Library of teambuilding games & icebreakers

Office DJ challenge brings some rhythm to the office! Teams collaborate to create themed playlists—whether it's “Monday Motivation” or “Friday Chill”—then share them to boost morale and get everyone in a good groove.

It’s a fun, creative way to connect over music, brighten the office mood, and maybe discover some new favorite tunes along the way.

How to play:

• Teams work together to create a themed playlist (e.g., “best road trip songs”).
• Share the playlists with the office.
• Enjoy the music and vote on the best playlist for the day!

Looking for more team building activities for small groups? Explore our full guide for more ideas to energize your team.

How to play Zip, Zap, Zop

This game is sort of like hot potato without a ball. Start with everyone in a circle. The first player should clap their hands, point to another player in the circle, and say “zip”. The pointed-to player must immediately clap, point to another person, and say “zap”. The third player says “zop” and continues the pattern. The process should repeat with everyone saying “zip, zap, zop” until each person has had a turn. For a little extra challenge, try to increase your speed as you go through second or third rounds of the game.

Robots takes the basic premise behind Human Objects (from earlier in this article) and pushes it a step further. This time, rather than individuals imitating random items, the entire team works together to embody a robot!

How to play Robots

This funny improv game begins with everybody standing in a circle. You then invite someone to walk into the center – pretending they’re a robot every step of the way.

After a few seconds, someone else jumps in and pretends they’re a new part of it, complete with their own movements and sounds. Repeat this process until you have an entire machine made up of colleagues in various body positions performing different functions, but ultimately operating as one.

Think: “The Office” meets “Transformers”. You’ll feel as if you’re back at school, giggling like little kids as your workmates manipulate themselves into ever more unusual positions (making robot noises as they go).

When it’s fully assembled, you can then ask the “robot” to complete a task or dismantle itself bit by bit. Heck, you could even get the team to build a robot that’s designed with a specific task in mind.

Whatever happens, the end result is a high level of collaboration. They’ll be joining arms, holding hands, and moving in sync in their effort to make and imitate a machine. The fun, physicality, and humor involved should forge tighter relations too.

In virtual argument arena, two team members go head-to-head, debating a fun or totally ridiculous topic. One argues for, and the other argues against—whether it’s the superiority of pineapple on pizza or why dogs are better than cats. The rest of the team can sit back, watch, and vote for the winner.

This is a lighthearted way to get people talking, thinking on their feet, and maybe even learning how to argue without it getting personal!

How to play:

• Choose two participants and assign them opposing sides of a fun topic.
• They take turns debating while the rest of the team watches.
• The team votes on the most convincing argument to decide the winner.

Want more fun team-building activities to spark lively conversations? Take a look at our full guide for more ideas.

How to play Walking questions

This is another exercise that encourages interaction and cooperation. Start by giving everyone a sheet of paper and having them sit in a circle. Each trainee writes down one open question pertaining to the training topic. Then they hand the paper to the person on their right. That person will read the question and write down any answers or insights they might have. Then they add another question and hand the paper to the right. The exercise is over when everyone gets their original sheet back. It should give everyone something to review with plenty of Q & A to look over.

How to play Mirror game

Two people stand across from each other and mirror each other's movements, trying to stay in sync.

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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:

Present a challenging problem or scenario to the team and ask them to generate as many creative solutions as possible within a given time limit.
Example: A customer is complaining about a refund they are not entitled to. How do you convey the bad news without losing her custom?

Materials needed: Whiteboard or flipchart, markers

Benefits:

• Harnessing the power of innovation: Prepare to be amazed as your team unleashes a storm of fresh and unconventional ideas. This activity encourages them to kick tradition to the curb and explore uncharted territories of creativity, paving the way for a culture of innovation that'll make your competitors green with envy.
• Collaborative excellence: It's time for your team to flex their collaborative muscles! Like a superhero squad, each member brings their unique superpowers and perspectives to the table, joining forces to create ingenious solutions that'll send your company soaring to new heights.

How to play Bucket list sharing

Don’t let daily drudgery drain your big dreams. As a leader, you can help encourage your entire team to keep sight of those bigger life goals. Start your next event or meeting by asking everyone to share one of the items from their bucket list, with a brief explanation of why. You can encourage dialogue by asking if they think they’ll ever accomplish that goal, or how they might go about it. This is a great way to learn about what the people you work with really value and what matters to them outside of work.

Ever seen superheroes team up? That's what collaboration feels like—bringing unique skills to the table, solving problems faster and having each other's backs. Another fantastic way to build relationships within the team.

