Library of teambuilding games & icebreakers

How to play Resource scramble

In this game, teams will have the opportunity to practice some critical thinking and problem solving skills (as well as collaboration). Put people into groups of no more than 8, and give everyone a basket of simple supplies. For example, markers, paper clips, glue, and clay - things you have around the office are fine. Provide each team with a problem and have them use their set of resources to solve it.

Obviously this game works better if the resources could actually be applied to the problem, so you might want to suggest something like “Design a new logo” or “build a prototype of a new seasonal product”. Ideally, the group will come up with a few solutions and decide on their favorite, but they may only produce one if everyone is in agreement and timing is tight.

A really simple activity, this game teaches people how to proactively engage new people. Everyone will need a pen and paper.

Start with these instructions:

1. Have everyone imagine a scenario where they are traveling for a work trip.
2. Have people in pairs and have one person pretend that they have reading materials or other items to prepare for a big meeting.
3. At that point, the other person should find a way to ask “what do you do?” or “where do you work?”
4. The other player should find a way to lead to a successful sales pitch.

The basic idea is to get people more comfortable starting conversations with strangers and incorporating work information.

The perfect game for future leaders, Perfect Square is one of those classic teambuilding activities for teams that 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)

Imagine your team deciphering riddles and tackling challenges to uncover hidden city gems - that's the essence of the City Scavenger Hunt. It's like a real-life puzzle where everyone's brainpower combines to crack codes and overcome obstacles. As you explore the city together, you're not only having a blast but also boosting your problem-solving and teamwork skills. It's a chance to unravel mysteries while strengthening bonds among your teammates.

Instructions

• Form teams of players.
• Distribute riddles or clues that lead to hidden city locations.
• Players decipher riddles, solve challenges, and reach each location.
• At each location, complete the challenge to earn points.
• Document progress with photos or videos.
• The team with the most points at the end wins.
• Encourage teamwork, problem-solving, and exploration.
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Bonus tip: Make sure to choose a city with a lot of history or landmarks- the more the city has, the more options you have to choose from!

How to play Red ball game

A group of people pass around an imaginary red ball and must come up with a story about where it has been. You can change the color of the ball or even the imaginary object, the point is to mix up the start and stop of the story and get creative.

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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.

How to play Don’t laugh

This activity is great if you have some especially funny team members. Start by having all attendees stand in a circle, and then have a volunteer stand in the middle and make some jokes. The attendees should not laugh, no matter how funny the person inside the circle is being. This is a great way to lighten the mood during heavier topics or serious meetings. One caveat: make sure that the “joker” is based purely on volunteers only. It’s not easy to stand in front of a group, particularly when it comes to trying to be funny. Not everyone will be up for this, so you need to know your team before you proceed.

Ever wish you had a roadmap to success that's so clear it practically unfolds itself? Well, here's a twist on traditional goal-setting – the Backward Goal Setting activity. Instead of starting at square one and plotting your course forward, imagine you've already reached the pinnacle of success. What does it look like? Now, work backward to identify the steps and milestones that got you there.

This technique transforms lofty long-term goals into manageable, bite-sized chunks. It's like reverse-engineering success – a strategic approach that breaks down the journey into actionable tasks, helping you pave the way to your objectives with confidence.

Top Tips For Facilitators:

• Encourage participants to break big goals into small, manageable steps. Sometimes the big goals can get overwhelming!
• Plans can change, and that's okay. Let know that they need to be adaptable to unexpected shifts.
• Share stories of success with backward goal setting for inspiration. Perhaps an employee from a different department or an inspirational figure online!

How to play Defy gravity

For this game each player needs two balloons. Using only one hand, each player tries to keep them both from touching the ground for a whole minute. If you want more of a challenge, increase the amount of balloons to three per player. No holding onto the balloons! Tip: Use different colored balloons so you can better keep track of which have touched the ground.

How to play Which cartoon character would you be?

What silly character (or creature) are you most like? Have everyone go around the room, and in addition to the basics like name and role, ask them to share which cartoon character they would play and why. For example, a rugged outdoorsman might say he is like Sven from the Disney classic Frozen, while a particularly studious young woman might say she is like Lisa Simpson from the old Simpsons show.

