Office parties are a great way to bring colleagues together and build a stronger sense of community in the workplace. At least that is what HR will tell us. The fact is many people see an office or work party as an unpleasant experience. If these events are not fun, then it’s essentially more work time with no pay and nobody will be excited about that.
What Type of Games Should You Play at an Office Party?
If you are tasked with planning a work gathering you are likely aware of this sentiment. Whether it’s a holiday party or a team-building event, a fun and engaging game can make your party something that your co-workers will want to attend. The catch: people won’t participate if the game is not fun and not easy to learn.
Office party games need to be simple and easy to learn. Complicated games will be a real damper on enthusiasm. They also need to promote participation. This can be done by choosing a game that divides people up into teams, utilize the herd mentality. Finally, they need to be funny while still being appropriate for the setting.
That’s why we’ve compiled a list of 9 fun and easy-to-learn game ideas that are perfect for an office party. These games are sure to turn a dreaded work gathering into a memorable, can’t-miss, party!
Fun & Simple Office Party Game Ideas
1. What Do You Meme?
What Do You Meme is a hilarious meme-based card game. It involves participants getting to come up with their own “memes”.
How to Play
Players take turns being the judge, who selects the photo that will be used that round. Other players choose a caption card from their hand that they think best matches the photo. The judge picks their favorite match, and the player who submitted it wins the round.
Why It’s Great for an Office Party
We have all shared them. Coming across funny memes online and sharing them with co-workers is one of the things that get you through the day. This game gives you and your co-workers the ability to create your own memes that everyone can relate to. Memes are something that everyone in an office is certainly familiar with, so it will require little explanation.
2. The Voting Game
Description
The Voting Game is a lively card game where players vote on who among them is most likely to do something.
How to play
Players take turns reading a question card. These will include things like: “Who pees in the pool” and “Who would you choose as your cellmate in prison”. Everyone votes on who among them is most likely to do what the card says. The player with the most votes wins the round. At the end of each voting round players discover who voted for them.
Why It’s Great for an Office Party
This game is sure to get people out of their shells. The game is easy to learn and get going so you don’t have to worry about explaining the game. It accomplishes the task of getting people to open up and laugh without putting anyone on the spot.
For an office party, we recommend the standard version. There is an “adult” version but we see this as too dirty for work. You can play with several people but the game is best with about 5. If you have a larger group, you can always split them up into groups. With 200 questions in the game, you would have enough to split up into four or five groups with one game set.
We would also recommend that you skim through all the question cards ahead of time and remove any you think might be distasteful to your crowd.
3. That’s What She Said Party Game
Description
That’s What She Said is a fast-paced, innuendo-filled card game that is sure to have people laughing. If you have seen the sitcom The Office, then you will know what this game is all about.
How to Play
Players take turns being the judge, who selects a setup card. The setup card has an open-ended sentence. For example: “A police officer pulled me over and said . . .”. The other players have “punchline” cards in their hands. They select one of their punchline cards that will best match the “setup” card. The judge picks their favorite match, and the player who submitted it wins the round.
Why It Works for an Office Party
What could be more perfect for an office party than a game based on a recurring joke from a show called The Office?
One issue with an office party is that people carry over their buttoned-up, professional attitudes and don’t let themselves loosen up. This game is going to make certain work hours are over and give participants no choice but to have a good time.
It might not be for everyone so you will want to make sure that your participants are ok with some vague sexual references. Once people get started playing this game it might last for hours. That’s what she said!
4. No Wrong Answers
Description
No Wrong Answers is a game intended to destroy small talk and get people engaged in interesting, funny, and downright zany conversations. Simply draw a card and provide an answer to the question that’s on the card. Each question is unique, interesting, and a little off the wall.
How to Play
As far as games go this is about as easy to play as they come. Players take turns drawing a question card and answering it. Other players can join in the conversation, and of course, there are no right or wrong answers.
Why It’s Good for an Office Party
Icebreakers are a staple of office meetings, gatherings, or parties. However, they are often boring, cliche, or lack any really though provoking nuance.
A good icebreaker should trigger people to remember characteristics about one another and feel more comfortable interacting in the future. No Wrong Answers is a simple icebreaker that your coworkers will actually want to play!
5. Who Can Do It
Description
Who Can Do It is an active game that is appropriately named. Contestants simply compete to see who can do the challenge as described.
How to Play
Players take turns drawing a challenge card and attempting to complete the task. Each challenge card will provide the challenge and a guideline for how the results are to be judged. For example, a challenge card might say “Swear in a foreign language, first one wins” or it might say “Take a selfie, worst one wins”. Players take turns being the judge.
Why It Makes a Great Office Party Game
Who can do it is another game that is very simple to learn. You have 250 different challenge cards so even if your group is large you can split up into multiple groups to play and easily have plenty of challenges.
This game is more active than others as some challenges require players to get up and move or act something out which can lead to very memorable moments.
6. Wits and Wagers
Description
Wits and Wagers is a trivia game where players bet on the answers. You do not have to get the right answer in order to win! Points are won for the closest guess and by placing wagers on what answer you think is the closest.
How to Play
Players take turns reading a trivia question, and everyone writes down their answer. Players then bet on which answer they think is closest to the correct answer. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.
Example: “What year did the Titanic sink?” Players would each provide the year they think it happened. Then players would wager points on which answer they think is the closest. The player who is the closest gets points and the players who wagered on that answer get pints.
Why It Works For an Office Party
Trivia is a classic party game but only one person can win at a time. This game allows players to win even if they don’t know the correct answers. This evens the playing field and adds a gambling element without anyone having to wager any real money.
7. Time’s Up – Title Recall
Description
Time’s Up – Title Recall is sure to get some adrenaline going as you must work to beat the clock. In this guessing game, teammates take turns describing famous things like books, movies, songs, etc, and trying to guess as many before the timer runs out.
How to Play
One player gives clues at a time. They draw a card and describe the famous thing on the card one at a time. The goal is to get your teammates to guess as many of the famous things that you describe in 30 seconds.
The game is played in rounds. Each round becomes increasingly challenging. With the first round allowing pretty much anything, and then each round limits what you can do to describe whats on the card.
What Makes It Good for an Office Party?
In addition to being fun, this game is a sneaky teambuilder. If you are a manager or HR leader, you are probably looking for an activity that will teach or develop teamwork while still being fun. Time’s Up – Title Recall encourages good communication, promotes active listening, and ofcourse the ever important teamwork.
So if you want a game for your next office party that will both entertain and benefit your work environment check it out.
8. Snake Oil
Description
Snake Oil is a game about salesmanship. Players must use their creativity to sell their unconventional, whacky, and weird inventions to others.
How to Play
Players take turns being the customer, who selects a customer card. Other players create a product using a combination of two cards from their hand. Each card has a word on it and together the two words will be the basis for the wacky invention. The players pitch their invention to the customer. The customer picks their favorite pitch, and the player who submitted it wins the round.
Why Would it Work for An Office Party
Give everyone in your office a chance to play the salesperson. You might be surprised at who has a hidden skill for persuasion!
9. Hot Seat
Description
Hot Seat will test how well your co-workers know one another by having them guess how one another would answer specific questions.
How to Play
One person is in the “Hot Seat”. They draw a card and read aloud the question. They must write down their answer and keep it hidden. The other players write down how they think that person would answer the question.
Why Its Great for an Office Party
If you didn’t know your co-workers before, you will now. This game is not going to work as an ice-breaker but will be great to help co-workers who are familiar with one another build some comradery and of course have fun. It makes for really good laughs to see how others view you. Just remember to be a good sport!
