Questions · New Year’s Eve
New Year’s Eve questions to fill the hours before midnight
Questions for a New Year’s Eve party at home: the slow early evening, the stretch where people start looking back on the year, and the last ten minutes when everyone is a little sentimental and watching the clock.
- 17 questions
- EN + TL on every card
- Free in the app
Kumustahan is a bilingual conversation card app: 1,200 questions in English and Filipino across 7 decks, with a short reflection on the back of every card.
Imagine your future self laughing at one thing you're doing now. What is it?
Imagine yung future self mo natatawa sa isang ginagawa mo ngayon. Ano yun?
Future you may have a softer sense of humor about today. Some things feel bigger before time makes them funny.
Baka mas soft na tumawa ang future self mo sa today. May bagay na malaki ngayon, pero funny later.
The questions
17 New Year’s Eve party questions
Every question in English and Filipino/Tagalog, word for word from the Kumustahan decks. Open “Back of the card” for the reflection printed on the other side.
While the countdown is still hours away
6 questions
Playful openers for the early party, before anyone is sentimental.
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Imagine your future self laughing at one thing you're doing now. What is it?
Imagine yung future self mo natatawa sa isang ginagawa mo ngayon. Ano yun?
Back of the card
Future you may have a softer sense of humor about today. Some things feel bigger before time makes them funny.
Baka mas soft na tumawa ang future self mo sa today. May bagay na malaki ngayon, pero funny later.
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What event would you choose if the ticket were free?
Kung may libre kang ticket sa isang event, ano ang pipiliin mo?
Back of the card
Imagine the event is about to begin. What are you most excited to see?
Magsisimula na ang event. Ano ang pinaka-gusto mong makita?
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What day from the past would you like to watch?
Anong araw sa nakaraan ang gusto mong mapanood?
Back of the card
Pause on one scene from that day. Which detail would you want to look at longer?
Huminto muna sa isang eksena ng araw na iyon. Anong detalye ang gusto mong tingnan nang mas matagal?
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What line do your friends often hear you say?
Anong linya ang madalas marinig ng friends mo sa'yo?
Back of the card
Imagine your usual line printed on a shirt.
Isipin na naka-print sa shirt ang madalas mong sabihin.
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Group photo starts. What is your automatic move?
May group photo na. Ano ang automatic move mo?
Back of the card
Group photos bring out instant instincts. Some people arrange everyone, some disappear behind others, and some are ready before the camera is.
May automatic instinct kapag group photo na. May taga-ayos, may nagtatago sa likod, may ready bago pa yung camera.
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Make one harmless rule that the whole world follows for a day.
Kung may isang rule na susundin ng buong mundo nang isang araw, ano iyon? Dapat walang masasaktan.
Back of the card
Imagine everyone following it at once. What small scene would be funny or helpful to watch?
Isipin na sabay-sabay itong ginagawa ng lahat. Ano ang nakakatawa o helpful na makikita mo?
This year, in a sentence
6 questions
Looking back without the full year-in-review speech.
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What made you laugh when you least expected it?
Ano ang nagpatawa sa'yo noong hindi mo inaasahan?
Back of the card
Give the scene a caption if you like.
Kung gusto mo, bigyan ng caption ang eksenang iyon.
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When did you last change your mind after hearing a good reason?
Kailan ka huling nagbago ng isip dahil may narinig kang magandang reason?
Back of the card
Try an optional before-and-after: "I thought..., but now..."
Kung gusto mo: "Dati, akala ko..., pero ngayon..."
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What failed plan with friends turned into a good memory?
Anong pumalpak na plano kasama ang friends ang naging masayang memory?
Back of the card
The failed plan can be the story's best plot twist.
Puwedeng ang pumalpak na plano ang pinakamagandang plot twist sa kuwento.
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If a friend said you have changed in a good way, what change would you hope they noticed?
Kung sabihin ng friend mo na nagbago ka in a good way, anong change ang sana napansin nila?
Back of the card
The change you hope someone notices may point to what you have been quietly practicing.
Yung change na sana mapansin nila baka yun yung tahimik mong pinapractice nitong season.
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What have you done recently that you are pleased about?
Anong nagawa mo kamakailan ang ikinatuwa mo?
Back of the card
If your win had a tiny trophy, what would be written on it?
Kung may maliit na trophy ang nagawa mo, ano ang nakasulat dito?
