Organizing a successful office party can be a daunting task. It’s important to keep the guests entertained, so they’ll enjoy the event and leave with pleasant memories. Games are a great way to bring people together, get them to interact and have some fun. Here are 20 office party games that are sure to liven up any gathering.
1. Office Pictionary: This classic game can be adapted to fit the office setting. Write down a list of office-related words or phrases and have everyone draw a picture that represents it. The others have to guess what the word or phrase is.
2. Office Trivia: Test your colleagues’ knowledge of the office with an office trivia game. Ask questions about company history, policies, and other office-related topics. This game is sure to get everyone talking, and it’s a great way to learn more about your workplace.
3. Card games: Card games require very little space or equipment — all you need is a deck of cards, and you’re good to go. Card games can work as great ice breakers, and help bond a team together. Many card games can even be played online – for instance, Hearts is a trick-taking card game that can be great for office parties. Spades is a simpler trick taking game that promotes teamwork and strategic thinking. Other games can even require some math skills — in Cribbage, players need to combine strategic thinking and social interactions in order to win.
4. Charades: This popular game is always a hit at parties. Have everyone write down a phrase, movie, or song title on a piece of paper and put them in a bowl. Each person takes turns drawing a piece of paper and acting out the phrase, movie, or song title for others to guess.
5. Word Scramble: This game is great for larger groups. Write down a list of jumbled words and have everyone try to unscramble them. The first person to unscramble all of the words wins!
6. Two Truths and a Lie: This game requires a bit of storytelling and some good acting. Everyone takes turns telling two truths and one lie about themselves. The rest of the group has to guess which one is the lie.
7. Office Scavenger Hunt: This game is perfect for larger groups. Divide the group into teams and have them search the office for items that relate to common idioms. The first team to find all of the items wins!
8. Murder mystery games: This game can work well for moderately small groups. Murder mystery games can be played in the form of boardgames, which , or without boards through the popular game Mafia, which lets players interrogate each other to determine who’s the killer.
9. Name That Tune: This musical game is great for larger groups. Divide the group into teams and have each team take turns playing a short clip of a song. The other teams have to guess the song in the shortest amount of time.
10. The Price is Right: This game is perfect for a corporate setting. Write down a list of items commonly found in the office, such as a stapler, a printer, a computer, etc. Have everyone guess the approximate price of each item. The person with the closest guesses wins.
11. Office Jokes: This is a great way to get everyone laughing. Divide the group into teams and have each team take turns telling office-related jokes. The team with the most laughs at the end wins.
12. Office Scavenger Hunt: Divide the group into teams and have them search the office for items that are related to certain categories. The first team to find all of the items wins.
13. Guess Who?: This game is great for smaller groups. Have each person write down the name of an office colleague on a piece of paper and put them in a bowl. Everyone takes turns drawing a name and trying to guess who it is. The person who guesses the most names correctly wins.
14. Trivia Challenge: This game is similar to Office Trivia, but with a twist — have general questions as well. Divide the group into teams and have each team take turns asking trivia questions. The game will test the team’s general awareness, and also lead to people discovering each others’ interests and hidden depths.
15. Mad Libs: This game is perfect for getting people to laugh. Have everyone write down a list of words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc.) on pieces of paper and put them in a bowl. Each person takes turns drawing a word and using it to fill in the blank in a funny story. The rest of the group has to guess which words were used.
16. Office Jeopardy: This game is great for challenging your colleagues’ knowledge of the office. Divide the group into teams and have each team take turns asking office-related trivia questions. The team with the most correct answers at the end wins.
17. Scavenger Hunt outside the office: This is a great way to get everyone up and moving. Divide the group into teams and have them leave the office to search for items that are related to certain categories. The first team to find all of the items wins.
18. Office Charades: This version of the classic game is perfect for an office setting — it’s charades, but with an office twist. Have everyone write down an office-related phrase, movie, or song title on a piece of paper and put them in a bowl. Each person takes turns drawing a piece of paper and acting out the phrase, movie, or song title for others to guess.
19. Office Bingo: This game is perfect for larger groups. Have everyone write down office-related words and phrases on pieces of paper and put them in a bowl. Each person takes turns drawing a piece of paper and using it to fill in the blank in a bingo card. The first person to get a bingo wins.
20. Business Trivia: This game is similar to Office Trivia, but with a another twist — ask questions about your industry and competitors. Divide the group into teams and have each team take turns asking and answering business questions. The team with the most correct answers at the end wins.
21. Office Olympics: This game is perfect for a fun and competitive office party. Divide the group into teams and have each team take turns participating in office-related activities, such as paper airplane flying, chair racing, and paperclip stacking. The team with the most points at the end wins.
These office party games are sure to liven up any gathering and help create lasting memories. So what are you waiting for? Get the party started!