For a team of up to 24 people, the company Christmas party can be booked online at an exact price, with no quote request and no negotiation: at Hai Pixel, the first interactive LED-floor venue in Chișinău, two hours for 20 people on a Thursday evening in December costs 4330 MDL, which is about 217 MDL per head. For 25 to 60 guests the event is built over the phone, on +373 79 238 617. Above 60 people, or for a formal seated dinner with speeches and plated courses, this is not our format: for that you need a banquet hall.
The rest of this guide is written for the person who gets handed the job in October, usually HR, an office manager or a team lead, and who has to deliver something colleagues will still remember in January. Below you will find the real December booking calendar, four formats compared honestly, the mixed-team problem, budget per head with verified numbers, and the exact slot where the year-end awards and Secret Santa belong.
When do you have to book to get a good December date?
In October. Not for dramatic effect, but because every team in the city wakes up in the same window and asks for the same hours: the first three weeks of December, in the evening, Friday to Sunday. That is where demand piles up and where the good dates disappear first. Hai Pixel is open daily from 10:00 to 22:00, so there is a real reservoir of hours that stays free much longer: Monday to Thursday evenings, between 16:00 and 22:00. They are also the cheapest, by a margin you can see immediately in the budget.
The calendar that actually works, if you do not want to be sprinting in the final week:
- October: lock the headcount, the hour the office actually empties, and the approved budget. Without those three you cannot book anything.
- Early November: book the date and the time slot. This is where a Friday evening is won or lost.
- Mid November: send the internal invite and ask for confirmations, not intentions. A two-question form beats ten chat threads.
- Late November: run the Secret Santa draw and shortlist the year-end awards.
- One week before: confirm the final headcount and the add-ons. This is usually when the two colleagues who said no quietly change their minds.
One thing organisers discover too late: after 20 December the city empties. People travel to their parents, take leave, catch flights. A party scheduled on 22 or 23 December looks fine in the calendar and thin in the room. If your team is spread out or has colleagues flying in, move the event earlier or, the option nobody considers, into the second half of January. It is cheaper, easy to book, and attendance is better.
Which format to pick: four options, ranked by what the team actually does
The useful question is not what you want to organise, but what 30 people will physically be doing in hour two. A good format keeps the team together; a bad one splits it into the small circles that already knew each other. The four realistic options in Chișinău look like this:
| Format | What the team actually does | Size that works | Where it breaks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Score-based activity on an LED floor | Moves, shouts, watches the score; everyone plays at the same time instead of taking turns | 8 to 24 in one session, 25 to 60 as a custom event | If you want quiet and a long conversation at the table |
| Seated dinner at a restaurant | Talks to the same two seat neighbours all evening | Any size, if you can find the room | Big teams split into cliques; quieter colleagues get stuck |
| Quest or escape room | Solves puzzles in small groups, in turns | Small groups; a large team is split into waves | Half the company sits around waiting for its slot |
| Mixed: activity, then food | Active first half, table and awards second half | From about 15 people up | If the two venues are far apart, you lose people in transit |
For most office teams in Chișinău, the mixed option wins: one or two hours of a score-based activity, then food. The reason is simple. People who do not know each other well need a pretext to talk, and a round lost by one point is the best pretext ever invented. After that, the conversation at the table starts on its own, because there is finally a shared subject.
If you want the full list of formats with arguments for each, we are not repeating it here: we wrote a separate ranked roundup of team-building ideas in Chișinău and a dedicated guide for groups of 10 to 24 people. The team-building page explains what books online and what is arranged by phone.
The mixed-team problem: ages 22 to 55, non-drinkers and people who hate forced fun
This is the hard part of your job and nobody writes it into the brief. A normal company has, on the same evening: colleagues of 23 who want loud music, colleagues of 50 who want to leave by 21:30, two people who do not drink at all, a pregnant colleague, one person who genuinely hates group games, and three colleagues who flew in from another office specifically for this. A format that only works if everyone drinks, or if everyone is 25, excludes half the room within ten minutes.
What concretely helps, wherever you organise:
- Short activities, not marathons. At Hai Pixel a round lasts 2 to 3 minutes. You can play, sit one out, then come back. Nobody is trapped for 40 minutes inside something they dislike.
- Nothing that depends on alcohol. Movement games work identically for drinkers and non-drinkers. That also solves the designated-driver problem.
