Library of teambuilding games & icebreakers

How to play Role reversal

This game is all about understanding conflicts from different perspectives. We're going to act out conflict scenarios and then swap roles to see how the other side feels. It's like stepping into someone else's shoes, but without the actual shoe-swapping part! It's a great way to build empathy and gain fresh insights on how to overcome teamwork challenges in the workplace. Get ready to embrace different perspectives!

Another activity utilizing an online whiteboard, the Four-Step Sketch develops scrum skills and rapid ideation as teams work together to find solutions.

Set up:

Step 1: Present a challenge (e.g., design an app dashboard). Each member sketches their own solution.

Step 2: Break into teams, share and discuss sketches in breakout rooms.

Step 3: Teams combine the best ideas into one refined design.

Step 4:Reassemble to present and explain final solutions, focusing on iterative improvement.

Scrum values are promoted when everyone comes together to share their sketch and innovate a new solution.

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Example challenges:

‍a. Design a user-friendly app dashboard‍

b. Sketch a creative marketing campaign

c. Design a remote team-building activity

d. Visualize our sprint workflow

How to play:

Create a list of safety-related trivia questions covering topics like fire safety, first aid, and workplace hazards. Organize a trivia contest where employees compete individually or in teams to answer the questions. Keep score and offer prizes for the top scorers.

Safety trivia battle turns learning into a competitive and enjoyable experience. It encourages employees to brush up on their safety knowledge and rewards them for their efforts. Trivia is always a crowd-pleaser and can be a great way to break up a training session.

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How to play Beer pong game

If you’ve ever been to a fraternity party, this game needs no explanation. A classic drinking game, this option is for crowds who tend to get a bit rowdier. You set up the game with several red solo cups and ping pong balls - and of course, lots of beer.  You’ll also need a large long table that you don’t mind getting messy. If you’re not sure how to play, just look up a tutorial on YouTube.

How to play Backward ABC

This is a great one because no supplies are required! If you’re tight on space or budget give this game a try. For this activity, each player must attempt to say the alphabet in reverse. They only have one minute to complete the task and whoever can say the full alphabet backwards in the shortest amount of time wins.

For this game, the only thing needed is an extensive vocabulary and a desire to have fun. It can also be a really fun way to learn new things and impress your colleagues. You never know who is going to introduce you to an amazing new word! This is also a virtual-team friendly activity. You might add this game to other virtual team-building activities.

To play:

1. First, choose a topic. It could be anything from “animals” to “our company vendors” - it just needs to be broad enough for some traction in the game.
2. Team members must name things that fit within that topic - but the key is, their word needs to begin with the last letter of the former word. For example, if your topic is animals, and someone says “beaver”, then the next person could say “rat” (because it begins with r) and the next person could say “tiger”, and on it goes.
3. Go around the group naming things that fit in the topic until everyone has had a chance to contribute.
4. If you do happen to have a piece of paper, you can make sure you’ve covered every letter of the alphabet. The simplest way to do that is to write out the alphabet in advance, and then cross off the letters as they are used in words. Again, this is optional, though. More important than using the whole alphabet is making sure everyone gets a chance to contribute.

Our final minute-to-win-it cup game is a hilarious way to round off the list. It also takes a steady hand and a surprising amount of patience! You’ll need a few rolls of toilet paper, some cups and refillable water. Here’s how to play:

Set-up:

1. Prepare your contestants: Each player should be given 1 roll of toilet tissue. At the end of a long table, place one cup per contestant. Fill the cups up (it shouldn’t be too heavy, as the paper will rip). Under the filled cups, place the end of the toilet tissue roll, and let the toilet tissue unravel all the way to the other end of the table.

2. Wind the cup towards you: On your mark, each player then carefully rerolls the toilet tissue, slowly dragging the filled cup toward them. Things can get really fun when a player is losing halfway through the race. They start to panic and speed up the rolling process. This often causes a bit of spillage, tearing the paper. When that happens, they need to clear up and reset their roll.

This super simple game is a barrel of laughs, so try it out with your teams today. It’ll bring team members closer together and keep everyone on a roll!

How to play Communication chain

This is a great game for a team and involves participants expressing activities through gestures. Have everyone stand in a line facing the same direction. The last person on this line is the lead. They should write down an action (such as “I was walking my dog and tripped and fell”). The person next to them in line acts out the particular action without any verbal cues, and then the next person in line does the same, and so on. The first person at the beginning of the line will have to guess what the action was.

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How to play Yes, and collaboration

This game is all about collaboration and building on each other's ideas. One person starts with a statement, and the other person must say "yes, and" then add to it. You can begin with a fun statement or something related to your work or team. Many people use this form of game for improv exercises where the comments pertain to made-up events.

Of all the trust-building exercises on this list, Blind Wine Waiter’s almost guaranteed to go down well with your employees – assuming they’re aged 21 or older! Why?

Firstly, because it’s a fun, light-hearted game that’ll have you crying with laughter. And secondly, because it involves drinking wine.

