Library of teambuilding games & icebreakers

Explanation:

‍Office workers create physical art while remote team members work on digital designs. Then, both pieces are merged into a single, collaborative masterpiece.

In the hybrid version, office workers can get hands-on with paints, paper, or any materials lying around the office to create their part of the art piece. Meanwhile, remote team members work their digital magic—whether it’s on Photoshop, Canva, or even just a doodle on Paint. The real fun comes when both pieces are combined and displayed on a shared platform like Teams or Slack. The end result is a cool, hybrid art collage that blends physical and digital creativity. It's a fun way to bring both worlds together and see how different styles come together!

How to play Something in common

‘Something In Common’ is a no-prep game that can be run on the spot in your next virtual get-together. Create some breakout rooms of 4 or 5 people, giving them a 3-minute timer. Set a task of finding the most unique fact they have in common.

One point is awarded at the end to the team with the most interesting example. Tell them to emphasize uniqueness, as ‘we all use phones’ is a bit dull, while something like ‘we have all read a book by the same author’ sparks interest.

We’ve likely all played a game of Bingo at one time or another. Take the well-known teambuilding activity and infuse it with agile principles. It’s a fantastic way to keep reflection engaging and lively. Retrospectively looking at completed projects is putting the key in the door to iterative progression. It relies on honest reflection and communication. Here’s how to set it up:

Set up:

Create a 5x5 Bingo card with “What went well?” and future-focused questions in each square. Send cards to remote participants and, during the session, have everyone ask questions. They mark off squares as topics are brought up. The first to complete a line shouts “BINGO,” and recurring themes can be explored.

Example retrospective questions:

a. Which team member made this sprint easier for you?

b. Did anything go better than expected?

c. What should we replicate in future projects?

d. What’s one small improvement you’d suggest?

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When the whole gang's aiming for the same bullseye, see it as though it’s a motivational magnet. Shared goals keep everyone on track, turning coworkers into the dream team who want to see the best in you.

Shared goals activity - Vision board creation:

• Set up a creative station with magazines, newspapers, scissors, glue and large poster boards.
• Instruct colleagues to create individual vision boards by cutting out images, words and phrases that represent their career goals, aspirations and values.
• Encourage participants to share their completed vision boards with the group and explain their choices.
• Discuss common themes and goals that emerge, showcasing the team's shared aspirations.
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This visually engaging activity strengthens the sense of unity and purpose among colleagues.

How to play Sales pitch

This exercise not only gets the creative juices flowing, but can also help with sales skills. Have everyone grab one item from around them - like a pen from their desk - and craft a brief sales pitch to present to the larger group. People should spend about 15 minutes coming up with a logo, a slogan, some talking points, etc. Then they give the sales pitch of their item to the larger group. If you want to make it competitive, you can announce a winner and even grant a prize as part of this sales game.

Office dynamics can often feel like a puzzle, and effective teamwork is the key to success. Enter "Office Intrigue," a game designed to transform your workplace into an engaging realm of active listening, collaboration, and, of course, a touch of intrigue.

How to play

1. Gather your coworkers in a suitable office space or conference room. The more, the merrier!
2. Divide the participants into two groups: "Employees" and "Intruders." The Intruders are the impostors in your office.
3. Employees receive a list of tasks or projects to complete, while Intruders get a list of tasks to sabotage. Both groups must keep their missions secret.
4. Everyone returns to their desks and starts working. Employees must complete their tasks while Intruders subtly hinder progress without being detected.
5. Employees can call emergency meetings if they suspect sabotage. During these meetings, team members discuss suspicious activities and vote on who they believe the Intruders are.
6. The game continues until the employees successfully complete their tasks or identify all the Intruders.
7. After the game, hold a discussion about the importance of active listening, clear communication, and teamwork in the workplace.

How to play Balloon race

Grab a small bag of balloons for this game and make sure you have enough space to run a small to medium size race. Like the coffee run, this game requires that you place a balloon between your knees and make it to the finish line without dropping (or popping!) the balloon.

Like the other races in the Office Olympics, make sure there’s plenty of open space for teams to move and play until each member of the team gets a chance to run.

