30 Icebreaker Games To Play With Your Team

Icebreaker games are activities managers and leaders can use to inspire conversations, build relationships and boost teamwork skills in their workplace. Whether you lead a group in-person or virtually, icebreakers can help you create a more positive team environment. Learning about these games and their rules can help you determine which icebreakers work best for your team. In this article, we discuss 30 popular ice breaker games you can use in your workplace.

Related: 10 Powerful Tips for Successful Teamwork

What is a good meeting icebreaker?

A good meeting icebreaker is a game that encourages group interactions at the beginning of a meeting. Here are some activities you can use:

1. Diversity bingo

This game helps the participants learn more about each other. To play, make a bingo card containing a list of statements that might apply to some participants. Then give everyone a copy of that bingo card and ask them to move around the room and get other participants to sign statements that apply to them.

2. Unique and shared

To play, ask groups of four or five people to discover some common and unique characteristics between one another. This icebreaker can build connections between team members because it helps people learn that they have more common than they might realise.

3. Line up

In this game, peers must create an orderly line without talking to one another. For example, a leader may ask a group of participants to form a line in order of height. This icebreaker helps foster collaboration amongs team members because they learn to communicate without speaking.

4. Quotes

In this activity, prepare quotes on slips of paper and ask participants to pick one slip. Next, ask participants to get into pairs and discuss the quote and what it means to them. After a minute, switch the pairs and repeat the exercise three to four times to increase team interactions.

5. Directive drawing

In this icebreaker, two people sit without facing each other. One person has a picture they describe to their partner. The partner draws it using verbal cues. This can help increase communication.

Related: Building Communication Skills: 10 Types of Listening

6. One word

Before beginning a meeting, choose a phrase that's related to your primary agenda or topic. Ask participants to write a word that describes that topic. Then, you can share everyone's thoughts as a group. This can help increase communication during the meeting.

7. Purpose discussion

Before the start of the meeting, ask participants to discuss what they are going to contribute in pairs or groups. This can help increase engagement and focus. It can also help improve communication.

8. Electric fence

In this physical activity, you can use a rope to create an imaginary electric fence. The team members have to pass through the rope without touching it while holding hands. This exercise teaches brainstorming and teamwork.

9. Marshmallow challenge

This is a group activity where teams compete to create the tallest structure by using unique items like sticks, boxes, tapes and marshmallows. This can help build leadership skills and encourage creative thinking.

Related: Leadership Skills: Definitions and Examples

What are some fun icebreaker games?

Here are some fun icebreaker games you can use during meetings:

1. Helium stick

To play, gather your team into pairs and ask participants to take their index fingers out. Then place a stick on their index fingers. The goal is to balance the stick and move it down to the ground. If a team drops or accidentally grips the stick, they must start again.

2. Blind square

In this icebreaker, divide your team into pairs and give each pair a blindfold and a rope. One partner will wear the blindfold and try to create a square using the rope without looking. The other partner can give instructions. This game teaches the importance of communication skills.

3. Portrait gallery

This activity can encourage creativity. To play, ask participants to create portraits of one another. You may have team members share their portraits or you could display them in your meeting space.

4. Rock, paper and scissors

In this game, two participants face each other and count to three. On three, they show a hand gesture for rock, paper or scissors. You can play this game in pairs or have a tournament where there is one winner at the end.

5. Minefield

To play this game, set up the room with obstacles like boxes, bubble wrap and squeaky toys. Divide participants into groups and give one member a blindfold. They need to navigate the minefield by taking directions from their team members.

6. Creative handshake

This game helps to bring out creativity among the team members. Divide the group into pairs and ask participants to invent an innovative way to shake hands. Once completed, pairs can show or teach their handshake to others.

7. Movie pitch

In this competition, form groups of three or four members. Each group has to create a movie pitch within 10 minutes and present the idea to everyone. Then each group will vote to select the best idea.

8. Bang!

In this game, gather participants in a circle with one of them in the middle. The person in the middle randomly points at someone in the circle and they have to bend quickly, while the two people on either side of them must face each other and point at each other quickly. The person who reacts the fastest can stay in the competition.

9. Share a joke

This icebreaker is suitable when everyone is meeting for the first time. Sharing a joke can ease everyone and make them more comfortable. You can have people share in pairs, groups or one large circle, depending on the size of your team and the time you want to spend on the activity.

10. Sound ball

In this game, participants stand in a circle and throw an imaginary ball at one another. The person throwing the imaginary ball makes a sound. The person who pretends to catch repeats the sound and then throws a new sound across the circle.

11. No smiling

To play this game, ask everyone in the meeting to keep a straight face without smiling. Seeing each other's reactions, people tend to start smiling. The one who smiles first gets eliminated. You can continue this process until there is a winner.

What are some virtual icebreakers?

You can also use icebreaker games to start conversations with your remote team members. Here are a few examples of icebreaker games relevant for virtual meetings:

1. Question and answer

In this game, choose a question and have everybody answer in one word. For example, you might ask participants about their mood today or their favourite food. Team members can go around in a circle answering in one word. This is a quick activity that can boost communication and engagement.

2. Two truths and a lie

This is a game where each participant prepares three statements about themselves. Only two statements should be true. Each participant can take turns sharing their statements. Team members can guess which statement is the lie. This game can help team members learn more about each other.

3. Guessing game

In this game, every team member anonymously shares a story that reflects their personality to the host. During the gaming session, the host shares each story and others have to guess to whom this story belongs. This game can help your team learn about each other.

4. Virtual tour

To play, have each team member make a virtual tour video of their home or home workspace and share that with their remote teammates. You can even give them a live tour of your neighbourhood.

Related: What Is Remote Work?

5. Group map

In this game, use an online map and ask each team member to spot their birth city. Each member can share one thing for which their birthplace is famous. Alternatively, you could ask them to describe their favourite place or where they live now.

6. Share a photo

In this activity, have participants share a photo. For example, you can ask each team member to share the first photo of themselves on their mobile phone and tell the story behind it. Or you can ask them to share a photo of something specific, such as a meal they cooked and its recipe.

7. Brainteasers

In this game, ask participants to solve brain teasers. The teasers should be challenging yet solvable. This game helps build a healthy competition and increases the interactions among team members.

8. Would you rather?

In this game, ask participants to choose between two options. For example, "Would you rather choose to be the strongest person or get the skill to fly?" This fun activity can help create positive interactions with team members.

9. Our tomorrow

You can use this creative activity to encourage innovative thinking. Have each team member create a virtual bulletin that describes where they think the company will be five years from now. Then, they can share their vision with the group.

10. Scavenger hunt

In this game, the organiser asks a participant to search for common household items, such as a broken cup or car keys. During an online meeting, the team members will search for one item in their home and click a photo with all the collected items. The one who shares the photo first is the winner of the game.