Library of teambuilding games & icebreakers

Pinball plays on the vulnerability people feel when they’re blindfolded to improve relationships among colleagues. After all, when your sight’s taken away, you have no choice but to rely on others for guidance!

This powerful trust-building exercise takes that concept and turns it into a game.

How to play Pinball

However, unlike the actual pinball machines that you find in old-school arcades, the “pinball” in this scenario is one of your employees…

Wearing a blindfold, they stand in the middle of a circle formed by the rest of the team, getting pushed gently from one person to the other. Whenever they reach someone at the edge of the circle, that individual spins them around and nudges them back across to the other side.

It might sound easy, but the combination of being dizzy and blind puts you in a bizarre and helpless position. It forces you to trust your teammates – to put your fate in their hands. This naturally makes you feel closer to them.

There’s no time limit on this activity. It ends whenever everyone has had a go at being blindfolded!

What you need:

• A blindfold

If you have a big team of employees that you’re trying to turn into a more cohesive unit, then Snakes could be an ideal trust-building activity. It’s another exercise that involves a large space, but you can do it either indoors or outdoors.

How to play Snakes

Wherever you choose to go, start by splitting everyone into groups of 6 to 7 people and asking them to stand in a line.

Next, spread items around the room/area that can be picked up with relative ease. These objects can be anything you like – from staplers and coffee cups to chocolate bars and clothes!). Finally, place blindfolds on all but the last person in each line and ask everyone to put their hands on the shoulders of the individual in front.

The sighted person then has to direct the “snake” to each object, without talking.

They give directions by tapping whoever’s in front of them on the shoulder, who then taps the person ahead of them in the same way, and so on until the front of the line. Tapping the left shoulder means “turn left”; the right means “turn right”. Pulling backward (gently!) means “stop”.

When the guy or girl at the front manages to pick up an item, they go to the back of the line and give their blindfold to the sighted person. It’s now their turn to direct the snake! The activity’s over when whoever started at the back (as the sighted person) ends up at the front.

What you need:

• Blindfolds
• Items to pick up

How to play Secret word

Insert some fun and laughter into your everyday office work by playing this silly game. To play, start by writing down any word on a piece of paper (An object or action is usually easiest). Choose your first participant and have them place the paper on their forehead (without looking at it). It’s key that the player doesn’t know what word they are displaying! Other players should gesture to try to get them to guess the word without actually speaking. The person with the card will try to guess the word based on the actions of everyone around them.

Step into the world of mystery and intrigue with the Escape Room Expedition. Your team's problem-solving skills will be put to the ultimate test as you navigate through intricately themed rooms, each laden with cryptic puzzles and riddles. The challenge isn't just about escaping; it's about collaborating, using your wits, and pushing the boundaries of creativity. With adrenaline pumping and minds racing, you'll uncover secrets and hidden passages, forging an unbreakable bond with your teammates in the process.

Instructions

• Divide participants into teams, ensuring a mix of strengths.
• Each team tackles a series of themed escape rooms with unique challenges.
• Solve puzzles, uncover clues, and move from room to room.
• Utilize hints and work together to unravel the mysteries.
• Race against the clock; the fastest team to escape wins.

One wrong move and you’re out of the game! Blind Retriever is one of the most engaging team-building activities, honing your employee’s listening skills as they attempt to retrieve the object while blindfolded and avoid obstacles along the way.

Great for: Listening and communication

Duration: 10 minutes

Players: 4+

You’ll need: One blindfold per team, various soft-edged obstacles

How to play Blind Retriever

Setup: Find a large open space. At one end of the space, place the object that your teams will need to retrieve and at the other end indicate some sort of start line. Then, position various soft-edged obstacles between the start line and the object. Avoid using any objects that could cause harm if somebody were to walk into/land on them. Finally, divide your group into small teams of about 2-4 players, allocate one person per team to be the Retriever and position everybody behind the start line. The Retriever is then blindfolded.

