Company game nights are an excellent way to develop group teamwork and reward employees for their hard work. But even in a post-COVID world, these competitive hangouts are becoming less common — at least in the office.
With the rise of hybrid work and globally distributed staff members, team-building activities are gaining popularity as fully remote activities. Despite the lack of camaraderie often associated with remote work, virtual game nights can act as the social glue between employees.
According to a Gensler survey, team building is the single most important aspect of great workplaces. So, even when employees don’t work together in person, ensuring they feel a sense of group connection and team pride is still essential. Use these virtual game night ideas to improve team synergy, trust, and friendship — even when employees are hundreds of miles apart.
Hosting a virtual game night promotes team building, but pulling off an engaging and memorable event isn’t easy. You need an engaging online game for a successful get-together.
Modifying some classic game night activities to include virtual gameplay opens new opportunities to bring your team together, which is a novel idea. You can also opt for modern virtual team building games to make the night fun and accessible.
To keep your evening fresh and exciting, we’ll examine some of the best virtual game night ideas and outline a few strategies for planning your team’s party.
Escape rooms have evolved into a popular team-building exercise, and the concept has found a way to go virtual. Seeing your employees problem-solving and working together to find their way out of the room before time expires provides them with an engaging experience from the comfort of their homes. Escape rooms take time and effort to complete, but they’re always entertaining if the game schedule allows.
Trivia is the perfect addition to a happy hour to emphasize and celebrate teamwork without the event turning to drinking games (although those can be fun with some responsibility and the right audience). The fun factor goes to 11, yet the significant audience participation required in trivia games makes them even more worthwhile.
Select themed categories, pop culture questions, work-focused anecdotes, or other topics for your trivia questions — it all depends on what you think works best for your particular team. You can also host the trivia night or choose your most charismatic employee to emcee in Zoom, Skype, Google Hangouts, or another video-conferencing platform.
You don’t need to have fully packaged board games for your guests to enjoy the pleasantries of them. Essentially, every iconic board game has an option for people to play online, perfect for virtual game nights. Scrabble, Monopoly, Catan, Codenames, Pictionary, and Cards Against Humanity all have low-cost pricing or free online play. Players are put into virtual breakout rooms with a group of team members, allowing them to bond while enjoying the spirit of friendly competition.
Video games have seen a significant surge in popularity in the past decade. Capitalize on this popularity by organizing a video game night. Old-school side-scrollers, puzzle games, or sports games are always a hit and typically allow multiplayer options. Steam is a popular resource for the most popular games, and you can even offer a digital gift card to your remote team that will enable them to download the game.
Party games that divide people into teams and assign them various tasks, puzzles, or questions. Jackbox is one of the best options for an online game night, encouraging team play, creativity, and camaraderie. Video games' immersive nature is a huge reason for their rise, so use them to create an engaged audience.
Arcades have waned in popularity as home gaming consoles have become more popular, but that doesn’t mean people don’t enjoy playing. You can find free online versions of renowned arcade games like Pacman or Mortal Kombat or sports-style alternatives like skeeball or pop-a-shot basketball.
Use the strong sense of nostalgia these arcade games can have to provide your team members with a memorable game night experience and a positive impression of your company culture.
Game shows are one of the perfect virtual game night ideas to gamify friendly office competition among your employees. Popular game shows like Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, Family Feud, and Deal or No Deal can all be found online if you want to inspire people to interact and share strategies. Another bonus is that many game shows are easy to plan without specific software, making them a good fallback option.
Charades is one of the oldest party games, and playing virtually is still ridiculously fun. All you need is a video chat and screen-sharing system. Give people specific things to act out via direct message, and watch the hilarity unfold as people play a guessing game to reveal the action.
This game can get loud from the shouting, but it also causes instant laughs among coworkers due to the embarrassing suggestions and poorly executed acting that arises. It’s the perfect accouterment to an effective team meeting or post-project relaxation.
Just because you’re on a video call doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a scavenger hunt. With the rise of virtual events, at-home scavenger hunts involving household items have become a fun way to interact with remote workers, making them one of the best virtual game night ideas.
Players are told to find various things around their house before time expires, and you can mix it up by adding some tasks for them to complete as well. It’s fast, exciting, and stirs competition between coworkers.
If you’re working with a new team and want to learn more about everyone, you can't go wrong with icebreaker questions. Many games are designed to learn little tidbits about peers and coworkers, but don’t feel obligated to keep score during these activities.
Keep the vibe as relaxed as possible to help people loosen up. The interesting conversations that follow can create lasting bonds between colleagues.
