Library of teambuilding games & icebreakers

How to play the super story

This is another game focused on group wordplay, and one that can be done virtually as well as in person. It’s also really fun, so a great exercise for boosting team morale. To begin, let each person know they’ll take a turn as the story-teller. They should grab an object around them - like a pen or pad of paper - and spend one minute telling the most exaggerated story they can come up with around the object.

For example, if their object is a pen, they might talk about how this was the pen used to sign a deal for the most famous athlete in their city. It’s also a game that puts people on the spot and makes them come up with something under pressure, so it’s an especially helpful activity for management level team members.

This game is a fun, chatty way to level up those conflict resolution skills. Let's dive into those scenarios, chat it out, and become conflict-solving pros!

Materials needed

• Conflict scenario cards (These are your secret weapons. You'll need to whip them up beforehand.)
• Some comfy chairs or a chill seating arrangement
• Optionally, someone to guide the game, like a facilitator or moderator

Instructions

1. First things first, create a set of scenario cards. Each one should tell a little story about a workplace conflict. Think of disagreements between team members, tricky client situations, or head-butting with colleagues.
2. Gather your gang in small groups. Aim for about 4-6 folks per group. But if you've got a cozy team, you can play all together as one big, happy crew.
3. Pass out those scenario cards, but keep 'em face down for now. The suspense is half the fun!
4. Once everyone's got a card, tell 'em to take a peek and read it solo. Each card gives a little story about a conflict situation – who's involved, what's going on, and why things are heated.
5. Now, it's time to dive into the drama. Get your group to chat about the scenario. Here's what they should tackle:
   

• What's causing this mess?
• What could be the reasons behind the conflict?
• How can we fix it in a positive, productive way?
• Are there different angles to consider?

6. After giving 'em some time to hash it out (about 10-15 minutes), ask each group to spill the beans. Share what you discussed – the insights, strategies, and solutions you came up with.
7. After tackling a bunch of scenarios, bring everyone together for a debrief session. Chat about common themes, what worked, and any challenges that popped up. Ask your crew to think about what they've learned.

How to play Paper boat race

If you are able to visit a location by water, you can try this really fun activity. In this fun and creative exercise, participants build a small boat with paper (and other supplies) and then race them in a small body of water like a pond or stream. The boats are usually made by folding paper into a boat shape, but you can also try offering cardboard, balloons, popsicle sticks, or other crafty materials.

You’ll also want to supply materials for decorating so that everyone can really have their creation stand out. Obviously the person who reaches the finish line first is the winner, but you can offer a few other prizes just for fun, like most beautiful boat or best effort. Make sure to check out our article on other creativity and innovation games, too.

How to play You teach me

Everyone learns differently and has unique perspectives on things. There can be a lot of value in hearing and understanding these perspectives from other people. For this exercise, you’ll need to divide people into small groups of no more than 5. Give them all of the training materials and notes you have for the training, and instruct them to work together to come up with their own presentation. Their goal is to cover the material for everyone else present, as if they were the teacher. Teaching others is actually a powerful form of processing knowledge, and having a different perspective will help attendees to learn the material more thoroughly.

In What's My Name?, team members use clues to help a participant guess the famous person's name on their forehead.

Instructions on how to play:

1. Write the name of a famous person on a Post-it note for each participant without letting them see it.
2. Place the Post-it note on each participant's forehead.
3. Team members provide verbal clues without saying the actual name, helping each participant guess who they are.
4. Rotate turns until everyone has guessed their famous persona.

Why it's a great team building game:

• Communication and collaboration: Encourages effective communication and collaboration in providing clues.
• Fun and engagement: Adds an element of excitement as participants try to decipher the clues and guess the famous person.
• Icebreaker: Facilitates conversation and laughter in a light-hearted setting.

Top tip to help the game run smoothly: Choose a diverse list of famous people to cater to different interests within the team. Encourage creativity in providing clues and celebrate the humor that arises from the game.

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How to play Limbo Contest

Instructions: Set up a limbo pole using a long stick or pole. Participants take turns attempting to pass under the pole by leaning backward without touching it. Gradually lower the pole after each round. The person who can go the lowest without touching the pole wins.

Materials needed: Limbo pole or stick.

Limbo Contest adds a fun and interactive element to the picnic. It encourages flexibility, balance, and friendly competition. It creates an atmosphere of excitement and laughter, bringing joy to both participants and spectators.

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 activity 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!

Strengthen team bonds by visually representing shared memories and achievements.