To play: When the game starts, the non-retrievers of each team must guide their blindfolded retriever to the other end of the room to collect the object using only verbal commands. If a retriever makes contact with any of the obstacles in the room their team is eliminated from the race. The team whose retriever collects the object first without touching any obstacles wins.

How to play Bucket list sharing

Don’t let daily drudgery drain your big dreams. As a leader, you can help encourage your entire team to keep sight of those bigger life goals. Start your next event or meeting by asking everyone to share one of the items from their bucket list, with a brief explanation of why. You can encourage dialogue by asking if they think they’ll ever accomplish that goal, or how they might go about it. This is a great way to learn about what the people you work with really value and what matters to them outside of work.

This simple card game is designed to get people talking. Building Blocks is a perfect icebreaker tool or exercise for growing teams.

How to play:

The card game has six categories with questions aimed at “removing personal barriers and creating space for teamwork.” An example of a question in the deck is: What do you wish to spend more time on both in and outside the office”. If your team is remote, this can be played in person or over Zoom. The game is marketed for workshops, and meetings.

Materials you’ll need: Building Blocks card deck.

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

How to play Knowledge-based quizzes

If your company is especially reliant on customer loyalty, then anything you can do to increase dedication is a smart move. You can put together a quiz for your biggest fans to take to prove they know your business better than anyone. For example, an athletic shoe brand may have a timeline of shoe designs going back 20 years, and whoever can properly label the timeline is a winner. Or, a television show might put together a quiz about the TV characters and their history.

Though radio is not as popular as it once was, many stations used to engage in a form of this loyalty testing by sharing codes throughout the day. If someone could call in with all the codes (to prove they listened all day), they were a winner. This adds another layer of fun and excitement for customers, and works particularly well for consumer goods that tend to have high degrees of repeat business.

How to play Salt and pepper pairs

In this activity, you’ll break everyone into pairs of 2. Each group is labeled with one side of a pairing - salt and pepper, macaroni and cheese, Batman and Robin, etc. Each team member should have their item name taped to their back. Have everyone scatter, and then start asking questions of their colleagues to figure out what each one is. Only then can they figure out what they might be and who they belong with. When everyone is properly grouped into their pairs, the exercise is over.

The Price is Right is a legendary TV guessing game show where contestants need to guess the price of items to win prizes. But did you know, you can also adapt this for the office space?

How to play:

1. Gather your team in a room
2. Choose names out of a hat for the "contestants"
3. Gather office items or personal items of employees (make sure they are willing to let you handle them)
4. Showcase them on a table
5. Ask the contestants to guess the price of each item.
6. Whoever is closest wins!
7. Rotate contestants

This game is not only a fun way to break up the monotony of the workday, but it also helps strengthen teamwork and collaboration skills.

It can also provide an opportunity for employees to provide backstories on their items further improving presentation skills. You never know; some stories could be fascinating listen!

Looking for a classic trust building activity that never fails to bring workmates closer together? Try the “trust walk” – another super straightforward exercise that’s reminiscent of the “minefield” exercise we described earlier.

How to play Trust walk

Start by creating a path for people to follow, complete with obstacles, twists, and turns. Next, divide your team into smaller groups of 2 to 3 people and give one of them a blindfold to wear. The sighted individuals then have to guide whoever’s blindfolded along the path as quickly (and safely) as possible.

When they finish, the blindfold passes to one of the others. Repeat this process until each group member has completed the course. The first group to have each member complete the course wins!

As long as you clear enough space, you can do the trust walk in the office. However, we recommend trying it outside at some point too!

The extra room available adds to the fun. Heck, some teams choose to do this exercise as part of a larger hiking activity – on a team-building retreat, for instance, where the entire experience revolves around boosting camaraderie.

Want a slight variation on the trust walk? You could also do an exercise called “the blind trail”. It’s a similar concept, but this time every person on each team is blindfolded. Have them stand in a line, holding onto a rope.

Their task?

Work together to navigate an obstacle course that you’ve laid out (all while holding onto the rope). They’re allowed to talk and use non-verbal communication – enabling them to help and trust each other as they proceed from A to B.

