Library of teambuilding games & icebreakers

How to play the super story

This is another game focused on group wordplay, and one that can be done virtually as well as in person. It’s also really fun, so a great exercise for boosting team morale. To begin, let each person know they’ll take a turn as the story-teller. They should grab an object around them - like a pen or pad of paper - and spend one minute telling the most exaggerated story they can come up with around the object.

For example, if their object is a pen, they might talk about how this was the pen used to sign a deal for the most famous athlete in their city. It’s also a game that puts people on the spot and makes them come up with something under pressure, so it’s an especially helpful activity for management level team members.

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)

If you’ve ever been to a professional escape room event, you’ll know just how effective they are at improving essential skills like communication and problem-solving. With Office Escape, you can recreate the drama of an escape room experience without leaving the office!

Great for: Problem-solving, creative thinking, communication, leadership

Duration: 1–2 hours

You’ll need: A storyline with a final objective, a series of problems and challenges

How to organise:

• Think of a final objective and then create a series of challenges and tasks that leads them towards completing it. It’s easier to think of challenges when you already have the final objective in mind.
• Plot a series of challenges that leads your employees toward the final objective. Be creative and have fun with it!
• You can further engage teams by offering a small reward for being the fastest to complete the objective.

Looking for more team-building activities for adults that build communication and problem-solving skills? Explore our full guide for extra inspiration.

How to play Who am I? Game

One person writes a name on a piece of paper and sticks it on another person's forehead. They must ask yes or no questions to figure out who they are. If you have ever played the game 20 questions (or the fun iPhone game of Heads Up) then you’re familiar with the premise.

Torpedo is a fun activity that involves some players being partially “blind.” It works best with teams of more than 5 members, and there’s a slight amount of coordination needed without members being able to see, so make sure you’re using an open, clear area free from any dangerous hazards.

Set up:

Form two or more teams. Each team lines up, one behind the other, and each person puts their hands on the person’s shoulders in front of them. Everyone needs to close their eyes, apart from the member at the front and the person at the back. Slowly, everyone steps forward, and the back person guides the “torpedo” by tapping the left or right shoulder of the person in front, to turn. The objective is to hit another “torpedo” while maintaining coordination, which makes this a great exercise in clear signaling and trust.

Want to raise the energy levels in the room? Lift people’s spirits? Encourage colleagues to work together to achieve a common goal?

Don’t Drop the Balloons involves inflating masses of balloons in the office and making a rule that they can’t touch the ground! However, you can add a competitive element by splitting employees into 3+ teams and assigning balloons of a particular color to each one. If any of their balloons touches the floor, that team’s out!

Instructions:

1. Divide participants into small groups of 4-6 people.
2. Explain the game's purpose: Explore leadership qualities and promote collaboration.
3. Set the scenario: Stranded on a deserted island, reach a designated rescue point within a time limit.
4. Provide teams with whiteboards, markers, and roles (Leader, Communicator, Problem Solver, Timekeeper, Recorder).
5. Present challenges related to survival, discuss strategies, and have teams present solutions.

This game is an awesome Icebreaker that encourages leadership skills to be developed. It throws participants into a stranded island scenario where they must navigate challenges and reach rescue. By assigning specific roles and promoting collaboration, it unveils individuals' leadership qualities. Teams strategize, communicate, problem-solve, and make decisions under pressure. Conflicts may arise, but they're resolved through teamwork. It's a crash course in leadership, where participants learn and grow while having a thrilling time.

How to play Turn back time

Turn Back Time" is a heartwarming activity that brings people together through sharing personal memories. It taps into the positive things people remember from the past, sparking nostalgia and curiosity among the listeners.

This is a great way to boost team building without materials, as participants need only their memories. Why is it a hit at corporate events? Well, we spend so much time in the office, but how often do we really get to know our coworkers beyond the water cooler chat?

