Library of teambuilding games & icebreakers

Put on your thinking caps for code breakers! Teams are given a series of cryptic riddles and challenges to solve, with each solution leading to the next clue. It’s a mental race to crack the final code and declare victory.

This team-building game is perfect for testing problem-solving skills and teamwork. Plus, there’s nothing like the thrill of solving that final puzzle before the other teams.

How to play:

• Give teams a series of riddles and cryptic challenges to solve.
• Each solution leads to the next clue.
• First team to crack the final code wins!

Another classic game, the javelin toss, was played alongside the discus. It would be impossible to throw a javelin in the office unless you have extraordinarily high ceilings or none at all.

How to play Pencil toss

Use what you have in the office and grab some pencils to create a miniature version of the javelin.

Like rubber band archery, mark a point where you will throw the pencil. Since the pencil will not stick to the ground, you can establish who has thrown it farthest by marking off the point with tape. Alternatively, the game can use a trash can or open container, and see which team can make the most accurate shots.

The Digital Detox Adventure is a refreshing escape from the virtual world, where you'll engage in outdoor activities, games, and team-building exercises that encourage face-to-face interactions. This challenge rekindles genuine connections and highlights the importance of interpersonal skills and effective communication.

Instructions

• Divide participants into teams, ensuring a mix of personalities.
• Plan outdoor activities that require teamwork and communication.
• Engage in games that promote problem-solving and collaboration.
• Reflect on the differences in communication when technology is removed.
• Share your insights on how the digital detox experience impacted your team dynamics.

How to play duct tape three-legged race

The three-legged race is the ultimate teamwork game. Players are taped together by their ankles, using their outer legs and a single middle leg to move as seamlessly as possible to the finish line.

If you have an outdoor area, this is a great place to host this game, as it is best played with enough space to make the race challenging. If you’re playing inside, find the widest open area between the starting and finish points. If you have teams that are larger than two people, you can split up into groups within the same team.

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!

Think of it as a personal space bubble. Respecting boundaries shows you care about colleagues' comfort and that respect creates a smoother vibe in the office.

Respect boundaries activity - "Personal preferences" icebreaker:

• Prepare a list of thought-provoking questions related to work habits, communication styles and personal preferences.
• Gather colleagues in a relaxed setting and facilitate a group discussion by asking the questions.
• Participants take turns sharing their responses, providing insights into their preferences and boundaries.
• Encourage colleagues to actively listen and engage in discussions to better understand each other's perspectives.
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This icebreaker activity promotes open conversations about boundaries and encourages mutual respect.

“Yes, Let’s” is a classic improv game that’s taken straight out of drama class. We like it for a host of reasons! However, one of its main draws in the context of boosting collaboration is that it involves everyone who is present.

Unlike other activities of this nature, the focus is never on a single person – which is ideal for anyone who doesn’t like being the center of attention.

Here’s how to play:

In a large open space, ask everyone present to start walking around the room. Next, shout out a suggestion for something the group should do.

For example, you could yell, “let’s go swimming in an ice-cold lake”, “let’s ski down this mountain”, or “let’s crawl on our bellies through this minefield.” It can be anything you want, but the game works best when it involves movement.

Whatever you suggest, the group has to respond enthusiastically by yelling back, “yes, let’s!” Everyone then does the action in question, moving around the room “swimming”, “skiing”, or “crawling”. After a while, someone else shouts out another action (“let’s cook a feast for our Viking guests”), and the process repeats.

Hilarity ensues as colleagues look around at their teammates doing all manner of crazy movements and mimes! Expect to energize the room, laugh until your belly hurts, and remember the joy of playing.

Furthermore, you’ll reaffirm a key element of collaboration: that there’s no such thing as a bad idea. Creative problem-solving demands a culture of acceptance, where people feel confident about raising their hand to offer a suggestion. “Yes, Let’s” normalizes unexpected ideas, rewards engagement, and stops people from feeling self-conscious. You’re sure to reap the rewards in the office.

Letter game masters will enjoy this one. Wordwheel is a vocabulary game that really gets your brain into gear. Wordwheel relies on quick thinking and seeking the jackpot word. You need to look up some 9-letter words beforehand. These words will be used inside your wordwheel.  

