Library of teambuilding games & icebreakers

This game is designed to get your team’s creative juices flowing and encourage them to think on the spot.

How to play the rhyming game

The idea is really simple. Each person takes it in turns to make a sentence. Each sentence needs to rhyme with the previous one. For example, “John woke up and went to work” … “It was his last day so he gave a smirk...” And so on.

Set a rough time limit for each person to say their sentence (we recommend three seconds). If they are too slow they lose the game and are out for the next round. Then a new story begins. If a rhyme is said twice then that person is also out of the game.

The game continues until two people are left for the ‘final showdown’.

How to play Blind Volleyball

Volleyball’s always fun to play with friends. However, this version of the game adds a memorable twist that makes it even better! Rather than playing with an ordinary net you can see through, you place a cover over the top that stops you from seeing the team on the other side.

This simple change completely alters the volleyball experience! It becomes something like Battleships. You have to guess where the opposition is so you can place the ball where you hope they aren’t. In essence, you’re playing blind.

Assuming you can find a volleyball net and ball, this Field Day game for adults is nice and easy to organize as well. The rules are exactly the same as normal, other than the cover you’ll put over the net (an old bed sheet does the trick nicely). Just be conscious of hitting the ball too hard! You don’t know where people are on the court, so smashing it over the net is asking for trouble.

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.

How to paly Gibberish conversation

Two people have a conversation in “gibberish” (essentially made-up, nonsense language), and each person must try to understand what the other is saying.

Take things easy with picnic power hour! Head to a local park for a relaxed team picnic, complete with blankets, snacks, and good conversation. It’s a casual way to bond outside of the office and enjoy some downtime together.

This low-key activity encourages relaxation, conversation, and unwinding as a team in a peaceful setting.

How to play:

• Pack up some food, drinks, and blankets for a team picnic.
• Head to a nearby park and enjoy a laid-back hour of chatting and snacking.
• Use the time to bond casually and recharge in nature!

Here’s one you may have played with family over Christmas, or as a drinking game with friends at university! This time, though, it’s strictly professional – a trust-building exercise that teaches the virtues of communication and teamwork, while also providing some good light-hearted fun.

Sticky Notes (otherwise known as “Who Am I?”) involves giving each employee a sticky note and pen and asking them to write down the name of a famous person or character. These people can be alive or dead, real or fictitious (e.g. from a movie), but should be a name that everyone in the group will recognize.

How to play Sticky notes/Who am I?

Each team member then takes their sticky note and puts it on a colleague’s forehead – ensuring they don’t see who’s written on it! Their task is to figure out the name on their note by asking “yes/no” questions to their colleagues.

For example:

• “Am I male?”
• “Am I alive now?”
• “Am I on TV?”
• “Am I an historical figure?”

You can play the game in different ways, depending on the size of your team. For smaller groups, it’s fun to sit in a circle and take turns asking questions. For larger teams, it may be easier to walk around as if you’re at a networking event, mingling with others and asking questions as you go.

What you need:

• Sticky notes and pens

How to play Matching animal game

This game requires some light preparation, but it’s easy to execute. First, you’ll need to come up with pairs of cards, each with a matching animal (so two tigers, two elephants, etc). Hand the cards out randomly and make sure everyone keeps them a secret. The goal is for players to find the animal that matches theirs without using words - instead, they should make animal noises or movements to hint as to their species. The first “animal team” to pair off wins.

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.

How to play Value vs. feature

Knowing the difference between a feature and a benefit is essential, especially for more complex offerings like technology or industrial supplies. To begin with, everyone will need to review a document or a matrix that lists features as well as the benefits associated with each (obviously this is something you’ll need to prepare in advance if you don’t already have something like this created). Then, bring your group together for a virtual meeting and run through the different features or benefits. Pick them randomly so there’s no pattern.

After you share one, participants should chime in with whether that was a feature or a benefit. Finally, host a discussion about how easy or difficult the process was, and how people can better differentiate in the future.

A classic, if you ask me. This game can get a little embarrassing, so it's a nice icebreaker!