So, if you're looking to sprinkle a little fun and nostalgia into your next corporate shindig, "Turn Back Time" is your golden ticket. As you uncover the beautiful tapestry of memories that make your team tick, get ready to laugh and reminisce.

Like the Elephant list, Stinky Fish is a game that helps teams bring up complex topics before they sit too long and start to stink up the place, like an old fish forgotten in the fridge. This is an excellent game for encouraging sharing and developing a culture of trust in the workplace.

How to play:

‍Give each player a piece of paper with a fish picture on it. Make sure there is enough space inside the fish to write their concerns and issues, as that’s why the fish stinks, after all! Give each participant five to ten minutes to write their problems down.

After everyone has written their answer, bring the group back together and allow them a minute or two to discuss what they wrote down and why.

Materials you’ll need Paper/ a template with a picture of a fish that can be written inside and writing materials.

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

How to play Nature Collage

Want to do a creative Field Day activity? Try making nature collages. You’ll need glue, thin wooden boards (or pieces of card), and access to somewhere like a local park, forest, or beach – anywhere with an abundance of natural materials lying around, such as twigs, leaves, grass, and flowers.

Next, split into teams and spend 15 minutes gathering your items. From there, you can work together to design an attractive layout with them before sticking everything down onto the wooden boards (or cardboard, if you’re using lightweight items, like leaves). By the end of the activity, you should have a set of attractive natural collages to put on display at home or in the office.

Is bad weather at risk of spoiling your Field Day?

Don’t worry. You can take the fun inside and turn this activity into a tissue paper collage instead. For this version, you’ll need lots of colored tissue paper, large pieces of thick cardboard to act as the “canvas,” glue, paintbrushes, and scissors. After dividing into your teams, work together to cut out tissue paper shapes and then glue them to the card to create tissue paper masterpieces!

How to play Faux job interviews

This is a fun game for anyone who considers themselves a smooth talker. Within your group, pair everyone off into groups of two. Have one person come up with a job, and the other person should share reasons why they are the perfect candidate in a fake interview. The sillier the job title, the more fun the responses.

For example, a job might be “ice cream taster” or “dollhouse interior decorator”. Which traits does the other person have that would make them ideal for that role? This is also a fun way to learn more about your coworkers special talents and characteristics.

How to play Drinking in the Dark

In this challenge, your taste buds take the lead as you explore a range of flavors while blindfolded. It's a game that tickles your senses and tests your palate's memory. While it might sound light-hearted, it's also a fantastic way to enhance communication, sharpen your sensory perception, and inject a burst of laughter into your team dynamics. Get ready to sip, savor, and speculate your way through a unique and hilarious bonding experience.

Top Tip: Make this a part of your field day games to ensure no spillage in the office!

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 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!

How to play Blind square

Working through a common challenge is an excellent way to engage large teams. This is an outdoor-friendly activity that you begin by telling the team that their job is to make a single length of rope into a perfect square. Sounds easy enough, but the catch is that they must do so blind-folded. Before being blindfolded, give everyone about 15 minutes to make a plan. Then, blindfolds go on and the teams get to work! First team to achieve a perfect square is the winner. Remember to bring enough blindfolds for everyone.

Sharpen deductive skills! In Secret Noun, one person selects a noun, and the rest of the team uses questions to guess the word.

Instructions on how to play:

1. Choose one person to be the secret noun selector.
2. This person picks a secret noun and keeps it hidden.
3. The rest of the team takes turns asking yes/no questions to narrow down and eventually guess the secret noun.
4. Set a time limit for each round to keep the game dynamic.

Why it's a great team building game:

• Communication skills: Enhances the team's ability to ask strategic questions and deduce information.
• Team engagement: Fosters a collaborative environment as everyone works together to solve the mystery.
• Critical thinking: Challenges participants to think creatively and strategically.

Top tip to help the game run smoothly: Encourage the person with the secret noun to think creatively and choose a word that allows for diverse questions. After each round, discuss the team's approach and share insights on effective questioning.