What you need:

• Blindfolds
• Rope (to make the “path”, or to use in the blind trail exercise)
• Items to use as obstacles

How to play Icebreaker bingo

This is one of the best games for lengthier introductions and learning more about the people around you. Most people are familiar with a bingo format, so it should be easy to play. You can use an online bingo card generator to come up with squares and randomize them. Squares can be anything from “owns a boat” to “has 20 years with the company” to “met a celebrity”. Another great thing about this icebreaker game is that there are actual winners - so if you have some fun prizes to hand out, this exercise is perfect.

How to play Lights, camera, action!

Here’s a funky and active virtual corporate event that is great for the movie buffs out there. ‘Lights, camera, action!’ is a game where teams need to act out a chosen scene from a movie. Prepare cards with famous scenes beforehand, like Luke Skywalker’s parental discovery or Pulp Fiction’s mysterious briefcase, then award points when someone guesses correctly.

You could even spice things up by hosting a mock Oscar award ceremony with awards after everyone’s finished. Cut!

Keep your team moving with healthy hustle challenge! Teams work together on daily wellness goals—whether it’s step counts, hydration, or stretching breaks—and track their progress in a shared spreadsheet. It's a fun way to keep each other accountable and celebrate small wins.

This challenge is a great motivator to stay healthy while working remotely, with a little team spirit and friendly competition sprinkled in.

How to play:

• Set daily wellness goals (e.g., steps, hydration, or workouts).
• Teams track their progress in a shared spreadsheet.
• Celebrate the team with the best overall progress at the end!

Discover more fun team-building ideas to keep your team energized and engaged in our full guide.

Explanation: ‍

Teams work together to create a custom soundtrack using a digital music app. Each person adds their own section—whether it’s a beat, melody, or harmony.

Remote and in-office employees can use a digital music app to collaborate on a unique team soundtrack. The process is simple: one person starts by adding a beat or melody, then passes it along to the next team member (whether they’re remote or in the office) to layer in their musical twist. The song builds up as it moves from person to person, combining everyone’s creativity. At the end, you’ve got a one-of-a-kind soundtrack made by the whole team. It’s a fun way to make something together, no matter where you are.

Brag & boost is an uplifting, in-office activity where one person highlights an achievement, and another praises a colleague’s success. It’s a simple but effective way to foster positivity and recognition within the team.

This is a great way to start or end a meeting, spreading good vibes and making sure everyone’s hard work gets noticed.

How to play:

• One person calls out an achievement they’ve noticed.
• Another team member follows up with praise for a colleague.
• Continue passing the compliments and positive energy!

For more team bonding activities that strengthen team morale and connection, explore our full guide.

If you’re looking for a serious game that teaches the value of collaboration in a plain and no-nonsense manner…then this one definitely isn’t it!

Hello kitty’s a super simple improv game that’s all about being silly, getting involved, having fun, and making each other laugh. And, ultimately, that’s what improv games are all about. The fact they forge tighter bonds between teammates is a bonus.

How to play Hello kitty

Hello kitty couldn’t be easier to play either. Suitable for groups of any size, you start by dividing employees into two teams: kittens and puppies. Next, separate everyone into pairs, where one partner’s a kitten and the other’s a puppy.

The puppy’s job is to say hello with one goal in mind: to make their partner smile, chuckle, laugh out loud – anything that shows they’re amused. The kitten’s job is to keep a straight face. Expect all sorts of funny voices, impressions, and gestures to follow! What happens if/when they succeed, you ask?

The kitten turns into a puppy, of course! They can then both turn their attention to any remaining kittens who are yet to laugh. The game ends when everyone has joined the puppy team. By then – having exercised your creative sides and laughed a lot – you should all be feeling energized, light, and closer to your teammates.

Everyone knows the classic TV phenomenon of Wheel of Fortune. Add your own corporate twist onto it to bring TV show vibes to the event.

