Library of teambuilding games & icebreakers

How to play Try not to laugh

This is another one that’s great for groups. Choose one person to be “invisible”. Everyone should also pretend that the player can’t be seen. They can do anything except interact directly with the invisible player. The entire time, the invisible player should be trying to make them laugh. Any player that does end up laughing must leave the game. Ideally this game goes on until there’s only one player left (the winner).

How to play Pantry pop quiz

A piggyback off of the desktop exercise, learn about your colleagues favorite foods with this challenge. Have each person send a photo of the inside of their fridge or pantry and then show them during the meeting and have everyone guess who each picture belongs to. For example, many people will think it’s obvious that the bachelor in the group has only ketchup and beer in the fridge. This is a fun peek into the lifestyle of the people you work with.

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This game relies on solid opinions, sure to get people talking. As the game's name implies, your team will get to know each other quickly, discussing the things they love and hate the most.

How to play:

‍Team members go around and ask a question about the best thing they can learn from the group. After each participant's answer, they go to the next person who asks about the worst thing their team can talk about. That can be like, “what is the best meal you ever had.”

This continues until everyone has the chance to ask a question, and receive answer.

Materials you’ll need Just your team and a large seating area.

How many people: Small to large teams (8-25+ people)

The Human Spring teaches participants the value of trust, cooperation, and interdependence – three core qualities of effective teams. If your workforce appears divided, there’s been recent conflict, or levels of collaboration seem to be dwindling, then we highly recommend it!

Here’s how to play:

Divide the team into pairs (consider doing this for them in order to break up the usual cliques and encourage mingling), ensuring that partners are of a similar size.

Next, ask the pairs to face each other and put their hands up, with their elbows bent, and palms facing the other person. They then have to put their palms together (i.e. person A’s palms should be touching person B’s) and lean towards each other, bit by bit, until they’re holding one another up.

That’s the easy bit! The real challenge comes next, when they have to start moving their feet further and further back, while keeping their palms together.

The beauty of this exercise is that each rearward shuffle makes it harder to stay upright without the support of their partner.

Eventually, their feet should be so far back that they’re relying solely on their teammate to stay upright. The pair with the greatest distance between their feet is the winner. They should then swap partners and do it all again!

What you need:

• N/A

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.

How to play Group order

Start with everyone mingling in a large area, and instruct them to arrange themselves in order of something like height, number of pets, time with your company, etc. This way, everyone can learn something new about each other and the line organization is helpful for team-building. This is a quick game and you can get as creative as you want with it. Try some other get-to-know-you games from our list!

Companies can use milestone celebrations as a way to show gratitude to employees and recognize their contributions.

By hosting an event to honor a team member or a group project, here are some ideas companies can use to host a milestone celebration in their community to express gratitude:

• Anniversaries. Acknowledge employees' years of service with the company, typically done at the 5, 10, 15, or 20-year mark. Personalized gifts, extra time off, and even raises are great ways to honor someone's years of service.
• Employee of the Month. Recognize outstanding employees by designating them as the Employee of the Month or Quarter. Organize a small ceremony to present them with an award.
• Employee appreciation. Dedicate a day to celebrating your employees' hard work and dedication. Arrange activities, games, and treats.
• Company-wide recognition. Recognize milestone achievements by sending a thank you message through a newsletter or social media. Highlight the accomplishments and contributions of the employees and celebrate these successes by offering an incentive like professional development opportunities, flexible work options,
• Peer-to-Peer appreciation. Encourage employees to appreciate and recognize each other's contributions by letting them offer gifts, public acknowledgments, etc.

Recognition programs that celebrate milestones effectively ensure leadership expresses gratitude, letting employees know their hard work does not go unnoticed. Showing appreciation for your team's hard work will boost morale, increase job satisfaction, and foster a positive workplace environment.

How to play One-word story

Storytelling exercises help people to overcome shyness and work on their articulation skills. In this game, a group of people takes turns saying one word to create a story. Start in a circle and move clockwise or counter-clockwise. Many times this exercise starts with “Once upon a time” and goes from there. The final players should say “the end”.