How to Play:

Draw a wheel on the board that has 8 segments on the outside, and one circle in the middle for the 9th key letter. 2 teams need to create as many as possible using the middle letter and any of the others. Set a timer and see how many words your teams come up with. Remember: there is one 9-letter word that’s worth 5 points, so encourage your teams to find this one too!

How to play Value vs. feature

Knowing the difference between a feature and a benefit is essential, especially for more complex offerings like technology or industrial supplies. To begin with, everyone will need to review a document or a matrix that lists features as well as the benefits associated with each (obviously this is something you’ll need to prepare in advance if you don’t already have something like this created). Then, bring your group together for a virtual meeting and run through the different features or benefits. Pick them randomly so there’s no pattern.

After you share one, participants should chime in with whether that was a feature or a benefit. Finally, host a discussion about how easy or difficult the process was, and how people can better differentiate in the future.

Every now and then, differences crop up. Conflict management skills are like the superhero toolkit to sort things out, keeping relationships smooth and stress levels low.

Conflict management skills activity - "Resolution theater":

• Prepare several workplace conflict scenarios with varying levels of complexity.
• Divide participants into small groups and assign each group a scenario to act out.
• Instruct groups to perform a role-play where they present the conflict, pause at critical points and discuss potential resolutions.
• After the role-play, encourage groups to share their proposed resolutions and engage in a constructive dialogue.
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This interactive activity provides a safe space for practicing conflict resolution strategies, sharing insights and learning from different approaches.

Sneak-a-peak is a fabulous game for getting everyone involved. The aim of the game is rapid-fire copying of a Lego structure you make. The only prep needed beforehand is to get your Lego set and have a structure in mind that isn’t too easy to replicate.

Set up:

1. Build a simple structure out of Lego pieces. Something not too easily guessable, and keep it hidden!
2. Split everyone into small teams, with one ‘viewer.’
3. Allow the ‘viewer’ a short time (about 30 seconds) to come and observe your hidden structure.
4. Get them to go back to their teams and describe it, in as much detail as they can.
5. Teams are given a 10-minute timer to build the structure. Once complete, compare each team’s attempts.

Office dynamics can often feel like a puzzle, and effective teamwork is the key to success. Enter "Office Intrigue," a game designed to transform your workplace into an engaging realm of active listening, collaboration, and, of course, a touch of intrigue.

How to play

1. Gather your coworkers in a suitable office space or conference room. The more, the merrier!
2. Divide the participants into two groups: "Employees" and "Intruders." The Intruders are the impostors in your office.
3. Employees receive a list of tasks or projects to complete, while Intruders get a list of tasks to sabotage. Both groups must keep their missions secret.
4. Everyone returns to their desks and starts working. Employees must complete their tasks while Intruders subtly hinder progress without being detected.
5. Employees can call emergency meetings if they suspect sabotage. During these meetings, team members discuss suspicious activities and vote on who they believe the Intruders are.
6. The game continues until the employees successfully complete their tasks or identify all the Intruders.
7. After the game, hold a discussion about the importance of active listening, clear communication, and teamwork in the workplace.

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.

Some of the best improv games for team collaboration are also the simplest. Here’s one that falls into this category, while still helping to a) lighten the mood and b) build the connections that are so fundamental to successful teamwork.

How to play Near and far

Near and Far asks participants to do 3 things:

1. Stay as close as possible to one person of their choice
2. Stay as far as possible from someone else of their choice
3. Stay silent throughout the game

They decide in secret who they’ll be sticking close to and who they’ll be avoiding, then set to work! What follows is a fun and fascinating process of trying to accomplish these 2 competing tasks.

The office becomes an ant’s nest, with employees in constant motion, weaving around the room in a bid to dodge some people and stay next to others.

For example, what happens if Person A has picked Person B to stay close to, but Person B chose them as the employee they have to stay away from? A chase ensues! The fact nobody can talk adds another fun element to proceedings.

Near and Far doesn’t just force teammates to adopt creative systems and behaviors to achieve their goals, but it also opens up interesting conversations about group dynamics. Consider debriefing at the end of the task to see how everyone felt about it. What was it like to have to do both things at once? What were their takeaways?

How to play Growing sentence

In this game, everyone in the room contributes one word to a growing sentence. You can have everyone stand in a group or in a line, as long as everyone can hear each other properly. Pick one word to begin the sentence and have everyone add one more word to keep the sentence going. Have someone write it down on paper or a chalkboard so you can all get a laugh at the final result.

