Library of teambuilding games & icebreakers

This game doesn’t take very long, but it’s a great warm-up for the beginning of your meeting. It’s a great ice-breaker, especially for teams who already know each other a little.

How to play Guess the emoji board

To play guess the emoji board, you’ll need to ask each participant to send you a screenshot of their “most recent” emoji board on their phone. Once you’ve gathered all the screenshots, you can share your screen and display them one by one to the group.

It’s now the participant’s job to try and guess who’s board it is based on the emojis they see. Some will be easy, while others will test your team’s powers of deduction.

Got You! is a rapid icebreaker designed to lighten the mood for the day ahead. The idea behind the game is simple, catch the other person finger while avoiding the other person from catching yours.

How to play Got You!

To play the game, arrange your group into a circle with a little space between each player. Next, ask each player to stick out their left palm towards the player to their left with the palm face up. Then, ask the players to rest the index finger of their right hand onto the palm of the player to their right. When the moderator shouts “Go!” the players must attempt to catch the index finger of the player to their left while avoiding the player to their right from catching theirs.

How to play What If?

Want to inject some energy into proceedings and trigger some silly, serious, and generally scintillating discussions at the same time? Play What If. A super straightforward question game, you simply take turns asking “what if” questions for your teammates to answer.

You may find that the best discussions come from questions people make up on the fly. Nevertheless, here are some great “What If” questions to get things started:

• What if you could travel back in time?
• What if the power went out for a month?
• What it there was no internet anywhere in the world?
• What if your high-school crush contacted you out of the blue?
• What if you stopped drinking coffee for a week?
• What if a famous director asked you to star in their next movie?
• What if you had 24 hours left to live?

Scavenger Hunt is an excellent opportunity for your team to escape the office while working on essential soft skills like teamwork, communication and problem-solving.

Great for: Teamwork, communication, problem-solving

Duration: 1–2 hours

You’ll need: A list of challenges for teams to complete.

How to play:

• Establish the boundaries of play, i.e. the confines of a large park.
• Create a list of things for employees to find, hear, smell or do. For example: Find the leaf of a maple tree.
• Teams will work through the list, ticking off challenges as they complete them.
• The first team that completes all the challenges (or the team that completes the most challenges after the time runs out) wins.

Imagine sitting in a circle with your colleagues, weaving a story together one sentence at a time. This is the essence of the Storytelling Relay, a playful yet powerful activity that fosters active listening in the workplace.

How to play

1. Form a circle with your team members. Ensure everyone has a clear line of sight to the person speaking.
2. The game starts with one person. They utter the opening sentence of a story, anything that comes to mind.
3. The next person continues the story with a single sentence, following the lead of the previous speaker. It should make sense and smoothly connect to the previous sentence.
4. Go around the circle, with each participant adding a sentence. The goal is to build a cohesive narrative.
5. This is where active listening comes into play. Participants must pay close attention to the unfolding story to ensure their contributions fit seamlessly.
6. It's essential not to interrupt or correct others. The story may take unexpected turns, but that's part of the fun!
7. Continue until you reach a predetermined ending point or when the story feels naturally complete.

How to play “If I were”…

One of the easiest games to play, this activity allows players to describe themselves in different situations. Simply read the prompts out loud and give everyone a chance to respond. Some things you can suggest are:

• If I were a country, I’d be….
• If I were a song, I’d be…
• If I were a food, I’d be…
• If I were a brand, I’d be…
• If I were a cocktail, I’d be…
• If I were a wild animal, I’d be…
• If I were a mythical creature, I’d be…

A memory wall is a space for spreading good vibes and positivity in the workplace. Here, you’ll create a collage of good memories that your team can appreciate every time they pass by.

Great for: Company culture, job satisfaction

Duration: N/A

You’ll need: Paper, various coloured pens

How to organise:

• Give each employee a pen and piece of paper and ask them to write down some of their favourite memories from previous experiences like Christmas parties and offsite retreats. These can be personal memories or experiences they shared with colleagues.
• Then, ask your employees to create colourful drawings of these memories. If the memory is shared with a colleague, they can pair up and make the drawing together.
• Collect the drawings and use them to make a colourful collage somewhere in the office. It should be in a shared space where it can be appreciated throughout the day.

Visual puzzles are all about teamwork through description. One person describes an object, and their teammates sketch it based on those instructions - without seeing the original object. The results? Usually hilarious, but also a great way to test communication skills.

This teambuilding activity is perfect for enhancing your team’s ability to give and follow clear directions. Plus, the unexpected drawings add a bit of fun and laughter, making it an enjoyable way to break up the workday while sharpening those communication skills.