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What is a recent act of kindness that caught you by surprise?
Anong magandang ginawa sa'yo lately ang hindi mo inaasahan?
Back of the card
Keep names private if you like. Picture the instant you realized what they had done for you.
Puwedeng itago ang mga pangalan. Balikan ang sandaling naisip mo kung ano ang ginawa nila para sa'yo.
Ten minutes to midnight
5 questions
Hopeful questions for the small circle near the TV.
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Finish this sentence: “In this next season, I hope I get to experience...”
Tapusin mo yung sentence: “Sa next season, sana ma-experience ko...”
Back of the card
This sentence can stay small or open wide. Either way, it gives your hope a place to begin.
Puwedeng maliit lang o biglang lumawak yung sentence. Either way, may starting point yung hope mo.
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Name something you are nervous about that still feels worth trying.
Magsabi ng isang bagay na kinakabahan ka pero parang worth it pa ring subukan.
Back of the card
Nerves and courage often show up together. The fear does not automatically mean the step is wrong.
Madalas magkasama ang kaba at courage. Hindi porket may takot, mali na agad ang step.
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What would you try if failure felt less embarrassing?
Ano ang susubukan mo kung hindi gaanong nakakahiya ang pumalya?
Back of the card
Embarrassment can make the room feel smaller than it is. The thing you would try may still be worth naming.
Kayang paliitin ng hiya ang mundo mo. Pero yung bagay na susubukan mo, baka worth pa ring pangalanan.
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Say one brave thing you can admit you want.
Sabihin ang isang brave na bagay na kaya mong aminin na gusto mo.
Back of the card
Wanting can feel risky when the answer is not guaranteed. Naming the desire is already a brave kind of honesty.
Risky minsan umamin ng gusto mo kapag walang guarantee. Pero courage na rin yung kaya mo siyang sabihin nang honest.
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Which fear gets smaller when you talk about it?
Anong takot ang gumagaan kapag naikukwento mo?
Back of the card
Some fears grow in silence and shrink in safe air. Talking can help you see their true size.
May takot na lumalaki kapag tahimik lang. Kapag naikuwento sa safe na lugar, mas nakikita mo ang totoong laki niya.
How to use them
Before you ask
New Year’s Eve questions should get more hopeful as the night goes on: playful early, reflective around eleven, and brave in the last ten minutes. A party that follows that arc ends the year with people saying things they actually mean.
The trouble with New Year’s Eve is that it’s a long night built around one moment. Guests arrive at eight, midnight is four hours away, and there’s only so much small talk and snacking before people check their phones. A few rounds of questions give the evening its own momentum, so the countdown is a high point rather than a rescue.
Keep the looking-back questions light and specific. Asking about the moment that made someone laugh out of nowhere gets better stories than “how was your year?”, and it doesn’t corner the friend who had a hard one.
Good for
Tips
- Don’t make anyone sum up a hard year. Let people answer the light version.
- Write a few hopes on paper at 11:50 and open them next New Year’s Eve.
- Pair the playful questions with drinks and snacks, the hopeful ones with the countdown.
- Let anyone pass, especially on the last round.
- For a family Media Noche, try the New Year questions instead.
Decks for this
A New Year’s Eve question timeline
You don’t need to run a program. Just have a question ready for each of the moments when a party usually sags.
- 8–9 PM, arrivals: one playful opener per new arrival, so latecomers join in easily.
- 10 PM, the lull: a round of the year in a sentence, everyone sitting down.
- 11:30 PM: refill glasses and ask one hopeful question to the whole room.
- 11:50 PM: the brave ones, for whoever wants to answer before the countdown.
- After midnight: put the cards away. That hour belongs to hugging and dancing.
New Year’s Eve
Frequently asked questions
What are good questions to ask on New Year’s Eve?
Playful ones early in the night, light looking-back ones in the middle (what made you laugh unexpectedly, a failed plan that turned into a good memory), and hopeful ones near midnight about something worth trying next year.
How do you keep a New Year’s Eve party fun until midnight?
Plan for the lull around ten o’clock. A round of questions with everyone sitting down keeps the party together until the countdown, without needing a big game.
What is a good New Year’s Eve game for adults?
A question round: one person reads a card, everyone answers, and the host saves the most hopeful question for the last few minutes before midnight. It needs only a phone or a few printed cards.
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