What Are the Best Team Building Games That Everyone Will Enjoy?

Team building games can give your standard coffee break an absolute makeover and perk everyone up. If planned well, team-building activities or games are proven to increase productivity and help coworkers stay motivated. Whether it’s board games, icebreakers, or trivia, these activities can bring instant fun to your workplace and make team bonding feel more natural.

In this article, you will explore:

• Why should you host team building ice breaker games at work
• Fun online team building games for the office
• Tips for choosing the best team building games

Table of Contents

Why Should We Host Team Building Games at Work?

Team-building games are fun events that are specially curated to promote teamwork, boost morale, and give a fun refresher from work. These games also break the ice between team members and inject some light-hearted moments along the way. Additionally, team games like Escape Room, Murder Mystery, and Battleship enhance collaboration, problem-solving, and communication skills in a relaxed setting.    

How Do We Choose the Right Team Building Games?

When choosing the best team building activities for your team, you should keep the following points in mind:

• Select activities that fit your budget, team size, and work schedule.
• Pick games that match your team’s preferences and personality types.
• Focus on the goal you want to achieve – is it fun, collaboration, or an icebreaker?
• Go for inclusive games that diverse teams can relate to and resonate with.
• Choose games that offer customization options as per your company’s values, brand themes, or current team goals.  
• Align your game with a holiday (like Halloween), a company milestone, a town hall meeting, or a wellness initiative for greater relevance.

What Are the Best Team Building Games for My Remote Employees?

Here, we’ve rounded up some of the best team building games for your remote team. To help you find the perfect fit, we’ve grouped these games into categories based on the kind of experience you want to create.

Fun Team Building Games

There are plenty of team building games that guarantee maximum fun and encourage your team to engage in healthy competition along the way. If you are on the search for those, here’s a list of virtual games for team building for work.  

1. Team Trivia

Number of Participants: 2-1000
Duration: 60 minutes

Hooray Teams Virtual Trivia is a surefire way to test your team’s knowledge and engage in a lighthearted competition. An expert host guides teams through 4 to 5 rounds of fast-paced trivia. Participants have to compete head-to-head to answer trivia questions on topics such as sports, travel, pop culture, and history.

We recently tried their Virtual Donut Trivia on National Donut Day with our team, and it was such a fun experience! There was a question, “Where did donuts originally come from?”. Naturally, we all shouted “U.S.A.!”—because, well, donuts feel very American. But the correct answer was the Netherlands – plot twist! 

Goal: Spark engagement and enhance general knowledge

In-office Mode: Teams can create a set of interesting trivia questions on a variety of topics and have a professional host to lead the game.

2. Jeopardy

Number of Participants: 2-1000
Duration: 60 minutes

Get quizzical and have fun with the flip side of trivia in a Virtual Jeopardy game by Hooray Teams.  Inspired by the popular TV show, teams here receive clues to which they have to respond in question format. An enthusiastic host will be there to share the Jeopardy board on screen and ensure everyone remains engaged throughout.

The clues can be from a variety of categories, such as science, sports, movies, and history. The participants must use digital buzzers to answer the question before their opponents and score points. You can also customize the categories based on your team’s preferences. 

Goal: Promote teamwork and quick thinking

In-office Mode: Teams can set up a large screen with the Jeopardy board, assign a host, and use buzzers or whiteboards for responses.

3. Scavenger Hunt

Number of Participants: 2-1000
Duration: 60 minutes

If you’re looking for fun team building games that’ll keep your staff on their toes, Hooray Teams Virtual Scavenger Hunt is worth a shot. A friendly host will start the game by sharing a list of everyday items with everyone through email or a shared platform. These items can include a pair of sunglasses, fridge magnets, notepads, keychains, a coffee mug, or a pair of socks. You and your team have to find as many items as possible within the given time and display them on camera. If you have specific themes in mind, they can tweak the game to match your team’s interests.  

