Library of teambuilding games & icebreakers

This Pencil Drop activity ticks all the right boxes. Short and sweet? Check. Fun-filled from start to finish? Check. Great for breaking the ice and boosting bonds between colleagues? Check!

Oh, and it’s nice and easy too…

How to play Pencil drop

All you need is a ball of string, a bunch of pencils, and some empty water bottles. With the supplies sorted, you can crack on with the task itself.

Start by dividing your team into pairs and asking them to stand back to back. Next, tie one end of both pieces of string around the eraser end of a pencil and the other end around their waists. They then have to walk forward (i.e. away from each other) until there’s no more slack in the string and the pencil’s suspended in the air.

Now the fun can begin! Their job is to work together, walking backward in a bid to lower the pencil into a water bottle that you’ve placed on the floor between them. To make things trickier, they’re not allowed to use their hands.

Want to add some fuel to the fire? Make it a race! Pit 2+ pairs against each other at the same time, awarding prizes to whoever wins.

What you need:

• Ball of string, cut into enough lengths for each pair to have two pieces
• One empty water bottle and one pencil between two people

Here’s an ice-breaking, energizing, and entertaining game that’s great for small teams of people who know each other already. Expect it to open up funny conversations and help everyone learn more about their colleagues in the process.

How to play Most likely to

Super simple, you play in a circle and take turns asking “who is most likely to”, followed by a specific trait or activity. For instance, Sally might ask the group:

• “Who’s most likely to bungee jump off a bridge?” Or
• “Who’s most likely to play a prank on the boss?” Or
• “Who’s most likely to be a night owl?”

Each team member then votes for whoever they think is most likely to do that activity or possess the trait. To spice things up, you could say that the participant with the most votes must perform a light-hearted punishment, such as making everyone a cup of coffee or handling the next tricky customer!

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.

Nine times out of 10, asking your team “How are you guys doing?” returns this answer: “Good, thanks.” If you’re looking for an alternative way of checking in with your team, Draw Your Mood is a great solution.

Great for: Expressing moods

Duration: 10 minutes

Players: 6+

You’ll need: Paper, pens

How to play Draw Your Mood

Setup: Draw your mood is another game that can be played in person or online. If you’re playing in person, hand each player a piece of paper and a pen. If you’re playing online, players can use the integrated whiteboard feature on their video conferencing software such as Zoom Whiteboard.

To play: Ask each player to draw a visual representation of their mood. They can use words, images and symbols—you name it! After 5 minutes or so, ask your employees to present their drawings one by one.

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.”

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.

In match quest, everyone has the name of a famous pair (like “Batman” and “Robin”) stuck to their back, but they don’t know who they are. Players ask each other yes/no questions to figure out their identity and find their match. It’s a race to see who can complete their pair first!

This team building game is perfect for encouraging interaction and getting people mingling. It’s a lighthearted, playful way to break the ice and get the team laughing together, making it ideal for building connections.

How to play:

• Write the names of famous pairs on cards and stick one to each player’s back.
• Players ask yes/no questions to figure out who they are.
• The goal is to find your match as quickly as possible.

Explanation:

Someone in the office describes an abstract design made by remote workers, while those working remotely try to recreate it—without ever seeing the original! The goal is to see how close (or hilariously far) the recreations turn out.

This is a perfect game for connecting the office and remote workers. The in-office person gives a detailed but tricky description of a design that a remote worker has come up with (think: a robot unicorn or a house made of ice cream cones). Remote team members then try to recreate the design based solely on that description using whatever tools they have at home—whether that’s paper and pen or digital drawing software. Everyone compares the original design with the recreations, leading to plenty of laughs as teams see just how different (or spot on) the interpretations are!

Time to test your team's agility with relay rampage! Teams compete in an obstacle course, with each member racing to complete a section before passing the baton. It’s part speed, part strategy, and all fun.

Expect a lot of cheering, and probably a few stumbles, but that’s what makes it hilarious. This is perfect activity for building energy and teamwork with a side of competition.

How to play:

• Set up an obstacle course with different sections.
• Each team member completes their section before tagging the next.
• First team to finish the entire course wins!

These days, 99% of our written communication is digital. Assigning Pen Pals revives the art of the handwritten letter and provides your employees with an opportunity to get to know each other on a deeper level.

