Library of teambuilding games & icebreakers

This one probably doesn’t need too much introduction, you’ll probably remember it from school.

How to play show and tell

Show and Tell is a fun way to start the team building session. Before the meeting starts, ask each person to bring a mascot with them. At the beginning of the meeting, each team member will have a turn at introducing their mascot and explaining why they brought that item with them.

‍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 Impromptu Shark Tank

If you’re building a multi-day agenda and have a couple hours to kill, put together a short-notice shark tank. The key is not to give too much notice - remember, these activities don’t require prep work and the last minute nature of idea generation is sure to lead to more creativity and laughter. Have small teams brainstorm and come up with a few ideas, and then present their best idea to a panel of judges who will decide if it’s worth investing in.

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.

How to play Rolling the dice

You can’t beat this one for simplicity. Have players break into groups of two and provide a set of dice to each pair. The goal is simple: roll the die and try to get the highest total possible in one minute. So, one person should roll and the other can document the number they get. This should go on as many times as they can in one minute. Whoever has the highest number wins.

John: Hey, what’s your favourite superhero movie?

Jane: 🕷👨

John: Really? Batman’s my favourite too!

Jane: 🤦

If you’re like John, you won’t be any good at the Emoji Quiz. But if you’re like the other 99% of the population, capable of deciphering emojis without a second thought, then we have the perfect game for you!

Great for: Creative thinking, problem-solving

Duration: 5 minutes

Players: 4+

You’ll need: A list of movie, book or song titles written in emojis

How to play Emoji Quiz

Setup: Before playing Emoji Quiz, you need to create a list of movie, song or book titles written in emoji form. Here are a few examples:

• ⚫ 🦅 ⏬ = Black Hawk Down (film)
• 🍍 🚄 = Pineapple Express (film)
• 🐦 🐦 🐦 = Three Little Birds (song)

To play: Separate your group into equal teams. Then, display each title (written in emojis) on a screen and ask the teams to write down the name of the movie, song or book. Once you’ve asked all your questions, go back and reveal the answers. The team with the most correct answers wins!

Ready to take a page from the playbook of the greats? Enter the Role Model Analysis, where participants embark on a journey of inspiration and practical insights. The game plan? Identify role models or mentors who've aced goals similar to the ones you're chasing.

This activity allows for studying the traits and strategies of those who've been there, done that, and applying those lessons to your own goal-setting approach.

Top Tip for Facilitator:

• Encourage diversity in role models. Remind participants that role models can come from various fields and backgrounds. The key is to draw inspiration from a range of sources.
• As the facilitator, guide them to explore traits and strategies that resonate with their unique journey, creating a customized roadmap to success.

Explanation:

‍Teams build different sections of a complicated Rube Goldberg machine. In-office teams work on physical pieces, and remote workers create virtual sections using online tools.

In-office workers can start by building something physical—like a series of dominoes or a ball rolling down a ramp—while remote workers come up with digital elements (animations or recorded videos of their contraptions). The challenge is to connect these sections into one long, wacky machine that works seamlessly together. Remote workers can submit their videos or ideas, and in-office teammates figure out how to physically incorporate them.

This brings remote and office workers together in a super creative way!

We love improv games that are lively, dramatic, and force you out of your shell. But not everybody does! In fact, for employees who are less confident in nature, these types of activities can be downright stressful.

That’s where a game like Quick-Fire Questions comes in. Not only is it well-suited to remote teams, but it’s also a great introduction to improv. Nobody’s singled out, there’s no miming/acting, and you don’t even have to turn your webcam on.

How to play Quick-fire questions

To play, all participants must do is have a conversation – taking turns to contribute a line at a time. The twist?

Anything and everything they say has to be a question!

For instance, Dave might start by asking Sally, “What type of music do you enjoy listening to?” And Sally could reply, “Where shall we go to rave this weekend?” To which Joe might ask, “What’s the name of the forest just outside town?” And Dave might respond with, “How many forests are there in this part of the country?”

Easy, right? Wrong! You have to think on your feet, be creative with your answers, and frame your reply in the correct format. If someone hesitates, asks something unrelated, or doesn’t ask a question at all, then they’re out.