How to play:

Divide the team into small groups and provide each group with art supplies. Assign a theme or topic and ask the groups to create a collaborative artwork together.

Materials needed: Art supplies (paper, paints, brushes, etc.)

Benefits:

• Masterpieces fueled by teamwork: Prepare to be dazzled by the artistic symphony that unfolds before your eyes. Each stroke of the brush and every imaginative idea blends together like a symphony, resulting in a collaborative artwork that's a testament to the creative genius lurking within your team.

How to play: ‍

Instead of one person acting out a word or phrase, the entire team acts it out while one person guesses. This will definitely encourage team work!

Materials needed: None

Benefits:

• Teamwork in action: Experience the adrenaline rush of synchronized creativity as your team acts in perfect harmony. It's like a choreographed dance routine, but with hilarious gestures and expressive charades.
• Unleash your inner performer: Allow everyone to enter the spotlight and let their creative instincts take over. This allows for the slightly timid members of your team to build confidence in themselves, which can only be a good thing going forward.

How to play Statue challenge

This game is full of silly fun, but can encourage more observational skills and makes people aware of their colleagues. This game is really ideal for people working in larger open spaces. The first participant that you choose is the “statue” leader. At some point in the day, they’ll freeze - it should be random. As other players notice the “statue” they will also freeze. This continues until there is only one person left, and they lose. This is an entertaining game that also offers a bit of stress relief during busy times, and is great to plan when tensions are high in the office.

How to play:

Provide teams with a variety of puzzles, such as jigsaw puzzles, riddles, or brain teasers. Once they finish one puzzle, they progress to the next. The team who can finish the quickest is the winner.

Materials needed: Assorted puzzles

Benefits:

• Stimulated out-of-the-box thinking: Say goodbye to ordinary solutions! This game pushes your team members to think outside the puzzle box and explore unconventional approaches. Witness a creativity explosion as they discover innovative perspectives and solutions.
• Fostered collaborative triumphs: Witness the power of teamwork as your employees join forces to conquer challenging puzzles. It's like a symphony of puzzle-solving brilliance, with each team member adding their unique piece to complete the magnificent masterpiece. Collaboration never felt so victorious!

How to play Posture obstacle course

If you have a space that is good for moving around, such as an open concept office, you can give this one a try. Use various furnishings or furniture to create a short obstacle course that everyone must go through in one minute. The catch? They need to balance a book on their head to ensure “proper posture”. If the book falls off they must start over. Have everyone go, one at a time, setting a minute timer for each instance.

How to play Dice game

Sales is a numbers game, and the more thoroughly that your reps understand this, the more motivated they'll be to keep making calls and taking meetings. You’ll need teams of 8 players, so either keep your group small or break larger groups into smaller ones. Give each 8-person team one dice and a timer (set to 30 seconds). Have each person take a turn rolling and have one “secretary” in the group write down the results for every roll. In particular, they should write down each time someone gets a “6”, and record how many tries it takes to get that result.

The key is that the players can roll as many times as they want in the 30 second interval. You’ll quickly see people moving a lot faster in order to have more tries at getting the “6” - just the way the overall sales process should work. The faster you move, the more prospects you have, and the more likely you are to get your desired result. It’s a quick visual representation to drive home what makes a truly productive sales person.

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Everybody knows how to build a paper plane, but who can do it the best? In this creative team game, employees go head to head to build the best paper plane!

Great for: Teamwork, creative thinking

Duration: 10 minutes

Players: 4+

You’ll need: Various stationery supplies including paper, sticky tape and scissors

How to play Paper Plane Parade

Setup: Divide your group into even teams and hand each team a matching set of stationery supplies. Each set should include paper, sticky tape and scissors, but feel free to add other items such as glitter, googly eyes, etc.

To play: When the timer starts, the teams have five minutes to construct a paper plane using the supplies they were given. When the time is up, position the teams behind a line and ask them to throw their creations, one by one. The planes will be judged on three criteria: the plane that travelled the furthest, the plane that flew for the longest and the plane that looked the best. It’s up to you whether you inform your group of these criteria before or after the creation process.

