Library of teambuilding games & icebreakers

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.

Perhaps you got some practice at this game whilst procrastinating in school.

How to play the Wiki-relay race

The team will be divided into two teams. The two teams will be racing each other to land on the ‘destination topic’ fastest.

For example, a member from each team both need to load the same Wikipedia page, let’s take “The Grand Canyon” for example. When the starter pistol fires, the two competitors need to race each other to land on the page ‘Manicure’ by clicking through links on Wikipedia. The first person to reach the ‘destination page’ is the winner.

How to host Costume contest

Chances are that most of the time you see your colleagues in business attire or casual clothing appropriate for your work environment. Most employees would jump at the opportunity to play dress up once in a while. Costume contests are a fun employee engagement idea, or you can take a group approach for more team-building energy. It makes sense to set a theme or parameters such as celebrities, historical figures, matching your office bestie, or famous people from your industry.

Choose any topic that spurs creativity and fun! Plus, you can create social media posts around the costume contest in order to humanize your brand and drum up more social engagement.

A relaxing game that helps you boost communication amongst team members. This exercise shows how well team members can listen and follow directions. You only need some paper and tables for people to make their shapes.

How to play:

‍Hand out a sheet of A4 paper to each group member and then instruct them to close their eyes. Everyone must keep their eyes closed while one person reads the instructions to fold and create their piece of origami.

After you’re done instructing them, the whole group opens their eyes and compares their shapes.

Materials you’ll need: A4 Paper, seating areas with tables

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

Fun, fast, and easy trust-building exercises don’t get much better than this one. A true classic, “Three Truths and a Lie” helps teams learn more about one another, show off their individual personalities, and become closer friends in the process.

How to play Three truths and a lie

With 3 or more people sitting together in a circle, you ask each person to come up with 4 facts about themselves. But there’s a catch! As the name of the game suggests, only 3 of those facts should be true.

The other should be a lie that’s framed in such a way that it sounds true. The more feasible it seems, the better.

From there, each participant takes turns revealing their facts – keeping their best poker face on at all times. The group has to decide which statement’s the lie, using what they know of the individual to determine their answer. When they’ve finished guessing, the person reveals the truth!

We like this exercise for a host of reasons, but its accessibility is one of its biggest benefits. You can do it anywhere and at any time, with no tools required.

This is a light-hearted team game that’s great for improving communication skills. Before you can start playing, you’ll need to divide the players into small groups, say 2-3 players per team—any more than this and things can become chaotic.

How to play the drawing challenge

To play the drawing challenge, each team must first designate one player to be “the drawer,” while the other players will be “the describers.” The describers will be shown an image which they’ll have to describe to the drawer within a given time limit. The more accurate the description, the more accurate the drawing will be.

The game is guaranteed to spark some laughter among your group while encouraging the players to develop their communication and listening skills.

Get ready for a real-life puzzle adventure that could lead anywhere. In the Mystery Destination Chase, your team will follow a trail of clues to an unknown final stop. The catch? You'll need to put your heads together, strategize, and make decisions as a team to crack the code. This game isn't just about reaching the destination; it's about the thrill of unraveling a mystery together. With excitement building at each clue, you'll experience the joy of teamwork, the rush of discovery, and the satisfaction of navigating the unknown side by side.

Instructions

• Assemble teams with diverse skill sets for balanced gameplay.
• Kick off the chase with the first clue to ignite excitement.
• Decode each clue to pinpoint the location of successive checkpoints.
• Collaborate on decision-making to interpret clues accurately.
• Build anticipation by unveiling the final surprise destination and celebrate as a unified team.

How to play Workplace trivia

You can’t go wrong with workplace trivia, because it’s a great way to reiterate facts while having some fun. You can even bring out peoples’ competitive side which can be extra entertaining. Workplace trivia is especially helpful for new team members or as part of an onboarding process. Prior to your training session, come up with a list of questions to use in a trivia game. They should relate to the training material, your company, or your industry. You can also use trivia games in virtual training sessions.

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

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.

Explanation:

Each team member describes themselves using traits from a famous movie or book character, without saying who they are. The rest of the team has to guess the character based on the clues.

This game is perfect for hybrid teams! Whether remote or in the office, everyone gets a chance to participate. Each person describes themselves using personality traits or quirks of a famous character via video call or chat, and everyone else guesses who they are. It’s an easy-going virtual icebreaker that gets people laughing, thinking creatively, and learning more about each other.

