There are many great ideas for games to play at work, whether it is for team building, bonding or mental stimulation. It makes sense to encourage employees to have fun at work. We’ve compiled a list of the best indoor games on the internet and included brief explanations as to why each one could be a good game to share with colleagues at work.
The good news is that there are some games you can play remotely. Many of these games are easily adaptable to be played remotely, and many of them cost nothing!
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Great ideas for sports and physical activity with coworkers
Encourage your employees to exercise as often as possible. This is not only important, but it can also encourage healthy competition which can help motivate your employees to do better at their jobs. These are some ways to make physical and sports activities an integral part of your workplace.
1 – Team Sports Tournament
A sports tournament between teams can be a great way for healthy competition and to get the blood pumping. This could be a one-day event that you book, or it might be something you prefer to do over several lunch breaks, weekends, or other times.
Tournaments are a great way to play outdoor or field sports, such as soccer, volleyball, or extreme frisbee. If you don’t have enough space, you might consider playing a smaller sport indoors.
2 – Team Sports Challenge
A great alternative to organising a competition among teams is to organize a challenge between businesses and organisations. Although this might not be the best idea for everyone, it may work if you are in an area with many businesses.
We believe that organising a business challenge can be a great way to encourage team spirit and bring people closer together. It promotes a healthy attitude of teamwork to defeat a common enemy. Anyone who doesn’t want or need to play will enjoy watching and cheering on their own team.
3 – Ping Pong
The classic indoor game of ping pong (or table tennis) is great for offices. Small portable ping pong tables will not take a lot of space. You only need a little space and you get a great workout.
We have found that ping pong can get quite heated between players.
You’ll also need to ensure that your staff has plenty of balls and bats. They can break so be sure to have enough.
4 – Run-Around (ping pong variation)
A pingpong table is great for work. If you’re looking to play with multiple people, you can have a large game of run-around. This game is best played with 8-8 people but it can also be played with 4-15.
A game of run-around is played in a circle. Everyone holds a bat and stands around the table. Two players will begin at the opposite end of the table. One will serve the ball to another. Each player will hit the ball and begin moving to the next table. The player in front of them will return the shot.
Every time a player misses an attempt, they are removed from the game until there are only 2 remaining. These joint winners can be declared or a play-off held to determine the champion.
This game will exhaust your team and make you laugh.
5 – Foosball
Foosball tables are a great alternative to traditional sport and offer a gentler, smaller game that takes up less space. It isn’t very physically demanding, but it can be used by 2-8 people at once.
6 – Yoga
Although yoga isn’t a sport, it’s not as relaxing as you might think. A one-hour yoga session will likely produce enough sweat to fill a bucket. You didn’t have to know this.
Yoga can help you and your team to focus your minds and bodies. Yoga can help you improve your concentration and energy levels. It also helps you maintain the physical health of your employees.
You can bring in a yoga instructor to teach classes once per week if you have the funds.
Games to break the ice and build bonds
These games are great for helping old colleagues or new colleagues. To get to know one another better. These games are lighthearted and fun. Your employees will feel like they have learned something about their coworkers. These games can be easily adapted to remote work environments.
7 – Guess That Baby
Guess That Baby is a game where all the players bring in a photo of themselves as a child. The goal is simple: coworkers will go through all the baby photos and try to figure out who each one belongs to.
This game is fun and encourages positive conversation. It also opens up the possibility for colleagues to learn more about their childhoods.
This game can also be played remotely. You just need to jump on a video conference with your friends – remember to ask everyone to send in their pictures in advance so they can be placed somewhere neutral like the organizer’s screen.
8 – Heads up
Heads Up, a free iPhone and Android app by Ellen DeGeneres, was created by the celebrity Ellen DeGeneres. It’s even featured on Ellen DeGeneres’ show!
Although Heads Up was intended to be a party game, it can also be used as an icebreaker between coworkers. The phone is placed on your head and a word appears. Your colleagues will soon be frantically trying to identify celebrities and animals by pointing out, singing or using silly accents to try to communicate the word.
This has been done via videolink, as well. The game is more fun if everyone can play together in one room.
9 – Spaceteam
Spaceteam is one of the most wild collaboration games we have ever seen on a mobile application. This is the game you should play if you enjoy shouting at your coworkers and working together to keep alive.
You’d see a bunch of people staring at their phones while playing Spaceteam. The only difference is that they would shout bizarre things like “Honk Space Horn” or “Set Chemical Quartz to 2”. They would also occasionally tilt their phones or shake them all at once – they are working together to avoid certain death.
It sounds chaotic and confusing, but it’s not. It’s clear that you are all trying to save your spaceship, but each of you have different control over the craft. Nobody knows which control is what. Meanwhile, instructions fly on random people’s phones, telling them what settings they need to adjust and what buttons to press. They then shout it out to the rest of their group in the hope they will hear it and prevent a fatal accident.
