Library of teambuilding games & icebreakers

You may have played this party game as a child, but it also works brilliantly for breaking the ice at work-related team events. It’s particularly convenient because it doesn’t require any equipment, all you need is a group of people and an open area to move around in. Wink murder can be played with 10-30 people, any more and the game can take too long, any less and the game becomes too easy.

How to play Wink Murder

To prepare, arrange your group into a circle and ask them to close their eyes. At this moment, a moderator will move around the circle and select one player to be the ‘murderer’ by tapping them silently on their shoulder.

When the game starts, all the players start to walk around the room. It’s the task of the ‘murderer’ to catch eyes with a player and wink at them, eliminating them from the game. When a player gets winked at, they must ‘die’ as dramatically as they see fit and leave the game.

It’s the role of the players to identify who the ‘murderer’ is and to make an accusation. When a player wants to make a guess, they say “I accuse [name].” The accusation must be supported by at least one other player by saying “second”. The accused player must then respond with “yes” if they are the murderer or “no” if they are not.

If the accusation is wrong, the two players that made the guess must ‘die’ and leave the game.

How to Cup toppers

For this game you’ll need some cups or tumblers and some old compact discs. Place the cup a reasonable amount of space away from the player (such as a few feet, across a table). Have them take a stack of CDs and toss them, one by one, onto the cup. Their goal is to land as many as they can flat onto the top of the cup. Whoever strikes the most landings wins.

How to play Role reversal

This game is all about understanding conflicts from different perspectives. We're going to act out conflict scenarios and then swap roles to see how the other side feels. It's like stepping into someone else's shoes, but without the actual shoe-swapping part! It's a great way to build empathy and gain fresh insights on how to overcome teamwork challenges in the workplace. Get ready to embrace different perspectives!

After gathering everyone together in a remote arena, a game of Emoji Communication is a great way to get teams working together. This game highlights how easy it is to misinterpret digital messages and the importance of thoughtful communication. It helps members build agile skills where tone and context need extra clarification.

Set up:

One person in the remote meeting is chosen as the messenger. They create a message, a clear and cohesive sentence using only emojis. No words allowed! Everyone else works by a timer and writes down their guesses. Dish out points for correct guesses and rotate the messenger. Some example sentences to start you off could be:

"Let’s grab coffee and chat" ☕👫💬
"Team celebration tonight!" 🎉🍻🎶🕺
"Emergency! Need a quick solution" 🚨🧠⚙️⏳

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.

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 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!

Looking for a quick mental warm-up? The Desert Island Game is a classic icebreaker that pushes your team to make difficult decisions. You’ll also learn more about the priorities of your employees.

Great for: Decision-making

Duration: 5 minutes

Players: 4+

You’ll need: Nothing

How to play The Desert Island Game

Setup: Make a list of eight random items such as a shovel, string, sticky tape, a canvas bag, etc.

To play: The rules of the game are simple. Your team must imagine they’re about to take a one-way ferry to a deserted island and they can only take three items with them. Present your team with your pre-prepared list of eight items and ask your employees to choose which three items they would take. Then, go around and ask what everybody chose and why.

Recurring group activities like after-work running clubs are a great way of making team-building a regular feature in your team’s schedule.

What’s more, healthy activities like jogging and yoga boost employee well-being, job satisfaction and company culture while giving employees a chance to bond outside of the office.

Great for: Company culture, job satisfaction, employee well-being, interpersonal relationships

Duration: 30 minutes

You’ll need: N/A

How to start:

• Arrange a regular running schedule for your employees to register. It’s wise to create multiple groups for different fitness levels.
• Pin a running calendar to the staff room wall, detailing the different group times.

Think you know your coworkers' texting habits? In emoji detective, you’ll have to guess which team member’s recently used emoji board is being shown. It's a fun, lighthearted way to test your knowledge of your teammates’ messaging style.

It’s an easy, amusing game to throw into a virtual meeting, and it’s always fun to see who’s been overusing the laughing-crying face.

How to play:

• One team member’s recently used emoji board is shown.
• The group guesses which team member it belongs to.
• Whoever guesses correctly wins the round!

You've probably guessed what this game is about based on its name, but guessing an emotion can be trickier than you think. Practicing your ability to read people’s feelings can pay off in the long run, especially when it comes to reading the room at company meetings and asking the right questions if something feels off regarding an employee's emotional state.

