Library of teambuilding games & icebreakers

Ever had a tough day and just needed a friend to get it? Empathy brings out the warm fuzzies, letting coworkers connect on an emotional level. When folks get each other's vibes, teamwork gets a boost and bonds grow stronger.

Empathy activity - "Walk in my shoes":

• Prepare several work-related scenarios involving challenges or team conflicts.
• Pair up colleagues and assign each pair a scenario.
• Each pair takes turns playing the roles of the people involved, expressing thoughts, emotions and perspectives.
• After both roles are played, partners discuss their experiences and insights from both sides.
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This immersive role-play activity fosters a deep sense of empathy and helps colleagues better understand each other's viewpoints.

How to play Six thinking hats

If you want your team to focus on coming up with more creative solutions, this activity can help. You’ll need to organize people into groups of no more than 10, and have several different color paper hats. Each hat represents a different perspective. Here are some sample colors and what they correlate to:

• White: Facts and information
• Red: Emotions and feelings
• Black: Critical analysis
• Yellow: Benefits and positives
• Green: Creativity and alternatives
• Blue: Big picture thinking

Give each group a problem to solve and tell them to approach the issue from their unique “hat” perspective. Using these different philosophies, the group should come up with a solution that works for everyone and takes all of these positions into account. You can have a debrief where everyone discusses the process and what they found most challenging. If you have time, you can always add a second or even third round where people switch their hats and approach a new issue from a different perspective. This is also a great exercise for managers to observe closely. It’s a great way of seeing how people think and where their strengths lie.

Explanation:

‍Teams take creative photos that capture the spirit and quirks of the office, like the breakroom plant or that one messy desk. The goal is to create a fun photo journal that showcases the character of the workplace.

For this hybrid setup, in-office workers can snap photos of the office environment—those little things that make the space unique. Meanwhile, remote workers can take photos of their home office setups or capture quirky things around their workspace. All the photos are combined into a digital photo journal that showcases both the in-office and remote workspaces, reflecting everyone’s unique style and creativity. It’s a laid-back way to celebrate both environments and have fun seeing what makes each workspace special.

You’ll need quick reactions if you want to stand a chance at winning this game! Ninja is a quick, light-hearted activity that’s great for energising your team.

Great for: Energising your team

Duration: 5-10 minutes

Players: 3-8

You’ll need: Nothing

How to play Ninja

Setup: Arrange your group in a circle, facing inwards, with about a metre distance between each player.

To play: The game starts when the players scream “ULTIMATE NINJAAA!” in unison. Upon hearing this, all players strike a dramatic, ninja-like pose. The first player then has two options: try to strike the hand of the player next to them, or make a movement (e.g. move their arm above their head). If a player attempts to strike your hand, you are allowed to evade the attack. If your dodge is successful, you must remain in the position you landed in until your next turn. If you are struck, you are eliminated from the game. The last person remaining is the winner and is awarded the coveted title of “Ultimate Ninja.”

Put on your thinking caps for code breakers! Teams are given a series of cryptic riddles and challenges to solve, with each solution leading to the next clue. It’s a mental race to crack the final code and declare victory.

This team-building game is perfect for testing problem-solving skills and teamwork. Plus, there’s nothing like the thrill of solving that final puzzle before the other teams.

How to play:

• Give teams a series of riddles and cryptic challenges to solve.
• Each solution leads to the next clue.
• First team to crack the final code wins!

How to play Celebrity matching game

This is similar to the childhood photo matching game, only instead of a photograph from their childhood, staff should bring in a photo of a celebrity they’ve been told they resemble. You can either post the pictures in a public space or pass them around and have everyone guess which photo belongs to which person.

How to play Photo Scavenger Hunt

Instructions: Create a list of specific photos or scenes that teams need to capture using their smartphones or cameras. The team that captures all the items on the list in the shortest time wins.

Materials needed: List of photo items, smartphones or cameras.

The Photo Scavenger Hunt combines the fun of a scavenger hunt with creativity and photography. It encourages teamwork, problem-solving, and allows team members to explore the surrounding area while creating lasting memories.

