12 Exciting Team Building Games for Employees

Are you tired of the mundane process of hiring new employees for in-person or remote teams?

Finding new team members isn’t enough; you must ensure they blend well with your existing team to create a harmonious and productive work environment that drives employee engagement. That’s where team-building comes into play.

Don't be discouraged by the idea that team-building games for employees are tedious or uninteresting. With the proper implementation, they can build a strong and effective team in any company, improving team members' communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and leadership abilities.

Team-building games can take many forms, from trust-building activities to creative problem-solving challenges. Whether you’re in charge of a small team or a large corporation, these games can be a perfect fit in any setting.

Incorporating intellectual, fun, and collaborative elements into these games can change employees' attitudes toward these activities and create a gratifying and interactive experience.

If you want to encourage your employees to engage with one another, build strong bonds, and reach a common goal, team building games for employees are an unparalleled choice.

12 Creative Team-Building Games for Employees

Stoking the embers of friendly competition, effective communication, creative thinking, and getting outside a comfort zone in a fun way may seem impossible. However, the best team building games for employees combine these aspects seamlessly, turning a group of people into a great team.

Use these creative and fun team-building games to keep your team members hooked till the end!

1. Two Truths and a Lie

Perfect for small and large groups, Two Truths and a Lie is a classic icebreaker game that doubles as a team-building exercise.

Here's how it works: Each participant shares three statements about themselves: two truths and one lie (aptly named, isn't it?). The rest of the team then tries to guess which statement is the lie.

Why does this work? This team-building game for employees facilitates communication and team dynamics by helping them get to know each other better. Sharing “outside work” information takes away from the seriousness and/or routine of corporate life, building trust and establishing a stronger sense of camaraderie.

Two Truths and a Lie also encourages participants to come up with creative and believable statements about themselves to break the ice — and requires them to listen and pay attention to the details of each statement, improving the listening skills of the entire group.

2. The Marshmallow Challenge

No, it doesn’t involve eating marshmallows — despite clearly being a tastier alternative.

The Marshmallow Challenge involves teams working together to build the tallest structure possible using only spaghetti, tape, string, and — no points for guessing — a marshmallow. If you have a large team, the challenge is ideal for splitting into small groups, making this team building event more manageable.

Team members must band together to build a tower with limited resources. They'll discover each other's unique talents, strengths, and weaknesses through brainstorming sessions, designs, builds, and cohesion while honing their problem-solving skills.

It's a challenge that demands clear communication, collaboration, and a shared sense of purpose — and with a healthy dose of competition and excitement thrown in, team members will be motivated to work harder.

3. Escape Room Challenge

Shoutout to all the puzzle lovers on your team. It’s your time to shine!

Escape Room Challenge is a team-building game that simulates an escape room experience. Players are locked in a room and must solve puzzles and riddles to escape before time runs out.

Players use critical thinking and problem-solving skills to solve puzzles and escape the room. They must also use active listening with each other to share information and solve puzzles.

Try this one if you’re looking for a fun activity to help your team develop essential skills such as problem-solving, communication, and collaboration!

4. Blind Drawing Challenge

Imagine a game where one player's eyes are closed, and the other player is frantically trying to describe how to draw a picture. It's an office game called the Blind Drawing Challenge, and yup, it's a hoot.

In this team-building game for employees, two players team up. To win, the player giving instructions must use clear language and provide precise details to guide their blindfolded partner's hand. On the other hand, the player with the blindfold needs to practice active listening and interpret the instructions to create the intended image.

If they get it right, they win. If they don't, they still have a lot of fun doing it.

As one of the best team building activities, the Blind Drawing Challenge is fun and promotes creativity and trust-building. This activity encourages teamwork and collaboration by relying on each other's unique abilities. The players must work together to achieve a shared goal, which helps develop crucial communication skills and fosters trust and dependence on each other.

5. The Minefield

The Minefield is a superb alternative to the Blind Drawing Challenge, requiring team members to guide a player through a makeshift “minefield” consisting of objects and obstacles in the office.

Once you create the minefield, each team blindfolds a chosen player to navigate it. The team must give precise directions to help them avoid any of the “mines”, and the first team to get to the other side without hitting a “mine” wins.

6. Scavenger Hunt

Don't be fooled into thinking that scavenger hunts are just for kids. This lighthearted yet competitive team building game for employees can be a fantastic way to encourage problem-solving and creativity in adults, too.

To start, define your scavenger hunt's rules, objectives, and theme. Think about how you can tie the theme to your company culture, values, products, or services to make the game more meaningful and engaging for your employees.

Next, divide your workforce into smaller groups, ideally with 4-5 members each. To encourage team bonding, mix people from different departments or who don't know each other well. To ensure the team-building activity runs smoothly, plan the route and clues in advance and test them before the day of the event. Remember the time limit, difficulty level, and safety precautions when planning the hunt.

Kick things off with an energetic introduction and countdown to get everyone excited. Assign a monitor to keep track of each team's progress and provide hints if they get stuck on a clue or can't find an item. While you're at it, ensure all teams follow the rules and safety guidelines throughout the game.

And after all the excitement of the scavenger hunt is over, reward the victors with some sweet loot! Don't forget to give some love to the other participants. After all, everyone gave it their best shot, even if they didn't make it to the top of the podium.

7. Human Knot

Your team can’t learn new skills every day, but they can always hone the skills they possess. Excellent as an improv team building game for employees, the Human Knot encourages communication and trust in less than 10 minutes.