How to play:

• One person describes an object (e.g., a mug or a bike).
• Teammates sketch the object based only on the description.
• Compare the drawings to the original for some laughs!

Cool off and blow off some steam with super soaker showdown! Teams engage in a friendly water gun fight, battling it out while dodging sprays and soaking each other. It’s a fun, refreshing way to unleash some energy and enjoy the outdoors.

This is perfect for adding a bit of action-packed excitement to a team day out—and there’s nothing like a good water fight to get everyone laughing.

How to play:

• Equip each team with water guns and create boundaries for the battle.
• Teams strategize to soak their opponents while staying as dry as possible.
• The team with the driest members (or the most soaked fun) wins!

Discover more funny team-building activities for small groups to add energy and excitement to your next team event.

Kicking off our list is a competitive bout of stacking. This cup game is the most popular on the list, and also the most professionally competitive! Side note, did you know that professionals call this “sport stacking,” and the world-record holder finished a stack in 1.33 seconds?

This one works best individually, and is fun to use a timer with, for extra competition! Give each player 10 cups and a table to do their stacking.

Set-up:

1. Build a pyramid of cups: Each player needs to stack 10 cups to make a pyramid shape. The base will have 4 cups, then 3 on top of those, 2 cups for the next level, finished with 1 cup at the top.
2. Collapse the pyramid down into one stack of cups: Players then need to take the top cup and collapse the other cups down, until only one stack of 10 cups remains Remember to smash that timer as soon as they’re finished! Create a leaderboard and find the fastest stacker!

How to play Movie elevator pitch

You may have heard of an “elevator pitch”, where people have a brief summary prepared in advance about what they do, or what their company does. This is an important skill for everyone to have for networking and connecting with other professionals. This game helps workers to practice these skills and get a little creative in the process.

Start by choosing a movie and then asking employees to create a short elevator pitch regarding something present in the movie. For example, they might want to create a pitch based on Batman’s mask or an engagement ring from your favorite rom-com. See how everyone incorporates innovative marketing strategies and descriptions into their elevator pitches.

How to play Wikirace

The Wikirace is a simple game, loved by college students bored in class. In the chat, send one Wikipedia article hyperlink and call it ‘start page’, then another hyperlink titled ‘target page.’ The rules are that the player must get from the start page to the target page in a limited number of mouse clicks. It might be as random as going from ‘pizza’ to ‘Apollo 13.’

Try it out in teams to have everyone strategizing frantically. Try making it even more difficult by decreasing the amount of allowed clicks between pages. There’s no going back once a new hyperlink is clicked. Share your screen and try this one out for a laugh in a virtual meeting.

How to play Water pong

If you have ever played the popular college drinking game “beer pong”, then this will look familiar to you. Fill plastic cups with water and place six of them on the opposite ends of a table. Take turns throwing ping pong balls with the goal of landing in the cups. Whoever sinks the most shots in a minute is the winner.

Ever got a surprise coffee? Small gestures are like a mini celebration of kindness. They're a reminder that someone's thinking of you and can turn an ordinary day into something special.

Small gestures activity - Gratitude chain:

• Provide colorful paper strips, markers and adhesive.
• Instruct colleagues to write down a brief note of gratitude, appreciation, or a small act of kindness they'd like to acknowledge.
• Encourage participants to attach their notes to create a chain, linking the acts of kindness together.
• Display the gratitude chain in a visible area to serve as a visual reminder of the positive interactions within the team.
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This quick team-building activity cultivates a culture of appreciation and encourages colleagues to recognize and celebrate one another's contributions.

Ever heard of the drinking game 'Categories'? Ever thought it could be adapted to a game that helps with active listening? Well, take a seat, my sober friend, and let's get into this! This version of the game will help promote better communication and listening skills among colleagues.

How to play

1. Find a conference room or suitable meeting space to bring your team together.
2. Designate one person to kick off the game as the "Category Caller." This role will rotate as the game progresses.
3. Compile a list of work-related categories. These could range from types of project management software to company department names—whatever suits your workplace.
4. The Category Caller selects a category from the list and announces it to the group. Make sure the chosen category relates to your office environment.
5. Using a timer or smartphone, set a specific time limit (e.g., 15 seconds).
6. The Category Caller begins by naming an item from the chosen category. For instance, if the category is "Types of project management software," they might say "Trello."
7. The person to the right of the Category Caller takes the next turn. They must listen carefully to the previous response and provide another item from the category within the time limit.
8. The game proceeds clockwise. Each participant must actively listen to the previous response and contribute a new item to the category before the timer runs out. If someone repeats an item or fails to provide an appropriate one, they are temporarily out of the round.