Great for: Interpersonal bonding

Duration: N/A

Players: 6+

You’ll need: Nothing

How to play Pen Pals

Setup: Start by assigning Pen Pals and determining the frequency of the letters. To encourage interdepartmental bonding, try pairing employees who wouldn’t usually cross paths.

To play: The game is simple. Employees will exchange letters with their pen pals at regular intervals. Through this process, your employees will develop lasting relationships that reinforce the company culture.

Some of the best improv games for team collaboration are also the simplest. Here’s one that falls into this category, while still helping to a) lighten the mood and b) build the connections that are so fundamental to successful teamwork.

How to play Near and far

Near and Far asks participants to do 3 things:

1. Stay as close as possible to one person of their choice
2. Stay as far as possible from someone else of their choice
3. Stay silent throughout the game

They decide in secret who they’ll be sticking close to and who they’ll be avoiding, then set to work! What follows is a fun and fascinating process of trying to accomplish these 2 competing tasks.

The office becomes an ant’s nest, with employees in constant motion, weaving around the room in a bid to dodge some people and stay next to others.

For example, what happens if Person A has picked Person B to stay close to, but Person B chose them as the employee they have to stay away from? A chase ensues! The fact nobody can talk adds another fun element to proceedings.

Near and Far doesn’t just force teammates to adopt creative systems and behaviors to achieve their goals, but it also opens up interesting conversations about group dynamics. Consider debriefing at the end of the task to see how everyone felt about it. What was it like to have to do both things at once? What were their takeaways?

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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On the subject of intimate activities, here’s another quick trust-building exercise that packs a punch. This time, all each team member has to do is maintain eye contact with a colleague for 60 seconds.

Give it a shot! Although it can feel a little awkward in the beginning, the simple act of looking into someone’s eyes can have profound effects. According to Healthline, for example, eye gazing has been shown to:

• Evoke feelings of love between strangers
• Increase the sense of connection between people (lifting the boundaries of “self” and “other”)
• Build trust between people (you’re more likely to believe someone who’s looking straight at you)

How to play Eye contact

This exercise could also be useful – not to mention challenging – for team members who are shy and struggle to hold people’s gaze. They should start to feel more comfortable making eye contact, which is a surefire sign of confidence.

At the end of the 60 seconds, follow the activity up with a discussion about the experience. What thoughts were they having throughout it? How did people feel? And how did they feel about the person they were looking at? Can they take anything from it to apply in the workplace?

Top tip: if you want to stretch this exercise out, you could have people repeat the process with a few additional teammates!

What you need:

• Stopwatch

How to play Web navigation

This is another outdoor-appropriate game that many people enjoy - especially during beautiful weather. You’ll need two ropes, some strong poles or trees, and a supervisor for each team participating. Begin by tying ropes from one pole or tree to another to form a rectangle. Use the other rope to connect the rectangle from the top to the bottom, to form holes in a variety of shapes and sizes. Once the “web” is formed, have everyone take turns trying to make it through the ropes without touching it. The game is a success when all members of the team make it through - with their teammates help!

How to play Who’s Most Likely To?

“Who’s Most Likely To” is a simple question game where players identify someone in the group who best fits a certain description. For example:

• Who’s most likely to sing karaoke at the next Christmas party?
• Who’s most likely to play practical jokes in the office?
• Who’s most likely to make you laugh so hard that you cry?
• Who’s most likely to have a witty comeback?
• Who’s most likely to be awarded employee of the month 6 times in a row?

You need two or more people to play, as well as a large set of pre-written cards with these questions written on them. Feel free to make these cards yourself or purchase an actual “Who’s Most Likely to” card game in advance. From there, you sit together in a circle and take turns drawing cards/answering questions.

Aside from being surprisingly fun, we like this game because you can use it to give indirect praise and compliments. For example, the question might be: “Who is most likely to cheer up the room?” Whoever gets picked is sure to feel happy about it!

How to play Riff off

This word game is for all the music aficionados in the office. Riff Off is a popular game that plays on famous song lyrics. If you need a little help, search for the online lyrics to a really popular song. Tell your teammates one word from the song. We’ll make an example, the first lyric is “never.”

If your partners can’t guess it, give them another word (our next example is “give”) until someone shouts out the song. Hopefully, nobody gave up and you guessed ours; “Never Gonna Give You Up”!

Reminiscent of the classic family game, Charades, No Speaking allowed is another awesome improv exercise for small groups. As well as being fun, stimulating, and creative, it also teaches the value of effective communication.