Here are some interesting prompts for the scavenger hunt game:

Goal: Boost collaboration and quick-thinking skills

In-office Mode: Teams can create a scavenger hunt list and hide all the items mentioned in it around the office.

4. Bingo Bash

Number of Participants: 2-1000
Duration: 60 minutes

If you’re on the search for team building games that offer light-hearted fun, Virtual Bingo by Hooray Teams can be a perfect fit. A lively host shares digital bingo cards with the team members via a shared platform before the game starts. Participants have to listen attentively and mark off the prompts on their cards to create a winning combination before others. You can also customize the bingo cards with themes or categories that match your team’s preferences.

Goal: Improve focus and spark engagement

In-office Mode: Teams can create bingo cards using platforms like Canva and share them with all the team members. 

Strategic Team Building Games

Team building games are an effective way to enhance the strategic thinking skills of your work group. Here are some amazing game options for teams to enjoy.

5. Murder at the Manor Mystery

Number of Participants: 2-1000
Duration: 60 minutes

For the crime fanatics in your team, Hooray Teams Virtual Murder at the Manor is a great pick for remote team building games. You and your team will be teleported to a virtual mansion where Lord Aubrey Falconer has died under suspicious circumstances. Teams have to solve riddles and piece the clues together to identify the culprit. 

Members of your team will also have to interrogate suspects like the cook, professor, and vicar, and examine every corner for hidden clues. A lively host will guide your team from the start and drop additional hints whenever needed. 

Goal: Fine-tune collaboration and creative problem-solving skills

In-office Mode: You can hand over printed clues to the players and assign roles to each member. Have someone to act as a host as well, to guide the players. 

6. Escape Room

Number of Participants: 2-1000
Duration: 60 minutes

Hooray Teams Virtual Escape Rooms are among the adrenaline-packed team building games that test your team’s patience and teamwork. You and your team have to solve a variety of clues and riddles to unlock a digital room within a set time. An enthusiastic host will guide your team members at every step and share additional clues as needed.

They have four themed escape rooms to choose from: Mafia 360, Dungeon Things, Patient 360, and The Alchemist. We played the Patient 360 escape room with our team, and it was such a gripping experience. Our team got stuck on a tricky desk code until Karen spotted a hidden chart that turned the game around. That clue helped us escape just in time!

Goal: Boost logical reasoning and creative thinking skills

In-office Mode: Teams can hide clues in a conference room and have a host to assist teams and provide additional clues.

7. Werewolf

Number of Participants: 10-20
Duration: 30-60 minutes

Werewolf is one of the intriguing team building games that can bring out the fun and competitive side of your team. A fictional village is attacked by werewolves every night. Teams have to use their negotiation and social deduction skills to identify the hidden werewolves from their group to score a win. Before the game begins, you have to assign the roles of villagers and werewolves to the players via private chat. 

The game happens in two phases – day and night. During the night, the werewolves eliminate one of the villagers. As the day starts, every player presents their argument to vote for a suspected werewolf. The chain continues until the villagers catch the werewolf, or the werewolves outnumber the villagers.

Goal: Promote effective communication and conflict resolution

In-office Mode: Teams can play in a circle using printed role cards and closed-eye rounds to mimic day and night phases.

8. Battleship

Number of Participants: 2 (per game)
Duration: 10-20 minutes

Battleship is a fun team building game that’s all about strategy and teamwork. This game is all about strategizing your moves to sink all of the other team’s ships while saving yours. Players start by strategically placing their ships on the grid. Only the members of that team know the location of the fleets. 

Each participant takes turns to guess the coordinates of their opponent’s ships. Every correct guess is called a ‘hit,’ and the wrong ones are tagged as ‘miss.’ Team members have to carefully refine their shots after each hit and use the information from their opponent’s responses to win the game. 

Goal: Enhance strategic thinking and pattern recognition skills

In-office Mode: Teams can play using paper grids and pens, either in pairs or as small groups.

Collaborative Team Building Games

Good communication skills are essential while working on multiple projects with your team. Here are some fantastic team building games that can help teams communicate better.

