Library of teambuilding games & icebreakers

In this classic family game, players compete by listing down words that start with the same letter. Make a sales-training version where you can hone more business development skills. You’ll need a letter spinning wheel, pens, and paper.

Here are the instructions to play:

1. Make a table with products in a row and characteristics in one column. Some good characteristic ideas include product features, benefits, and disadvantages.
2. Have several players spin the wheel and then mention products or services that start with the selected letter.
3. Give players a few minutes to fill in the categories.
4. Host a discussion about the importance of product features in closing a sale.

You know that friend who's always got your back? Consistency is like that—being reliable, so colleagues know they can count on you. It's the secret ingredient for building trust and teamwork.

Consistency activity - Recognition raffle:

• Establish a recognition program that rewards consistent behaviors and contributions.
• Introduce a system where colleagues can earn tickets or tokens for displaying consistent positive actions, such as punctuality, collaboration, or going the extra mile.
• Collect the earned tickets and hold regular raffle drawings where participants have a chance to win small rewards or incentives.
• Celebrate the winners and highlight their consistent efforts to reinforce a culture of reliability and teamwork.
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This activity motivates colleagues to maintain a high standard of performance and contributes to a harmonious and supportive work environment.

How to play Timeline creation

A collaborative creation is a great way to help teams to bond, and the bonus is that you get something to display and remind your employees of a fun day and group effort. Start by rolling out a large white scroll of paper in a big space or outdoors. Provide plenty of drawing materials and ask the team to work together to create a timeline of the company. In this way, employees will share important milestones that they know about the company - and newer staff will learn them. It’s a great facilitator of discussion around what makes your organization great.

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.

Time to test your team's agility with relay rampage! Teams compete in an obstacle course, with each member racing to complete a section before passing the baton. It’s part speed, part strategy, and all fun.

Expect a lot of cheering, and probably a few stumbles, but that’s what makes it hilarious. This is perfect for building energy and teamwork with a side of competition.

How to play:

• Set up an obstacle course with different sections.
• Each team member completes their section before tagging the next.
• First team to finish the entire course wins!

This activity tests the strength of every link in the chain. In paperclip chain relay, teams compete to craft the longest paperclip chain within a time limit.

‍Set up:

1. Split everyone into teams of 4 to 6. Enough brains to brainstorm, but not too many cooks to spoil the broth.
2. Hand out equal piles of paper clips to each team. Ready, set, clip!
3. Decide on a time limit. 5 to 10 minutes should do the trick. Start your timer and keep it viewable.
4. Roam the room and cheer teams on as they make the longest chain possible. When time’s up, measure each chain to find the longest.

Making a game out of training is a great way to get people more excited about the subject matter. And which game is better than Jeopardy? A quiz show format is an innovative way to introduce new material and understand how much your team has absorbed.

Here is how we suggest you play:

1. Find a Jeopardy template online using a site like Jeopardy Labs.
2. You’ll need five categories for questions related to your company. It’s best to stick with your company’s offerings or information like the organization’s mission, customer demographic, or latest marketing campaigns.
3. Use the premade questions from the online resource or come up with your own questions and answers. Make sure you’re able to share the screen with all your participants.
4. If you’re using a group format, let people discuss and share answers.
5. Proceed to gather everyone in a large space with a smart screen and ensure everyone can see, then divide people into either small groups (or individuals if the group is already small).

Our final minute-to-win-it cup game is a hilarious way to round off the list. It also takes a steady hand and a surprising amount of patience! You’ll need a few rolls of toilet paper, some cups and refillable water. Here’s how to play:

Set-up:

1. Prepare your contestants: Each player should be given 1 roll of toilet tissue. At the end of a long table, place one cup per contestant. Fill the cups up (it shouldn’t be too heavy, as the paper will rip). Under the filled cups, place the end of the toilet tissue roll, and let the toilet tissue unravel all the way to the other end of the table.