How to play:

‍Your team is split into two groups and draws a card from a deck with emotions written on each card. One team chooses someone to have the lead role and act out an emotion while the whole group tries to guess whether or not they're angry, sad, happy, etc.

If a team correctly guesses the emotion, they win ten points. The groups can rotate like this through as many emotions as possible, or at least until each team member gets the chance to act.

Materials you’ll need: A deck of cards with emotions written on them.

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

The perfect game for future leaders, Perfect Square pushes teams to communicate clearly and establish a leader who will help them complete the game. Another blindfold game that involves teams working together to, you guessed it, form a perfect square.  

How to play:

‍Break up into small teams, around four to six people, and give each group a rope. Team members pick up their rope, which is still a circle, and work together to create a perfect square, which isn’t easy to achieve when you can’t see anything! Teams form a circle with their rope on the floor, and everyone gets blindfolded.

This game encourages teams to establish a leader who can help focus and guide the other players to move in the right direction to achieve some four-sided perfection,

Materials you’ll need: Rope, material/ cloth for blindfolds.

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

Role Reversal is a great team building game, giving employees the chance to swap roles with their colleagues for a select amount of time!

Materials needed:

• Grab those job role descriptions for everyone.
• Dig up documentation or guides related to each role.
• Make a schedule for the big switcheroo.

Instructions on how to play:

1. Before the big day, hand out the job role stuff to each team member.
2. Tell everyone they're swapping roles for the day – meetings, tasks, and all.
3. At the end of the day, get everyone together to spill the beans on their experiences.

Why it's a great team building game:

• Feel the feels: It helps everyone understand what their teammates go through, creating more empathy.
• Break the walls: Opens up communication by smashing those silos and getting people to talk.
• Team Power-up: Makes your team even stronger by finding new ways to work together.

Top tip to help the game run smoothly: Remind everyone it's not about finding faults but about understanding and appreciating each other. Keep an open mind, folks!

Heads-up! No, we’re not talking about a safety warning, we’re talking about the app game that's taken the world by storm. And guess what? It's not just for playing with friends on a night out. This game can also be a hoot in the office.

How to play:

1. Split into teams.
2. One player holds the phone on their forehead, facing outwards.
3. Their team gives clues to describe the word or phrase on the screen.
4. If they guess correctly, swipe up; if not, swipe down.
5. Repeat until time runs out or all words have been guessed.

Heads-up! is a fantastic opportunity to promote better communication and teamwork, as well as help to break the ice among new colleagues. Current members will also benefit as it's a welcome change to ordinary office chit-chat.

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)

How to play Sell me this pen

One of the most popular sales training activities and a simple workplace competition, in this game you simply hand each person a pen and have them take a turn selling it to the larger group. What is the sales pitch? What are the questions and objections? Who has the best selling points? After the activity, have a discussion about what stuck out to everyone - what worked and what didn’t. Not only does this force people to get more comfortable with public speaking, but everyone can learn some new tricks, too.

How to host Snack tastings

If you don’t want so much focus on alcoholic drinks, try sticking with snacks. Who doesn’t love snacking? A snack pairing can be a really good idea if you have a culturally diverse staff. Have everyone bring or suggest one of their favorite snacks and the drink that is best served with it. This can range from a fancy hors d'oeuvre to a decadent dessert. Or, simply have everyone research a geographic area and bring in the region’s most popular snack for everyone to try. This is an easy DIY event that you can host without needing a particular space, though you may need room to set everything up.

The devil is in the detail, they say. At the workplace, misinterpreting instructions or being unclear with your instructions can have detrimental knock-on effects. Copy Cat teaches your employees to listen more carefully.

Great for: Listening skills, comprehension

Duration: 5-10 minutes

Players: 2+

You’ll need: Various sets of identical office items, something to use as a barrier i.e a flipchart.

How to play Copy Cat

Setup: To prepare for Copy Cat, separate players into pairs and position them on either side of a solid barrier—the players should be able to see their partner. Hand each player a set of matching office items. You can use things like a wastepaper basket, stapler, pens, sticky notes, etc. In each pair, one person needs to be the Leader and the other needs to be the Copy Cat.