Explanation:

‍Teams are given a random office item and must come up with a full marketing campaign and product launch strategy for it within one hour. It’s fast-paced, creative, and hilarious as teams scramble to sell everyday objects as the next big thing.

In the hybrid version, both remote and in-office teams are handed the same random office item, like a stapler or sticky notes, and they must collaborate to create a complete product launch strategy. Remote workers can handle the digital aspects, like designing an online ad or social media campaign, while in-office workers take on in-person tasks like creating a mock product display or filming a funny promo video.

At the end, each team presents their campaign virtually, showcasing how they turned something ordinary into the next office must-have.

It’s a great way to get everyone thinking on their feet, no matter where they are.

How to play:

‍Play a game Simon says with a safety theme added to it. Choose a leader to give safety-related commands (e.g., "Simon says put on your safety goggles," "Simon says find the nearest fire exit"). Employees must only follow the commands that begin with "Simon says."

Safety Simon says is a playful way to reinforce safety habits and quick response times. It keeps employees alert and engaged while reinforcing important safety behaviors in a fun and interactive manner.

Extreme rock, paper, scissors takes the traditional playground game to a new level. This time, Instead of battling it out in pairs, your employees will attempt to overthrow the competition in teams.

Great for: Energization

Duration: 10 minutes

You’ll need: Plastic hula hoops (approx. 15)

How to play:

• Lay the hoops in a line on the ground and leave a gap of 50cm between each one.
• Divide your group into two teams and position them at either end of the line of hoops.
• When you shout “Go!” one player from each team starts hopping through the hoops towards the opposition.
• When they meet in the middle, they play rock, paper, scissors.
• The loser exits the hoop and jogs back to their team. Meanwhile, the winner continues hopping forward towards the opposition and a player from the other team steps in to replace their fallen comrade.
• When the two players meet, they play rock, paper, scissors again.
• Play continues until a player reaches the opposing team’s starting hoop. The first team to land in their opponent's starting hoop wins.

How to play Sinking ship

This is a fun, physical game for people who aren’t afraid to get close. It works best for about 10 - 20 people. Create a boundary on the floor with tape, and have everyone step inside it. Make sure they are standing close, but not totally on top of each other. Then, each minute, pick up one side of the tape and move it further inside the boundary. The idea is that it gets smaller and smaller, just like a ship that is gradually filling with water. The group will likely get into funnier and more creative configurations as the space gets smaller. Again, please be aware of the comfort of your team in close physical proximity before executing.

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!

How to play Trivia

Questions games don’t get much better than good old-fashioned trivia! A classic way to test people’s knowledge on a range of topics, you can ask questions on everything from science and current events to religion, sports, and history.

Of course, there’s nothing stopping you from playing a “personal trivia” game too. Take this tack, and you’d ask questions to test the team’s knowledge about each other instead! For example, who did what at the last Christmas party? Which team member was born overseas? And who has a middle name that starts with “K”?

You get the idea!

Whatever type of trivia game you choose, the idea is to play in teams and compete against each other to see who can answer the most questions correctly. Award prizes to the winner to incentivize participation.

How to play Colleague feud

Like Family Feud, but with coworkers! You’ll need to do some prep for this game, as you’ll have to not only divide people into smaller teams of 4 or 5, but come up with categories. If you want to keep them work focused, try topics like “Things you find in your office breakroom”. Keep points for each correct answer given and then announce a winner at the end.

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.

How to play Ranking race

Thinking critically - and quickly - is a highly coveted skill in the professional world. This game calls for creating a ranking system, which is a natural way of thinking through information and categorizing it. It’s a really versatile exercise since no materials and very little prep time are required. Start by getting people into groups of no more than 10. Then, set a timer and give each group a list of items to rank, such as the best local restaurants or top movies of the year.

Task each group with coming up with their own ranking system. When the timer goes off, everyone should present their final rankings. They can describe to the group how they came up with their ranking system and why the items are weighted the way that they are. Have teams make notes if they find a certain ranking system particularly helpful - maybe that’s a matrix that more people can use in the workplace going forward.

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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