9. Mad Libs

Number of Participants: 3-10
Duration: 10-20 minutes

Mad Libs is a fantastic team building game for teams looking to improve their vocabulary and grammar in a fun way. You and your team receive a template with various blanks labeled with different parts of speech. Participants have to come up with nouns, adjectives, or verbs to complete hilarious stories.

Once everyone’s done, the system reveals the entire story for everyone to read (the results are sure to make your team laugh). The game offers various interesting story themes like

The Accident, The Test, Shopping, Breakfast, Zombies, and more.

Goal: Hone vocabulary and communication

In-office Mode: Teams can fill out printed story templates together and read them aloud for a round of laughs and light learning.

10. Taboo

Number of Participants: 2-1000
Duration: 60 minutes

Hooray Teams Online Taboo is a lively team building game that encourages quick thinking and creative collaboration. In each round, a friendly host shares digital taboo cards with one team member via email or a dedicated platform. These cards have one word and a list of forbidden or “taboo” words under it that you can’t say. The words can be from any category, such as food, travel, animals, or sports. One player gives clues using creative tactics while the other team members work together to guess the correct word and score points.

Goal: Enhance vocabulary and communication skills

In-office Mode: Teams can create Taboo cards using sticky notes, and someone acting as a moderator can share them with the player in each round. 

11. Pictionary

Number of Participants: 2-1000
Duration: 60 minutes

Hooray Teams Virtual Pictionary is one of the lighthearted team building online games that brings everyone together through fun doodling challenges. One member from each team has to use a virtual whiteboard to draw random prompts, like animals, celebrities, places, or objects. 

The other team members have to guess the correct word or phrase that the drawing represents in the given time frame. A friendly host is there with you throughout the game, ensuring everyone is engaged from start to end. 

Goal: Improve collaboration and communication skills

In-office Mode: Teams can use a whiteboard or a large notepad to draw the prompts.

12. Pitch It From Your Desk

Number of Participants: 4-30
Duration: 60-90 minutes

Inspired by Shark Tank, What’s on My Desk is a team building game that’ll give teams a chance to test their sales skills. Ask your team members to choose a common desk item that they can transform into a marketable product. Participants need to create a logo, set a price, and prepare a unique pitch to sell their product. They’ll design a catchy logo, price it smartly, and craft a pitch compelling enough to win over even the toughest investors.

Here are some interesting pitch ideas for teams:

• A Thermo mug that tells you when your drink is at the perfect temperature.
• A smart sticky note that beeps when you forget a task.
• A ZenPen that releases calming scents to ease stress during work.   
• A coaster that keeps your coffee warm and syncs with your calendar to flash reminders.
• A paperweight that acts as a Pomodoro timer to switch between focus and break time modes.

Goal: Promote teamwork and enhance presentation skills

In-office Mode: Teams can use real desk items, markers, and paper to prototype their product and pitch it live in front of coworkers.

Ice Breaker Team Building Games

Whether it’s the start of a meeting or a bonding session, icebreaker games help break the ice and get everyone talking. Here are some icebreaker team building games for remote workers.

13. Two Truths and a Lie

Number of Participants: 3-20
Duration: 10-20 minutes

Find out how well your teammates know each other in the exciting game of Two Truths and a Lie. In this game, each team member presents three statements, one of which is a lie. The other members have to guess which one’s the fib. The game continues until everyone has had a chance to play.

Here are a few prompts for your reference:

• I’ve met a celebrity, I’ve gone skydiving, and I hate chocolate.
• I can play three musical instruments, I’ve never been on a plane, and I have a twin sibling.
• I once got lost in a foreign country, I can speak five languages, and I’ve never broken a bone.

Goal: Get to know your teammates better

In-office Mode: Team members can sit in a circle and share their statements while others can guess the ‘bluff’ statement.

