Christmas Would You Rather Questions and This or That Pairs

Press a side to vote on holiday would you rather questions and quick this or that pairs.

Would you rather…

All 180 questions

Gifts and wrapping 15

  • Would you rather bring the gift everyone wants to a swap or go home with it?
  • Would you rather do all your shopping on December 24 or all your wrapping at 2 a.m.?
  • Would you rather draw names and buy one good gift or buy a small gift for everyone?
  • Would you rather fake a smile for a gift you dislike or admit it and ask for the receipt?
  • Would you rather find a puppy under the tree or a pony in the yard?
  • Would you rather get a gift that is huge but light or one that is tiny but heavy?
  • Would you rather get one gift you asked for or three surprise gifts?
  • Would you rather get only handmade gifts forever or only gift cards forever?
  • Would you rather get socks from everyone or give socks to everyone?
  • Would you rather give the gift everyone talks about or get the gift you always wanted?
  • Would you rather guess every gift by its shape or be fooled by every box?
  • Would you rather keep every gift you ever get or pass every gift along within a year?
  • Would you rather open gifts youngest first or oldest first?
  • Would you rather wrap every gift in newspaper or in kitchen foil?
  • Would you rather wrap one gift shaped like a bicycle or fifty tiny gifts?

Tree and decorations 15

  • Would you rather decorate a tree outside for the birds or a tiny tree in your room?
  • Would you rather decorate the town square alone or take it all down alone in January?
  • Would you rather hang every ornament you made as a kid or only ones you bought this year?
  • Would you rather hang only lights on the tree or only ornaments?
  • Would you rather have a cat that climbs the tree or a dog that drinks the tree water?
  • Would you rather have a stocking as tall as you or a tree as tall as your house?
  • Would you rather have a tree where everything matches or one where nothing matches?
  • Would you rather have lights that blink all night or lights that play one tune on a loop?
  • Would you rather make every ornament out of paper or out of cookies?
  • Would you rather own the brightest house on the street or the only one with no lights?
  • Would you rather set a poinsettia in every room or hang a wreath on every door? The poinsettia is native to Mexico and has been linked to Christmas since the 16th century.
  • Would you rather sleep under the tree for a night or in a blanket fort by the fire?
  • Would you rather take the tree down on December 26 or leave it up until February? In some countries the decorations come down on Twelfth Night.
  • Would you rather untangle 100 feet of lights or hunt for the one burnt-out bulb?
  • Would you rather vacuum pine needles until March or build a fake tree without the manual?

Snow and weather 12

  • Would you rather be snowed in with all your relatives or snowed out and miss the day?
  • Would you rather build a snow Santa or a snow reindeer with stick antlers?
  • Would you rather deliver every gift on foot in snow or mail them all and miss the faces?
  • Would you rather drive six hours in snow to get home or stay put and join by video call?
  • Would you rather get a foot of snow on Christmas Eve or a clear sky full of stars?
  • Would you rather go caroling in a snowstorm or sledding in your pajamas?
  • Would you rather have snow only on Christmas Day or every day but Christmas?
  • Would you rather ride to Christmas dinner in a horse-drawn sleigh or on a snowmobile?
  • Would you rather shovel the driveway before gifts or walk the dog in a blizzard after?
  • Would you rather spend Christmas Eve skating on a pond or walking a street of lights?
  • Would you rather spend Christmas in summer sunshine or where the sun never rises?
  • Would you rather wake up on Christmas to snow inside the house or a palm tree in the yard?

Carols and music 12

  • Would you rather carol at twenty front doors or open your door to twenty choirs? Carols began as communal folk songs.
  • Would you rather flub your line in the holiday play or trip on stage but nail your line?
  • Would you rather have a doorbell that plays carols or a car horn that does?
  • Would you rather have one carol stuck in your head all month or never hear a carol again?
  • Would you rather hear carols sung by a children's choir or played by a brass band?
  • Would you rather hear holiday music from November 1 or none until December 24?
  • Would you rather lead the sing-along with no song sheet or play the piano with mittens on?
  • Would you rather shake the sleigh bells or bang the big drum in the holiday band?
  • Would you rather sing a solo at the tree lighting or play the triangle in the back row?
  • Would you rather sing every carol off-key or hum because you forgot the words?
  • Would you rather wear jingle bells on your shoes all day or antlers on your head?
  • Would you rather write a carol sung for 200 years or sing like an angel for one night?

