Library of teambuilding games & icebreakers

How to play Trivia

Questions games don’t get much better than good old-fashioned trivia! A classic way to test people’s knowledge on a range of topics, you can ask questions on everything from science and current events to religion, sports, and history.

Of course, there’s nothing stopping you from playing a “personal trivia” game too. Take this tack, and you’d ask questions to test the team’s knowledge about each other instead! For example, who did what at the last Christmas party? Which team member was born overseas? And who has a middle name that starts with “K”?

You get the idea!

Whatever type of trivia game you choose, the idea is to play in teams and compete against each other to see who can answer the most questions correctly. Award prizes to the winner to incentivize participation.

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!

How to play Mock commercials

This activity is the opposite of a quick office game. It requires some time and preparation, but is worth it! Have employees choose a product or service and then create a commercial to sell it. You’ll need a space for everyone to act in, plus recording devices and a way for everyone to watch. Some companies add another layer of complexity by using two bowls.

Each bowl has several slips of paper with a word written on it. In one bowl is the style of commercials, such as humorous, scary, or emotional. In the other bowl is an object, such as soda or a copy machine. Have each group pick one paper from each bowl and base their commercial on that. So, you might have one group that creates a scary commercial about a copy machine. Doing it this way necessitates more creativity and often leads to a lot of laughs.

Listening is a huge part of communicating, and it’s hard to step back and hear what others say when we get stressed at work. This group exercise encourages teams to practice their listening skills, allowing others to speak and respecting their voice.

How to play:

‍Team leaders will choose a topic that will be discussed in subgroups, ideally of two, with an assigned speaker and listener. After the speaker is done, the listener will summarize what they said and subsequently switch roles.

Afterward, the group gets back together to review the process and talk about what it felt like to speak without interruption and what positives came out of that experience. Listeners are also encouraged to give feedback on how it affected them.

Materials you’ll need: Just your team and various seating areas to break them up into groups and a stopwatch/timer.

How many people: Small to large teams (8 to 25+ people)

How to play:

Create a list of safety-related trivia questions covering topics like fire safety, first aid, and workplace hazards. Organize a trivia contest where employees compete individually or in teams to answer the questions. Keep score and offer prizes for the top scorers.

Safety trivia battle turns learning into a competitive and enjoyable experience. It encourages employees to brush up on their safety knowledge and rewards them for their efforts. Trivia is always a crowd-pleaser and can be a great way to break up a training session.

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How to play:

Write down different safety scenarios on slips of paper (e.g., handling a chemical spill, evacuating during a fire). Employees draw a scenario and act it out while others observe and provide feedback.

To build on the last suggestion, why not roleplay the winning scenario? Role-playing allows employees to practice their responses to potential hazards in a realistic yet controlled setting. It encourages active learning and helps identify any gaps in safety protocols. Watching coworkers immerse themselves in their roles can be entertaining.

Boost creativity, spontaneity, and teamwork through engaging improv exercises.

Materials needed:

• A spacious room for movement
• No props required – just the team and their imagination

Instructions on how to play:

1. Gather the team in a comfortable space.
2. Lead the team through various improv exercises, encouraging creativity, quick thinking, and collaboration.
3. Focus on activities that require participants to build on each other's ideas and support one another.
4. Reflect on the experience afterward, discussing how the skills learned can be applied to the workplace.

Why it's a great team building game:

• Think on your feet: Improv sharpens creative thinking and adaptability.
• Team harmony: Encourages teamwork as participants must rely on each other's ideas.
• Fun factor: Injects a dose of laughter and enjoyment into the team dynamic.

Top tip to help the game run smoothly:

• Create a comfortable and non-judgmental environment. The goal is to have fun and build camaraderie, so ensure everyone feels supported and encouraged to participate.

‍How to play:

Provide necessary materials. Encourage team members to create vision boards by cutting out images, words, and phrases that represent their aspirations and goals.

Materials needed: Magazines, scissors, glue, boards or poster paper

Benefits:

• Encouragement and imagination: Encouraging your team members to create vision boards allows them to tap into their imagination and express their aspirations visually. By curating the materials that represent their creative visions, team members gain focus and inspiration for their work.

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" 🚨🧠⚙️⏳

How to play Cookie monster

Who doesn’t love cookies? In this game, each player puts a single cookie on their forehead and tries to get it into their mouth using only their facial muscles - no hands. This is tougher than it looks but leads to a lot of comical moments.

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!

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.

Ready for a question game with communication at its core? Quick, fun, and energizing, Question Game ticks all the right boxes. Here’s how it works:

Working in pairs, players must bounce rapid-fire questions back and forth for as long as possible. If someone hesitates for too long, says something nonsensical, or makes a statement instead of asking a question, they lose!