It can get noisy. It can get a bit stressful. The adrenaline can get high. It is an enjoyable game that can help you and your coworkers learn how to communicate under pressure.
10 – Psych!
Another Ellen DeGeneres game, Psych! It is a game that involves communication, bluffing and social togetherness, regardless of where you are located.
Download the app and give the passcode to the game to all players. All players will be presented with a question to answer on their phones. It could be to create a bizarre State law that none of the players knew existed… or to answer questions about someone else, such as “If Margaret were an ice cream maker, what flavor would she choose?”
Psych! is a great way to learn about your coworkers, while also inventing crazy answers and voting for your favourites.
11 – Five – Two Truths, and a Lies
A game of Two Truths and a Lie requires that each player picks two truths about himself and then creates a lie. This game allows players to guess which lie they are telling. It can be very fun!
This game not only encourages you to be creative with the statements that you select, but it also allows you to discover interesting facts about your coworkers.
12 – Who am I?
This game is similar to the Heads Up game, where players stick the celebrity’s name on their heads. They don’t know what name they have on themselves.
But, unlike Heads Up which is turn-based and a game of Who Am I, all players will be walking around asking questions about the character on the head. The questions cannot be answered except with a “yes or no”. For example, “am I a comedian?”.
This is a fun way to get people mixing quickly, and it produces some hilarious results.
13 – Never Have I Ever
A game called Never Have I Ever, which is all about digging into the pasts of others, is another game. It is usually played at parties and often involves alcohol. You might need to establish some house rules before you get too wild. This game can be an excellent icebreaker for new colleagues, helping them to get to know each other better.
This is how we play it in the office. We divide a space into 2 areas. Everyone will stand in one area and the first person to speak will tell what they have never done. One example is “I have never played golf with my mom.” They will then stand in the opposite area and invite anyone who hasn’t played with their mom to join them. Everyone who is left in the original area has played golf with their mom.
This game allows you to quickly discover interesting bits of information about your coworkers. We think it’s a great choice to add to our list of games to do at work.
Games that encourage teamwork
These games were created to help your employees learn how to work together better. They’re also super fun! We’ve actually tried many of them ourselves!
14 – Human Snakes
You must divide your team into equal-sized teams in order to play Human Snakes. There are no restrictions on how many teams you can create. However, we recommend that you have at least 6 people per team. Soon you’ll see why.
Each team must stand in a straight line with their hands on each other’s shoulders. Everyone in the line must have their eyes closed, except the person at the back. The next step is to ask each team member to navigate an obstacle course while being led by the person at their back.
Navigation should be limited to a simple tap on the shoulder, left for left, right or right – which is then transmitted up the chain. This will help the back person to be more efficient with timing and coordination, and it will also teach the rest of team members how to trust each other.
15 – Balloon Race
Similar to the Human Snakes game you will need to divide your group into two teams. Each team will be standing in a line.
Each person must place a balloon between them. They should hold it in place using only their hands. Each team will attempt to navigate an obstacle course or run a race with the balloons between their chests and backs.
It’s fun to race with all the teams simultaneously. If you don’t have enough space, you can use a stopwatch for scoring points.
16 – Bridge Building
If your teams don’t have the right insurance, it is best to avoid them building actual bridges. You can still get your teams to work together to make a small bridge using items such as paper, glue and old bottles.
This can be done in any way you want, but we prefer to place two markers a few feet apart. From one marker to another, the bridge must be standing alone. The prize goes to the bridge that can support the greatest weight without collapsing.
You have thought of a prize.
17 – Egg Drop
Similar to Bridge Building, you will need to get your teams together to build a structure. The goal of this game is to have the device hold a raw egg. It can be dropped from a height, but it must remain intact.
We have found that many of these inventions are quite bizarre and don’t always work. If multiple inventions prevent the egg from breaking, the winner should be that team that has the heaviest device.
18 – Broken Telephone
This game is also known as “Chinese Whispers” in the UK. We prefer Broken Telephone, the American version of this game.
This is a favorite game to play at work because it encourages careful communication and sometimes can lead to some hilarious results.
Everyone should stand in a line or in a circle. You can give them a sentence, or the starting player must come up with a brief sentence. The starting player must then whisper the sentence into the earpiece of the person to their left. The message will continue to travel along the “telephone line” until it reaches its destination.
The last player must say the sentence that was whispered to them. If your team fails to communicate one message, don’t worry. Laughter is the best medicine.
19 – Artist in Dark
Another great game for encouraging communication among team members is this one. There are many versions of this game. We like the one that splits your group into two.
