61 Virtual Happy Hour Ideas That Go Beyond Drinks in 2025

Virtual happy hours used to be all about logging on with a drink in hand, but the vibe has shifted. Teams are scattered across time zones, not everyone wants to center social time around booze, and people are craving a connection that feels a little more intentional. According to the Work Foundation, younger generations are less interested in alcohol, so many companies are replacing after-work drinks with inclusive gatherings that focus on shared experiences instead of another round. A virtual happy hour today can be trivia night, a cooking challenge or even a themed escape room — anything that gets people laughing together without feeling like another meeting.

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• Virtual Happy Hour Activities
• Virtual Happy Hour Games
• Virtual Happy Hour Ideas for Work
• Virtual Happy Hour With Friends
• Virtual Happy Hour Themes

Virtual Happy Hour Activities 

1. Online Cooking Classes

Cooking together gives your group something to do while you chat. So why not combine your best cocktails with the know-how to cook a gourmet meal? Sign up for online cooking classes and have top-rated chefs from around the world teach your crew how to create delicious recipes. A virtual happy hour with a cook-along turns screens into a shared kitchen, and everyone signs off proud of a dish they actually made.

2. Online Mixology Classes

Step behind the bar and learn how the magic happens with an immersive online mixology class. Master mixologists from every major city are ready to teach you the tricks of the trade. Learn to create classic drinks, craft amazing cocktails, novel concoctions and more. You’ll be whipping up bourbon cocktails, gin cocktails, whiskey cocktails or rum cocktails like the pros in no time.

3. Virtual Wine Tastings

Spend an evening learning the finer points of wine appreciation with fully interactive virtual wine tastings. Talented sommeliers will teach you and your crew all you need to know. From vintage to varietals, to bouquet and food pairings, it’s a session well spent that brings out the “happy” in your happy hour.

4. Escape Room

Solving riddles and puzzles online can be just as exhilarating as it is in real life. You can find a whole host of clever virtual escape rooms that capture the spirit of the physical versions. It works well to build momentum and encourages team interaction.

5. Art Lessons

Get your creative hands dirty with a new project. Cue up a course in scrapbooking, acrylic painting, papercraft and more and sip while you create. Everyone ends up with a nifty keepsake from their virtual happy hour fun. Try online painting classes, online drawing classes, online photography classes or even virtual flower arranging classes and pair with your favorite cocktail or best mocktail.

6. Virtual Scavenger Hunt

That junk drawer just became a treasure chest for your virtual scavenger hunt. Create a list of odds and ends that all team members are sure to have lying around the house. Then, send them on a scavenger hunt through their own homes to collect the items. Whoever returns with the most in the shortest amount of time wins. Short lists and tight timers get people moving around their homes and laughing at the random finds. It’s an easy win for virtual happy hour engagement.

7. Acting Classes

If you've ever been interested in trying improv or dreamed of being center stage, interactive online acting classes will give you the perfect opportunity to be in the spotlight, but from the comfort of home. You won’t even need those cocktails because a little improv will do it for you.

8. Murder Mystery

Bring the classic board game Clue to life online with a virtual murder mystery. Team members are assigned character roles and virtual happy hour fun ensues. Since these usually take place as part of a dinner theater, suggest a simple themed dinner for your teammates to enjoy as the mystery unfolds.

9. Virtual Book Club

If your virtual happy hour mates are avid readers, why not have a virtual book club? Choose a title for everyone to read and enjoy an online discussion with drinks and beverages that match the theme, culture or era of the story. 

10. Oddity Talent Show

A virtual happy hour is a perfect place for your friends and workmates to demonstrate their “odd” talents. Whether it’s a party trick, a weird trick or a TikTok dance, invite everyone to take the stage and show off a little. It gets easier after the first round of drinks.

Virtual Happy Hour Games

11. Virtual Game Night

Gather one and all for a few rounds of friendly, socially distanced competition with live virtual game nights. Live-hosted sessions take the setup off your plate and keep pacing tight. With everyone reacting in real time, a virtual happy hour feels like a shared game table, not another meeting. 

