For work
Icebreakers and team building games for work
Party games on everyone's phones, for the Christmas party, a team lunch or a Friday wind-down. Nothing to install, nobody has to perform.
For the Christmas party
Deck the Desks
The work Christmas party, sorted.
A Christmas quiz, a Secret Santa bluff, office answer cards and a Christmas round of Read the Room, in one room. Up to 20 phones, and bigger offices play in teams. Guests always play free.
Bookings are open. US$49 for one workplace
How it runs at work
Built for the office
Nothing to install
Everything runs in the web browser on work phones and laptops. No app store, no IT ticket.
Up to 20 phones
One room holds 20 phones. Bigger offices play in teams, a phone to a team.
Safe for work
Questions and cards written for a mixed office: cheeky, never crude.
Icebreakers for team building
15 icebreaker games that work at work
A good work icebreaker gets a room laughing in five minutes without putting anyone on the spot. That rules out a lot of the classics. Nobody has to stand up and perform, nobody has to touch anyone, everyone can pass, and it has to work for the people dialling in as well as the people in the room.
These fifteen pass that test. Nine are our games, played on everyone's phone with the meeting room TV as the shared screen. Six need nothing at all. All of them are written for a mixed office: cheeky, never crude.
Quick picks
- Five minutes before a meeting: the one-word check-in, or one round of Which Would Ya?
- Fifteen minutes for a new team: Two Truths and a Lie, or common ground in threes.
- Half an hour on a Friday: Near Enough, then Read the Room.
- A whole team on a video call: any of the phone games below, with the host sharing the screen.
- A big group of 20 or more: play in teams, a phone to a team, or run the office scavenger hunt.
Played on phones, with the TV as the screen
One person opens the game on the meeting room screen, everyone scans the code with their phone, and the first round starts. It runs in the web browser, so there is nothing to install on a work phone or laptop. Up to 20 phones in a room, and bigger groups play in teams.
Launch Party: every game is free to host until the end of 20 November, Brisbane time, Party Pack 01 and Deck the Desks included. Sign in free to host. Guests never need an account.
Which Would Ya?
Two options on the screen, everyone picks a side in secret, then guesses how the room split. The fastest icebreaker we make: a round takes about a minute and nobody has to explain themselves. Free, 2 to 20 players. How it plays.
Read the Room
One player sees a secret spot on a dial between two ideas, such as hot and cold, and gives a one-line clue. Everyone else drags their own dial to guess. You learn how your colleagues think in about ten minutes. 2 to 12 players. How it plays.
Two Truths and a Lie
Everyone types three lines about themselves on their phone, then the room votes in secret on the lie. The classic new-team icebreaker, without the awkward pause while someone thinks up their lines on the spot. 3 to 12 players. How it plays.
Near Enough
A trivia question with a number for an answer: guess in secret, back the guess you think is closest, then watch the answer drop. Close counts, so the people who never win a quiz are in with a chance. 2 to 20 players. How it plays.
Rank 'Em Blind
Five things come up one at a time and you rank each from 1 to 5 before you see the next. Then the room compares. It sparks the best arguments of the day about very small things. 1 to 20 players. How it plays.
Follow the Mob
Pick what you think most of the room will pick. It rewards knowing your team, not knowing trivia. 4 to 20 players. How it plays.
Pull the Other One
A true fact that sounds made up. Everyone writes a fake answer to fool the others, then the room hunts for the real one. Good for teams who like words. 3 to 12 players. How it plays.
What's That Racket?
One phone plays a sound, once, and everyone picks what it was. No typing and no trivia, so it suits any mix of ages and any department. 2 to 20 players. How it plays.
Spot the Blow-in
Everyone gets the same secret word except one person, who has to bluff. One word each, then a secret vote. Free, 3 to 12 players. How it plays.
The one-word check-in
Everyone says one word for how their week is going, in order round the room or down the call list. Nobody explains unless they want to. It takes two minutes and tells a manager more than a status update.
Common ground in threes
Split into groups of three. Each group has five minutes to find three things they all have in common that nobody would guess: not "we all work here". Each group reads out its best one. Online, use breakout rooms.
The desk object
Everyone picks up one thing within arm's reach and says in one sentence why it's there. Works even better on a video call, where the desk is a kitchen table.
Line up without talking
The team lines up in order of birthday month, January to December, using only hand signals. No touching needed. On a call, do it by typing names into the chat in order. It takes three minutes and always ends with someone in the wrong month.
Question of the day
One question at the start of each meeting, everyone answers in a sentence. Rotate who asks. We keep a list of 100 questions of the day and 120 icebreaker questions for work.
The office scavenger hunt
Teams of three or four, a list of finds around the office and forty-five minutes. Score finds, never speed, and keep it inside the building. Our list of twenty is in scavenger hunt ideas.
The last six need no phones, no screen and no prep, so keep one in your pocket for the meeting that starts flat.
How to play on a video call
Remote and hybrid teams can play the phone games together. The host shares the TV screen on the call and everyone joins on their own phone.
- The host opens the game on a laptop and starts a room. The room code and the questions show on that screen.
- The host shares that screen on the call, with the computer's sound on, so everyone hears Gail the Galah, the host of our party games.
- Everyone joins on their own phone by typing the four letters at keyholegames.com, or scanning the code off the shared screen.
- People in the meeting room join the same game. The room TV and the call show the same screen, so the office and the remote staff play as one team.
Nothing to install, nobody needs an account to join, and the answers stay on each person's own phone until the reveal.
For the Christmas party
Deck the Desks is our work Christmas party pack: an office Christmas quiz, a Secret Santa bluff, office answer cards and a Christmas round of Read the Room. It plays on the office TV with everyone's phone, or on a video call the same way. For questions to go with it, see Christmas icebreaker questions for work.
Questions
What is a good icebreaker for team building?
One that takes under ten minutes, has no wrong answer, lets anyone pass and works for people on a call as well as in the room. Which Would Ya? and the one-word check-in both do that in about five minutes.
Can we play these icebreakers on a video call?
Yes. The host shares the game screen on the call and everyone joins on their own phone with the four letters on that screen. People in the meeting room can join the same game.
Do people need to install anything?
No. The games run in the web browser on any phone, tablet or laptop. Guests never need an account.
How many people can play?
Up to 20 phones in one room. A bigger team plays in groups, with one phone to a group.
What if someone doesn't want to join in?
Let them pass, and say so before you start. In the phone games everyone answers privately, so nobody is singled out and the quiet ones often score best.
Are the games safe for work?
Yes. The questions and cards are written for a mixed office: cheeky, never crude. Where a game has a family pack and a grown-ups pack, pick the family pack at work.