How to play Chubby bunny

Two players go head-to-head, adding, placing and holding marshmallows in their mouth one by one. After each marshmallow has been added, each player tries and say the phrase “chubby bunny,” as clearly as possible.

Players keep adding a marshmallow until the judge declares a players “chubby bunny,” to be unintelligible.

Ready to turn setbacks into stepping stones? Welcome to the Failure Analysis Workshop, where we don't just talk about success – we dissect failure, pull it apart, and find the golden nuggets within. Participants gather around the metaphorical "lessons learned" table, discussing past hiccups, pitfalls, and fiascos.

Make people understand that learning from failures isn't just a skill; it's an art. This exercise transforms the not-so-great moments into valuable insights, fostering a positive attitude toward setbacks. It’s also the perfect chance to learn from past mistakes in order to prevent future mishaps, a perfect aim for goal-setting!

Top Tip for Facilitator:

• Be the guide, not the judge.
• Encourage participants to share openly and guide the discussion towards extracting lessons rather than dwelling on the negatives.
• The goal here is not just to analyze failure but to turn it into a powerful tool for future success.

How to play Interactive group map

In this engaging team warmup exercise, you have the group imagine the space that you’re in as a map. Their goal is to place themselves where they are from. The first few steps have the most energy, as people try to find relative geographies and move around the space and each other. This game can be played with teams of any size, but it tends to be more fun when people are from more diverse, spread out areas. If everyone is from the same state, simply scale down your map and have everyone stand in the town they’re from.

Office Apples to Apples is a hilarious twist on the classic word game, perfect for bringing some shenanigans to a corporate event. Here's how to get the party started.

Set up:

1. Get your cards ready. A spin on the traditional Apples to Apples card game, you need to create cards with office-themed words or phrases, like “coffee break” or “Monday meeting madness”.
2. Lay Down the Law: Explain that one lucky soul plays judge in each round while the others throw down their wackiest associations to the green apple card played.
3. The judge picks their favorite, and that team scores a point. Set a point limit for winners.
4. Keep the laughs rolling by rotating judges each round.

Ready, set, puzzle! In puzzle dash, teams race against the clock to complete a jigsaw puzzle or brain teaser. The fastest team to finish wins, promoting problem-solving, quick thinking, and a bit of healthy competition.

This game is perfect for sharpening your team’s focus, collaboration, and time management skills. Whether it’s a jigsaw or a tricky brain teaser, puzzle dash brings out the best in quick thinking under pressure—all while having some fun.

How to play:

• Divide into teams and give each team a puzzle or brain teaser (e.g., a 100-piece jigsaw or a Sudoku challenge).
• Set a time limit and race to complete it as quickly as possible.
• The team that finishes first (or makes the most progress) wins!

Our final activity can be best applied by taking what you’ve learned from our other games and applying the lessons to a real-world setting, including your current projects. It involves iterative development and working with your remote staff to create a group consensus that optimizes results.

Set up:

To create an agile mind map, use an online whiteboard, like Miro or MindMeister. Use your central theme or challenge. Let everyone collaboratively create branches of ideas or suggestions on the main topic. Review the map after gathering your input, group similar ideas, and prioritize the final items together.

An example might be improving your onboarding process. Together in a virtual setting, your remote workers add insights and areas for improvement in onboarding, such as setting clear expectations, first-week check-ins, and onboarding buddies. Agile mind mapping can be an extremely valuable.

How to play Blindfolded Obstacle Course

Instructions: Set up an obstacle course with various challenges. Divide participants into teams of two, with one person blindfolded and the other providing guidance. The sighted team member must guide their blindfolded partner through the course using verbal instructions.

Materials needed: Obstacles (cones, ropes, hula hoops, etc.), blindfolds.

Behold the Blindfolded Obstacle Course, where communication, trust, and teamwork collide in a spectacular display of stumbling and fumbling. Your intrepid team must conquer this treacherous path through sheer collaboration, active listening, and the occasional hilarious misstep. It's a crash course in empathy, where understanding is gained one blindfolded blunder at a time. If you liked this game, make sure to check out more of our tips on how to improve team cohesion!

Organizing a community lunch at workplaces to show gratitude is an effective way to express appreciation for your employees.