12. Never Have I Ever

Group members take turns calling out things they’ve never done — never have I ever skied, for example, or never have I ever been to Europe. Anyone who has done those things takes a drink or earns a point. Whoever has the most points at the end of this virtual happy hour is the champ.

13. Dance Party

Grab a list of popular dances from Wikipedia and see how many your team can do. Create a point system that ranks each dance by era, so older and rarer moves get more points. You’ll have the whole crew on their feet before this virtual happy hour is over. If you want to prepare ahead of time, try online dance classes for the first instalment of this virtual happy hour activity.

14. Onscreen I Spy

Take a look around the home and office spaces of your remote workmates or socially distant friends, gaze at an item and drop clues for others to guess. It turns everyone’s home office into part of the game and sparks stories behind the stuff. Give people time to “plant” objects ahead of the event.

15. Two Truths and a Lie

Two Truths and a Lie: everyone thinks of two things that are true about themselves and one thing that isn’t. The other teammates try to discern fact from fiction. It’s a great way to learn little-known facts about each other. 

16. Charades

This beloved party game translates easily to virtual happy hour fun. Use a word generator to keep turns snappy. Select one team member at a time to guess the answer to prevent an online audio pile-up.

17. Taboo

Take this family favorite game online. Break into two teams and take turns prompting teammates to call out a chosen word without using the descriptors shown on the card. Online sites like Lingolex provide the digital cards you’ll need for gameplay. Buzzer not included.

18. Scattergories

Fast rounds, funny answers, lots of “does that count?” debates — it’s built for spirited banter. You can find list generators online to screen-share with your group, with a timer included.

19. Jackbox

Jackbox is the unofficial leader of online party game experiences. There are tons of fun titles to choose from for virtual happy hour group play, with most geared toward all-aged audiences. One player must own a Jackbox product to link up to eight players in a session using their phones or tablets. 

20. Pictionary

Break your group into teams of two or three and let them try their hand at this perennial favorite. Rotate roles quickly to keep momentum, and let a generator supply prompts so no one gets stuck.

21. The Thing in My Head

A chosen member announces “the thing in my head” before describing one detail at a time — fits in my hand, costs a million dollars, is made of glass etc. The rest of the team takes turns guessing based on the clues. The drip-feed of clues makes guessing addictive. Bonus points for the guesser who can repeat the clues correctly in order.

22. Mouthing the Words

Each team member takes a turn muting their microphone and speaking a common phrase for the others to guess. Decide on a theme prior to playing, something simple like fairy tale characters, nursery rhyme verses, or items found in the kitchen.

23. Story-Go-Round

Begin a simple story: “Once, there was a man in a green hat,” for example. Let other members add the next lines one at a time, taking turns until a full tale has been told. One sentence at a time builds a shared story and shared laughs, and it’s perfect for mixed groups on a virtual happy hour.

24. Admiration Circle

For a sweet-natured change of pace, challenge everyone on the team to choose a person they admire. Have them write a sentence or two explaining why they admire that person. If they’re not comfortable reading it aloud, choose an emcee to read them instead.

25. Wikipedia Scavenger Hunt

Prepare by selecting several Wikipedia topics and creating a list of facts and phrases found among their webpages for your crew to search for. Simple rules like “no global searches allowed” will make this virtual happy hour game fair and square.

26. Show and Tell

Pets, hobbies, gear — it’s the easiest way to learn something new about each other. They’re bound to see aspects of each other’s lives that will surprise and delight. 

Virtual Happy Hour Ideas for Work

27. Icebreakers

Icebreakers make for a perfect virtual happy hour get-to-know-you activity. Keep questions light but revealing, allow follow-ups and let people choose to pass. It warms up a virtual happy hour fast.

28. Online Trivia

Hosted online trivia games give structure and pace, leaving you to enjoy the conversation. Pick a theme, TV show or movie series, pop culture trivia or trivia for foodies and watch the friendly rivalries kick in.

29. Would You Rather

Create a series of would you rather questions for your teammates to decide on. For example, would you rather vacation in France or Italy? Would you rather eat sushi or chocolate cake? Ask them one at a time for the group to answer round robin-style. 