You can play a round-robin tournament, with one person facing off against another. Or you could try to play all together, asking one question at a time. Whatever the case, the “conversation” should help energize the virtual room, generate lots of laughs, and boost team spirit to boot.

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How to host a video contest

Short-form videos have become extremely popular - just look at the success of platforms like TikTok. Let everyone bring their inner influencer out by creating their own video to share with everyone. This can be a really exciting competition and great for team-building. It works best with smaller teams. Break people into groups and give them one hour to script, produce, and polish their video content.

You can either let their imaginations run wild or choose a theme for everyone to work with. Make sure everyone has access to necessary video editing software or other tools so that they can make their video even if they’re beginners. Have a great prize ready for the winner - bonus points for a movie-themed gift like theater tickets or “movie night basket” with an Amazon card, popcorn, and snacks.

How to play Tug of War Challenge

Instructions: Divide participants into two teams and provide a long rope. Each team holds onto one end of the rope and pulls in opposite directions. The team that successfully pulls the other team over a designated line wins.

Materials needed: Rope.

Tug of War encourages teamwork, communication, and friendly competition. It promotes unity, camaraderie, and creates a sense of strength and determination among team members.

Also known as Battledecks or Powerpoint roulette, Powerpoint karaoke’s a creative improv game where you ask people to give a presentation on a topic they haven’t seen or been able to prepare for.

How to play PowerPoint karaoke

Start by choosing a theme – such as vacations – and creating simple slide decks on it. In this example, the first slide would be a location/destination; the slides to come might include inside jokes, company references, random details, and activities.

To play, you invite a volunteer to the front of the room and ask them to say, “Let me tell you the story of the crazy trip I recently took to…”

You’d then reveal the first slide with the location on it, at which point the participant must improvise a fictional tale about their recent visit! After a little while, you’d move to the next slide and they’d have to incorporate whatever’s on it into their story. Keep going like this for a few minutes or until the story comes to a natural end.

You’d then invite someone else to the front, ending the game when everyone has had a go (although don’t force anyone to present if they don’t want to).

There are countless reasons to play PowerPoint karaoke!

For one thing, it always leads to fun and laughter. For another, it’ll make your team feel more comfortable standing up to give a presentation – if they can do it on a whim, they can definitely do it when they’ve had time to prepare. And finally, it reveals individual personalities and brings the team closer.

How to play Icebreaker bingo

This is one of the best games for lengthier introductions and learning more about the people around you. Most people are familiar with a bingo format, so it should be easy to play. You can use an online bingo card generator to come up with squares and randomize them. Squares can be anything from “owns a boat” to “has 20 years with the company” to “met a celebrity”. Another great thing about this icebreaker game is that there are actual winners - so if you have some fun prizes to hand out, this exercise is perfect.

How to play Cold call point system

For an ongoing game that will add some fun to the daily routine, start a cold calling point system. Take five minutes out of each day and have employees record their cold calls. It can be really fun to see points add up over time and learn from each other. Keep a whiteboard or other points-tracking system in view so everyone can get a status. Here are some options for tracking points:

1. 30 points for getting the prospect on the phone
2. 20 points for keeping them on for more than a minute
3. 40 points for scheduling a follow up
4. 10 points for getting a new contact from the call

How to play Business card collection

To introduce people who haven’t met before, you can try this game. Set a timer and have everyone try to collect at least 3 new business cards in the room. Through the conversations they have with others, they should write down at least 3 details about the person on their business card. So, once the timer goes off, you can go around the room having each person name the people that they met and the information they found interesting (from their notes on the card). If people want to collect more than 3 cards, that’s fine, as long as they are taking the time to also get to know some details about each individual. Remember, the goal is to get to know others, have real conversations, and recall both names and other facts about each person.

One of the hardest parts of joining or working in a large group is remembering everyone’s name! Collaborative Portraits is a warm-up activity that helps tackle the problem, while also providing an entertaining way to get to know your colleagues.

How to play Collaborative portraits

To run the exercise, hand out a piece of paper and pen to everyone in the group and ask participants to write their names at the bottom. They should then start walking slowly around the room.