Materials needed:

• Large sheets of paper or a designated wall space
• Markers, colored pens, and any decorative materials

Instructions on how to play:

1. Assign each team the task of creating a visual representation of their shared memories and achievements on a wall or large sheets of paper.
2. Encourage creativity in showcasing significant moments, accomplishments, and team milestones.
3. After completion, each team presents their Memory Wall to the entire group, sharing stories and reflections.

Why it's a great team building game:

• Memory lane stroll: Encourages reflection on shared experiences, fostering a sense of nostalgia and unity.
• Visual storytelling: Promotes creativity and collaboration in visually expressing the team's journey.
• Celebration of success: Recognizes and celebrates achievements, boosting team morale.

Top tip to help the game run smoothly: Provide a variety of materials to spark creativity. Encourage teams to use drawings, quotes, or any artistic elements that resonate with the memories they want to capture.

Explore more office team building activities to strengthen connection and morale within your workplace.

Imagine a team that rolls with the punches. That's adaptability—being cool with change and helping colleagues navigate the twists and turns of work life.

Adaptability activity - "Change challenge" brainstorm:

• Present a hypothetical or real work-related change that the team might face in the future.
• Divide participants into groups and provide them with markers, flip charts, or whiteboards.
• Instruct each group to brainstorm creative ways to embrace and adapt to the change, focusing on positive outcomes.
• Encourage groups to discuss their ideas and strategies for effectively navigating the proposed change.
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This brainstorming activity enhances adaptability skills, encourages innovative thinking and promotes a proactive approach to change management.

How to play Bananagrams

A fast-paced board game, this is one you’ll need to purchase in advance. When you have the game in hand, distribute the letter tiles among the players. Every player will flip their tiles and start forming a crossword grid of intersecting words.

Players can rearrange their grid at any time to make new words. Once a player uses all their tiles, they can shout "Peel!" and everyone has to draw an additional tile. The game goes on until there are fewer tiles than players, and the first player to use all their tiles - shouting  "Bananas!" - wins the game.

Want an easy exercise that only takes a few minutes to complete? Well, running free could be perfect. Quick yet effective, it’s a surprisingly powerful way to bring employees closer together, evoke feelings of excitement and elation, and get them to trust each other better in the process.

How to play Running free

To do it, you should go somewhere spacious and outside – like a park, large garden, or playing field. Then divide everyone into pairs, asking one member of each to wear a blindfold. Next comes the fun bit:

Instruct each pair to hold hands and start walking, then jogging, then running, and finally sprinting, with the sighted person leading the way each time! When that’s done, they swap the blindfold and repeat the process.

It’s surprising how much trust you have to put in the person leading you. Expect giggles, squeals, and nervous delight from the get-go!

However, you should always make sure people are fit, healthy, physically able, and willing to do this activity first. The last thing you want is for someone to get injured or feel excluded because they have mobility issues.

What you need:

• Blindfolds

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.

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 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!

Explanation:

‍Teams bid on fictional items by describing them in the most creative way possible. Whether it’s a "self-warming office chair" or a "never-ending snack drawer," the challenge is to sell these imaginary products with over-the-top descriptions.

In-office and remote teams come together to craft the most outlandish descriptions for fictional items. Remote workers might create wild product ideas (think: an "anti-gravity backpack" or "teleporting coffee") and in-office teams will take turns describing why their made-up product is the best one. The fun lies in the creativity and the bizarre backstories teams come up with to "sell" their imaginary items. The best (or most hilarious) pitch wins the auction, and everyone has a good laugh at the absurdity.

How to play:

Gather musical instruments or use online platforms for virtual collaboration. Start with a simple melody or rhythm. Allow each team member to add their unique musical contribution to create a collaborative piece.

Materials needed: Musical instruments or virtual collaboration platforms

Benefits:

• Celebration of diversity: Let the rhythms of diversity fill the air! Embrace the unique musical backgrounds and influences of your team members as they unite to create a harmonious and vibrant musical piece. Like a global fusion of melodies, it celebrates the richness of individual perspectives, fostering an inclusive and creatively harmonious work environment.

21 Questions is the perfect game for passing the time, learning more about each other, and exercising critical thinking skills. Here’s how it works:

One person in the group thinks of an individual (e.g. a celebrity), a place, an animal, or an object. Then everyone else takes turns asking “yes/no” questions to work out what it is! The aim of the game is to work together to find the answer as quickly as possible. If they don’t succeed within 21 questions, they lose.

