The classic company Christmas party follows a fixed script: drinks reception, a speech from management, buffet – and then everyone sits down again with exactly the colleagues they work with every day anyway. There's nothing wrong with that, but it isn't the evening anyone is still talking about in January. One programme item changes that. Here are five formats that have worked for us for years – and what's changing this season for two of them.
Why a programme item saves the evening
The real purpose of a Christmas party is to get people talking who otherwise don't. That rarely happens at the buffet: people sit down with familiar faces, and the seating plan ends up mirroring the org chart.
A shared game breaks that up, because it reshuffles the groups – and because it gives everyone something to talk about. After two hours of solving puzzles together, you've experienced something you can discuss over dinner. That's the whole trick, and it works remarkably reliably.
The only thing that really matters is the running order: the programme belongs at the start, not at the end. After the meal and the second mulled wine, nobody is getting up for anything. Beforehand, everyone is open to it – and the food tastes better when you've earned it.
1. Christmas Rallye – the Christmas market as your playing field
The Christmas Rallye is our most-booked Christmas format. In small teams you head across the Christmas market and through the wintery city centre with tablets, solving festive puzzles, completing creative and team tasks and collecting points. The odd stop at the mulled wine stand or the crêperie is explicitly part of the deal.
Key facts: 2–3 hours, 10 to 500 people, from 39.95 € per person, November to January. It ends with an award ceremony and team scores – a good handover to dinner.
New this season: we're relaunching the Christmas Rallye completely in our own game app. The story stays, but the design has been reworked – and there are new battle spots: when two teams meet there, they go head to head. The duel runs either analogue or digitally in the app, whichever you prefer. That was always the weak spot of classic rallies for me: if the teams never cross paths, the shared experience is missing – and a duel in the middle of the evening tends to produce its best stories.
2. Rettet Weihnachten – the winter escape mission
In Rettet Weihnachten ("Save Christmas") the Christmas village is in a state of emergency: the elves have disappeared, toy production has ground to a halt, and your team has to bring the magic back. It's played outdoors, with a tablet, a small black case and a few paper documents – a wintery mission rather than a craft room.
Key facts: 2–3 hours, 10 to 200 people, from 39.95 € per person, seasonal from November to January.
This one is being renewed too: Rettet Weihnachten is also coming to our own app, which makes it considerably more interactive – the app opens up possibilities that simply weren't there before. The story stays the same; the way it plays will feel different.
3. Beat the Red Box – an escape game for indoors
If it's cold, or you've booked a room anyway, Beat the Red Box is the answer. Of all people, Santa Claus has stolen every present. Step by step your team opens mysterious boxes, decodes clues, assembles the abort code and stops the countdown before Christmas chaos breaks out.
Key facts: 2 hours, 10 to 500 people, from 44.95 € per person, indoors, November to January. The format only needs tables and space – a canteen, meeting room or hall is plenty. How it compares to our other escape formats is covered in the escape game comparison.
4. Christmas Quiz Show – when things should stay comfortable
Not every group wants to head out into the cold, and not every group wants to stand up at all. The Christmas Quiz Show is the format for everyone who'd rather stay at the table and still experience something. A host guides the evening, questions appear on a projector, teams answer via tablets – festive categories and challenges included.
Key facts: 2 hours, 15 to 500 people, from 35.95 € per person, indoors. It's our most accessible Christmas format: it works regardless of age, fitness and weather, and genuinely everyone can join in.
5. Gingerbread house building – the hands-on classic
Gingerbread house building is the calmest of the five – and often the one that produces the nicest photos. In small teams you build your favourite gingerbread house and present it to the jury at the end, with the finest creation taking the win. Christmas music plays in the background, there's plenty of material available, and a bit of nibbling along the way is inevitable.
Key facts: 2–3 hours, 10 to 100 people, from 35.95 € per person, indoors. All materials are included, and the finished houses can be taken home – in our experience they end up in the office the next day and keep people talking for another week.
Which format for which party?
- You have a Christmas market on your doorstep: Christmas Rallye. The setting is free and provides half the atmosphere.
- You've booked a room and want a safe plan: Beat the Red Box or the Christmas Quiz Show – both weather-independent.
- A mixed group, including older colleagues: Christmas Quiz Show or gingerbread house building. Nobody has to cover long distances.
- A very large workforce: Christmas Rallye, Beat the Red Box and the Christmas Quiz Show all scale to 500 people.
- A small group that should take something home: gingerbread house building – up to 100 people, with a tangible result.
Three things I say every year
- Book early. Late November and December are the busiest weeks of our year, and the Fridays go first. Why planning in summer pays off is covered in a separate article.
- Budget for the food. Our prices are pure event prices – venue and catering are planned separately. Details in "What does a team event really cost?".
- Make the programme voluntary, but appealing. Compulsion doesn't work on any evening, least of all this one. In practice almost everyone joins in once the first task is running.
Conclusion
A Christmas party with a programme costs from 35.95 € per person more than one without – and it's the difference between a pleasant evening and one people remember. Once you know roughly how many of you there are and which city you're celebrating in, drop us a line. We'll tell you what's still available on your preferred date – and what suits your crowd.
– René
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