Collaboration activity - Puzzle challenge:

• Provide each team with a jigsaw puzzle of similar complexity.
• Divide colleagues into small groups and give each group a puzzle.
• Instruct teams to work together to solve their puzzle within a specified time frame.
• After completion, have teams present their finished puzzles and share their collaborative strategies.
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This hands-on activity emphasizes the value of teamwork, communication and problem-solving in achieving shared goals.

How to implement insights (following event)

If you want to go beyond recall, have each person describe how they will implement what they learned in their daily lives and tasks. Hearing important concepts is one thing; knowing how you can practically apply them is something else!

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How to play Relay Sack Race

Instructions: Divide participants into teams. Each team stands in a line, and the first player in each team gets inside a sack. On "go," they hop to a designated point and back, then pass the sack to the next teammate. The team that finishes first wins.

Materials needed: Sacks or large bags.

Relay Sack Race encourages teamwork, coordination, and builds camaraderie among team members. It adds an element of fun and nostalgia to the picnic while providing an opportunity for participants to cheer on their teammates.

Instructions:

1. Divide players into teams.
2. Provide each team with a set of materials such as blocks, cards, straws, cups, and tape.
3. Set a time limit of 10-15 minutes for the teams to build the tallest tower.
4. Ensure that each team follows the same rules and uses the same materials.
5. Once the time is up, measure the height of each tower and declare the winner.
6. Discuss the strategies used by each team and how they could improve in future rounds.
7. Repeat the game with different materials or variations to continue challenging the players' leadership skills.
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This game unleashes potential leaders' creativity, teamwork, and strategic thinking. Just like a tower, leadership requires a solid foundation, balance, and the ability to reach new heights. It challenges leaders to allocate resources efficiently, communicate effectively, and inspire their team to elevate their performance.

Frostbite’s an effective trust-building exercise that encourages strong communication and listening skills – not to mention teamwork as a whole. Like the other activities in this section, it works best if you’re in an open space, so head on down to the local park (or clear an area in the office!).

How to play Frostbite

When you get there, break your employees into smaller teams of 5 to 6 people and ask each group to choose a leader (or do this for them if there are certain people you think would benefit from this role). Their objective?

To build a makeshift “tent” using newspaper, string, tape, and other office supplies*! But there’s a catch...

The leader of each group has “frostbite” and can’t move. And, to make matters worse, the other members have “snow blindness” and can’t see. In reality, this involves asking the leader not to do anything practical and putting blindfolds on the others. The only way to pitch the “tent” is to listen to the leader’s directions.

Spice things up even more by setting a time limit. The team with the best tent at the end wins a prize.

*Of course, this same principle can apply to any task, which is good news if you’re short on time and/or want an easier activity!

What you need:

• Blindfolds
• Office supplies to build the “tent”
• Stopwatch

How to play Survival Plans

Prioritizing is an important mental exercise. You can work on this with a game about survival. Have everyone imagine they are stranded on a desert island, and they must decide the correct order to perform life-saving steps in. Have this list handy, and ask everyone to pair off or get in small groups and number the list according to the best likelihood of survival:

• Rest
• Find water
• Find food
• Set up shelter
• Look around the island
• Signal for help
• Create weapons for self-defense
• Build a raft for water
• Start a fire
• Select a group leader
• Find other survivors
• Anything else you think of!

The catch is that everyone must agree on the order of events!  That will typically involve discussion and coming to some sort of consensus. Once everyone is done with the exercise, have them present to the larger group and explain their reasoning. This exercise is good for team-building, communication, and problem resolution. Plus, you will be better prepared if you ever get stuck on a deserted island!

Prioritizing work-life balance is one of the best ways to show gratitude to employees. Implementing ways for employees to rest and understand that they have their own lives will lead to more quality output and happier employees.

How:

There are many ways to create a balanced workplace. Here are a few of the major ones currently being implemented by many companies as the workplace shifts:

1. Encourage employees to take their vacation days and use them to relax and rejuvenate. Additionally, work continuously to ensure employees are given ample time off, revisiting vacation policies to meet today's standards.
2. Don't push for overworking. Even with a tight deadline, don't send a message that employees are expected to work late or take work home consistently. Show gratitude for the work-life balance by completing your work during your designated hours. Articulate to workers that you respect the time needed to spend with family and friends.
3. Ensure employees are given time to turn off work-related notifications and emails outside work hours, respecting personal time to promote a healthy work-life balance for your colleagues.
4. Delegate work fairly and encourage workers and teams to share the workload and responsibilities with colleagues.
5. Set aside a budget for employees to benefit from, such as an amount each month toward wellness activities, like exercise, meditation, or hobbies. Improved well-being is one of the best ways to demonstrate gratitude for your employees' hard work.
6. Regularly evaluate your company's work-life balance and adjust when necessary.