How to play Group order

Start with everyone mingling in a large area, and instruct them to arrange themselves in order of something like height, number of pets, time with your company, etc. This way, everyone can learn something new about each other and the line organization is helpful for team-building. This is a quick game and you can get as creative as you want with it. Try some other get-to-know-you games from our list!

How to play Statue challenge

This game is full of silly fun, but can encourage more observational skills and makes people aware of their colleagues. This game is really ideal for people working in larger open spaces. The first participant that you choose is the “statue” leader. At some point in the day, they’ll freeze - it should be random. As other players notice the “statue” they will also freeze. This continues until there is only one person left, and they lose. This is an entertaining game that also offers a bit of stress relief during busy times, and is great to plan when tensions are high in the office.

Pinball plays on the vulnerability people feel when they’re blindfolded to improve relationships among colleagues. After all, when your sight’s taken away, you have no choice but to rely on others for guidance!

This powerful trust-building exercise takes that concept and turns it into a game.

How to play Pinball

However, unlike the actual pinball machines that you find in old-school arcades, the “pinball” in this scenario is one of your employees…

Wearing a blindfold, they stand in the middle of a circle formed by the rest of the team, getting pushed gently from one person to the other. Whenever they reach someone at the edge of the circle, that individual spins them around and nudges them back across to the other side.

It might sound easy, but the combination of being dizzy and blind puts you in a bizarre and helpless position. It forces you to trust your teammates – to put your fate in their hands. This naturally makes you feel closer to them.

There’s no time limit on this activity. It ends whenever everyone has had a go at being blindfolded!

What you need:

• A blindfold

For this game, players guess words based on context clues. The pyramid is a collection of six words with three on the bottom, two in the center, and one at the top. To win the game, teams need to guess all of the words within the pyramid within the timeframe you set.

To play:

1. Break a large group into smaller teams.
2. Give one player on each team the pyramid.
3. The pyramid-holder should give hints to their teammates to describe each word without using the actual words of the item.
4. When a player guesses correctly, the pyramid-holder will move onto the next word. On the other hand, they can also say “pass” and return to the word later.
5. Every correct guess is worth a point.

Before you set the time limit, think about the difficulty of the words you chose. A good rule of thumb is 30 seconds per word (which is 3 minutes total), but you can add or take away time as necessary. This can be a fun group activity, too.

How to play Blind Volleyball

Volleyball’s always fun to play with friends. However, this version of the game adds a memorable twist that makes it even better! Rather than playing with an ordinary net you can see through, you place a cover over the top that stops you from seeing the team on the other side.

This simple change completely alters the volleyball experience! It becomes something like Battleships. You have to guess where the opposition is so you can place the ball where you hope they aren’t. In essence, you’re playing blind.

Assuming you can find a volleyball net and ball, this Field Day game for adults is nice and easy to organize as well. The rules are exactly the same as normal, other than the cover you’ll put over the net (an old bed sheet does the trick nicely). Just be conscious of hitting the ball too hard! You don’t know where people are on the court, so smashing it over the net is asking for trouble.

How to play Birth map?

There’s a lot of value in knowing where people come from. This is especially true if your organization has several offices or a hybrid workforce that is scattered. For this exercise, have a facilitator place a large map in front of the room. Have plenty of pins available and have each person come up one at a time to place a pin on the city where they were born. If you want to expand the exercise into a dialogue, try asking some follow up questions like “Whose birthplace surprised you most?”. You can also leave the map up during the rest of the day as an interesting conversation starter.

Keep your team moving with healthy hustle challenge! Teams work together on daily wellness goals—whether it’s step counts, hydration, or stretching breaks—and track their progress in a shared spreadsheet. It's a fun way to keep each other accountable and celebrate small wins.

This challenge is a great motivator to stay healthy while working remotely, with a little team spirit and friendly competition sprinkled in.

How to play:

• Set daily wellness goals (e.g., steps, hydration, or workouts).
• Teams track their progress in a shared spreadsheet.
• Celebrate the team with the best overall progress at the end!

Discover more fun team-building ideas to keep your team energized and engaged in our full guide.

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

How to play Treasure mountain

Treasure Mountain can be played with teams of 4-6 people, a team captain is chosen to enter the game and share his/her screen with the rest of their team. The teams then race against the clock, completing challenges and solving riddles in the pursuit of gold.