35 Halloween games for work, in the office and on Zoom
Office party games, Zoom games, 10-minute games and contests, all work friendly. Plus costume contest categories and a 60-minute party run sheet.
The best Halloween games for work are short, silly and optional to dress up for. Below are 35 Halloween games for adults at the office or on Zoom, with no frights and no costume budget required. Halloween 2026 falls on a Saturday, so most offices will celebrate on Friday, October 30. Pick two team games, one contest and a costume vote, and you have an hour that people will talk about on Monday.
Halloween party games for the office
Halloween office games for a conference room or the break area. Cheap supplies, loud results.
1. Mummy wrap race
Teams of three pick one mummy and wrap them head to toe in toilet paper. Fastest full wrap with the face left clear wins.
10 min · Teams of 3 · Two rolls of toilet paper per team
2. Costume contest by category
Run one parade lap, then vote by category with a show of hands or a phone poll, so it isn't only the biggest budget that wins. Categories and rules below.
20 min · Everyone · Ballots or a poll link
3. Pumpkin decorating contest
Mini pumpkins, paint pens, stickers and googly eyes. No knives, so it works at a desk in 20 minutes.
20 min · Solo or pairs · Mini pumpkins, paint pens, stickers
4. Pumpkin bowling
Stand ten paper towel tubes at the end of a hallway and roll a small round pumpkin at them. Two rolls a frame, three frames each.
15 min · Teams of 4 · A small pumpkin, 10 cardboard tubes
5. Witch hat ring toss
Toss glow-stick bracelets onto a witch hat or a traffic cone from six feet. Most ringers in ten throws wins.
10 min · Any size · A witch hat or cone, glow-stick bracelets
6. Doughnut on a string
Hang one glazed doughnut per player at mouth height. Hands behind backs; the first to finish theirs wins.
5 min · Heats of 4 to 6 · Doughnuts, string, a broom handle
7. Mystery box
Players reach into covered boxes and guess what's inside: peeled grapes for eyeballs, cold noodles for worms, a damp sponge for a brain. Most right answers wins.
15 min · Any size · Shoe boxes, everyday food and objects
8. Pass the pumpkin
Pass a mini pumpkin around the circle while spooky music plays. When it stops, the holder answers a Halloween question from the bowl. Halloween icebreaker questions.
10 min · Circles of 8 to 15 · A mini pumpkin, a speaker, question slips
9. Candy corn chopstick relay
Move candy corn from one bowl to another with chopsticks, one piece at a time, relay style. Most pieces moved in two minutes wins.
10 min · Teams of 4 · Chopsticks, candy corn, two bowls per team
10. Halloween Pictionary
Teams take turns drawing Halloween words on a whiteboard: haunted house, black cat, full moon, trick-or-treat. 60 seconds a drawing.
15 min · Two or more teams · A whiteboard and a word list
11. Spooky scavenger hunt
Hide 20 paper bats around the office before anyone arrives. Most bats found by lunch wins, and the one gold bat counts for five. More office hunt ideas.
Half a day · Everyone · Paper bats, tape
12. Candy corn guessing jar
Fill a jar, count it as you go, and let people guess all week. Reveal the number at the party; the closest guess takes the jar home.
All week · Everyone · A jar and a few bags of candy corn
Halloween games on Zoom
Built for cameras, polls and the chat box, so remote teammates play instead of watch.
13. Virtual costume parade
Spotlight each person for ten seconds, then vote by category in a Zoom poll. Give the best costume made from your closet its own prize.
15 min · Up to about 50 · Zoom polls or a form
14. Halloween trivia
Five rounds of ten questions, teams in breakout rooms, answers typed by one captain per team. Ready-made Halloween trivia questions.
30 min · Teams of 4 to 6 · A question list
15. Pet costume parade
Pets in costume get their own turn on camera while owners narrate. The team votes for the winner.
10 min · Any size · Willing pets
16. Emoji movie guess
Screen-share emoji clues for Halloween movies and songs, like a ghost next to a no sign. First right answer in the chat scores.
10 min · Any size · A slide of emoji clues
17. Spooky story chain
One person starts a ghost story with two sentences, then names the next teller. Campfire spooky, not gory.
10 min · 6 to 15 people · Nothing
18. At-home Halloween scavenger hunt
Call out an item: something orange, a candle, a sheet you could be a ghost in. First person back on camera with it scores.
10 min · Any size · Whatever is at home
19. Name that spooky tune
Play ten seconds of a Halloween song or movie theme with screen-share audio on. Teams race to name it in the chat.
15 min · Teams or solo · A playlist
20. Background contest
Everyone sets a Halloween virtual background or decorates the real one behind them. Vote for spookiest, funniest and most effort.
5 min · Any size · Virtual backgrounds or decorations
21. Two truths and a ghost story
Each person shares three short Halloween memories, one of them made up. The team guesses the fake. How two truths and a lie works.
15 min · 5 to 12 people · Nothing
22. Live pumpkin decorating
Ask everyone to bring a pumpkin and markers, decorate together on camera for 20 minutes, then hold them up and vote.
