Library of teambuilding games & icebreakers

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 Water pong

If you have ever played the popular college drinking game “beer pong”, then this will look familiar to you. Fill plastic cups with water and place six of them on the opposite ends of a table. Take turns throwing ping pong balls with the goal of landing in the cups. Whoever sinks the most shots in a minute is the winner.

Next up is the game of “taboo”, a hilarious office game that is challenging and has the means necessary to improve the entire teams communication and creativity skills.

How to play:

1. Divide into teams and choose a team leader.
2. The leader selects a card and tries to get their team to guess the word on the card without using any of the taboo words listed.
3. The team earns a point for each correct guess.
4. Rotate leaders and continue until each team member has had a turn.
5. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.

Playing Taboo in the office is a great way to foster collaboration and promote out-of-the-box thinking, while enjoying a few laughs and a break from the daily grind. Just be sure to keep the office-appropriate words flowing – we don't want any HR incidents on our watch!

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.

How to play Pop explosion

Another game that’s best for outside! If you have ever seen YouTube videos of dropping a mint into a soda bottle, then you know that a large explosion happens. This is a fun little experiment that you can make into a game by seeing who can reach the explosion first. You may also want to name a winner for the highest-reaching eruption too.

How to play Sinking boat

This popular team-building activity involves participants imagining themselves stranded on a boat that’s sinking. You’ll need to break people into small groups and instruct them on this exercise. The objective is for the group to work together to decide who should be saved from the sinking boat based on their overall importance to the group and what they value. This encourages communication, collaboration, and critical thinking skills. It’s also a good way to spark discussions about teamwork and decision-making and can give everyone insight into the talents and personalities of their colleagues.

Answering a single question about yourself is great. But what if you could spend 5 entire minutes telling the team about something that makes you unique? Or a topic you’re passionate about?

Wouldn’t that be a more effective way to help people get to know you?

Of course it would! That’s why some managers and CEOs ask their remote employees to prepare brief presentations to share with everyone. An empowering trust-building activity, it gives team members a voice – a podium from which to tell their colleagues about who they are and what they enjoy doing outside work.

This brings people together for two main reasons. Firstly, the more you know about someone, the more you care about them! And secondly, the more you open up to others, the more comfortable you feel around them.

The end result is a stronger and more trusting relationship.

How to play 5-Minute presentations

As for practicalities, you can approach these 5-minute presentations in a few different ways. For example, why not set aside an entire afternoon to let every team member give their presentation at once? Alternatively, you could start the mornings with one – asking different people to present on each day of the week.

What you need:

• Nothing by way of tools, but you’ll want to give people enough time to prepare their presentations – especially if they’re nervous about public speaking.

TV gameshows are not just for the TV! In this adaptation of the classic show Family Feud, your employees will be able to showcase their quick decision making skills, as well as their general knowledge and intelligence.

How to play:

1. Divide into two teams.
2. One team member is chosen to compete as the captain.
3. The two captain are shown a survey question and must guess the top answers. Fastest “buzz in” first.
4. Points are awarded based on how many people in the survey chose that answer.
5. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.
   

Surveys could be taken internally or taken from national survey websites to involve a whole range of different topics.

Kicking off our list is a competitive bout of stacking. This cup game is the most popular on the list, and also the most professionally competitive! Side note, did you know that professionals call this “sport stacking,” and the world-record holder finished a stack in 1.33 seconds?

This one works best individually, and is fun to use a timer with, for extra competition! Give each player 10 cups and a table to do their stacking.

Set-up:

1. Build a pyramid of cups: Each player needs to stack 10 cups to make a pyramid shape. The base will have 4 cups, then 3 on top of those, 2 cups for the next level, finished with 1 cup at the top.
2. Collapse the pyramid down into one stack of cups: Players then need to take the top cup and collapse the other cups down, until only one stack of 10 cups remains Remember to smash that timer as soon as they’re finished! Create a leaderboard and find the fastest stacker!

Looking for a classic trust building activity that never fails to bring workmates closer together? Try the “trust walk” – another super straightforward exercise that’s reminiscent of the “minefield” exercise we described earlier.

How to play Trust walk

Start by creating a path for people to follow, complete with obstacles, twists, and turns. Next, divide your team into smaller groups of 2 to 3 people and give one of them a blindfold to wear. The sighted individuals then have to guide whoever’s blindfolded along the path as quickly (and safely) as possible.