Here’s what it might sound like:

• “What’s your biggest fear?””
• “Isn’t that too personal for work?”
• “Are you dodging my question?”
• “What do you think?”
• “Why won’t you tell me what you’re scared of?”
• “Why don’t you just guess what my biggest fear is?”
• “Is it spiders?”
• “Does that mean you don’t like spiders?”
• “Are you turning the question on me?”

Another way to play the Question Game is in a group, where everyone takes turns asking the next question in the sequence. If they mess up, they get eliminated! The winner is the last person standing.

Your employees will work in teams to build the most durable boat using nothing but cardboard, sticky tape and their creativity. Whose will travel the furthest before it sinks?

Great for: Teamwork, creative thinking

Duration: 1–2 hours

You’ll need: Cardboard, tape, table tennis rackets

How to play:

• Find a suitable location to perform the boat races, i.e. a pond or swimming pool.
• Divide your group into teams of about 5–6 players, then give each team some sheets of cardboard and a few rolls of tape.
• Set a time limit for the build. Once the time is up, ask each team to present their creations and explain why theirs is best.
• Finally, ask each team to delegate a captain (it’s best to choose somebody small and light).
• Hand each captain a pair of table tennis rackets (this will help them to propel their vessel) and ask them to take their boats to the water’s edge.
• When the starting pistol fires, the captains will scramble into their vessels and paddle as fast as they can while their teammates cheer them on. The team to paddle the furthest wins.

Mix up the usual routine with a community impact day. Instead of the office grind, teams head out to do some good activity - whether that’s cleaning up a park or helping out at a local charity.

Not only does it feel good to give back, but it’s a refreshing break from the usual. Plus, nothing says team bonding like rolling up your sleeves and making a difference together.

How to play:

• Organize teams for a community service project.
• Tackle tasks like clean-ups or volunteering.
• Enjoy the good vibes from making a real impact!

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.

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.

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.

How to play Coat of arms creation

This creative drawing exercise helps everyone get to know each other better. Have each participant draw their own “coat of arms” that is unique to them, representing the characteristics or important accomplishments that make them who they are. When everyone is finished drawing, they should share with the group. For very large groups, it’s more effective to break people into smaller teams for sharing. For added camaraderie, create a coat of arms gallery in your office where everyone can display their creations.

How to play Drinking in the Dark

In this challenge, your taste buds take the lead as you explore a range of flavors while blindfolded. It's a game that tickles your senses and tests your palate's memory. While it might sound light-hearted, it's also a fantastic way to enhance communication, sharpen your sensory perception, and inject a burst of laughter into your team dynamics. Get ready to sip, savor, and speculate your way through a unique and hilarious bonding experience.

Top Tip: Make this a part of your field day games to ensure no spillage in the office!

Like the Elephant list, Stinky Fish is a game that helps teams bring up complex topics before they sit too long and start to stink up the place, like an old fish forgotten in the fridge. This is an excellent game for encouraging sharing and developing a culture of trust in the workplace.

How to play:

‍Give each player a piece of paper with a fish picture on it. Make sure there is enough space inside the fish to write their concerns and issues, as that’s why the fish stinks, after all! Give each participant five to ten minutes to write their problems down.

After everyone has written their answer, bring the group back together and allow them a minute or two to discuss what they wrote down and why.

Materials you’ll need Paper/ a template with a picture of a fish that can be written inside and writing materials.

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

A gratitude board is a physical and visual representation of gratitude, which can be anything from notes about specific moments to vacation photos. The board can be set up in an office as an ongoing reminder of the positive aspects of the workplace and can be an excellent tool for promoting a positive mindset during the workday.

Here are some of the ways to create and maintain a gratitude board:

1. Provide your employees with materials, such as a backboard made of cork or cardboard, paper, writing utensils, pins, and plenty of room for positivity. If you're a remote team, consider a digital board or chat space dedicated to gratitude.
2. Create a list of the things you're grateful for. These can be big or small, from personal achievements in the workplace or something unique. Give employees a chance to write these reflections, or ask them to bring photos or keepsakes that can be placed on the board.
3. Keep up with the board and ask employees to add new items once a week or make updates on professional achievements when they happen.

Gratitude boards can be a simple but effective way to bring employees together and boost morale in the workplace. Regularly engaging with a gratitude board in the workplace can promote work-life balance.

How to play Catch-All

For this group, have everyone stand in a circle and begin with a ball. Share which topic the exercise will be based on, and then let everyone know that they will be stating something they have previously learned about the topic. Then, throw the ball to the next person. If, for instance, your topic is accounting, then when one person has the ball, they might say something like “I learned that most tax issues come down to manual accounting errors.” Then they’ll toss the ball to the next person, who will share another bit of information they know or have learned previously. This makes training a lot more interactive, as everyone gets the chance to contribute and learn from a variety of perspectives.

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.