2. Wind the cup towards you: On your mark, each player then carefully rerolls the toilet tissue, slowly dragging the filled cup toward them. Things can get really fun when a player is losing halfway through the race. They start to panic and speed up the rolling process. This often causes a bit of spillage, tearing the paper. When that happens, they need to clear up and reset their roll.

This super simple game is a barrel of laughs, so try it out with your teams today. It’ll bring team members closer together and keep everyone on a roll!

How to play Six word memoir

This is a common exercise in college English classes, but it involves a lot of creativity and brainpower. Ask people to boil their lives down into six words only. For example, one of the most impactful memoirs we have seen said “The broken bird flies through fog.” This person was sharing - without really disclosing details - that they had overcome some struggles and were proud of their ability to persevere. Give people time to put some real thought into this exercise and it’s sure to be something that stays with them long after the meeting.

How to play Marketing charades

Charades can be fun and helpful in almost any scenario, and business is no different! For this version, divide the team into two groups. Then have each group get a product, slogan, or promotional tactic to act out, while the other team guesses it.

You can focus on products from your company or overall marketing concepts like social media. Keep in mind: the more vague the idea, the harder it will be to act out! You may want to use a charades generator found online to help come up with unique ideas.

How to play Jenga Questions

Ideal for small groups, this simple game involves taking Jenga blocks, writing a question on each one, and then setting up the Jenga tower as usual. You then take turns pulling out a block and answering whatever question’s on it.

The questions themselves can be totally random, work-related, or tailored to your interests. For larger teams, consider splitting up into smaller groups first and assigning a Jenga tower to each one.

How to play Recall quiz (at the end of an event)

How about a little icebreaker to wrap things up? Most icebreakers are at the beginning, but with longer events, we suggest interspersing them throughout - including the end. Have everyone go around the room and share their biggest takeaway from the day. Or, have a list of quiz-style questions that you ask everyone and see who can remember the most answers. Recall is an important part of memory, so this is a great time to reiterate the concepts that you really want people to take away.

Oh, Scattergories - that hilarious game that always leaves you scratching your head and laughing until your sides hurt. But did you know that this party favorite can be used in the office setting too?

How to play:

1. Choose a category and a letter.
2. Set a time limit for players to come up with answers.
3. Each player writes down as many answers as possible starting with the chosen letter.
4. Compare answers and eliminate any duplicates or invalid answers.
5. Award points for unique and valid answers. Repeat with a new category and letter.

Not only is Scattergories great for building team chemistry and boosting morale, but it's also a sneaky way to get everyone thinking outside the box and flexing their problem-solving muscles. So the next time you're stuck in a meeting that feels like a snooze-fest, bring out the Scattergories and watch the magic happen!

How to play Group Art Project

If you want to be a little more active and collaborative, try coordinating an art project like a mosaic for the group. An activity like this can cater to people who are more introverted and not naturally chatty.

First, provide everyone with a workspace and the proper materials. Choose different mediums like paper, paint, magazines, glass pieces, or even computer graphics you printed. Come up with some guidelines such as “draw a team crest” or “come up with a goal for your team”. Then set a timer for a specific amount of time and let everyone create their art! You can have everyone do this as a large group or break people into smaller groups. If there are smaller groups, allow everyone to show off their creation to the larger group. If you need more ideas for icebreakers for introverts, check out our past post.

How to play What would you do?

Another classic icebreaker, this game involves coming up with some scenarios that require brain power to address. Here are some prompts you can use with your group:

• What would you do if you were at the zoo and all the animals escaped?
• What would you do if you were the first person to find out about an upcoming zombie apocalypse?
• What would you do if you were in line for a really important item, and a person cut in front of you, getting the last item?
• What would you do if you were invited for dinner at the home of someone you really needed to impress, and the food was terrible?
• What would you do if an imposter that looks and acts just like you infiltrated your organization? How can you convince everyone that you’re the “real” you?

