PULTEVENT
Christmas tree decorating game: 6 ways to trim one tree with a whole room
The Toronto office of an insurance company, the afternoon before the holidays. Sixty people in paper crowns, a conference room with the blinds down, and a giant Christmas tree glowing on the wall. A man in reindeer socks aims his phone, taps, and a red glass bauble arcs across the screen and lands on a branch halfway up, with "Marcus" written under it. A golden sparkle flares where it lands. Three points. Across the room, someone from claims mutters, "He's been practicing."
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I have decorated a lot of real trees at a lot of parties, and it always goes the same way: six people do it, twenty watch, and one person rearranges everything afterwards. This version lets the entire room do it at once, and nobody has to climb a stepladder.
In PULTEVENT the game is called Decorate the Tree. A huge tree stands on the big screen on a winter night. Guests scan a QR code, pick an ornament on their phone, aim at the tree's outline and tap to hang it. The ornament flies across the screen and hangs where they aimed, with their name under it. Golden sparkles on the branches are worth points. When the round ends, the lights run through the garlands and the star lights up in the winner's color. Guests' phones need internet for this, because every throw goes through the server.
6 ways to run Decorate the Tree at a Christmas party
1 Sparkle hunt
The standard competitive round. Guests hunt for the golden sparkles on the branches: a direct hit is worth three, close is worth one, anywhere else on the tree is zero but the ornament still hangs.
How to run it. Tell the room one thing: "The gold sparkles are worth points, and they move after every hit."
It turns decorating into a scramble, and the leaderboard at the end gives you a winner to cheer.
2 Everyone together
A calm mode with no sparkles and no points. The whole room simply decorates one big tree, and the screen thanks the most generous decorators at the end.
How to run it. Play some quiet carols underneath and let it run while people finish their mulled wine.
Nobody loses, the tree looks beautiful, and it's the photo everyone takes at the end of a family Christmas.
3 Team trees
With teams set up for the evening, every guest's ornaments come in their team's color. At the end, teams earn points on the evening's scoreboard based on their members' total.
How to run it. Pick team colors that look good together on the tree. The finished tree is the evidence of who played hardest.
At a glance you see which team took over the tree, and there's always one department that turns it entirely blue.
4 Rainbow tree for kids
The bright Rainbow style with the Everyone together mode. Children hang ornament after ornament and watch them fly onto the screen with their names.
How to run it. Let small children share a parent's phone and take turns. They care about seeing their name, not about points.
Every child has their name on the big screen, and that is the whole point of a children's Christmas party.
5 No phones, the host decorates
For a room without smartphones, switch to hosting it yourself: pick an ornament and click on the tree, while the guests shout where it should go. One button hangs an ornament at random.
How to run it. Stand among the guests with the console open on your phone and let them direct you branch by branch.
Everyone still decorates the tree together, even the great-aunt who's never owned a smartphone.
6 Eco tree for a grown-up crowd
The Eco style with wooden ornaments, pine cones and straw. A quieter, more elegant tree for a dinner party or a Christmas reception.
How to run it. Run it between the main course and dessert, when people are relaxed but still at the table.
It adds a moment of play to a formal evening without breaking the mood.
One tree, everybody's ornaments
Every guest with a phone decorates the same tree at the same time. Each ornament carries its owner's name.
Aim for the sparkles
Hit a golden sparkle for three points, land nearby for one. The sparkle then jumps to a new branch.
Four looks for the tree
Classic red and gold, silver and blue, a bright rainbow for kids, or natural wood and pine cones.
A finale with lights
Garlands light up, the star shines in the winner's color, fireworks burst over the tree.
What happens on the phone
When you open the tree for phones, live mode switches on by itself and the QR code appears. Guests scan it, choose an ornament and see the silhouette of the tree with a crosshair. They aim, tap Hang it, and on the big screen their ornament flies in an arc and hangs exactly where they aimed.
Each guest can hang a new ornament roughly every second, so nobody can flood the tree by tapping like mad. It keeps the tree looking like a tree rather than a pile of baubles.
Choosing the look
Before the round, choose one of four styles. Classic is red and gold, the tree most people picture. Silver is silver and blue, cooler and more modern, good for a corporate reception. Rainbow is bright and cheerful, made for children. Eco is wood, pine cones and straw.
You change the style before you press Start. I pick it to match the venue's decorations, so the screen and the room feel like one space.
Running the round
Press Start and the round runs for 60, 90 or 120 seconds, then ends by itself. If the room has had enough earlier, press Results. Commentate while it runs: who hit the most sparkles, whose ornament landed at the very top, who is hanging everything on one branch.
The ornaments are stored on the server. If you switch to another section, reload the tab or reconnect the projector in the middle of a round, the tree comes back exactly as it was. That has saved me more than once when a venue's HDMI cable decided to wobble.
"Where's mine?"
"Top left, next to the star. Look for your name."
The finale
When time's up, lights run along the garlands, the star on top lights up in the winner's color, and fireworks go off over the tree. In the sparkle mode, the scoreboard shows the top decorators. In team mode, the points go into the evening's team score.
Leave the finished tree on the screen for a few minutes afterwards. People walk up to find their ornament and take photos of it.
For a work Christmas party
The tree works as an opener. It needs no explanation, everyone can play standing or sitting, and it gets every phone connected to the QR code early in the evening, which makes every phone game after it quicker to start.
Test the signal in the room during setup. With sixty people on one guest Wi-Fi, check it from the far corner. Try it on the free 3-day demo first, no card needed. After that it's a one-time license with no subscription; pricing is at pultevent.ru/en.
About the author
PULTEVENT was built by Ruslan Barashkin, who has hosted weddings, birthdays and office parties since 2014: over 500 events, best host of Moscow 2024 and of Saint Petersburg 2023 at the TOP 100 Awards. He made it for his own nights first. The rest is at pultevent.ru/en.
How to run a virtual tree decorating game
- 1
Connect the laptop to the projector and open Decorate the Tree.
- 2
Choose a style and a mode: sparkle hunt or everyone together.
- 3
Open the tree for phones and put the QR code on screen.
- 4
Let guests choose their ornaments, then press Start.
- 5
Commentate the round, or press Results to end it early.
- 6
Enjoy the finale and leave the finished tree up for photos.
FAQ
Do guests need an app?
How many people can decorate at once?
What if some guests don't have smartphones?
Can children play?
Will the tree survive if the laptop reloads?
Does it work for teams?
What does it cost?
See also
Run brighter events — with PULTEVENT
All audience interactions, a second screen and timing in one app. Guests join by QR — internet is needed for you and for them.
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