30. Virtual Food Day

Recipe swap meets potluck. Just like a regular office potluck, create a sign-up sheet and have each team member choose their favorite dish to bring. Unlike traditional potlucks, have each member draw another coworker’s name at random to send their recipe to them. The team creates one another’s recipes to try and shares a review during the virtual happy hour. 

31. Company Trivia

Gather facts about the company you work for, office happenings, executives and other departments. Create simple questions and conduct a good old bar trivia game. Break up your crew to work together in smaller groups for an extra dose of team building.

32. Baby Shower or Sprinkle

A baby shower or sprinkle for parents-to-be on the team can still be done online. Many baby shower games translate easily to online versions. Have coworkers choose gifts from an online registry to be sent to the happy household for opening during the party.

33. Baby Picture Guessing Game

This virtual happy hour idea ramps up the cuteness. Everyone uploads a baby or school picture to a central folder. Guessing who’s who brings out stories and laughter — a perfect break from project talk.

34. Holiday Parties 

Sometimes, the most obvious holiday party ideas are usually the most popular for virtual happy hours. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Fourth of July are all easy to pull the team together. Remember to plan party dates around team members’ time off so everyone can celebrate.

35. This or That (Work Edition)

This or That gives you rapid-fire questions with playful matchups. You choose a pair of items, only one of which has to go: chocolate or vanilla, for example. Take a vote from the team, and put the winner up against a new item: vanilla or strawberry? Keep the flow and switch things up by changing the topic (Strawberry or pickle? Pickles or olives?) adding larger and more ridiculous things (California or New York? Cars or motorcycles?). 

Virtual Happy Hour With Friends

36. Mix and Match

Have everybody share the recipe for their favorite beverage. Gather the recipes into a single collection and send it out for everyone to create in their own home bars. Then, have the group conduct a tasting and review each drink. It feels like bar-hopping together — without leaving the couch.

37. Amateur Art Show 

Pick a twist (left-hand drawings, blindfolded painting) and submit entries anonymously. Have the artists upload images to a central site and let participants try to guess who created which piece. 

38. Online Auction

A combination of eBay, a garage sale and a white elephant gift exchange, in online auctions, everyone chooses an inexpensive or previously owned item to be bid on. The owner of the item convinces the others that this item is worth the bid. You can donate the proceeds to a charity of your group’s choosing.

39. Lip Sync Contest

Gather a playlist of well-known songs that span genres and decades. Have your crew choose their favorites and perform their best vocal-less renditions one at a time. If there’s a duet or two on the list, even better.

40. Virtual Concerts

Hire an indie musician or stream a short set. Your friends will get a memorable performance and you’ll be supporting an artist who would surely appreciate the gig.

41. Movie Night

Streaming services like Netflix now have watching party features that let groups watch together remotely. Make sure everyone has snacks, take a vote on the title and fire up a flick. You can even pick something silly or second-rate on purpose to encourage fun commentary from the peanut gallery.

42. Virtual Olympics

Create a simple list of easy physical activities like jumping jacks, sit-ups and push-ups for your group to complete in timed heats. Offer gold, silver and bronze medals for whoever completes the most in each event. Everyone toasts their virtual happy hour victories at the end.

43. Fantasy Sports League

For sportier groups, try organizing a virtual fantasy sports league happy hour event. You can hold drafts and catch up on stats every week. It's a great opportunity to plan a series of virtual happy hours.

44. Cheers

Choose a list of phrases commonly heard during online meetings (“your camera isn’t on,” “I think I froze,” etc.). Everyone takes a drink whenever the phrases are said during the happy hour. And the beverages don’t have to be alcoholic to count.

Virtual Happy Hour Themes

45. Speakeasy

Create a list of 20s-era drinks and snacks for your crew to prepare for the occasion. Invite them to dress up as a dapper or a flapper and send out a fun password that lets them into a secret online location and let the party begin. 

46. Sci-Fi and Outer Space

For the space-loving crew, use this fun viral happy hour idea for making creative themed recipes. Film discussions and easy homemade costumes such as robots and aliens are a must. 