When they finish, the blindfold passes to one of the others. Repeat this process until each group member has completed the course. The first group to have each member complete the course wins!

As long as you clear enough space, you can do the trust walk in the office. However, we recommend trying it outside at some point too!

The extra room available adds to the fun. Heck, some teams choose to do this exercise as part of a larger hiking activity – on a team-building retreat, for instance, where the entire experience revolves around boosting camaraderie.

Want a slight variation on the trust walk? You could also do an exercise called “the blind trail”. It’s a similar concept, but this time every person on each team is blindfolded. Have them stand in a line, holding onto a rope.

Their task?

Work together to navigate an obstacle course that you’ve laid out (all while holding onto the rope). They’re allowed to talk and use non-verbal communication – enabling them to help and trust each other as they proceed from A to B.

What you need:

• Blindfolds
• Rope (to make the “path”, or to use in the blind trail exercise)
• Items to use as obstacles

One wrong move and you’re out of the game! Blind Retriever is one of the most engaging team-building activities, honing your employee’s listening skills as they attempt to retrieve the object while blindfolded and avoid obstacles along the way.

Great for: Listening and communication

Duration: 10 minutes

Players: 4+

You’ll need: One blindfold per team, various soft-edged obstacles

How to play Blind Retriever

Setup: Find a large open space. At one end of the space, place the object that your teams will need to retrieve and at the other end indicate some sort of start line. Then, position various soft-edged obstacles between the start line and the object. Avoid using any objects that could cause harm if somebody were to walk into/land on them. Finally, divide your group into small teams of about 2-4 players, allocate one person per team to be the Retriever and position everybody behind the start line. The Retriever is then blindfolded.

To play: When the game starts, the non-retrievers of each team must guide their blindfolded retriever to the other end of the room to collect the object using only verbal commands. If a retriever makes contact with any of the obstacles in the room their team is eliminated from the race. The team whose retriever collects the object first without touching any obstacles wins.

‍Lightening scavenger hunts are a tried and true favourite for company team building events. The game can be played by both small and large groups using your favourite video chat software. This game gets your team moving and energized for the remainder of the meeting.

How to play Lightening scavenger hunt

Before starting the game, you’ll need to prepare a list of items that your team will need to find in their homes. The items can be completely random, or you can pick a theme such as “items beginning with the letter ‘R’” or “items that are blue.” For an additional incentive, you can offer prizes for the fastest people to return with the objects.

How to play Penny stack

Players should try to stack 25 pennies in under one minute using only one hand. This game works best for small groups and is ideal for groups of three players competing in rounds of play. You’ll need to make sure you have a few rolls of pennies to start the game.

How to play Where I'm from

‘Where I’m From’ is a fantastic no-prep game that enables team members to get to know each other better. With smaller teams, ask one person to begin by sharing three quirky facts about their hometown. For globally remote teams, home countries might work better.

Everyone has the chance to guess the speaker’s hometown or country from the three guesses, with a point awarded to any correct guess. The results might surprise you, as you find out your favorite musician comes from a land far, far away.

Looking for an energizer that’s great for enhancing the group dynamic as well? This one should do the trick.

How to play Walk and stop in sync

Simple and sweet, start by asking everybody to stand side by side in a line – preferably in a large space – before issuing a simple instruction:

“Walk forward together and then stop at the same time.”

The catch is that they’re not allowed to talk! Whether they communicate through body language, facial expressions, and/or entering some sort of group consciousness, they have to walk and stop in sync, without speaking.

Keep going until they achieve the goal and consider debriefing when they’re done. What did they learn? How did it feel? What lessons will they take forward?

This game is all about learning how to be effective mediators in workplace conflicts. You'll step into the shoes of both conflicting parties and a mediator, guiding them to a resolution. By practicing these skills in a safe and controlled environment, your team can become more proficient at helping others resolve conflicts constructively. Get ready to guide parties toward peaceful resolutions!