How to play Smartphone bingo

Some variation of bingo is helpful in nearly all scenarios, and this is no exception. Start by creating bingo cards with a random assortment of prompts based on your phone. For example, “has a to-do list”, “has Amazon as a bookmark”, “has more than 300 contacts”, or “has a photo of their dog”. Have a facilitator randomly pull these prompts and call them out, and attendees will fill in the square if it applies to them. This is a fun way to learn a bit more about your coworkers while also improving listening skills.

Corporate Castaways puts your employees’ ingenuity and teamwork skills to the test as they attempt to solve various group challenges.

Great for: Teamwork, communication

Duration: 2–3 hours

You’ll need: Various equipment depending on the games chosen

How to play:

• Find an open outdoor space with plenty of room to move around, such as a park or a beach.
• Set up each game (physical challenges and puzzles). Leave plenty of space between them. You should have as many challenges as you do teams.
• Divide your group into teams of about 5–8 players.
• Assign each team a challenge and have them stand around or next to it.
• Set a time limit for each game. When you say “Go!” teams set about trying to complete the challenges. Assign an “official” to each challenge to tally the scores.
• Teams have a turn to complete each challenge. The team with the most points after completing all of the challenges wins.

A substantial amount of agile principles can be improved by having your team members step into the customer’s shoes. Problem-solving and conflict resolution through role play can yield some creative results. By mapping out a fictional customer’s journey your teams get a better understanding of the company’s goals, so here’s how to set it up:

Set up:

Before you deliver the activity, craft some customer scenarios. They could be scenarios you’ve faced in the past or more challenging hypothetical examples. As a group, map out each step of the customer’s experience, from the purchase to aftercare support. Some example challenges from the customer’s perspective could be:

a. Complex sign-up process

b. Confusing app navigation

c. Slow loading times for features

d. Not enough customer support when calling

Map out the customer’s journey and seek those points where the frustrations could be soothed. Prioritize those changes and explain how agile collaboration can improve the customer experience.

This simple game needs little material and is a perfect icebreaker—a perfect in-person game for company retreats and onboarding events.

How to play:  

‍One person from the group, ideally a team leader, calls out the facts or questions that team members just asked one another. Individuals have to make teams as quickly as possible based on the call-outs, like” people with one cat” or “people who play video games.”

Individuals must quickly figure out who meets the criteria and form a team. This exercise can be repeated with as many questions as you like.

Materials you’ll need Just yourselves and some places to sit. If you have a large team, ensure enough space to play.

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

Get ready for a storytelling showdown, emoji-style! Each participant receives a handful of those tiny expressive symbols, and their mission, should they choose to accept it, is to concoct a tale or spill the beans on a personal experience using these digital hieroglyphics. It's like writing a story, but with smiley faces and thumbs up emojis stealing the spotlight!

Emoji storytelling is an exercise in creativity and interpretation. It's like decoding a secret language. As the stories unfold, the hilarious attempts at translating emojis into real-life adventures begin. It's a light-hearted, laughter-inducing journey into the world of shared imagination.

Instructions:

1. Grab your personalized emoji set - it's time to flex those creative muscles.
2. Cook up a short tale or spill the beans on a memorable experience.
3. Present your emoji masterpiece to the eager crowd.
4. Witness the guessing chaos unfold, crown the emoji storytelling champion, and bask in the glory of a well-told tale.

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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.

How to play Categories (similarities)

The goal of this game is to have everyone find a certain amount of things they all have in common. You can make this into a competitive icebreaker game between smaller teams or a larger group. For groups of more than 20 or so, you’ll need to break people up into smaller teams. You don’t need any supplies to set up the game, simply use a piece of paper and a writing utensil for each team to record their similarities on. Each group should talk about things they have in common and try to come up with at least 6 similarities. Things could be as simple as hair color or favorite food, or dive deeper like holding certifications or having visited a country.  The first team to get to 6 commonalities wins.

How to play Egg-cellent fun

If you want to up the ante on the previous game, try using eggs instead of ping pong balls. Using only a spoon, players should carry an egg from one end of the room to the other. How many times can people cross the room? This game is best for playing outdoors or in other spaces that can withstand a little mess.

You may have played Word Association to pass the time on long journies. Well, funnily enough, it also works brilliantly as a quick team-building game!

