Past Resolutions: A New Year's Eve Party Game

Each year, we all tend to make resolutions that may last until the end of January and then are usually forgotten. Hence the game Past Resolutions tends to jog our memory to try to figure out what resolution belongs to a particular person.

In order to prepare for the game, some basic supplies are needed. They are: blank index cards, pens, small note pads, paper, a shoebox with a small opening cut in the top and a container to hold the cash pot until a winner has been announced. Other supplies also needed are confetti, glue, a brown paper bag, New Year's stickers (optional) and markers, all which will be used to decorate the shoe box. After all has been collected, be sure to decorate the box before the party begins and make sure there are enough pens, index cards, and note pads available for all game participants.

Before the party, everyone is asked to bring a dollar to donate to the cash pot. The dollars are collected prior to the game and are distributed to the winner with the highest score. When it is time to play, all participants are given an index card a pen, and are told to write their past year's resolution. The key to this game is anonymity: therefore, participants are not allowed to write their name anywhere on the cards. After the cards have been completed, they are deposited in a New Year's themed, decorated shoe box. The box has a small opening at the top of it, just large enough to deposit the index cards.

Finally, the host of the party distributes pens and pads for everyone who is participating. Participants must write their names on the paper, and numbers down the left-hand column to correspond with the number of people that are playing. The host will then pull out a folded index card one-by-one and write a number on it before reading the resolution aloud to the players. When the resolution is read aloud, the players write who they believe the resolution belongs to beside the corresponding number on their paper. After all of the cards have been read aloud, the sheets are collected and randomly distributed to other players for grading purposes. Then, one-by-one, the resolutions are read aloud and the person who wrote the resolution raises their hand. This is done until all of the resolutions have been matched with a participant.

In the end, the person who has the most number of correct guesses on their paper wins. In the event of a tie, the winnings can be evenly distributed among the winners.