Make no mistake though. As breezy and irreverent as this may sound, Blind Wine Waiter’s a powerful exercise that cultivates trust, develops teamwork, rewards strong communication, and helps foster leadership skills.

Here’s how to play:

1. Divide your employees into teams of 6 people
2. Ask each team to designate a leader
3. Blindfold everyone but the leader of each team
4. Instruct the leader to sit close to their team and on their hands (they’re not allowed to move or use their hands)
5. For each team, place one bottle of wine, a corkscrew, and enough wineglasses for each person at various points around the room (ensuring nothing fragile is positioned where it might fall or break easily)
6. Each team then has to follow directions from their leader to find each item and return them to their base (i.e. where the leader’s sitting)
7. They then have to open the wine bottle with the corkscrew and pour themselves a glass of wine each
8. Finally, they have to drink the wine and help the leader (who still can’t use their hands!) do the same.
9. Importantly, each member of the team must perform exactly one task.

The first team to finish their bottle of wine is the winner! Feel free to set a time limit and award prizes if it seems appropriate.

What you need:

• Blindfolds
• A bottle of wine, wineglasses, and a corkscrew for each team

John: Hey, what’s your favourite superhero movie?

Jane: 🕷👨

John: Really? Batman’s my favourite too!

Jane: 🤦

If you’re like John, you won’t be any good at the Emoji Quiz. But if you’re like the other 99% of the population, capable of deciphering emojis without a second thought, then we have the perfect game for you!

Great for: Creative thinking, problem-solving

Duration: 5 minutes

Players: 4+

You’ll need: A list of movie, book or song titles written in emojis

How to play Emoji Quiz

Setup: Before playing Emoji Quiz, you need to create a list of movie, song or book titles written in emoji form. Here are a few examples:

• ⚫ 🦅 ⏬ = Black Hawk Down (film)
• 🍍 🚄 = Pineapple Express (film)
• 🐦 🐦 🐦 = Three Little Birds (song)

To play: Separate your group into equal teams. Then, display each title (written in emojis) on a screen and ask the teams to write down the name of the movie, song or book. Once you’ve asked all your questions, go back and reveal the answers. The team with the most correct answers wins!

How to play Instant win games

Instant gratification is a powerful motivator for most people. If you want people to buy more of your product, try putting together a game where they can find out if they won or lost immediately. For example, having people scratch to win, spin a wheel, or pull a lever on a slot machine are all simple actions that could result in an exciting prize for your customers.

It can be as simple as a retail store putting together a wheel to spin that has various prizes or discounts attached, and asking each customer if they want to give it a whirl. If you put it near the front of your store, you may be surprised how many people stop in. Make sure to promote it (and the winners) on social media for even more traction.

How to play Giant Twister

Instructions: Create a large Twister board on the ground using colorful circles or mats. Players take turns spinning the wheel and placing their hands or feet on the corresponding colors without falling. The last person remaining on the board wins.

Materials needed: Large Twister board or mats.

Giant Twister adds laughter, physical activity, and friendly competition to the picnic. It promotes flexibility, balance, and creates a lively and entertaining atmosphere for participants and spectators.

How to play Trade-up game

Negotiation is a crucial part of successful selling, and this game is a great way to practice. The objective is to trade for better objects than what you currently have at hand. Start by passing out basic items such as office stationary, a stapler, or a soda from the fridge. Then, let everyone talk to others and try to trade for something they deem as better. Whoever ends up with the best product wins the game - since obviously they were able to finagle their way into better items. Afterward, it’s a good idea to ask the top players how they performed so well and what negotiation tricks they might share.

How to play Solo pyramid

Have players stack red Solo cups in a pyramid shape without it collapsing. You can kick things up a notch by having them dismantle the stack without knocking any over, all within a minute. A one-hand requirement makes things extra tricky.

Ah, Pictionary, the timeless guessing game that has brought joy and frustration to households for decades. But have you ever thought about playing it in the office? Trust me, it's not just a game for family game night.

How to play:

1. Split into teams.
2. One player draws a word or phrase from a container.
3. That player must draw the word or phrase, while their team guesses.
4. The team has a limited amount of time to guess correctly.
5. If they guess correctly, they earn points; repeat until all players have had a turn.

Not only does it encourage teamwork and communication skills, but it also allows for a fun and creative break from the typical daily routine. Plus, it's a refreshing change from staring at screens all day.

How to play Travel back in time…

In this creative exercise, ask everyone to imagine that they are able to travel back in time to a singular event. Where would they go, and why? Most important: what would they change? What would they make sure was done differently? And, with those differences, what would the outcomes be? Would our lives be different today if their version of events had happened?

In business, an important part of strategy is thinking multiple steps ahead, and understanding “if this/then that”. This exercise asks everyone to think ahead about various repercussions of certain events. It’s a great game to play if you want to flex those strategic muscles, and also leads to some really interesting conversations.

A simple and low-stress icebreaker game that gets the ball rolling can be done on large and small company retreats.