Great for: Quick thinking, communication

Duration: 5 minutes

Players: 4+

You’ll need: Nothing

How to play Word Association

Setup: Position your group in a circle facing inwards. Players can be sitting or standing.

To play: To start the game, somebody starts with a one-word prompt. Then, play moves around the circle as each player replies with a word they strongly associate with the previous word. For example, if player one starts with the word “tree,” player two might say “leaves” and player three might follow up with “autumn.” Play moves around the circle until the time runs out.

Who are we kidding? Everybody knows that working from home includes barking dogs, screaming children and make-shift offices. This activity is designed to discover the ‘working environment’ of your colleagues.

How to play ‘Welcome to my crib...‘

Colleagues will take it in turns to give a short tour of their house, showing where they work, where they go for lunch, etc. This builds more human connections between employees.

How to play What’s new (in my office)?

If you have a lot of virtual meetings with the same people, it can be a fun idea to throw in some changes now and then. For this game, send out a note prior to the meeting instructing everyone to add one new thing to their normal working space or background. Then, during the meeting, everyone should take turns observing the work space of their colleagues and seeing if they can point out what’s new.

The new item can be anything from a plant on the desk to a silly poster on the wall. Obviously, this game only works well for people who are used to being in virtual events in the same space with their camera on. For that reason, it’s a nice way to mix up daily status meetings or weekly department meetings.

How to play Pick The Plot

This is an easy activity that doesn’t require much, so it makes a nice addition to any team event. Start with a moderator that will narrate the plot of a movie. Players that are grouped into teams will listen and then try to guess which movie is being described. Just try to keep it a movie that’s safe for work!

Costume races are fast-paced, hilarious, and ideal for both small and large groups.

To give them a try, you’ll need:

• A briefcase for each team
• Enough old/used clothes for each member of the team to get fully dressed, such as hats, dresses, shirts, skirts, pants, and jackets.

You then fill each briefcase with clothes and mark a track with a start and finish line. Next, put the briefcases at the end and line up the teams (each should have the same number of people, if possible) at the start.

When the whistle blows, one person in each team races to the briefcase opposite them and gets fully dressed as quickly as possible, pulling the clothes over the top of whatever they’re already wearing. They then rush back to the start in their costume, at which point the second person in their team has a turn.

The first team where everyone is dressed in a costume and back at the start line wins! However, if you want to make this game even more memorable, design it so each briefcase follows a certain theme. You could have one team dressing up as pirates, for example, another as famous Disney characters, and so on.

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In acts of kindness quest, teams race against the clock to complete as many random acts of kindness in the community as possible. Whether it’s helping a stranger, picking up litter, or donating items, the goal is to spread positivity and do good.

This activity brings the team together for a feel-good mission while making a difference in the community.

How to play:

• Create a list of random acts of kindness for teams to complete.
• Set a time limit, and send teams out to perform as many acts as they can.
• The team that completes the most acts of kindness wins, but everyone feels great!

The perfect game for the artists on the team, Back-to-Back drawing encourages play and communication and would be an excellent activity for a company retreat.  This team-building exercise is less about problem-solving and relaxing and getting the chance to get to know one another.

How to play:

Have players split into two teams and face away from one another. One player gets a picture, and the other receives paper and drawing materials. The person with the image describes what and how to draw the image without identifying it. After ten minutes, players swap roles.

After each team member has described the object and produced an image, they can compare their work and see who made the most accurate drawing.

Materials you’ll need: Art supplies and simple images (think flowers, cars, etc.)  taken from a magazine or printed online.

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

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Explore more team bonding activities to spark creativity and strengthen communication within your team.

How to play Group Map

Are you hosting an event where people come from various locations? Try laying out an imaginary map in a room representing all the areas people may have come from. Have them stand in their “place of origin” and share a bit about where they came from. You could also print a large map and have everyone place a pin on their area. The important thing is to share some information about where they’ve come from.

You would be surprised how competitive colleagues become over a typing speed race. This game is a great way to kick off the fun.

How to play typing speed race

The best way to play the game is for the competitors to take turns completing a typing test and sharing their screen as they do so. This way, spectators can cheer them on as they type.

Once they’ve completed the test, their scores are entered into a league table. Fancy upping the stakes? Encourage the team to ‘place bets’ on who they think will be the fastest before starting the competition.