To play: When the timer starts, the Leader begins building his structure with the materials provided. The Leader is allowed to iterate his actions, saying things like “I’m going to lay the wastepaper basket on its side,” and “I’m sticking two sticky notes to the bottom of the basket.” Based on these comments, the Copy Cat must attempt to create an identical structure to that of their Leader. The Copy Cat cannot ask any questions, forcing the Leader to be precise with their commentary.

Championship showdown lets you stretch out the fun with a long-term tournament. Whether it’s chess, trivia, or something quirky like a fitness challenge, teams compete over time until one winner emerges.

It’s like office bragging rights, but official. And hey, it’s a great way to keep everyone invested while getting some friendly competition going.

How to play:

• Pick a game or challenge (chess, trivia, anything really).
• Set up a bracket for teams or individuals.
• Whoever makes it to the top wins and gets the glory!

That’s right, the classic race from your childhood is just as fun for adults! In fact, it’s probably even better. After decades of being bipedal, strapping your leg to someone else’s and having to move in unison is a significant (and hilarious) challenge – especially when you make it a race.

How to play Three-Legged Race

As you can probably remember, you don’t need much for a three-legged race. Some simple strips of fabric or lengths of rope will suffice. From there, you divide the group into pairs, stand each team side-by-side, and use the fabric/rope to tie Person A’s right leg to Person B’s left leg or vice versa.

Next, mark a start and finish line, get everyone to stand at the start, and blow a whistle for the race to commence. Expect chaos and laughter to ensue as they make their way as quickly as possible down the track!

Got lots of people coming to your Field Day? Try a three-legged relay race instead.

This time, you’ll need to create a longer track with four individual sections before splitting everyone into pairs like before. Assign four pairs to each team then set them around the track to run different sections of the relay. Each “starting pair” needs a baton, which they’ll pass to the next pair in their team, whenever they reach them. The first team to reach the finish line wins!

How to play Country ambassadors

This is a lively game which only requires some knowledge of geography. Assign each player a country. You can do this by using a random country generator, or just selecting at random. Once countries are assigned, each person should take a turn describing their country without mentioning it by name. The goal is for all the remaining players to be able to guess their country. If you want to make the game competitive, then keep a running list of all the players and how many countries they’ve guessed. The person who got the most correct wins.

This is a guaranteed good-time game that can be played after work on a retreat or at a weekend getaway with your team. It only requires the game Jenga and adequate seating and surface area for playing.

How to play:

‍The same rules apply to Jenga Thoughts to the original Jenga. There is a tower made out of rectangular wooden blocks that players have to remove, so the whole tower doesn’t fall strategically.  

With this team-building-friendly version, each block has a question the player has to answer. The objective is to keep the tower intact, but questions facilitate discussion and break down walls, bringing teams together while playing.

Materials you’ll need: A Jenga set, multiple, and seating areas with tables where people can play.

How many people: Small to mid-sized teams and a large one for setting up the game so everyone can play. If you have multiple Jenga sets, ensure you have several tables to seat and several small groups.

How to play:

Create a set of cards with safety-related images or terms and their corresponding definitions or explanations. Lay the cards face down and have employees take turns flipping two cards to find matches. The player with the most matches wins.

A safety memory match game is a fun and engaging way to reinforce safety concepts and terminology. It improves memory and recall while adding a playful element to learning. A simple game that can be enjoyed by everyone, making it a great addition to training sessions.

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.

While not a group activity per se, this technique is great for allowing employees to practice goal setting in their own working time. The Pomodoro Technique is a disciplined time management method that encourages working in focused, concentrated bursts, separated by short breaks. Here's how it works:

• Choose a task you want to work on. Set a timer for 25 minutes (this is one "Pomodoro").
• Focus solely on the task at hand until the timer rings. Avoid any distractions or interruptions during this time.
• After 25 minutes, take a short break of 5 minutes. Use this time to stretch, take a walk, or do something enjoyable.
• Repeat the process. After completing four Pomodoros, take a longer break of 15-30 minutes.

The Pomodoro Technique is like your best friend for productivity and discipline. It can start to feel like a game, especially when you’re racing against the clock, meaning that it may not even feel like work sometimes. Plus, it’s a game that gives rewards! Those short breaks are vacations for your brain and great incentive to get work done.  So, if you're aiming for setting and reaching goals at work, Pomodoro is the technique for you!