25 min · Any size · A pumpkin and markers each
10-minute Halloween games for any meeting
Fun Halloween games with no setup worth mentioning. Open a team meeting with one, in person or remote.
23. Halloween would you rather
Read a pair and vote with reactions or hands: a week in a haunted house, or a night lost in a corn maze?
5 min · Any size · A list of pairs
24. Candy bracket
Two candies on screen, one vote, winner moves on. Eight candies take three rounds to crown a champion.
5 min · Any size · One bracket slide
25. Halloween word scramble
Put ten scrambled words on a slide, like KPNIMUP for pumpkin and TSOHG for ghost. First to solve all ten wins.
5 min · Any size · One slide or a printout
26. Guess the childhood costume
Collect old Halloween photos ahead of time and show them one by one. Guess which coworker is the tiny pirate.
10 min · 10 to 40 people · Photos sent in advance
27. Halloween bingo
Squares like wearing orange, has a pet in costume, carved a pumpkin this week. First full line calls bingo. Make free bingo cards.
10 min · Any size · Printed or digital cards
28. Blind candy taste test
Unwrapped fun-size candy, eyes closed, one bite each. Most candies named correctly wins.
10 min · 4 to 10 people · Assorted candy (ask about allergies first)
29. One-minute monster drawing
Read three random features (three eyes, a necktie, sneakers) and give everyone 60 seconds to draw the monster. Hold them up.
5 min · Any size · Paper and a pen
Halloween contest ideas that run all week
Start them on Monday, crown the winners at the party.
30. Desk or door decorating contest
Give teams a week and a small budget, then judge on a Friday walk-through. Photos of remote home offices count too.
1 week · Teams or solo · A small decor budget
31. Halloween bake-off
Volunteers bring a homemade spooky treat with the ingredients on a card. Vote on taste and looks.
1 day · Volunteers · Ingredient cards, voting slips
32. Party playlist contest
Everyone submits three Halloween songs. The team votes, and the winning list plays at the party.
1 week · Everyone · A shared playlist
33. 100-word scary story contest
Collect 100-word Halloween stories in a channel all week. Read the top three aloud at the party.
1 week · Volunteers · A Slack or Teams channel
34. Guess whose favorites
Collect everyone's favorite candy, scary movie and childhood costume in a form. Post one person's answers a day; first correct guess scores.
1 week · 15 to 100 people · A short form
35. Daily caption contest
Post one Halloween photo a day, like the office plant in a witch hat, and collect captions in a thread. Most reactions wins.
1 week · Everyone · A Slack or Teams channel
Costume contest categories and rules
Vote by category and more people win. Twelve categories that work at the office and on camera:
- Best overall
- Funniest
- Most creative
- Best group or department costume
- Best work-themed costume (an out-of-office reply, a spreadsheet)
- Best pun
- Best homemade costume
- Best last-minute costume
- Best costume under $10
- Best accessory, for people who skip the full costume
- Best on-camera costume, for remote teammates
- Best pet costume
Five rules to send with the invite
- Costumes are optional. An orange shirt or a hat counts.
- No cultures, religions, ethnicities or real groups of people as costumes.
- Nothing gory or frightening required. Dress for an office with visitors.
- Keep faces visible and leave realistic-looking props at home.
- Wear something you can still do your job in safely.
A 60-minute Halloween party run sheet
Works in a conference room or on a Zoom call. Swap in any game from the lists above.
- 0:00 Welcome and costume parade (10 min). Everyone walks once past the front of the room, or gets ten seconds in spotlight on Zoom.
- 0:10 Icebreaker (5 min). Pass the pumpkin in person, or Halloween would you rather on a call.
- 0:15 Team game one (15 min). Mummy wrap race in the office, Halloween trivia in breakout rooms for remote teams.
- 0:30 Team game two (10 min). Halloween Pictionary or name that spooky tune. Keep the same teams for a running score.
- 0:40 Voting and a candy break (10 min). Open the costume poll and any contest ballots while people refill.
- 0:50 Awards (7 min). Costume categories first, then the week's contest winners. Small prizes, big applause.
- 0:57 Group photo and close (3 min). A group photo or a gallery-view screenshot for the team channel.
Label every treat with its ingredients, keep a non-candy option on the table, and give people who don’t celebrate Halloween an easy fall theme to join instead. Need questions for the icebreaker? Use our Halloween icebreakers and Halloween trivia questions.
Want someone to run Halloween for your team?
A live host can run the whole hour: Halloween trivia, seasonal game rounds or a craft or cocktail kit shipped to every home, on Zoom by default (Teams, Google Meet or Webex on request). Hosted games book about 2 weeks ahead. Kits need about 3 weeks to ship, so dates close to October 31 are tight: ask us before you rule them out. See every option on our virtual Halloween party page.
Two hosted games and two kits, with today’s prices.
Prefer clues to costumes? A virtual murder mystery suits October without anyone dressing up. For more remote ideas, read our virtual Halloween party guide, or get a free quote with your date and headcount.