How to play Sinking boat

This popular team-building activity involves participants imagining themselves stranded on a boat that’s sinking. You’ll need to break people into small groups and instruct them on this exercise. The objective is for the group to work together to decide who should be saved from the sinking boat based on their overall importance to the group and what they value. This encourages communication, collaboration, and critical thinking skills. It’s also a good way to spark discussions about teamwork and decision-making and can give everyone insight into the talents and personalities of their colleagues.

Looking for a team-building game that never has to end? Try Question Tag. It’s simple, accessible, and unites the team without having to take time off work or arrange an actual event.

How to play Question tag

To play, team members “tag” each other by asking one of their colleagues a question. The recipient answers it, repeats the same question and answer to another colleague, and then asks them a new question. You can play by passing notes, but we think it’s best as an ongoing email exchange. Just make sure everyone gets involved, rather than a few individuals who keep asking themselves questions!

Explanation:

‍Teams build different sections of a complicated Rube Goldberg machine. In-office teams work on physical pieces, and remote workers create virtual sections using online tools.

In-office workers can start by building something physical—like a series of dominoes or a ball rolling down a ramp—while remote workers come up with digital elements (animations or recorded videos of their contraptions). The challenge is to connect these sections into one long, wacky machine that works seamlessly together. Remote workers can submit their videos or ideas, and in-office teammates figure out how to physically incorporate them.

This brings remote and office workers together in a super creative way!

In virtual argument arena, two team members go head-to-head, debating a fun or totally ridiculous topic. One argues for, and the other argues against—whether it’s the superiority of pineapple on pizza or why dogs are better than cats. The rest of the team can sit back, watch, and vote for the winner.

This is a lighthearted way to get people talking, thinking on their feet, and maybe even learning how to argue without it getting personal!

How to play:

• Choose two participants and assign them opposing sides of a fun topic.
• They take turns debating while the rest of the team watches.
• The team votes on the most convincing argument to decide the winner.

Want more fun team-building activities to spark lively conversations? Take a look at our full guide for more ideas.

Explanation:

‍It’s just like Giant Jenga, but with each block having a fun little challenge written on it—like balancing the piece on your head or doing a dance before placing it.

For the hybrid version, the in-office team plays with the physical Jenga set, while remote workers jump in by picking the challenges for their in-office teammates. For example, as the in-office group pulls a block, a remote teammate gives them a challenge to complete before placing the block back on the tower. Remote players can also participate by tracking the game and offering ideas for wacky tasks. It’s a great way to include everyone and keep the laughs going, no matter where people are.

You know that friend who's always got your back? Consistency is like that—being reliable, so colleagues know they can count on you. It's the secret ingredient for building trust and teamwork.

Consistency activity - Recognition raffle:

• Establish a recognition program that rewards consistent behaviors and contributions.
• Introduce a system where colleagues can earn tickets or tokens for displaying consistent positive actions, such as punctuality, collaboration, or going the extra mile.
• Collect the earned tickets and hold regular raffle drawings where participants have a chance to win small rewards or incentives.
• Celebrate the winners and highlight their consistent efforts to reinforce a culture of reliability and teamwork.
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This activity motivates colleagues to maintain a high standard of performance and contributes to a harmonious and supportive work environment.

How to play First Letter, Last Letter

For this game, have everyone form a circle and sit down. Choose one person to start first. That person writes or says a word and the person next to them has to come up with another word using the last letter or the last few letters of that word. This is a verbal game that doesn’t require any materials or special preparation, which makes it a great activity if you have some spontaneous time to fill and want it to be productive.

Heads-up! No, we’re not talking about a safety warning, we’re talking about the app game that's taken the world by storm. And guess what? It's not just for playing with friends on a night out. This game can also be a hoot in the office.

How to play:

1. Split into teams.
2. One player holds the phone on their forehead, facing outwards.
3. Their team gives clues to describe the word or phrase on the screen.
4. If they guess correctly, swipe up; if not, swipe down.
5. Repeat until time runs out or all words have been guessed.

Heads-up! is a fantastic opportunity to promote better communication and teamwork, as well as help to break the ice among new colleagues. Current members will also benefit as it's a welcome change to ordinary office chit-chat.

Explanation:

‍Remote workers solve clues sent by in-office colleagues to identify specific office landmarks or objects, using virtual walk-throughs or photos.

In-office workers come up with cryptic clues about various spots or objects in the office (like a quirky poster on the wall or the location of the best coffee machine), and remote workers have to figure out the location using virtual office walk-throughs, photos, or even quick video tours. The remote team submits their guesses, and the in-office team reveals the answers.

It’s a fun, puzzle-solving challenge that makes both in-office and remote workers feel like they’re part of the same environment.