How to play Desk set makeover

Surely you can only do this with everyone in the office, right? Well, not necessarily!

To involve remote employees, they can take photos or videos of their home workspaces and submit them for a virtual desk makeover challenge. In-office employees can redesign each other’s desks, while remote participants can provide feedback, suggest ideas, or make digital mood boards for their teammates’ workspaces. The final makeovers—whether physical in the office or digital enhancements for remote setups—can be shared in a virtual gallery for everyone to vote on.

How to play:

Organize a debate on various safety topics (e.g., the importance of PPE, the best ways to handle emergencies). Divide employees into teams and assign them different positions to argue. Judges score the debates and the winning team receives a prize.

Debates of any kind encourage critical thinking and effective communication in your workplace, so why not have a debate about important safety issues? They provide a platform for employees to express their views on safety and learn from each other. Plus, it’s a lively and engaging way to discuss safety.

The perfect opportunity for your team to flex their trivia muscles! Can easily be played in smaller, tight-knit teams.

Materials needed:

• Round up some trivia questions about the company and the team.
• Grab a whiteboard or flipchart.
• Snag some markers.

Instructions on how to play:

1. Split the team into little trivia squads.
2. Toss out questions and let the teams brainstorm.
3. Keep score and crown the trivia champs.

Why it's a great team building game:

• High-fives all around: Makes competition fun and brings the team together.
• Company brain boost: Boosts knowledge about the company's history and values.
• Teamwork triumph: Needs everyone to join forces and answer those questions.

Top tip to help the game run smoothly: Mix up the questions. Throw in some easy ones to build confidence and some head-scratchers to keep things interesting. Remember, it's about fun and learning!

How to play Stranger conversation practice

Boost team confidence by practicing talking to people you don’t know well. Pair people up in groups of two and then give them a few prompts. Their objective is to learn this information from each other using a natural dialogue. For example, maybe the goal is to learn about their favorite international cuisine, or their favorite place to vacation. It’s great practice for having an objective in mind and then being creative about how to get there.

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How to play Lights, camera, action!

Here’s a funky and active virtual corporate event that is great for the movie buffs out there. ‘Lights, camera, action!’ is a game where teams need to act out a chosen scene from a movie. Prepare cards with famous scenes beforehand, like Luke Skywalker’s parental discovery or Pulp Fiction’s mysterious briefcase, then award points when someone guesses correctly.

You could even spice things up by hosting a mock Oscar award ceremony with awards after everyone’s finished. Cut!

Not something that can be played as a group, but something that can really help with setting goals. Habitica is an online platform and mobile app that gamifies goal-setting and task management. It transforms your goals and habits into a role-playing game where you create a character, set goals, and earn rewards for completing tasks.

In this game, you begin by crafting a character to embody you. Input your tasks, habits, and daily goals, each linked to a specific achievement. Successfully completing these earns in-game rewards, like experience points and virtual currency, allowing your character to level up, unlock new features, and face challenges. Neglecting tasks or failing incurs consequences for your in-game character.

This game shows the person first-hand what it’s like to set a clear goal and how it feels to reap the rewards. It also shows the person that not meeting your goal will result in consequences. In theory, this can be then applied in real-life work!

Top Tip: Set this as homework for all the group!

Thank you notes in the workplace are an easy and accessible way to express gratitude and appreciation. Showing gratitude is one of the best ways to voice recognition and build positive relationships with colleagues and leadership.

Here are some areas in which thank-you notes can boost morale and positive relationships in the workplace:

1. Post-job interview. After an interview is a great time to send a thank you note to express your appreciation for the opportunity to join a company, especially if it's a role you're excited about. Expressing thanks shows that you are open and communicative, which is an excellent sign that a potential employee is collaborative.
2. Teamwork. Make sure to say thanks when a team member or coworker provides support or collaborates effectively, send them a thank you note to acknowledge their efforts or take them out to lunch.
3. Recognition and thanks from leadership. When leaders in the workplace express gratitude, this can have lasting effects on productivity and the continuation of a positive work environment.
4. Random acts of kindness. Consider giving a coworker who you are close to a small gift to show your appreciation for them, especially if they have helped you professionally. Giving thanks or a small present to show appreciation will strengthen professional and personal bonds.
5. Express thanks to customers and clients. While gratitude in the workspace is vital to a healthy work-life balance, appreciation for your clients or customers helps build trust and a good reputation overall for your organization.