3-Question Mingle bypasses the small talk and cuts straight to the nitty-gritty. It’s a simple game that helps employees get to know each other in a short space of time.

Great for: Interpersonal bonding

Duration: 10 minutes

Players: 8+

You’ll need: Pens, sticky notes

How to play 3-Question Mingle

Setup: Hand each player a pen and a sticky note and ask them to write down three open-ended questions. Examples include questions like “Who’s the most important person in your life right now?” Or “If you could have more money or more time, which would you choose and why?”

To play: Set a time limit and ask the players to start mingling with their colleagues. Once the players find a partner, they take turns asking one of their questions. Once they’ve both asked a question, they swap those questions with each other and find a new partner. This process continues until the time runs out. To debrief, ask your group what interesting things they learned about one another.

This card game challenges the psyche and asks employees to get outside their comfort zones. A fun game for a team that is making a company retreat and one that brings out the inner actor in everyone.

How to play:

‍Split your team into large groups, around ten people, is ideal. Make a small deck of cards that includes an even amount of each suit (diamonds, clubs, etc.) which will then be evenly distributed. Team members draw a card, but without seeing it, the team-building organizer tapes it to their backs. Everyone is then instructed to go around talking to others based on the card on their back. The suit dictates the behavior:

• Spades are ignored
• Diamonds are treated well
• Act indifferent toward Hearts

After completing the game, sit down as a group and discuss how you were treated and how that made you feel. Group members will get the chance to acknowledge how they treat people as a marker of how others will perform and feel in the workplace.

Materials you’ll need: Desk of cards and ample space

How many people: Large teams (25+ people)

The rolling chair race is a great way to get creative and transform the office into a playful space for the Office Olympics. Using different rooms, furniture, and anything you can find, create an obstacle course that can be completed in an office chair. This means making sure spaces are wide enough for the chair to fit, and ensuring that team members can actually get through so all they have to focus on is winning the race.

Time each person completing the obstacle course and the team that makes it through in the least amount of time takes home the gold.

Here we can bring a little bit of strategic thinking into our corporate teambuilding activities. Flip It Over! It's a hoot of a game where teams stand on a blanket and aim to flip it over without anyone touching the ground.

Set up:

1. Grab a sturdy blanket or tarp big enough for your teams. Think big, up to 10 people.
2. Team everyone up, making groups from 5 to 10 work best.
3. Lay the groundwork, spreading the blanket flat on the ground. Each team hops on, making sure no one’s cheating by sneaking a foot off!
4. Explain the game. Flip the blanket without a single soul touching the ground. Teamwork is the name of the game.
5. Let the flipping begin. Teams will be rapid-fire brainstorming moves to turn the blanket. Flip, flip, hooray!

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 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”.

The Price is Right is a legendary TV guessing game show where contestants need to guess the price of items to win prizes. But did you know, you can also adapt this for the office space?

How to play:

1. Gather your team in a room
2. Choose names out of a hat for the "contestants"
3. Gather office items or personal items of employees (make sure they are willing to let you handle them)
4. Showcase them on a table
5. Ask the contestants to guess the price of each item.
6. Whoever is closest wins!
7. Rotate contestants

This game is not only a fun way to break up the monotony of the workday, but it also helps strengthen teamwork and collaboration skills.

It can also provide an opportunity for employees to provide backstories on their items further improving presentation skills. You never know; some stories could be fascinating listen!

Rev up your office adventure with the Desk Dash Dash, a high-energy escapade through the corridors of cubicles and the realms of workstations. Teams must maneuver through a maze of office furniture, execute synchronized chair spins, and complete paperclip toss challenges. The twist? Team members can only use office supplies to communicate and navigate. The rush is on, and the winner takes the title of the ultimate Desk Dash Dash champion!

Instructions

• Form teams with a mix of skills.
• Create a course with obstacles through the office space.
• Teams navigate the course, completing challenges at each station.
• Use only office supplies for communication during the challenge.
• The first team to complete the course wins.