How to play No speaking allowed

The first step is to divide your team into pairs (a group of 3 is fine if there’s an odd number). Then all you do is give each person a phrase, saying, message, or idea that they have to act out to their partner. Here’s the twist:

They have to get the message across without speaking!

Participants are able to use gestures, facial expressions, body movements, props, and/or anything else they can find to communicate their message (apart from writing it down). But they’re not allowed to talk. If they do, they’re disqualified.

What’s cool about this game is that it showcases the reciprocal nature of communication. It takes 2 to tango!

While whoever’s doing the acting can’t talk, their partner can. They’re paying close attention, focusing on their various non-verbal cues, making suggestions, and asking for clarity. In other words, they work together to express and decipher the message.

Continue until everyone has successfully guessed the answer, or set a time limit to stop it from going on for too long. Want to spice things up a bit? Split the team into groups and pit them against each other to add a competitive element.

This simple game tests your historical knowledge and is a great way to spark conversation outside the office. While organizing a company retreat that emphasizes relaxation, this game is a great way to get people talking.

How to play:

‍Hand out several coins, around five max, to each person. Go around in the group and have them start with one currency and tell a personal story that was meaningful for them.

If they are the only person with that experience, they can place the coin in the center of the table. If another team member shares a similar experience, they must put theirs.

The game is played until someone gets rid of all their coins.

Materials you’ll need A handful of pennies or equivalent coins in whatever currency you use. Just make sure the currency is recent (not older than 20 years old)

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

How to play GIF challenge

This exercise is particularly fun for people who use communication tools like Slack. Provide the group with prompts, and ask them to find a GIF that demonstrates their reaction to it. Examples of prompts could be “How you feel when someone schedules a meeting at 4pm on Friday” or “When you figured out you stayed up too late binging Netflix before your big presentation.” The more creative, the better!

How to play:

Choose thought-provoking topics or issues and divide the team into two groups: one supporting the topic and the other opposing it. Engage in a lively 1 minute debate where participants use their creativity and persuasive skills to make their case. Choose a judge to pick a winner.

Example: a poor person stealing food to feed their family.

Materials needed: None

Benefits:

• Critical thinking champions: Sharpen your team's critical thinking skills as they analyze and present arguments with a creative twist. This game is your intellectual battleground, where creativity becomes your secret weapon.
• Confidence boosters: Embrace the art of persuasive communication and witness your employees' confidence soar as they present their arguments with flair and creativity. It's like a TED Talk where your team members become eloquent speakers with powerful messages.

Looking for a team-building game that never has to end? Try Question Tag. It’s simple, accessible, and unites the team without having to take time off work or arrange an actual event.

How to play Question tag

To play, team members “tag” each other by asking one of their colleagues a question. The recipient answers it, repeats the same question and answer to another colleague, and then asks them a new question. You can play by passing notes, but we think it’s best as an ongoing email exchange. Just make sure everyone gets involved, rather than a few individuals who keep asking themselves questions!

Soccer was the first team sport to be introduced to the Olympic games in 1900, so in the spirit of teamwork, it’s a great game to integrate into your Office Olympics.

How to play Office soccer

You can use desks, or even chairs set apart from one another, to serve as the goal.

If you’re pressed for space, you can play Desk Top Soccer. Find a tabletop with enough length to set up two goals and crumple some paper to create a soccer ball.

This event allows coworkers to team up and play a friendly match of office soccer, promoting play and teamwork.

How to play What I admire most in others…

Yet another version of the most straightforward style of icebreaker, this one involves answering the question “What do you most admire in others?” In this way, you can find out what matters most to the people you work with, which makes for a much more pleasant and cooperative work environment. For example, if trust is most important to someone, then you’ll remember that doing what you say you will is crucial. If someone says being accountable is very admirable, then you know that you can count on them for help with projects.

Remember that game from childhood, “the floor is lava”? The one where you had to make it around the room without touching the floor. Good times. Shrinking vessel is somewhat similar, except you are working with a team. Strategy and Tetris skills will help me excel at this exercise.

How to play:

‍Mark the boundaries of the areas where team members will be placed. Slowly, the edges of the borders are moved and made smaller, and team members must work together to ensure they don’t fall outside the lines. They cannot step out of the line.

Materials you’ll need: Anything temporarily marks the floor, like a string or tape, even a blanket, will do. Enough space to fit a small team of 4-5 people at a time is also needed.

How many people: Mid-size to large teams