Remember that work-life balance is not just a personal benefit; it can lead to increased productivity, creativity, and overall well-being, which can benefit your work and relationships. By prioritizing work-life balance, you show gratitude for your life and the people and opportunities that make it all possible.

How to play Mystery basket

In this game, blindfolded players will try to guess what’s in a basket by feel. To play, gather a bunch of items from around the office. Obviously they should be safe and not have things like sharp ends or spikes. Place everything in a basket or bowl and have blindfolded participants explore the items with their hands and try to guess what they are observing. Keep track of answers with a pencil and paper, and the person with the most correct guesses wins.

We’ve likely all played a game of Bingo at one time or another. Take the well-known teambuilding activity and infuse it with agile principles. It’s a fantastic way to keep reflection engaging and lively. Retrospectively looking at completed projects is putting the key in the door to iterative progression. It relies on honest reflection and communication. Here’s how to set it up:

Set up:

Create a 5x5 Bingo card with “What went well?” and future-focused questions in each square. Send cards to remote participants and, during the session, have everyone ask questions. They mark off squares as topics are brought up. The first to complete a line shouts “BINGO,” and recurring themes can be explored.

Example retrospective questions:

a. Which team member made this sprint easier for you?

b. Did anything go better than expected?

c. What should we replicate in future projects?

d. What’s one small improvement you’d suggest?

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Instructions:

‍Create a space for leaders to express appreciation for each other's contributions and strengths.

Gratitude is the secret ingredient of exceptional leadership. The appreciation circle allows your team to acknowledge and celebrate the strengths and achievements of their coworkers. It creates a positive and uplifting environment, fostering a culture of appreciation and recognition. By expressing gratitude, leaders build stronger relationships, boost team morale, and inspire their team to give their best. Gather in a circle, shower each other with praise, and watch your leadership bonds grow stronger.

Messy office spaces are no fun. In fact, according to Harvard Business Review, a disorganized work space can have real impacts on productivity and morale. Naturally, you want everyone to clean up - but you don’t want to nag.

How to host “Spring cleaning” scavenger hunt

Turn things into a game instead by creating a tidy up treasure hunt around the office. This game works best when announced in advance, and will require some prep work. Here is how it works: Hide clues in various messy spots around the office, and the team who recovers the most clues wins a prize. For example, you might want to put a clue on an unstocked paper towel machine, an overflowing trash can, or a buried-in-paperwork desk. Make sure to hide the clues in such a way that people will need to organize or tidy up a bit to obtain the paper. To further incentivize people, you could also offer small prizes for every clue collected, like movie theater candy, dollar bills, or tickets for food in the cafeteria.

By challenging your team to guess the answer to a secret question in under 20 inquiries, you'll encourage communication, collaboration, and strategic thinking. Plus, it's a great way to sneak in some team building without resorting to trust falls or awkward trust exercises.

How to play:

1. Think of an object, person, or place.
2. The other player(s) will have 20 questions to ask about your chosen item.
3. They can only ask yes or no questions.
4. After each question, you can only respond with yes, no, sometimes, or I don't know.
5. The players must try to guess what the object is before they run out of their allotted 20 questions.
6. If they successfully guess the object, they win.
7. If they run out of questions before they guess correctly, the player who chose the object wins.
8. If the game ends in a tie, you can play again to break the tie.

To supercharge the fun, try to set a theme for the game to boost the fun factor and creativity, while also allowing employees to learn more about each other. Make sure to check out our other question based games if this tickled your fancy!

In memory lane wall, teammates write down their fondest workplace memories and pin them on a designated wall for everyone to see. It’s a simple but powerful way to spread positivity and reminisce about shared experiences that have brought the team closer.

This is a heartwarming way to boost morale and remind everyone of the good times they’ve had together in the office.

How to play:

• Provide a space for team members to write down their favorite workplace memories.
• Pin the memories on a shared wall for everyone to read.
• Enjoy the positive vibes and walk down memory lane together!

Explanation:

‍Teams are given a fictional crisis, like a hacked server or a flooded event venue, and they have to come up with solutions to save the day. Remote workers focus on virtual solutions, while in-office workers handle the on-the-ground details.

In this hybrid version, the remote team is tasked with brainstorming virtual fixes—like tech solutions, backup plans, or virtual client support. Meanwhile, the in-office team works on practical strategies to tackle the crisis on-site, whether that’s coordinating logistics, handling communications, or finding last-minute resources. Both teams need to collaborate and stay in sync under time pressure to solve the crisis together.

Finally, everyone shares their strategies to see how they tackled the issue from different angles. It’s a fun, fast-paced way to boost problem-solving skills while bringing remote and office workers together.

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.