How to play: Break your team into small groups with no more than five people. Give them the prompt, a simple question, like, “how would you describe your work day?” Each team has five or ten minutes to develop a one-word answer that sums up their response. After the exercise is finished, each team goes around and reads their answer out loud, facilitating discussion amongst the group.

You can play this game as many times with as many questions as you can come up with!

Materials you’ll need: Just your team!

How many people: Small to mid-sized groups

Here’s a simple game that always goes down well with small groups – especially when it’s a new team that’s still getting to know each other. FYI, Magic box also works well when you need an improv game that’s less daunting or full-on.

How to play Magic box

To play, you’ll first have to assemble a box full of random objects. It doesn’t matter what goes inside! The stranger and more varied, the better. Candy bars, coffee cups, plants, pictures, water bottles, business cards, books…you name it.

With your box ready, the fun can start. Each person sits in a circle and takes turns picking out an item. They then have to tell the group something about themselves that relates to that object.

The trick is to do it without overthinking. Heck, this is improv! They can make something up entirely if they want to. Play it that way and the group could then try to figure out whether it was a true story or not. Bonus points if whoever’s telling the story can link it to a central topic or theme of the workshop.

Whatever version of this game you play demands quick thinking and creativity from participants. It can also showcase their personalities and help the team learn more about each other, becoming a closer group as a result.

As an aside, Magic Box can also be played by remote teams. All you need is a virtual box of items (a web tool like this can be helpful) that people select at random. We’ll go through more examples of remote improv games later.

This game is about as simple as it gets, but provides a lot of opportunity for getting to know your team better. The more creativity people use, the better, and you never know what you might learn.

How to play My superhero story

It's a simple concept: have everyone present give their “backstory” to how they came to your organization, but in an exciting way.

For example, rather than having people simply rattle off what companies they worked at before, they can share about the crazy challenges that led to them looking for a new job, or what special skills they are bringing into the role. If you want, you can make this a contest where the best story wins. The whole point, though, is that they should share a detailed and compelling rendition of what led them to where they are right now (like you might read in a superhero comic).

How to play River crossing

This game involves solving a hypothetical challenge. For this game, two teams work together to collect planks and get everyone in their group across a river. The trick is that the planks are magic and sink when not in contact with a person. This is a good way to facilitate critical thinking and work together as a team.

Step up for a cause and embark on an Environmental Quest for Sustainability. In this expedition, your team isn't just exploring; you're on a mission to make a positive impact. Navigate through eco-conscious challenges that shed light on pressing environmental issues. From picking up litter to creatively repurposing materials, you'll not only learn about sustainability but actively contribute to a cleaner planet. This offsite activity isn't just about teamwork; it's about leaving a green footprint in the world.

Instructions

• Form teams and provide each with eco-friendly tools.
• Design challenges related to recycling, conservation, or green initiatives.
• Teams execute tasks that contribute to a cleaner environment.
• Document before-and-after results to showcase your impact.
• Reflect on the experience and brainstorm further sustainable actions.

Anyone with experience in the active world may have encountered this exercise before. A classic improv game that revolves around cooperation, communication, and creative thinking, it’s fast-paced, funny, and full of opportunities to become a tighter-knit team!

How to play “Yes, and?”

You can play “Yes, and” in pairs, but we prefer it in a larger group. Standing in a circle, the basic idea is to work together to create a silly story, one statement at a time, using the words “yes and” to drive the plot forward. The goal is to make each new statement more exaggerated.

One person starts with a simple statement, then makes clear eye contact with whoever they want to continue the tale. For example:

• “The house is built on rock.”
• “Yes, and the rock is starting to crumble.”
• “Yes, and it’s falling down the hillside.”
• “Yes, and the house is tumbling with it.”
• “Yes, and superman is coming to save us.”
• “Yes, and he looks like he got dressed in a hurry.”

The goal is to cultivate a fun and carefree atmosphere and to keep the story moving as quickly as possible. Rather than pausing to think of the “right thing” to say, each person should relate the first “yes, and” phrase that comes to mind.

It doesn’t have to make sense – the sillier, the better!

This game can be a tad daunting at the start. But that’s almost the point. By talking without thinking, each team member opens themselves up to being vulnerable.

Far from being mocked, though, they’re celebrated. They discover they can be themselves around their colleagues, which is a huge boost to morale and levels of trust within the team.

What you need:

• Nothing more than a positive attitude! However, having a few simple statements up your sleeve to get the ball rolling may help.

This trust-building game is simple and requires only a blindfold and players willing to work together. While you don’t necessarily need a big field to play this in, it would be better to have an open area to avoid too many hazards getting in the way.

How to play:

‍Break groups into small teams of two. One player is the leader, and the other wears the blindfold. The leader has to guide the blindfolded player to the endpoint while making sure they avoid bumping into objects.

For example, pick a start and end location; players start in the office and end at an outdoor seating area.

Materials you’ll need: Blindfold(s)

How many people: Small to mid-sized teams (8-16 people)

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