- A role for the people who do not play. The live score wall turns spectators into an active part of the evening. Whoever tracks the score and shouts advice has as much fun as whoever runs on the floor.
- Zero personal equipment. You play in socks, so nobody needs a change of clothes or trainers. Anti-slip socks cost 30 MDL if someone forgets their own.
- Language. Our team speaks Romanian, Russian and English, which matters if you have colleagues visiting from other offices.
Honestly: no format pleases absolutely everyone. But there is a large difference between a person who sits out five minutes and returns, and a person who sits on a chair for three hours because the activity was never designed with them in mind.
What it really costs: budget per head
The price of a Hai Pixel session depends on three things: how many of you there are, how long you stay, and which time slot you pick. Sessions run one or two hours for 2 to 24 players, and the figures below are totals for the whole group, not per person. The bigger the group, the lower the cost per head.
| People | Mon to Thu evening, 2 hours | Fri to Sun, 2 hours | Per head, weekday evening |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 3260 MDL | 3770 MDL | about 272 MDL |
| 16 | 3700 MDL | 4440 MDL | about 231 MDL |
| 20 | 4330 MDL | 5220 MDL | about 217 MDL |
| 24 | 5000 MDL | 6110 MDL | about 208 MDL |
The second decision is duration. One hour is enough for a small group or a short stop before dinner; two hours is the right format when the whole corporate evening happens in one place. Two hours costs roughly 1.85 times one hour, so the second hour is noticeably cheaper than the first. Here is the same team of 20 across the three slots:
| Time slot | 1 hour, 20 people | 2 hours, 20 people |
|---|---|---|
| Mon to Thu, 10:00 to 16:00 | 1880 MDL | 3480 MDL |
| Mon to Thu, 16:00 to 22:00 | 2340 MDL | 4330 MDL |
| Fri to Sun | 2820 MDL | 5220 MDL |
The complete table, for any headcount between 2 and 24, lives on the pricing page, and the free time slots are visible directly in the booking form. The only compulsory extra, if someone arrives without socks, is the 30 MDL anti-slip pair. Everything else, snacks, cake, pizza or an extra hour, is added only if you ask for it.
A full worked example: a team of 20 on a Thursday evening in December
Take the most common case. A company of 20 employees, the working day ends at 18:00, the approved budget is 5000 MDL, and the chosen date is a Thursday in the first half of December.
- A 2-hour session, 20 players, in the 16:00 to 22:00 slot: 4330 MDL.
- Anti-slip socks for everyone, in the worst case where nobody comes prepared: 20 x 30 = 600 MDL.
- Total: 4930 MDL, which is 4930 divided by 20 = 246.50 MDL per person.
The budget holds, with 70 MDL to spare. The same evening moved to a Friday or Saturday would have cost 5220 MDL plus 600 MDL of socks, so 5820 MDL, or 291 MDL per head: 890 MDL more for exactly the same content. That, in numbers, is why it pays to look at Monday to Thursday evenings first.
The run of the evening, if you would rather not improvise:
- 18:40: arrival. Grand Hall, bd. Constantin Negruzzi 2/4, second floor. Ten minutes for coats, socks and the two colleagues who are always late.
- 19:00: the session starts. The first games are simple, so everyone finds the rhythm.
- 19:40: team games with a shared score. This is where the departmental rivalry shows up.
- 20:30: the last round, the one that settles the leaderboard on the wall.
- 21:00: year-end awards and Secret Santa, with the score still on screen.
What a company party at Hai Pixel actually looks like
The venue is 360 m² of pressure-sensitive interactive LED floors plus an LED wall. They run more than 30 movement games: racing, reaction, memory, team games with a shared score. No experience, no fitness level and no long briefing required. Each round lasts 2 to 3 minutes and the score appears on the wall in real time, which turns a quiet company into a loud one in about a quarter of an hour.
The number of floors scales with the group: up to 8 players use one floor, 9 to 16 players use two, and 17 to 24 players use all three. In practice a team of 20 never queues: everyone plays at once, spread across the surface. There is also a table area where coats, gifts and the cake go, and where people sit between rounds.
Above 24 people it stops being an online booking. For 25 to 60 guests we build the event by phone: time slot, play rotations, tables, snacks. Call +373 79 238 617 or start from the team-building page, which explains what books online and what is arranged directly with us.