Expressing gratitude in the workplace shows appreciation, helps build positive relationships, and can contribute to a more harmonious and productive work environment.

This game is a high-speed activity that focuses on prioritization and quick decision-making. The emphasis is less on winning and more on confident decision-making.

Set up:

Start a 2-minute timer and present your teams with a realistic work scenario or small project. Something along the lines of “Plan the first steps for a product launch” or “Outline a strategy for user feedback.” Each team needs to collaboratively brainstorm to create three immediate actions to address the needs of the scenario. Once the timer’s up, let them discuss their choices and how they prioritized their actions. You’ll be helping them develop collaboration and decisiveness.

Teams will navigate a web-like course blindfolded, guided only by verbal instructions from their teammates. This task sheds light on the importance of clear communication, active listening, and trust. As participants navigate the course, they'll realize that effective communication is the cornerstone of successful collaboration.

Instructions

• Set up a course with obstacles, twists, and turns.
• Divide participants into pairs – one blindfolded and one giving instructions.
• Teams take turns guiding their blindfolded partner through the course using only verbal cues.
• Encourage descriptive language, patience, and adaptability.
• Evaluate based on successful navigation and the quality of communication.

Our penultimate improv game for virtual teams is far more relevant to professional settings – especially if you work in sales!

With a potent combination of improvisation and sales training, your team should end the call feeling more confident in their ability to sell, more comfortable speaking in front of a group, and more bonded with their colleagues.

How to play Sell it to me

To play Sell It to Me, teammates take turns trying to sell the group a random item on their desk (or that’s in the vicinity). The twist is that they don’t get to choose what they’re selling! Their colleagues do – by looking at the items they can see (on the screen) in the person’s room and deciding from there.

Once the participant’s been told what they’re selling, they get 30 seconds to prepare a pitch. They then have another 60 seconds to persuade their teammates to buy that item! When their time’s up, everyone else rates the pitch’s quality from 1 (needs work) to 10 (world-class). Whoever has the highest score at the end gets a prize!

Want a slight variation of this activity?

Consider calling for a sales pitch in between other parts of the meeting. It becomes a less structured exercise, but it adds an element of surprise – keeping everyone on their toes and making the meeting more interesting.

Whichever approach you take, try keeping the atmosphere light and jovial. The point isn’t to highlight your employees’ sales skills! It’s to have fun, make each other laugh, and work together to come up with successful sales pitches.

How to play:

Host a fashion show where employees model various types of personal protective equipment (PPE). Have participants walk the runway and explain the purpose of each piece of equipment. Judges can score the presentations, and winners receive prizes.

A PPE fashion show catwalk adds a fun and creative twist to learning about essential safety gear. It helps employees become more familiar with the equipment they should be using and encourages them to take PPE seriously. Watching coworkers strut their stuff is always hilarious

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How to play:

‍Encourage employees to create catchy safety slogans that promote workplace safety. Have a panel of judges select the best slogans and award prizes to the winners. Display the winning slogans around the workplace.

This activity taps into employees' creativity and gives them a sense of ownership over the safety culture. Seeing their own slogans around the workplace can be a source of pride and motivation. The next "Safety First!" slogan might just be around the corner.

How to play the ball point game

The Ball Point Game is a simple way to visualize agile and scrum concepts in action. It starts out easy enough, teams just stand in a circle and pass a ball to one another. Complexity can be ramped up over time, like introducing more balls so that your teams rethink their layout. Here’s a breakdown of the rules:

Teams start in a circle, pass a ball so each member catches it once (no adjacent passes allowed). Over time, add more balls, requiring teams to rethink their layout. The game involves three planning sessions and three 2-minute sprints, where each round starts with the "Starter" and ends with the "Finisher" for points.

How to play Finding Bonds

Try an identity game that will help players to find common bonds. Everyone takes a turn making “I am a…” statement. Some examples could be “I am a mother” or “I am a runner” or “I am an amateur chef”. Other players who identify with that statement should move to stand near the person speaking. To begin the game, players should be spread out across the room, and move toward speakers as they identify with statements shared.