Office Party Games That Aren’t Awkward

Three rules for office games

1. Joining in is optional. Say that people can pass on any turn, watch without helping or leave the game. A manager should not call on someone who has declined.
2. No personal disclosure is required. Preview questions and remove ones about health, money, relationships, politics, religion or job performance. Nobody needs to explain an answer.
3. No physical contact is required. Use seated votes, paper or chat instead of activities that require touching another player.

Offer scorekeeping or reading only to volunteers. Watching is already a complete option; spectators do not need an assignment.

Six games to play with coworkers

These are suggested office versions. Pick one main game and a short opener rather than trying to fit all six into one break.

1. Would You Rather, work edition

Allow 5–10 minutes. Have ready: five previewed questions; no other supplies are needed.

Read a question such as “Would you rather have a snack cart or a small library in the break room?” Everyone who wants to answer votes at the same time by raising one or two fingers, or by typing A or B. Invite one volunteer from each side to give a short reason, then move on. Rotate those invitations so the same people do not get every speaking turn; if nobody volunteers, read the next question.

There are no right answers, points or ties. Passing needs no explanation. Stop after five questions or at the announced finish time, whichever comes first. For another round, start a fresh set of questions. Any number of players works, including an odd number.

The workplace Would You Rather collection helps you find prompts. The food questions provide imaginary choices such as pancakes or waffles; nobody needs to eat anything or explain a dietary restriction. See the general voting format if you want a longer conversation version.

2. This or That, seated or in corners

Allow 5–10 minutes. Have ready: five pairs of choices and, for the movement version, two labelled sides of the room.

Try “Puzzle or drawing?” or “Mountains or beach?” Read each pair, pause for a vote, then read the next. Players can point, use chat or move to the labelled side they prefer. Keep a seated vote available; moving is optional. An answer does not require a reason.

Everyone gets the same five chances to vote. There is no score, wrong choice or tie-breaker, and an odd headcount changes nothing. If nobody votes, move on without calling anyone out. Finish after five choices; clear the labels or open a fresh list to reset. The This or That questions collection gives you more pairs to preview.

3. Team trivia

Allow 15–20 minutes. Have ready: ten questions with checked answers, an answer sheet for each team, pens and a timer.

Make teams of four to six where numbers allow, mixing departments if people want to. With an uneven headcount, use teams that differ by no more than one person; for a small group, pairs or one cooperative team work too. Do not leave the last person to play alone.

Read and display each question. Give every team the same 45 seconds to discuss and write one private answer. Rotate the writer after each question. Collect answers before revealing the answer so nobody can copy another team. For example, a question might ask how many sides a hexagon has, with six on the host’s answer sheet.

Award one point for a correct answer and zero for a wrong or blank answer; nobody is eliminated. Announce in advance that tied teams share the win. If a question has an ambiguous answer, remove it from every team’s score. Stop after ten questions or 20 minutes, finishing the current question before scoring. Start again with blank answer sheets, zero scores and new questions. The trivia game guide has other formats to compare.

4. Scattergories rounds

Allow 10–15 minutes. Have ready: category sheets, pens and a timer. Use Scattergories lists for more categories.

Try three categories—food, animal and something on a desk—with the letter S. Possible answers are soup, squirrel and stapler. Give everyone two minutes to write one answer per category, without showing their sheet. Then compare answers.

For this suggested version, a valid answer earns one point only if no other player wrote the same answer in that category. Blank, repeated or off-category answers earn zero. Agree before starting that disputed answers get no point, then move on rather than debating. Play three rounds with a new letter each time; everyone has the same categories and time. Add the points and let ties stand.

Any headcount works. If playing in pairs, one trio can join an odd-numbered group; use the same arrangement for all three rounds. For an unscored version, simply share the answers. Reset with fresh sheets, new letters and zero scores.

5. Mad Libs

Allow about 10 minutes. Have ready: short fill-in sentences and a pen, or a document only the reader can see.

One volunteer keeps the sentence hidden and asks for word types in order. For “The [adjective] robot brought a [noun] to lunch,” ask only for a describing word and a thing. With “sleepy” and “toaster,” the reader gets “The sleepy robot brought a toaster to lunch.” Use the Mad Libs prompts for more sentences and word-type examples.

Ask the next willing person for each blank, moving around the table or through an agreed call order. If someone passes or gets stuck, ask the next person. If nobody supplies a word after one trip around the group, the reader can use a neutral word or skip the sentence; either way, that turn ends.

Read the finished sentence only if the reader wants to, then invite the next willing reader. With two people, one can supply all the words; an odd number needs no special rule. There are no points or ties. Stop at ten minutes or after every willing reader has had one turn, finishing the current sentence. Reset with an unfilled sentence and fresh words.

6. Guess the desk photo

Allow about 10 minutes. Have ready: up to five volunteered desk photos, numbered slides and private answer sheets.

Use this only if colleagues want to contribute. Ask contributors to remove or cover names, screens, documents and personal items they do not want shown. Let each person approve their slide before the party. Showing a desk identifies its owner, so check that contributors want their names revealed as well as their photos shown. If there are no volunteers, use trivia instead.

With contributors’ permission, give players the same list of possible owners. Show each numbered photo for 30 seconds. Players write their guesses privately; on a call, send them only to the host. Collect all guesses before revealing the approved names. A wrong or blank guess earns zero; a correct guess earns one point.

Contributors can watch but should sit out the scored guessing round because they know at least one answer. All other players see the same photos for the same time; any number can play. Finish after the prepared slides, total the scores and let ties share the win. To reset, clear the guesses and scores and use a new approved set of photos; replaying the same slides is an unscored round.

How to play with remote colleagues

Read each prompt aloud and show it on screen. For question votes, let everyone use the same chat or poll, including people in the room. For trivia and photo guesses, use private messages to the host or a submission form that hides other teams’ answers until the reveal.

Give remote teams the same questions and answering time. Test whether their breakout room and private submission method work before the party. If they cannot discuss privately, play trivia as one cooperative group instead of scoring separate teams. For categories, everyone can write privately and reveal answers together. For Mad Libs, agree on a speaking order and keep the sentence visible only to the reader.

If the connection fails, pause the current scored question and resend it when everyone can participate. If you cannot restore access, stop scoring and offer a short unscored chat round. Do not award room-only points while remote colleagues are disconnected.