How to play Budget balance

For all the math geeks out there! Give each participant a word problem describing an individual’s income and spending habits, such as regular bills and discretionary spending. Does the imaginary individual have a balanced budget? Or perhaps they have a serious spending problem. Who can figure it out first? This is a fun little math competition that can be done independently. Make sure to provide calculators.

You might have seen companies using the “Caption This” game as a way of driving engagement on their social media feeds. Interestingly, it also works well as a team-building activity because it’s fun, collaborative and creative.

Great for: Creative thinking, collaboration

Duration: 5 minutes

Players: 4+

You’ll need: Various funny/thought-provoking images

How to play Caption This

Setup: Compile various images in a folder on your computer or print them out.

To play: Divide your group into teams or pairs and show them one of the images. Then, give them a few minutes to think of a suitable or funny caption for the image. When the time runs out, ask the groups, one by one, to present their caption. Groups can then vote for the caption they liked the most!

This team-building activity allows individuals to express themselves playfully and creatively. It’s an excellent game for helping team members get to know one another more intimately. It would be well suited for an onboarding exercise or bringing together teams that typically work remotely.

How to play:

‍Split up into small teams and give each participant a piece of paper and drawing materials. Have them fold their paper into four sections and spend five to ten minutes drawing their responses to four questions. Questions can be personal or related to a workplace topic, such as “What do I expect from my team” or “What do I see in my professional future.”

After players finish drawing their responses, have them regroup with their team and discuss their visual answers.

Materials you’ll need: Paper and makers, general art supplies. Tables and chairs for drawing surfaces

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

How to play Kiss, Marry, Kill

Looking for a quick and funny way to start a meeting? Try Kiss Marry Kill. A perennial crowd-pleaser, this question game involves choosing which of three people you’d rather kiss, marry, or – you guessed it – kill.

They can be fictional (e.g. characters from well-known movies) or real (e.g. singers, sports stars, or people in the office) and you take turns presenting three names for the other players to choose from. Expect light-hearted debate to rage as each participant justifies who they’re kissing, marrying, or killing!

If you want to make this game slightly more PC, then consider the alternative: “Kiss, Marry, Avoid.” The process is the same, just with slightly less offensive language.

You may have played Word Association to pass the time on long journies. Well, funnily enough, it also works brilliantly as a quick team-building game!

Great for: Quick thinking, communication

Duration: 5 minutes

Players: 4+

You’ll need: Nothing

How to play Word Association

Setup: Position your group in a circle facing inwards. Players can be sitting or standing.

To play: To start the game, somebody starts with a one-word prompt. Then, play moves around the circle as each player replies with a word they strongly associate with the previous word. For example, if player one starts with the word “tree,” player two might say “leaves” and player three might follow up with “autumn.” Play moves around the circle until the time runs out.

How to play Pin the tail on…

Return to your childhood birthday with a “pin the tail on” game. You can buy a set from a party store or online, or you can make up your own game with your own visuals. Some people print a large photo of a coworker and have that as the game piece. For example, if your boss always drinks Diet Coke, maybe you have a life-size image of her and participants should try to pin the beverage into her hand. As a refresher, the game involves having participants approach the game, one at a time, to be blindfolded and spun around. Then, they attempt to pin an accessory to the larger picture. It’s usually good for some laughs to see where everyone’s pins ended up.

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!

How to host Company quiz

Who knows the most about your organization? Come up with a quiz to find out. Put together a fun list of questions based on company mission, values, history, and staff. Grade the quizzes and the employee with the highest score wins. If you want to up the ante, have every team member write a question about themselves to incorporate into the quiz. Have them make it as challenging as possible!

This game is a bit random but great fun. Each player takes a turn thinking of a specific ‘thing’.

How to play Tree or Bob Ross?

The other players must then figure out what that ‘thing’ is by asking comparative questions like, “Is it more like… or…?” Traditionally, the first question is always, “Is it more like a tree, or Bob Ross?” Play continues with similar comparative questions until the guessing team has successfully identified the ‘thing’.