Cookies and the feast 16

  • Would you rather bake cookies for every neighbor or get cookies from every neighbor?
  • Would you rather be handed a mince pie or a mug of cocoa at every house you visit?
  • Would you rather build a gingerbread castle or a gingerbread train?
  • Would you rather carve the roast for a crowd or give the speech before anyone can eat?
  • Would you rather cook Christmas dinner for twenty or wash up after it?
  • Would you rather decorate cookies all afternoon or taste-test them all afternoon?
  • Would you rather drop the pudding on the way to the table or forget to turn the oven on?
  • Would you rather eat an all-red Christmas dinner or an all-green one?
  • Would you rather eat dessert first on Christmas or have breakfast for Christmas dinner?
  • Would you rather eat fruitcake every day of December or give up cookies every December?
  • Would you rather eat only the side dishes or only the desserts at Christmas dinner?
  • Would you rather guard the secret family recipe forever or share it with the whole town?
  • Would you rather have fried chicken or pancakes for Christmas dinner? Fried chicken is a Christmas custom in Japan.
  • Would you rather host Christmas dinner every year or travel to it every year?
  • Would you rather lick a pizza-flavored candy cane or bite a candy-cane-flavored pizza?
  • Would you rather sip hot cocoa with every meal or end every meal with a candy cane?

Santa, elves and reindeer 16

  • Would you rather build toys in the workshop or groom reindeer in the stable? In some versions of the legend, elves make the toys.
  • Would you rather deliver every gift in one night or wrap every gift in one year?
  • Would you rather eat the snack left at every house or skip snacks and finish by midnight?
  • Would you rather feed the reindeer at dawn or test the toys until midnight?
  • Would you rather fly a reindeer just above the roofs or drive a sleigh stuck to the road?
  • Would you rather keep a reindeer as a pet or have an elf as a roommate?
  • Would you rather learn how the sleigh flies or how one sack holds it all?
  • Would you rather make the toy every kid asks for or the one toy a kid keeps forever?
  • Would you rather move to the North Pole for a year or host one elf at home for a year?
  • Would you rather pick the name of a new reindeer or the name of every new elf? Two reindeer in the 1823 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas were first printed as Dunder and Blixem, from Dutch words for thunder and lightning.
  • Would you rather run as fast as Dasher or dance as well as Dancer? Dasher and Dancer are two of the eight reindeer named in the 1823 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas.
  • Would you rather sort the mail at the North Pole or answer every letter by hand?
  • Would you rather steer the sleigh for one night or slide down every chimney?
  • Would you rather tie ten thousand bows or paint ten thousand toy wheels?
  • Would you rather top the nice list and get socks or barely make it and get a bike?
  • Would you rather wear the red suit in July or shorts at the North Pole?

Christmas Eve and morning 14

  • Would you rather get your gifts on December 6 or on January 6? St. Nikolaus brings gifts on December 6 in Germany, and the Three Wise Men bring them on January 6 in Spain.
  • Would you rather have Christmas twice a year or once every two years, twice as big?
  • Would you rather have every relative stay a week or see every relative for one hour?
  • Would you rather open an Advent calendar full of chores or one with empty doors?
  • Would you rather rewatch one holiday movie every year or never see the same one twice?
  • Would you rather skip gifts and have everyone home or keep gifts and see half the family?
  • Would you rather spend Christmas afternoon on a board game or on a long family walk?
  • Would you rather spend Christmas in a cabin with no Wi-Fi or in a hotel with no tree?
  • Would you rather start Christmas morning at 5 a.m. or at noon?
  • Would you rather stay up late on Christmas Eve or go to bed at seven so morning comes?
  • Would you rather wear a sweater that lights up or one that jingles?
  • Would you rather wear matching pajamas in the family photo or a suit to open gifts?
  • Would you rather wear the paper hat all through dinner or read the cracker joke out loud? A Christmas cracker holds a small gift, a paper hat and a joke, and two people pull it apart.
  • Would you rather write a hundred cards by hand or get no cards at all this year? The first commercial Christmas card was produced in London in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole.

