At previous workplaces they were always a bit of a daggy thing ... forced fun, and a mix of fully funded, partially funded and not funded at all ... some had Secret Santa and it was always crap.
I've been at my current workplace for a number of years and love the work and the people but recently a new person has come in who's changed the dynamic completely. She hasn't tried to fit in and holds quite an important role in the organisation, although as we have a flat structure she's just one of the team really (not that that stops her). She is organising this year's do and has talked about a 'nice' buffet dinner ... as expected, absolutely no imagination and it will be awful, like her. Last year, we had a murder-mystery evening - with our partners too - at an amazing old B&B in the country - that was so, so cool. We stayed overnight in glamping tents and had a lunch picnic the next day. The two years before that, we were mostly working from home - our GM gave us each Mitre 10 (hardware store) gift cards one year (super-thoughtful as they sell all sorts of summer gear, furniture, stuff for the home, etc.), and amazing hampers (including a leg of ham) the other year. For the Christmas before Covid hit, we all went to Queenstown (with our partners too) for four nights.