How to play

This is perfect if you don’t plan to leave the office for your meeting or event. Have people break into pairs and then create a craft from materials they find around the office. They should try to be really innovative and come up with the best creation that they can - having a prize can help with this. You might be surprised at the great items they come up with, like a suncatcher made from coffee filters and highlighters. If you want to combine an icebreaker with this exercise, assign pairs randomly so that people will work alongside someone they don’t see very often. It provides the perfect opportunity for getting to know someone better.

As a child, was there anything more fun than playing balloon keepy-uppy with your friends or siblings? Well, it’s time to relive those memories in the office with this simple yet entertaining team-building game!

Great for: Energising your team

Duration: 5 minutes

Players: 6+

You’ll need: Balloons in a variety of colours

How to play Keep up the Balloons

Setup: Divide your group into teams of three or more. Then, hand each team a set of coloured balloons. The number of balloons per team should be at least double the number of people in the team. For example, if team 1 has four people, they would get eight red balloons.

To play: When the referee sounds their whistle, the teams throw all their balloons into the air. The aim of the game is to keep the balloons from touching the ground for as long as possible. If any of the team’s balloons touch the ground, they are eliminated. The winners are any teams that make it to the end of the time limit without their balloons touching the floor.

Explanation:

‍Teams are presented with rapid-fire problems to solve, ranging from everyday office issues to totally wacky scenarios (like planning for a zombie apocalypse!). The goal is to come up with creative solutions as fast as possible.

In this hybrid version, teams—both in the office and remote—can get hit with rapid-fire challenges through video calls or chat. Each team works together to brainstorm and present their solutions as quickly as possible. In-office workers might tackle more physical challenges, like figuring out how to fix something in the room, while remote teammates might handle tech or creative scenarios. It’s a fun, fast-paced way to get everyone involved, thinking on their feet, and laughing at the wild scenarios they come up with!

How to play Boxes and bells

This is a great one for holiday events! You’ll need five boxes and 15 small round bells. In each box, place between 1 and 5 bells (so 1 bell, 2 bells, and so on). Make sure they are in random order, and then task each player with picking up and shaking the box, then guessing the number of bells. Their ultimate goal is to reorganize the boxes based on the number of bells inside. Have each player try and whoever does it fastest wins.

How to play Thread it

The goal is for contestants to thread as many needles as they can in just one minute. This game can become highly competitive (and even frustrating). Make sure to have enough needles and thread set out for everyone.

How to play Blind square-build

This is a fun, problem-solving game that’s often used in business environments to support teamwork and critical thinking. To begin, tie a long piece of rope into a circle. Let attendees know that their job is to turn the circle into a square - while blindfolded. Break the session up into two, 15-minute sessions. In the first session, they can plot and plan but must not touch the rope. In the second session, they can work together moving the rope. This game is simple and effective and has materials that are easy to come across and cheap to buy.

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.

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.

This is a quick and easy icebreaker that doesn’t require any equipment and is guaranteed to produce a laugh. The game inspires your team to get creative and think on their feet in a fun environment. The aim of the game is to collaborate on an interesting and unpredictable story by allowing each player to contribute one sentence at a time.

How to play the Neverending Story

To play The Neverending Story, gather your group into a circle, sitting or standing—it’s up to you. Then, choose a player to start, you can help them by giving them the first sentence or proposing a setting for the story. Once a sentence has been added to the story, the opportunity moves to the next person in the circle.

You can set a time limit, or bring the game to a close once the story meets its natural conclusion. Your team are sure to have great fun being creative and collaborating on a silly story.

If your team members are new to each other, encourage each player to include the name of one of their colleagues in their sentence. For example, “Then, Steve walked in and couldn’t believe his eyes!”

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.

Rotating roles in your teams can immerse them in healthy agile practices while developing their adaptability, and giving a fresh perspective on the tasks their colleagues perform. By rotating through positions like designer, developer, and tester, they’ll be gaining insights on team contributions and will be more empathetic of task ownership.

Set up:

Assign every member an initial role, and give them a small hypothetical project, like designing an app feature. Let them play out their roles for a few minutes before rotating. Encourage each member to build on the contributions of those before them. Shifting from role to role comes with a perspective shift, so reflect on how each rotation improved on the last to reinforce agile principles of incremental improvement.

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.

Championship showdown lets you stretch out the fun with a long-term tournament. Whether it’s chess, trivia, or something quirky like a fitness challenge, teams compete over time until one winner emerges.

It’s like office bragging rights, but official. And hey, it’s a great way to keep everyone invested while getting some friendly competition going.

How to play:

• Pick a game or challenge (chess, trivia, anything really).
• Set up a bracket for teams or individuals.
• Whoever makes it to the top wins and gets the glory!

For more fun team-building activities that bring out a little healthy competition, take a look at our full guide.