When you say “stop”, they must find someone nearby, swap their pieces of paper, and draw their partner’s eyes. When that’s done, they swap back (so they’re holding the paper with their name on it).

You then repeat this process for the remaining facial features (i.e. nose, ears, mouth, hair, chin, accessories, etcetera…). By the end of the task, everyone should be holding a full “self-portrait” that’s been drawn by their colleagues!

Top tip: Consider displaying these drawings somewhere in the office. It’d be a fun memory of the exercise and could become a decorative focal point for people to look at in idle moments.

Explanation:

Each team member describes themselves using traits from a famous movie or book character, without saying who they are. The rest of the team has to guess the character based on the clues.

This game is perfect for hybrid teams! Whether remote or in the office, everyone gets a chance to participate. Each person describes themselves using personality traits or quirks of a famous character via video call or chat, and everyone else guesses who they are. It’s an easy-going virtual icebreaker that gets people laughing, thinking creatively, and learning more about each other.

How to play Mini Myers-Briggs session

If you work in a progressive environment, then chances are you’ve completed some form of personality assessment before, maybe even the Myers-Briggs version. In this popular personality test, you are assigned a four-letter personality type that gives insight into your behavior in relationships, at work, etc. Have everyone complete the test in advance, and then start your meeting by having everyone discuss the results.

A relaxing game that helps you boost communication amongst team members. This exercise shows how well team members can listen and follow directions. You only need some paper and tables for people to make their shapes.

How to play:

‍Hand out a sheet of A4 paper to each group member and then instruct them to close their eyes. Everyone must keep their eyes closed while one person reads the instructions to fold and create their piece of origami.

After you’re done instructing them, the whole group opens their eyes and compares their shapes.

Materials you’ll need: A4 Paper, seating areas with tables

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

How to play Sound and movement

Have everyone stand in a circle. One volunteer should go into the middle of the circle and make a sound and a motion. For example, they might stop their feet and say “clomp, clomp”. That particular sound and movement should be repeated by everyone in the circle. Then a new person should enter the circle and do the same thing, until everyone has had a chance to come up with their own sound and motion for people to repeat. It’s usually easiest to go in a clockwise order, but you can also have people volunteer for a turn at random.

One of the most important skills to be able to iterate and improve work is being able to focus on reflection. A Focus Funnel activity promotes these core values and lets teams work with an agile mindset, asking clinical questions as they go. Here’s the setup:

Set up:

Each team member first needs to clearly write a list of their current tasks and goals.

The focus funnel comes when applying a series of questions to help you narrow down and prioritize their list. Some example funneling questions could be:

a. “Which task delivers the most immediate value?”

b. “Which of these tasks can be delegated?”

c. “What can be simplified and removed?”

As the questions are applied your teams practice agile prioritization and bring high-value tasks to the forefront.

How to host a Wine (or whiskey) tasting

If you’ve ever attended a wine tasting, then you know it’s a much bigger experience than just sipping on some wine. Having a sommelier (or mixologist or curator for other types of alcohol) can be really beneficial in learning about different types of drinks, what foods go with them, best practices for serving, etc. A good wine tasting will include 6 different versions ranging from white to red, as well as a palette cleanser and a few light snacks. If your team favors whiskey, you can research the best ways to serve and pair samples. Performing a quick Google search will help you learn the best ways to execute a tasting, but we suggest just reaching out to a local winery or distillery and setting up a group tasting.

Note: You may also want to arrange safe transportation, since the alcohol can really add up in tasting situations.

This one's all about sharing stories! In this activity, we'll open up about our real-life workplace conflicts and learn a bunch of cool stuff from each other.

Why it's awesome for learning conflict resolution

Real-Life Drama: So, imagine this: We're sharing the nitty-gritty details of actual conflicts we've faced at work. No made-up stuff here! That means the lessons we learn are totally relatable to our daily grind.

All Walks of Life: We've got a mixed bag of folks here, from different departments and roles. That means loads of different perspectives. Hearing stories from all angles makes the learning super rich.

Feel the Empathy: When we listen to each other's tales of workplace woe, it's like putting on someone else's shoes (not literally, though). We start to get how our colleagues feel in those tough spots.

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)