How to play Mirror game

Two people stand across from each other and mirror each other's movements, trying to stay in sync.

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How to play Top Five

In this game, you’ll ask players to come up with their five favorites across several categories. Each player can make a list and then share with the larger group. The options for categories are nearly limitless and you should try to cater them to your audience. Try creating “best-of” lists for these categories:

• Movies
• TV shows
• Books
• Songs
• Vacations
• Desserts
• Websites
• Celebrities
• Blogs
• Animals
• Brands
• Apps

Ready to see where your team’s creativity lies? In idea spectrum, everyone writes down ideas related to a topic or challenge on sticky notes. Then, the team arranges them in order from conventional to wild, out-of-the-box thinking.

This exercise is one of those simple yet effective teambuilding activities for work that helps teams explore new perspectives while understanding the balance between practicality and creativity. It’s a fun and collaborative way to get everyone thinking and bouncing ideas off each other - perfect for brainstorming sessions when you need to mix things up.

How to play:

• Give everyone sticky notes and a topic or challenge to brainstorm ideas.
• Write down one idea per note.
• Arrange the notes in order from conventional to out-of-the-box thinking.

Can you creep up on the pirate and steal his treasure without being spotted? This game will push your employee’s sneaking skills to the limit.

Great for: Energising your team

Duration: 10 minutes

Players: 6+

You’ll need: A chair, a random object (small enough to easily pick up and carry)

How to play Pirate’s Treasure

Setup: To prepare for Pirate’s Treasure, position your players in a circle, facing inwards, and place a chair in the centre. Request a volunteer and ask them to sit on the chair. Blindfold the volunteer and place the object under the chair.

To play: To start the game, the players in the circle (the pirates) start walking around the chair. When they stop, they silently pick one person to attempt to steal the object from under the chair. If the pirate manages to steal the object undetected they win the game. However, if the volunteer hears the pirate approaching and points at them, the pirate is eliminated and play starts again.

Imagine a workplace activity that draws inspiration from the intense suspense of "Squid Game" while honing active listening skills. That's "Green Light, Red Light" – a thrilling and enlightening game that can elevate your workplace communication.

How to play

1. Assemble your colleagues in a designated space where you have room to move.
2. Choose one person to be the "Leader" and the rest as "Followers." The Leader stands at one end, and the Followers form a line facing them.
3. The objective is for the Followers to reach the Leader without being caught moving when the Leader says "Red Light."
4. The Leader begins walking away from the Followers, shouting "Green Light!" This is the signal for Followers to advance towards the Leader.
5. At any point, the Leader can yell "Red Light!" and turn around. When this happens, Followers must freeze immediately. Anyone caught moving is out of the round.
6. The game continues until one of the Followers reaches the Leader without getting caught moving. That person becomes the new Leader.
7. After each round, take a moment to discuss the importance of listening carefully to verbal cues and rotate roles so everyone has a chance to lead.

A vital part of effective team collaboration is communication. Yet to be a strong communicator you also have to master the art of listening.

That’s one reason Group Counting’s such a popular improv game. Aside from being fun and strangely addictive to play, it requires participants to pay close attention to each other; to get on the same page by listening intently from the outset.

How to play Group counting

The game itself couldn’t be more straightforward. The team stands in a circle, closes their eyes, and works together to count to 21. However, there’s a catch: only one person can speak at once. Not only that, but if more than one person says a number at the same time, the group starts again from 1.

It might sound easy enough, but you’d be surprised how long it can take to get to 21! And remember that everyone has their eyes shut, which stops them from using hand signals and other gestures to pick who’ll speak next.

Instead, they’re forced to listen – to try and pick up on verbal cues to see if someone’s about to yell out the next number.

Expect light-hearted frustration mixed with laughs as the team proceeds from 1 to 21, followed by shouts of glee when they finally finish the game. By then, they’ll have bolstered their sense of group mind and become a closer team in the process.