Leadership can take these steps to place a successful community lunch that shows their gratitude for their employees:

1. Give workers the afternoon off and choose a time during the workweek that offers a break from completing tasks and an opportunity to destress.
2. Ask employees to decide where to eat, considering surroundings, dietary restrictions, and accessibility. If teams are working remotely, view sending out gift cards for online ordering services where workers can buy lunch no matter where they are and set up lunch over Zoom.
3. While having a community lunch should be relaxed and stress-free, letting team members spend time together, consider providing thank you notes and expressing gratitude to employees for their hard work.
4. Make space for feedback after the community lunch. Ask employees if they enjoyed the event and whether or not they would like to do it again. Make communal time a priority and a time to show genuine appreciation, boost morale, and strengthen team relationships.

Hosting regular communal gatherings will create a positive workplace culture where employees or colleagues feel valued and motivated to be part of the team.

How to play Trivia Time!

Instructions: Prepare a set of trivia questions about the company's history, products, or famous employees. Divide participants into teams and ask questions. The team with the most correct answers wins.

Materials needed: Trivia questions, answer sheets.

Get ready for Office Trivia, the brain-boggling showdown that proves knowledge is power and a hilarious conversation starter. It's a crash course in camaraderie, where teammates unite to celebrate their shared team culture and flex their mental muscles. Prepare to be enlightened, dazzled, and maybe even shocked by your team's epic achievements.

How to play Shout Out

In this game, members collaborate and contribute by shouting out some ideas. You’ll need some sort of white board or flip chart, and plan for 3 - 10 people in a group. First come up with a problem that you want to discuss. For example, “How can we reduce waste in our production process?” or “How can we bring that new product to market one week faster?” Give each person the opportunity to yell out an idea so that the whole group can hear. Once everyone has had a chance to speak, ask the group to come to a consensus on the best option, and then hold a discussion about it. Why is it the best idea? What makes it workable, etc? Also, did everyone feel listened to? How did the results from this process differ from just speaking to each other?

This gives your employees a chance to learn more about problem solving processes and cooperation, in addition to potential solutions to real business issues.

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

Test your team’s spelling skills with a spell-off showdown! Contestants take turns spelling increasingly difficult words until someone slips up. It’s like a mini virtual spelling bee, but with more laughs and less pressure.

This game is great for keeping the brain sharp and having fun at the same time—especially when you realize nobody remembers how to spell "mnemonic."

How to play:

• The host gives players words to spell, starting with easy ones and getting harder.
• Each player takes a turn spelling their word.
• The last person standing after everyone else misses a word is the winner!

It’s time to see who’s the office know-it-all with trivia smackdown! Split into teams, answer rapid-fire trivia questions, and see who can come out on top. You’ll cover everything from history to pop culture—and probably learn who’s been secretly binge-watching obscure documentaries.

This is a laid-back way to get the team thinking and laughing, and maybe stir up some friendly rivalry.

How to play:

• Form teams and answer trivia questions in rounds.
• Keep track of points, and the team with the most correct answers wins.
• Bragging rights are included in the prize.

How to play Pirate ship exercise

This icebreaker is a unique way to learn everyone’s different perceptions and what they bring to the table. Start by drawing a large pirate ship on a chalk or white board. Then go around the room and have each person describe who they would be on the ship, and why. For example, someone might say they would be the cook, because they love to provide for others.

Someone else might say they would be the first mate, because they like to be in charge without being an authority figure. This is a fun way to learn about how people see themselves, which can help you to work with them better in the future.

Letter game masters will enjoy this one. Wordwheel is a vocabulary game that really gets your brain into gear. Wordwheel relies on quick thinking and seeking the jackpot word. You need to look up some 9-letter words beforehand. These words will be used inside your wordwheel.  

How to Play:

Draw a wheel on the board that has 8 segments on the outside, and one circle in the middle for the 9th key letter. 2 teams need to create as many as possible using the middle letter and any of the others. Set a timer and see how many words your teams come up with. Remember: there is one 9-letter word that’s worth 5 points, so encourage your teams to find this one too!