Here’s an example where Player One is thinking of an elephant:

• Player Two: “Is it an animal?”
• Player One: “Yes.”
• Player Three: “Does it fly?”
• Player One: “No.”
• Player Four: “Is it a large animal?”
• Player One: “Yes.”
• Player Two: “Does it live in Africa?”
• Player One: “Yes.”
• Player Three: “Is it a giraffe?”
• Player One: “No.”
• Player Four: “Is it an elephant?”
• Player One: “Yes.”

They’d then swap roles, with Player Four (i.e. the person who guessed the answer) thinking of something for everyone else to guess.

How to play Pirate ship exercise

This icebreaker is a unique way to learn everyone’s different perceptions and what they bring to the table. Start by drawing a large pirate ship on a chalk or white board. Then go around the room and have each person describe who they would be on the ship, and why. For example, someone might say they would be the cook, because they love to provide for others.

Someone else might say they would be the first mate, because they like to be in charge without being an authority figure. This is a fun way to learn about how people see themselves, which can help you to work with them better in the future.

You might be surprised how many workforces enjoy a game of chess!

How to play online chess club

Creating an online chess club is easy and free. Schedule regular games throughout the year and reward the winner with a small prize like a voucher or cash bonus - monetary rewards are a great incentive for driving online social interaction.

How to play One-word icebreaker

This is a perfect exercise for kicking off a specific event or meeting. You need a group of 4 or 5 people, or to break larger groups into teams of that size. The goal is to have everyone describe their feelings on the event that is about to take place using only one word. Give them a few minutes and then go around the room having everyone state their word, like “excited”, “nervous”, or “curious”.

This game is all about learning how to be effective mediators in workplace conflicts. You'll step into the shoes of both conflicting parties and a mediator, guiding them to a resolution. By practicing these skills in a safe and controlled environment, your team can become more proficient at helping others resolve conflicts constructively. Get ready to guide parties toward peaceful resolutions!

Materials needed:

• A list of workplace conflict scenarios (create these in advance)
• Chairs or a comfortable seating arrangement
• A designated mediator for each scenario (can be a participant or a facilitator)
• An open and respectful atmosphere

Instructions:

1. Find a quiet and comfortable space where everyone can sit and discuss without interruptions.
   
2. Before the game, prepare a list of workplace conflict scenarios. These should be varied and relevant to your workplace. Include details about the parties involved, the issues at hand, and the context.
3. For each scenario, assign roles to participants. You'll need two parties in conflict (Party A and Party B) and one mediator (the Mediator).
4. Briefly explain how the game works. The two conflicting parties will act out their roles while the mediator will facilitate the discussion. The goal is to reach a resolution through communication and compromise.
5. Choose one of the conflict scenarios and have the participants take on their assigned roles. Encourage them to fully immerse themselves in their characters.
6. The mediator guides the conversation by asking open-ended questions and encouraging active listening. They should help the parties express their concerns, clarify misunderstandings, and explore potential solutions.
7. The mediator's role is to facilitate a productive dialogue and help the parties come to a resolution. This may require suggesting compromises or alternative solutions.
8. After the simulation, have a discussion with the participants.

How to play Penguins and flamingos

This activity captures the magic of youth and gives everyone a chance to stretch their legs. One player acts as a flamingo and then everyone else is a penguin. Their goal is to “peck” one person on the head and make them a flamingo. The last person to remain a penguin wins!

How to play Coworker trivia

Similar to the quiz idea, team trivia is a great way for colleagues to get to know each other better. This can be a lot of fun for groups that are often disjointed. It’s easy to find online trivia games for free, or you can use an online quiz maker to put one together. Or, you can have colleagues submit their own questions based on topics that you shared in advance. You can also include virtual team members easily as well.

Here’s a simple game that always goes down well with small groups – especially when it’s a new team that’s still getting to know each other. FYI, Magic box also works well when you need an improv game that’s less daunting or full-on.

How to play Magic box

To play, you’ll first have to assemble a box full of random objects. It doesn’t matter what goes inside! The stranger and more varied, the better. Candy bars, coffee cups, plants, pictures, water bottles, business cards, books…you name it.

With your box ready, the fun can start. Each person sits in a circle and takes turns picking out an item. They then have to tell the group something about themselves that relates to that object.

The trick is to do it without overthinking. Heck, this is improv! They can make something up entirely if they want to. Play it that way and the group could then try to figure out whether it was a true story or not. Bonus points if whoever’s telling the story can link it to a central topic or theme of the workshop.

Whatever version of this game you play demands quick thinking and creativity from participants. It can also showcase their personalities and help the team learn more about each other, becoming a closer group as a result.

As an aside, Magic Box can also be played by remote teams. All you need is a virtual box of items (a web tool like this can be helpful) that people select at random. We’ll go through more examples of remote improv games later.