing and interactive group type games! Plus, it’s perfect for the entire family to get involved (or not!).
The basic idea is you’re trying to guess all of the items on a list for a particular category (e.g., Christmas movies). If you do, you win points!
It’s easier than Christmas trivia and harder than something like a Christmas word search and way more interactive. It’s also perfect if you’re looking for virtual Christmas games!
Supplies
All you need for a fun round of Christmas outburst is:
- Christmas outburst cards (get them at the bottom of this post or in my shop here)
- Pen and paper to keep score and cross of answers
- 1 minute timer
- Prizes (optional) – you can get some good prize options in this Christmas scavenger hunt post
If you want to use these again and again, I recommend printing on white card stock then laminating. I have this laminator and these laminating pouches that I use all the time. They’re super easy to use and work great!
How to Play
First things first, print out the Christmas outburst cards. Try not to really look at them or study them if you’re going to be playing.
Split your group into two even teams. Have one team sit or stand on one side of the room and the other sit/stand on the other.
Pick a team to go first. The other team should then choose one of the cards. Read the category at the top to the other team then flip the timer.
As soon as the timer is flipped over, the guessing team (not the one holding the card) should start guessing anything related to that category with the goal to guess all of the items on the list.
As the team is guessing, the team holding the card should mark off the items they guessed to keep track. You can try to remember, but speaking from experience, it’s a lot easier if you just mark them off.
Once the time runs out, count how many items they got on the list and the team gets that many points PLUS bonus points if you want to play with bonus points.
For bonus points, each of the cards has one answer with a * next to it. If the team happened to guess the item with the * next to it, they get three extra bonus points added to their total for that round.
Switch teams so now the team that held the card in the first round becomes the guessing team.
If you’re only having a few people from a large team cross things off on a card, make sure to rotate through those team members when you switch as well.
How to Win
Keep switching until you’ve gone through all the cards, gone through as many cards as you want, or played for a designated amount of time. Just make sure whatever you decide on is agreed to by both teams and that both teams get an even number of turns to guess.
The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.
Expert Tips
Go virtual by having one person, a host, not play, and be the person who is marking off the answers on the card every time. Then split your playing team into two and just have them guess through the computer screen rather than in-person. Having one host allows you to have that person only print out the cards.
If you’re playing with a large group of people just have 2-3 people work on crossing off things on the card each round then rotate through. Everyone will still guess but too many people crossing things off on a card can get crazy.
Balance out this more interactive yelling out answers game with a simpler printable one like this Christmas emoji game.
Increase the timer to two or three minutes if you find your group isn’t the best with coming up with answers quickly. I prefer 1-minute but you can always increase the time depending on your group.
Game FAQs
Technically you can play outburst with as many people as you want, but it’ll be better and a little more controlled if you play with a maximum of 12 people. You can play with more, you’ll just need to really listen as people yell out answers.
The beauty of this game is that it’s great for all ages – kids through adults. Since it’s just guessing answers on a list, everyone has a fair chance of getting something on the list. All of the categories are family-friendly and have answers the kids will be able to guess.
Fill out the form at the bottom of this post or you can get them in my shop here.
More Christmas Party Games
- Christmas minute to win it games
- Christmas bingo
- Christmas music bingo
- Christmas charades
- Gift exchange games
- Christmas never have I ever
want more fun Christmas Games?
Download the Printable
Enter your first name and email address in the form below to get the printable PDF. You will receive a link to download the PDF to your email within minutes.
If you do not see the form below, click here to get to it.
If you would not fill out the form, you can get a copy in my shop here.
The PDF will include:
- Instructions
- 21 different Christmas outburst lists
If you do not immediately receive the email, make sure to check your promotions, spam, and junk folders!
ginger gibbs says
i hope to play this with my family at Christmas, we love having games to play that will be fun! Thank you for doing the hard part and putting it together!
Britni Vigil says
I hope you get to play, have fun!
Diana Clanton says
Looking forward to trying this at our office party.
Barbara says
I really admire your talent of creativity. I’m a soon-to-be 75 year old grandma who loves playing games with my family, especially my teen grandchildren. Your games are perfect for innocent fun without too much competition. Thank you for offering them.
Britni Vigil says
Aww thank you!
Amber Halsey says
thank you