Materials needed:

• A list of workplace conflict scenarios (create these in advance)
• Chairs or a comfortable seating arrangement
• A designated mediator for each scenario (can be a participant or a facilitator)
• An open and respectful atmosphere

Instructions:

1. Find a quiet and comfortable space where everyone can sit and discuss without interruptions.
   
2. Before the game, prepare a list of workplace conflict scenarios. These should be varied and relevant to your workplace. Include details about the parties involved, the issues at hand, and the context.
3. For each scenario, assign roles to participants. You'll need two parties in conflict (Party A and Party B) and one mediator (the Mediator).
4. Briefly explain how the game works. The two conflicting parties will act out their roles while the mediator will facilitate the discussion. The goal is to reach a resolution through communication and compromise.
5. Choose one of the conflict scenarios and have the participants take on their assigned roles. Encourage them to fully immerse themselves in their characters.
6. The mediator guides the conversation by asking open-ended questions and encouraging active listening. They should help the parties express their concerns, clarify misunderstandings, and explore potential solutions.
7. The mediator's role is to facilitate a productive dialogue and help the parties come to a resolution. This may require suggesting compromises or alternative solutions.
8. After the simulation, have a discussion with the participants.

This team-building game is perfect for groups that don’t yet know each other very well.

How to play Two truths, one lie

Each person will take a turn at having their colleagues guess which of the three statements is the lie. The more believable the lie, the harder it is for the guessing team!

Not only will the team get to know one another better, but there will certainly be some big laughs and surprising moments along the way.

Dotmocracy is a decision-making task that involves participants placing dots or stickers on options or ideas to indicate their preferences. It is also referred to as dot voting or sticker voting.

Instructions:

1. Clearly define the decision or topic that requires input from the participants. It could be anything from choosing a new office layout to selecting a team-building activity.
   
2. Compile a list of options or ideas related to the decision. Make sure each option is concise and clearly understandable. Write them down on a large display, whiteboard, or chart paper.
   
3. Provide each participant with a predetermined number of dot stickers.
4. Briefly explain the voting guidelines. Let participants know they can distribute their dots among the options in any way they prefer. They can place multiple dots on a single option or spread them across different options, depending on their preferences.
   
5. Give participants time to place their dots on the options. Encourage them to think critically and consider their own perspectives.
6. Once the voting phase is complete identify the options with the highest number of dots as the most favored choices.
   
7. Engage the participants in a discussion based on the results. Encourage them to share their thoughts, perspectives, and reasons for their choices.

Dotmocracy is the game that's more than just sticking dots, It's a powerhouse for developing leadership skills in the office. Giving everyone a voice and a handful of stickers transforms quiet cubicle dwellers into confident decision-makers. Employees will also learn to assert their preferences, negotiate, and strategize; factors that are necessary for improving leadership skills.

How to play First Letter, Last Letter

For this game, have everyone form a circle and sit down. Choose one person to start first. That person writes or says a word and the person next to them has to come up with another word using the last letter or the last few letters of that word. This is a verbal game that doesn’t require any materials or special preparation, which makes it a great activity if you have some spontaneous time to fill and want it to be productive.

Ever got a surprise coffee? Small gestures are like a mini celebration of kindness. They're a reminder that someone's thinking of you and can turn an ordinary day into something special.

Small gestures activity - Gratitude chain:

• Provide colorful paper strips, markers and adhesive.
• Instruct colleagues to write down a brief note of gratitude, appreciation, or a small act of kindness they'd like to acknowledge.
• Encourage participants to attach their notes to create a chain, linking the acts of kindness together.
• Display the gratitude chain in a visible area to serve as a visual reminder of the positive interactions within the team.
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This quick team-building activity cultivates a culture of appreciation and encourages colleagues to recognize and celebrate one another's contributions.

How to play:

Write down various safety-related terms (e.g., "fire drill," "first aid kit," "slippery floor") on slips of paper and place them in a container. Divide employees into teams, and have them take turns drawing a term and illustrating it on a whiteboard while their team guesses.

This quick team-building game combines creativity with learning, making it an enjoyable way to reinforce safety concepts. It breaks up the monotony of regular training sessions, and the abstract drawings often lead to plenty of laughs.

The spelling bee is a great opportunity for the more introverted members of your workforce to display some raw talent.

How to play Spelling bee

A host will need to make a list of words, with increasing difficulty. Try adding in ‘bonus’ rounds where spellers will need to spell the word backwards.

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.”

This trust-building game is simple and requires only a blindfold and players willing to work together. While you don’t necessarily need a big field to play this in, it would be better to have an open area to avoid too many hazards getting in the way.

How to play:

‍Break groups into small teams of two. One player is the leader, and the other wears the blindfold. The leader has to guide the blindfolded player to the endpoint while making sure they avoid bumping into objects.

For example, pick a start and end location; players start in the office and end at an outdoor seating area.

Materials you’ll need: Blindfold(s)

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

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