Each pair should sit back-to-back. One person should take a photo and the other one should draw a sketch on paper. Next, ask the person who has the picture to describe the image to their partner. They must then attempt to draw a copy of the picture as best they can.
Pictures don’t always look the way they are supposed to. Some might surprise you. Your team members will learn to communicate better in this way.
You can play games during breaks at work
Some games can be used to build team spirit and bond the team. Break time can be a great opportunity to recharge and prepare for the next half-hour of your shift.
We have chosen to include some of our favorite tabletop games that can be played in less than an hour. These games are best played in person. However, we will include links to online versions of some of our favourite tabletop games for those who work remotely.
20 – Chess
The most widely-played two-player board game is chess. It’s a great way of passing the time and it also helps you to develop skills like strategic planning, forward-thinking, and other advanced thinking.
Chess can be played online, either against a friend or against someone else, just like many other board games. If you are working remotely and want to play a game, you can go to lichess.org . Get your brain moving!
21 – Werewolves
Werewolves is a great game of social deduction, trickery and fun that deserves more than one mention. The game, also known as “Werewolves of Millers Hollow”, is simple to teach and will instantly immerse players in lively discussions about which werewolf is trying to eat other players.
Secret roles are assigned to players in a game called Werewolves. The werewolves must convince the village that they are innocent. Meanwhile, the villagers must try to execute the werewolves.
You can either buy a printed version of the game or print your copy yourself and learn the rules. You can also play this game online at Board Game Arena. Remote play is possible.
22 – Coup
Coup is another game that involves social cues, bluffing and relies on each player’s ability to smuggle lies around the table. You can also win the game if you’re brave enough to tell all the truth.
You are trying to eliminate the other players in a game called Coup. This is done through a combination taxation, robbery and assassination. To accomplish this, you will need to use your influence on various characters from the central “court”, but you can claim that you do not have the court’s influence anyway. As long as you don’t call your bluff, everything will be fine.
You can play the game in a physical copy if you’re part of a remote team.
23 – Code names
Code Names is a great game for two teams. It’s all about communication, clues, and cooperation. Without giving away clues to the other team, you must pass clues to your team.
Code Names is different in that you are not only trying to communicate with your friends, but also how to best communicate with them. Your goal is to find ways to keep your enemies from reading your messages!
Code Names is a board game. However, if you know the rules you can play it online .
24 – Cards Against Humanity
It’s probably not the best choice for serious business functions because it’s not very pleasant. The game’s creators describe it as “a party game that is suitable for people who are terrible”. Cards Against Humanity is a great game for lunch breaks, even if you’re not averse to some inappropriate language.
A game of Cards Against Humanity allows you to draw half of a sentence using the cards from the deck. To complete the sentence, you will need to use your personal deck of cards. You win the round if your solution is voted the most funny.
This game can be downloaded from the Cards Against Humanity website for free, provided you promise to not make any money with it.
Playing creative games at work
This next set of games will help you boost your creativity at work. These games are extremely fun and will encourage employees to think outside of the box and spark their creativity.
25 – The story board
Players sit in a large circle while playing the story game. Each player gets a piece of blank paper and begins writing the first sentence of their story. Everyone then passes their paper to their left.
The next person then reads and writes the next sentence. They then fold over the sentence before they pass it on. Each player follows the story only up to the end.
These can cause stories to become disjointed, confusing, and, most importantly, funny. The story ends when the page has reached the end. Everyone then reads the final result to the group.
26 – Picture consequences
As in the story game, the players gather around a table and take out a piece each of blank paper. Everyone draws a head. It could be a man with a moustache, a hat or a 7-eyed octopus. Players fold the paper so that the bottom of the head is visible.
These heads are passed to the left. Then each player draws a body and arms, if necessary. This is then folded over and passed.
Each player then draws his or her legs. To see the group’s creativity, unfold the creations.
27 – Paper Plane Competition
The paper plane competition is a wonderful way to stimulate creativity, as well as encourage careful planning and craftsmanship. It also allows you to have a little bit of a competitive spirit. There will be some fun at the end.
There are many prizes you can offer for the planes that your coworkers build. These include the plane that flies the furthest and the one that stays in the air the longest.
28 – Scenario Jenga
Divide a regular giant jenga board among players. Ask employees to use a pen and create a new scenario for each block. If you want to keep the game work-related you can ask employees to take a pen and write down any scenario that could occur at work.
You can ask for serious scenarios (e.g. You can ask for serious scenarios (e.g. “you see a colleague entering the building site without wearing a safety helmet”), or silly scenarios (e.g. “A vampire enters the reception area and requests directions to the boss’s workplace”
Next, you will set up the game in the normal way. After removing a block, a player must read the scenario and then explain to the rest how they would handle it.