This or that 80

  • A day out or a wrapped box?
  • A letter to Santa or a visit to Santa?
  • A new ornament each year or the same set forever?
  • Big Christmas breakfast or big Christmas dinner?
  • Big gathering or small gathering?
  • Blinking lights or steady lights?
  • Books or games?
  • Bright wrapping paper or brown paper and string?
  • Candle glow or fairy lights?
  • Candy cane: hook first or bottom first?
  • Carols by candlelight or carols by the fire?
  • Carols in the car or carols in the shower?
  • Carrots or apples for the reindeer?
  • Chewy cookies or crunchy cookies?
  • Chimney or front door?
  • Chocolate Advent calendar or toy Advent calendar?
  • Christmas at home or Christmas away?
  • Christmas cracker or party popper? Tradition says Tom Smith of London invented the Christmas cracker in 1847.
  • Classic carols or new holiday songs?
  • Clementine or chocolate coin in the stocking toe?
  • Comet or Cupid? Comet and Cupid are two of the eight reindeer named in the 1823 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas.
  • Cookies or candy canes?
  • Count down with an Advent calendar or a paper chain?
  • Cozy socks or fuzzy slippers?
  • Crisp corners or lots of tape?
  • Elf day shift or elf night shift?
  • Elf hat or Santa beard?
  • Family photo: silly faces or real smiles?
  • Fireside or blanket pile?
  • Front of the reindeer team or back of it?
  • Frosting or sprinkles?
  • Gifts on Christmas Eve or on Christmas morning?
  • Gingerbread or sugar cookies?
  • Give or receive?
  • Give your time or give toys to a toy drive?
  • Glass ornaments or homemade ornaments?
  • Ham or roast beef?
  • Handwritten cards or a family photo card?
  • Holiday movie or holiday story?
  • Holiday parade or tree lighting?
  • Hum along or whistle along?
  • Leftovers or a fresh meal on December 26?
  • Lights all over the yard or lights indoors only?
  • Mashed potatoes or roast potatoes?
  • Milk or cocoa for Santa?
  • Mince pie or fruitcake?
  • Music on while you decorate or quiet?
  • Nap after dinner or walk after dinner?
  • Numbered gift swap or drawing one name?
  • Open gifts in turns or all at once?
  • Pack the sack or plan the route?
  • Panettone or stollen? Panettone comes from Milan.
  • Paper snowflakes or popcorn strings?
  • Peel the tape slowly or rip right in?
  • Piano or guitar for the sing-along?
  • Pine scent or cinnamon scent?
  • Real tree or fake tree? German Lutherans of the 16th century were the first to use the Christmas tree.
  • Red and gold or blue and silver?
  • Red suit or green suit?
  • Ribbon or stick-on bow?
  • See the lights by car or on foot?
  • Shopping early or shopping last minute?
  • Shopping online or shopping in stores?
  • Sit-down dinner or buffet?
  • Sleigh bells ringing or a silent sleigh?
  • Star or angel on top of the tree? A star on top stands for the Star of Bethlehem. Angel toppers became popular in the 19th century.
  • Stocking first or tree first?
  • Stockings on the mantel or on the stairs?
  • Surprise gift or wish list?
  • Tall narrow tree or short wide tree?
  • Tinsel or garland?
  • Toy maker or gift wrapper?
  • Train under the tree or tiny village on the shelf?
  • Tree farm or tree lot?
  • Tree up in November or tree up in December?
  • Turkey or goose? In the United Kingdom the Christmas meal is usually turkey or goose.
  • Useful gift or fun gift?
  • White lights or colored lights?
  • Wreath on the door or candles in the window?
  • Yule log cake or Christmas pudding?

How it works

These Christmas would you rather questions are 180 clean cards: 100 full questions and 80 this or that pairs. Press a side to vote on Get socks from everyone or give socks to everyone, and see how the table split.

Read the full guide

Seven topics and 80 quick pairs

Seven topics hold the would you rather questions for Christmas, from Gifts and wrapping (15) to Santa, elves and reindeer (16). This or that holds the 80 Christmas this or that questions, such as Real tree or fake tree. The card still opens with Would you rather, so read only the two options aloud.

For kids, Easy and Hard

For kids marks 92 shorter cards, 79 of them easy, and every Santa card treats the legend as true. Easy has 106 cards about tastes. Hard holds the 19 where both options cost you something, such as Skip gifts and have everyone home or keep gifts and see half the family. Print, on the end card, gives slips, 120 at a time from All.

  • Between courses at Christmas dinner, press This or that. Guests answer with a raised left or right hand.
  • With children at the table, press For kids and set Easy.
  • Sixteen cards carry a checked fact in the list under the deck. Read one out after the vote.

Questions and answers

Are these Christmas questions safe for school and work?

Yes. No card mentions drinking or money trouble, none asks about anyone's beliefs, and none names a film, a song, a toy brand or a store. For younger players press For kids, or open the kids deck, which has 20 Christmas cards.

Is there a holiday edition without Santa?

Yes. Six of the seven topics are holiday would you rather questions about gifts, trees, snow, carols, cookies and Christmas morning, and one card in them names Santa, a snow Santa. For no December holiday at all, open the winter deck.

What are some Christmas this or that questions?

Three of the 80: Real tree or fake tree. Give or receive. Milk or cocoa for Santa. Pick This or that, then Print on the end card, to get the pairs alone as slips.