47. Pajama Party

Ask everyone to wear their best sleepwear and create sleepover snacks like popcorn, cupcakes and other treats. Pair popcorn and throwback sleepover games (Telephone, 20 Questions) for a cozy vibe that feels like a sleepover — online.

48. Favorite Film

Have your team members dress up as characters from their favorite films without letting the others know their chosen character. Let the team guess who’s who while quoting well-known lines from the movie. And of course, take a group vote on a film for shared watching.

49. 50s

Throw a digital sock hop. Let your teammates choose from Greaser, Jock, Preppy or Poodle Skirt and dress the part. Spin some 50s tunes to get the mood hoppin’ and a-boppin’. Throw in a team viewing of Grease and you’ll be the coolest, Daddy-O. 

50. Fantasy

A cosplay Ren Fest makes a great virtual happy hour idea. Plan a Lord of the Rings viewing while enjoying Hobbit-themed sips and noshes, or a Labyrinth-inspired online get-together. If your team is into role-playing games, set up an online RPG session for all to enjoy.

51. Disco

Dig up the best 70s disco tunes and encourage your entourage to wear gold chains, leisure suits and feathered hair. Gather questions about disco movies, music and trends and host a game-show style virtual happy hour. Don’t forget to include dance breaks for the Hustle and the Bump. 

52. Grunge

Your team can break out the flannel and relive the best of the 90s with a playlist of grunge classics from Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and more. Play a few rounds of Remember When and quiz everyone about where they were during decade milestones.

53. Country

Set up an online honkytonk complete with a digital jukebox filled with country classics from different eras. Encourage your posse to create some down-home sweets and treats to enjoy as you scoot your boots in a virtual line dance. 

54. Hairband-Themed

Time to tease up the hair and shred the concert shirts for this virtual happy hour theme. Suggest your teammates dress up in heavy metal fashion and play the hardest-rocking hits of the genre. Or better yet, choose a hard rock concert or biopic to rock out to online. 

55. Masquerade

Each team member creates a mask that represents an animal, historical figure or fictional character they most relate to. You can provide a printable form for them to decorate or challenge them to come up with their own. Everyone wears their mask and explains their connection to the design.

56. Luau 

Add a whole lot of color to your virtual happy hour by having everyone wear their best Hawaiian shirt or hula skirt. Send out a list of simple tiki drinks and easy-to-make luau snacks for everyone to enjoy. Then, crank up the ukulele music and let the aloha flow. 

57. 80s

It's a virtual happy hour wonderland. Let your team choose their favorite musician or singer, a character from a cool teen movie or a celebrity and dress in a similar fashion. Set up a digital boombox filled with the best 80s tunes around and discuss your favorite trends from the era.

58. Hosted House Party

Designate a DJ to put together a banging playlist and facts about each song and artist. Then, pump up the volume as your crew guesses which song is next based on your trivia descriptions. Bonus points for the best onscreen dance club lighting.

59. Gala

Throw a black-tie happy hour. Everyone dresses up in their finest and enjoys a socially distanced evening of appetizers and beverages. Or challenge everyone to research and recreate the crazy styles of the Met Gala. Offer a prize for the most creative outfit.

60. Horror

Everyone can let out their inner monster with a tribute to the best of the scary stuff. Play Name the Flick by offering vague descriptions of horror movies and having your crew guess the titles. And of course, costumes are encouraged… the more terrifying, the better.

61. Hippie

Revisit the Summer of Love virtual happy hour style with tie dye, leather fringe and mirrored glasses. Spin some psychedelic songs and play themed games that offer points for anyone who has a lava lamp, macrame or other 60s-oriented memorabilia around the house to share onscreen.

A virtual happy hour works when it gives people more than a drink in their hand — it gives them a reason to show up, laugh and share time together. From games to themes to activities that make space for every personality, these gatherings keep the social glue strong even when teams or friends are spread across cities and time zones. The trick is choosing ideas that feel natural to your group, then letting the conversation flow. Connection has always been the point of a happy hour, and the virtual version proves you don’t need a bar stool to make it happen.

For even more fun ideas, check out other experiences happening on Classpop!