Participants stand in a circle and grab a person's hands on the other side of the circle. The only caveat is they can’t hold the hand of the person next to them. Once everyone is interlocked, they use discussion and collaboration to “untie” the knot until they’re back in a circle. It’s entertaining, easy, and imparts vital lessons and camaraderie.

8. Office Trivia

In-office and virtual team building doesn’t have to border on tedium. You can get a quick team game in at the end of the workday and break the monotony with office trivia. It’s a flexible game using almost any format, whether you’re partial to Jeopardy! or pub trivia styles.

You can use a whiteboard to emulate Jeopardy categories and allow each team to ring in, but add this twist to keep it interesting. The first team to ring in can answer the question within a set time. If they get it wrong, the other team can steal.

Alternatively, you can give each team a sheet of paper, ask questions, and grade each piece of paper at the end. The team with the most points wins.

The questions you ask are entirely up to you. Still, including popular categories (geography, music, movies, etc.) interspersed with questions about the company or individual workers can act as an excellent end to a team meeting, an onboarding session, or a satisfying denouement at week’s end.

9. Perfect Square

Perfect Square is an exciting substitute for the Human Knot, promoting communication to reach a common goal — and consequently, one of the top team-building games for employees.

Split your team into groups of four, arrange them in a circle, and ask them to close their eyes. Hand one person a rope and instruct them to form a square with the rope. Once they think they have a perfect square, the group lays the rope on the ground and removes the blindfold.

Getting a perfect square is difficult, but it’s an addictive game that will keep employees playing.

10. Mission Statement — Mad Lib Style

How does the idea of injecting some humor and creativity into your team's goal-setting process sound? That's right; it's time to transform the corporate-sounding, bland, and boring mission statement into a fun game called Mad Libs.

Start by taking your company's mission statement and stripping it of all its key nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Then, create a worksheet with blank lines and instructions for the types of words needed.

Next, divide your team into groups of two and have one team member ask for the correct type of word while the other supplies it. Or, if you prefer, ask the entire team to contribute one word at a time. With each word added, watch your once-serious mission statement transform into a hilarious jumble of words.

But don't stop there! Once you have enough words, read the statement to the team and ask for the same types of words they supplied. This time, the team will likely be more invested in the exercise and provide more thoughtful and creative responses.

Keep repeating the process until you arrive at a mission statement that truly resonates with the team. And if you want to mix things up, try categorizing the types of words beforehand without revealing that you're working on a mission statement.

By stripping away the jargon and stiffness of a typical mission statement, your team can help you create a more relaxed and honest statement that genuinely represents them. Plus, you'll have some (read: a lot of) laughs along the way!

11. Organizational Jenga

Remember the good old days of playing Jenga as a kid? Well, buckle up because Organizational Jenga is the grown-up version designed to take your team collaboration, communication, and adaptability to the next level.

Picture this: a towering Jenga structure, with each block labeled with a specific task, challenge, or question related to your organization's or team's goals and quotas. Divide your participants into teams of four to six people and assign each member a role, such as a tower builder, a task reader, and a scorekeeper.

Now, the real fun begins. Each team takes turns pulling out a block and completing the task or challenge within a set timeframe. But here's the catch: they must work together to complete the task before the time runs out. Talk about teamwork and problem-solving skills at its finest!

As the game progresses, increase the difficulty level of the tasks and challenges on the blocks to keep everyone on their toes. At the end of the game, evaluate the results to determine which team worked together most effectively and completed the most tasks and challenges.

So, next time you want to spice up your team-building game for employees, ditch the trust falls and try Organizational Jenga.

12. Memory Wall

A trip down memory lane invokes fond memories and catharsis that few other tasks can. Though the idea may seem counterintuitive as one of your team building games for employees, one with work-related themes can have a profound effect.

To play Memory Wall, write a few themes on a whiteboard, such as “Work Trips,” “Funny Stories,” or “First Day.” Give each person a sticky note and have them jot down their favorite memory of each category. Once they’ve thought of something, have them share the memory on their post-it.

When you allow team members to revisit their fondest moments, work becomes less about the process and more about the experiences and friendships along the way.

Boost Team-Building Game Participation With Hoppier

Not to toot our own horn, but Hoppier can become your go-to tool to help you host the best team-building games yet, thereby improving your company culture.

Our virtual credit cards are the key to unlocking a world of catering, entertainment, experiences, and corporate gifts — all for a global audience. Even if you have employees working remotely on another side of the planet, Hoppier will deliver.

And we're not just talking about any old virtual cards — Hoppier's process is swift, seamless, and designed with ease of use in mind. Create and customize your program in moments, then schedule your cards to be sent just before your event.

With Hoppier, you can personalize your cards with your brand colors and logo, set a spending budget, and decide when your guests can spend their balance. And if you have any leftover credit, it's returned to you at the end of the event.

It couldn't get easier than this, right?

What's more, Hoppier's user experience is top-notch. Your employees are led to a stylish page that displays your branded card and all the details they need to order refreshments, buy a subscription, or even treat themselves to a gift. It's the ultimate way to give your game winners and runner-ups a personalized practical award that goes beyond the usual coffee mugs and journals.

So why settle for boring team-building activities when you can go Hoppier? See it in action today.

Team Building: The Glue of Successful Teams

Team building games for employees are a great way to strengthen relationships and foster a positive work atmosphere. By encouraging collaboration and communication, boosting morale and team spirit, enhancing problem-solving skills, improving leadership skills, and fostering inclusivity and diversity, team-building games can help to create a positive work environment.

By setting clear goals and expectations, keeping activities fun and engaging, and following up with the following steps, team-building games can be an effective tool for building strong and successful teams.

Whether through physical challenges like Minefield or intellectual exercises like Organizational Jenga, team building games