Bucket lists aren’t a game per se, but they’re a fantastic virtual game night idea to get people talking and involved. People love discussing things they’re passionate about, so consider playing a game that involves your audience discussing their bucket list items or passion projects.
Bucket lists enable your team to learn about everyone’s interests and generate strong engagement centered around goals and dreams. You can even instill challenges that motivate guests to pursue their bucket list items or passion projects, which shows your team members that you care about them and appreciate their interests.
If you’re looking for a laid-back way to learn new things about your workers, try staging a virtual talent show. You won’t have to worry about wrangling any required gear because everyone should be able to perform their respective acts from their homes.
Talent shows reveal your teammates’ unique skills while letting those who don't take it seriously enjoy themselves with a light-hearted routine that can bring smiles to everyone in attendance.
Virtual game night ideas are only half the battle. Without proper engagement, the event can fall flat. Team-building games can open the door to cohesion, collaboration, and even friendship, so use these virtual game night strategies to improve attendance and participation.
Choosing a suitable date and time for your virtual game night ideas is challenging. Many distributed teams have different schedules, time zones, or availability. To combat scheduling issues, aim for a night most likely to get a good turnout, such as Friday after work.
Keep other essential factors in mind, like the overall workplace atmosphere. Showing appreciation with a virtual party is always a sound idea, but staging an event where people could use a jolt of fun can boost team morale.
The best way to get people to attend your virtual game night is to give them reasons to attend. Promote the event with interactive invitations and hype it up with progress updates that will keep your party entrenched in the minds of your team.
And let’s be honest: Hyping fun games shouldn’t be difficult. Voicing excitement about them should spread quickly and motivate everyone to show up — especially if you add a reward or prize to the occasion.
Some top virtual game night ideas come straight from the attendees themselves. For the sake of inclusion and overall enjoyment, don’t hesitate to ask your guests for ideas and feedback. They might recommend fun activities you hadn’t considered that would make great additions to your virtual shindig.
Seek out their feedback when you tease the schedule. It will give you a better idea of which virtual game night ideas are striking a chord and which can be dropped due to disinterest or time constraints.
Catering your virtual game night can be a nightmare. Knowing the best time to stop for dinner or a snack break isn’t intuitive, and delivering the items to people in different locations adds to the challenge.
Despite these catering hurdles, Hoppier is a great tool for delivering tasty and timely office party catering to your virtual guests. Our system lets each person customize their orders from various vendors to ensure everyone gets what they like.
Using multiple game rooms is incredibly important if your event has large groups. The last thing anyone wants at a game night is to spend most of the evening waiting for their turn to play, so split your audience into smaller groups to keep each person fully engaged at all times. To streamline the event, develop a system where your groups can rotate between different games.
As much as you might want to play every game on your list, the night’s activities are unlikely to follow your plan. Maintain a flexible schedule if certain games generate significant participation and you want to continue them longer than planned.
Following through with your plan to deliver a fun and memorable game night is difficult, so allow Hoppier to focus on the catering concerns. Hoppier virtual cards are an easy solution to solve the logistical challenges you’ll face when coordinating virtual catering requests.
All you need to do is sign up, customize the virtual cards, and send them to your guests. Select whatever amount of money you feel necessary, and we’ll offer refunds for any leftover amounts. The cards can be used for a wide variety of vendors who will deliver each person’s order themselves, meaning the only thing you’ll be in charge of is deciding when to stop the games for dinner or snack breaks.
Hoppier is also a perfect addition to any event that involves gamification, and virtual team game nights certainly apply. Thanks to our simple system of distributing and updating the cards, they’re a great idea for using as an incentive or reward for the dedicated people who are winning your virtual celebration games.
Putting your virtual game night ideas into action gives people a temporary break from work to recharge and interact with coworkers. Get creative when planning your activities and craft a schedule that exudes excitement. Remember, an engaged experience for all can help your team grow.
Game nights are just one example of how virtual events can enhance team building and corporate culture. To learn more remote-based ideas about elevating your group, check out our seminar on 7 ways to create memorable and engaging virtual events or read our article outlining 6 ways to create incredible virtual event experiences.
Ready to 2x your global engagement at your next event, with Ox stress?
Make Hoppier your unfair advantage today, schedule a demo
Ready to 2x your global engagement at your next event, with Ox stress?
Make Hoppier your unfair advantage today, schedule a demo
Ready to 2x your global engagement at your next event, with Ox stress?
Make Hoppier your unfair advantage today, schedule a demo
Ready to 2x your global engagement at your next event, with Ox stress?
Make Hoppier your unfair advantage today, schedule a demo
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