How to play Pitch tournament

An important part of selling is understanding customer needs: what they want or what drives them to buy something. Help your team to hone these skills by pitching items to you or another panel of judges. Pick a few regular objects, such as things from around the office. Then, pair people up (or work as individuals if your group is already small) and have them take turns pitching the item to your judges. Give everyone a few minutes to come up with a unique presentation and make sure they understand the product. Add a prize for the winner to up the ante a bit.

How to play State list

How many states can you name in one minute? Have players list as many states (and capitals, if you want to make things extra challenging) as they can in a minute. It’s easiest to do this in written form. Whoever names the most wins!

How to play Family portraits

A group of people creates a tableau of a specific group member. Everyone must work together to put together an image that closely resembles the subject.

How to play Word crush

There aren’t many people in the world who haven’t heard of the game Candy Crush. Word Crush is a video game crossover that uses a column-stacking system while challenging the player’s word-building skills.

Each person can play individually, or record high scores and go head-to-head with multiplayer. The game is available for Apple and Android, so download and share on a screen for a competitive, word-building challenge!

How to play Coat of arms creation

This creative drawing exercise helps everyone get to know each other better. Have each participant draw their own “coat of arms” that is unique to them, representing the characteristics or important accomplishments that make them who they are. When everyone is finished drawing, they should share with the group. For very large groups, it’s more effective to break people into smaller teams for sharing. For added camaraderie, create a coat of arms gallery in your office where everyone can display their creations.

This activity tests the strength of every link in the chain. In paperclip chain relay, teams compete to craft the longest paperclip chain within a time limit.

‍Set up:

1. Split everyone into teams of 4 to 6. Enough brains to brainstorm, but not too many cooks to spoil the broth.
2. Hand out equal piles of paper clips to each team. Ready, set, clip!
3. Decide on a time limit. 5 to 10 minutes should do the trick. Start your timer and keep it viewable.
4. Roam the room and cheer teams on as they make the longest chain possible. When time’s up, measure each chain to find the longest.

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 Ping Pong Tournament

As open office plans became more popular, more companies started setting up breakout rooms where employees could decompress by grabbing a coffee or playing ping pong. If you already have a ping pong table in the office, this is an ideal game to add to the Office Olympic games—a ping pong competition works well with individual players and teams.

While there is the classic two-person setup for table tennis, there are numerous games, like playing with two balls at a time or a group game that gets smaller as people must step out if they miss their turn to hit the ball.

A water gun fight is an opportunity for your employees to leave the stresses of the office behind them and enjoy some harmless fun.

Great for: Interpersonal bonding, relieving stress

Duration: 30 minutes

You’ll need: An open space, various water guns (at least one per person)

How to organise:

• Mark approximate boundaries for your water gun fight. If you’re in a park, this might simply be the approximate confines of the park itself.
• Scatter various water guns through the space for your employees to discover once the fighting begins.
• When you say “Go!” players will scatter to find a water gun and start firing at other players.
• There are no fixed rules here—the idea is simply to have fun!
• Blow a whistle to signify the end of the game.

Quick, simple, and surprisingly engaging, Fact or Fiction is a first-rate icebreaker game that challenges players to distinguish between true or false statements.

How to play Fact or Fiction

To play, one participant reads out a statement, and everyone else must guess whether it’s “fact” or “fiction.” The aim is simple: test people’s general knowledge on certain topics and have some fun in the process!

This question game often works best with a bit of planning, though. Try to compile a long list of fact/fiction questions beforehand that players can draw from. It’ll help the game flow and ensure you ask questions on a range of topics to keep it interesting.

Alternatively, you can forget the trivia and play Fact or Fiction with personal statements. Each player says something about themselves, and everyone else decides if it’s true or false! Examples include:

• I have traveled to every state in America. Fact or fiction?
• I can do the splits. Fact or fiction?
• I have an identical twin named David. Fact or fiction?
• My family emigrated here from France in 1880. Fact or fiction?
• I am bilingual. Fact or fiction?