Year-end awards and Secret Santa: where they belong in the schedule
The classic mistake is putting the awards at the very start, while people are still arriving, or at the very end, when the first colleagues have already picked up their coats. The right moment is straight after the last round, with the leaderboard still on the wall. Everyone is in the same place, on their feet, in a good mood, and nobody is checking the time.
A few rules that separate five pleasant minutes from twenty awkward ones:
- Six awards maximum. Three serious, three funny. Past six, the room starts talking over you.
- Tie some awards to that evening. Best score, best comeback, the team that lost most gracefully. They cost nothing and are remembered better than an object.
- Secret Santa needs a surface. The table area is where gifts get parked on arrival, so they are not circulating during the games.
- The boss speech: under three minutes. Seriously. Under three minutes.
- Take the group photo before people leave, not after. Right after the awards you are all still there; ten minutes later you are not.
If the company also wants a gift for every employee, gift cards for a future session solve the problem of colleagues who could not make it on the night.
The family edition: a party for employees and their kids
More and more companies in Chișinău run two separate December events: an evening for the team only, and a weekend afternoon for employees together with their children. The second is simpler to organise than it sounds, provided you pick an activity where the adult is not sitting on a chair with a coat on their knees, watching the child play.
Movement games work well precisely here, because an eight-year-old and a forty-year-old can play the same round without either being bored: reaction wins, not strength. For a family edition, the Monday to Thursday daytime slot between 10:00 and 16:00 is the cheapest, while the weekend is the most convenient for parents. Same session, same rules, only a different mix of people.
When Hai Pixel is not the right choice
We would rather lose a booking than ruin a December evening, so here are the situations where you should look elsewhere:
- More than 60 guests. Not our format. A large company needs a banquet hall with a matching kitchen and cloakroom.
- A formal dinner with plated courses and long speeches. We are an active party, not a banquet. If the event has to look ceremonial, a restaurant with a private room does it better.
- An evening built around the bar. If drinking is the central idea rather than playing, the activity becomes expensive decoration.
- A team that cannot be on its feet. If a meaningful share of colleagues have mobility issues, choose a seated format.
- You want a facilitated training with objectives and a written report. What we offer is a party that connects people, not a workshop with a trainer and conclusions.
And something we say often on the phone: if the company has 60 people but only 20 genuinely want an activity, run two small events instead of one big unsuccessful one.
How to book, and what is worth asking
For 2 to 24 people everything happens online in a few minutes: pick the date, the slot and the number of players, and see the final price before confirming, in the booking form. For 25 to 60 guests, call +373 79 238 617. We are open daily from 10:00 to 22:00, in Grand Hall, bd. Constantin Negruzzi 2/4, second floor, and the venue holds 5.0 on Google since it opened in June 2026.
The useful questions when you call: how many floors are free at your chosen hour, how long the gap between rounds really is for a group your size, whether you can bring a cake and gifts, how early you can come in to set up the awards, and what happens if you show up with three more people than you announced. That last one is the most common thing in December.
If you are planning further ahead, keep reading: the team-building roundup, the indoor team-building formats and the large-group guide.
Frequently asked questions
When should the company Christmas party in Chisinau be booked?
In October, if you want a Friday or Saturday evening in the first three weeks of December. Monday to Thursday evenings between 16:00 and 22:00 stay available much longer and cost less. From 20 December onwards attendance drops, because people leave on holiday.
How many people fit a corporate event at Hai Pixel?
A standard session covers 2 to 24 players and books online. For 25 to 60 guests we build the event by phone on +373 79 238 617. Above 60 people it is not our format and we will point you to a banquet hall instead.
How much does a corporate party for 20 people cost?
Two hours for 20 players on a Monday to Thursday evening costs 4330 MDL in total, about 217 MDL per person. The same session at the weekend costs 5220 MDL. One hour for the same group on a weekday evening costs 2340 MDL.
Do you need to be fit to play on the LED floor?
No. A round lasts 2 to 3 minutes and reaction and attention win, not strength or speed. You play in socks with no special kit, and between rounds you sit at the tables. Anyone can skip a round and rejoin for the next one.
Can the games be combined with dinner, awards and Secret Santa?
Yes, and it is the best structure for a company evening. The active session runs one or two hours, and the awards are handed out right after the last round with the leaderboard still on the wall. Snacks, pizza and cake are added to the booking as options.
What do colleagues who refuse to play do?
They stay in the table area and follow the live score, which is a genuine part of the fun. In practice most people who say they will not play join in by the second or third round. Nobody is forced onto the floor.