Set up:

1. Wheel it up. You’ve got to get craft and create the biggest, most standout wheel you can. Add workplace pictures to it too.
2. Create your list of winning answers, and make them workplace-themed, or popular mottos among your staff Use some brain teasers for SOS clues.
3. Create teams and get spinning. Your teams can shout out letters to fill in the blank space letters in the answer.
4. Add the occasional bonus round for double points, and create your finale with a one-on-one showdown. Who will wager big and take home the ultimate prize?

How to play Cold call point system

For an ongoing game that will add some fun to the daily routine, start a cold calling point system. Take five minutes out of each day and have employees record their cold calls. It can be really fun to see points add up over time and learn from each other. Keep a whiteboard or other points-tracking system in view so everyone can get a status. Here are some options for tracking points:

1. 30 points for getting the prospect on the phone
2. 20 points for keeping them on for more than a minute
3. 40 points for scheduling a follow up
4. 10 points for getting a new contact from the call

Get ready to belt out some tunes with virtual karaoke jam! Team members take turns singing their favorite songs in an online karaoke session. For extra fun, you can even vote on the best performance, though it’s really all about letting loose and having a laugh.

It’s a great way to inject some fun and energy into a virtual meeting and maybe even discover a few hidden vocal talents on the team.

How to play:

• Each person picks a song and sings it in an online karaoke session.
• Optional: Vote for the best performance.
• Sit back, sing along, and enjoy the musical chaos!

Browse more team-building activity ideas to keep your virtual meetings lively and engaging.

How to play Count to 20

Truly one of the simplest and fastest team-building games to play. This exercise doesn’t require any planning and can be done completely spur of the moment. Have everyone sit or stand in a circle together. Start the game by saying “one”. Next, another player will say “two” and so on. The goal is to make it to 20 without two people saying the same number at once. This requires observing your colleagues and predicting when they will speak up. If two people say the same number, the game starts over. Make sure to review our list of minute to win it games, too.

Our penultimate improv game for virtual teams is far more relevant to professional settings – especially if you work in sales!

With a potent combination of improvisation and sales training, your team should end the call feeling more confident in their ability to sell, more comfortable speaking in front of a group, and more bonded with their colleagues.

How to play Sell it to me

To play Sell It to Me, teammates take turns trying to sell the group a random item on their desk (or that’s in the vicinity). The twist is that they don’t get to choose what they’re selling! Their colleagues do – by looking at the items they can see (on the screen) in the person’s room and deciding from there.

Once the participant’s been told what they’re selling, they get 30 seconds to prepare a pitch. They then have another 60 seconds to persuade their teammates to buy that item! When their time’s up, everyone else rates the pitch’s quality from 1 (needs work) to 10 (world-class). Whoever has the highest score at the end gets a prize!

Want a slight variation of this activity?

Consider calling for a sales pitch in between other parts of the meeting. It becomes a less structured exercise, but it adds an element of surprise – keeping everyone on their toes and making the meeting more interesting.

Whichever approach you take, try keeping the atmosphere light and jovial. The point isn’t to highlight your employees’ sales skills! It’s to have fun, make each other laugh, and work together to come up with successful sales pitches.

How to host Creativity contest

If you really want to encourage creativity, pick a theme and ask everyone to make something related to it. There’s so many directions people can go in, which makes this extra fun! You may decide to give people supplies in advance or pick one type of material for them to use. If you have a large group, perhaps you want to take a team-based approach to increase collaboration and bonding. Allow everyone to come up with their own work of art, and have a panel of judges pick the one that is most creative.

Obstacle sprint is a high-energy game where blindfolded team members navigate through a “minefield” of objects, guided only by their teammates’ verbal directions. It’s all about trust and communication, and watching people stumble around makes it a lot more fun!

This game is great for building trust and sharpening communication skills—plus, it’s always good for some laughs.

How to play:

• Set up an obstacle course with random objects in a designated area.
• Blindfold one team member, while the others give verbal instructions to guide them through the course.
• First team to navigate the course successfully wins!

Find even more team building activities for small groups to strengthen teamwork and communication in your office.