14. Guess Who?

Number of Participants: 5-30

Duration: 10-20 minutes

Hooray Teams Virtual Guess Who is a fun team building game that helps coworkers learn quirky, surprising facts about each other. A friendly host kicks off the game by sharing fun clues about each team member, like hidden talents, unusual hobbies, or unique habits. Your job? Listen closely and guess which coworker matches the clue.

From discovering who plays the ukulele to who’s obsessed with spicy food, Guess Who brings out unexpected sides of your teammates. You could even switch things up with a custom theme to match your team’s interests.

Goal: Improving interpersonal communication

In-office Mode: Someone acting as a moderator can collect clues from each team member beforehand and share them with others to guess during the game. 

15. Would You Rather?

Number of Participants: 1-30
Duration: 10-20 minutes

Would You Rather is a fun question-type team building game to spark playful debates and get everyone talking. This game requires participants to choose between two options from the given prompt. The questions can include various categories such as food, pop culture, travel, work anecdotes, and more. 

Here are a few questions:

• Would you rather travel by plane or by train?
• Would you rather work from home or the office?
• Would you rather have a cake or ice cream?
• Would you rather watch a movie or read a book?
• Would you rather play a sport or go out for shopping?
• Would you rather own a plane or a cruise?
• Would you rather travel to the future or the past?
• Would you rather live in the space or under the ocean?

Goal: Break the silos and encourage communication

In-office Mode: Teams can take turns asking questions out loud or using a question jar.

16. Never Have I Ever

Number of Participants: 3-10
Duration: 10-20 minutes

Never Have I Ever is a fun game for teams to open up and learn interesting things about each other. Each person takes a turn sharing something they’ve never done, and those who have done it respond with a raised hand or emoji. You can use the “raise hand” feature of Zoom or Teams to keep things smooth and easy.

Here are some questions for remote teams:

• Never have I ever attended a meeting in pajamas.
• Never have I ever travelled outside the country.
• Never have I ever had a pet crash a video call.
• Never have I ever sent a message to the wrong chat.
• Never have I ever laughed at a joke I didn’t get.
• Never have I ever tried an extreme sport.
• Never have I ever won a game of chess.
• Never have I ever solved a Rubik’s cube.

Goal: Encourage openness and casual bonding among team members.

In-office Mode: Teams can gather around in a circle and raise hands or take a sip of water when statements apply to them.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What are the best virtual team building games for remote teams?

Virtual trivia, murder mysteries, escape rooms, and scavenger hunts are some of the best work games for team building.

Are there any quick team building games for meetings?

Yes, there are many quick team building games for employees like Two Truths and a Lie, Would You Rather, Human Knot, Guess Who, and Among Us that you can play in between meetings. 

Are there any platforms that host team building games online?

Yes. Platforms like Hooray Teams offer fully hosted team building games for teams for an engaging and fun virtual experience. 

What are some indoor team building activities for my team?

Some interactive team building games indoor for your team can include Escape Rooms, Trivia, Bingo, Scattergories, Pictionary, Mad Libs, and more. 

How can I plan a team bonding event for my remote team?

To plan a team bonding event for your remote team, select a compatible video conferencing platform based on team size. Choose fun and engaging Zoom team building games for work. Prepare all the game materials needed, if any, and assign a host to lead the event. Send out invites with the necessary details for participants to join the session. If you want to skip the hassle of planning, go for online team-building platforms like Hooray Teams to enjoy a fully hosted experience.

What are some of the best team building puzzle games for my remote staff?

Some puzzle-type exciting games for team building, like Escape Room, Murder Mystery, Sudoku, and Werewolf.

Are there any virtual team building game ideas for my work staff?

Yes, there are many interesting ideas for team building games in the workplace. These may include Trivia, Bingo, Scavenger Hunt, Pictionary, Taboo, Mad Libs, Two Truths and a Lie, and more.

What are some hybrid office team building games for groups? 

Some hybrid office games for team building include Online Trivia, Virtual Bingo, Online Pictionary, Charades, and Name the Category.