Microsoft Teams games: 30 games to play in a Teams meeting
Thirty games built on what Teams already has, from a 5-minute opener to a December social hour. Plus a 30-minute plan and a meeting invite you can copy.
The best Microsoft Teams games use the features already in your meeting: the chat, live reactions, raise hand, polls, Whiteboard and breakout rooms. Nothing to install and nothing for IT to approve. Below are 30 virtual games to play on Teams, each with the player count, the minutes it takes and the exact feature it runs on, sorted from quick ice breakers to games for a 500-person all-hands.
The features behind Microsoft Teams games
Eight features do almost all the work. Each line here was checked on Microsoft's own support pages in October 2026.
Meeting chat: Answers, guesses and GIFs. Anyone can react to a message, which makes a quick vote.
Everyone invited, unless the organizer or IT limits chat.
Live reactions: Like, Love, Applause, Laugh and Surprise float over your video, so a whole call can answer at once.
Everyone on desktop, web and mobile; on a phone, tap More. They don't show in large gallery view.
Raise hand: Teams numbers raised hands in the order they went up: a free buzzer.
Everyone in a regular meeting. Town hall organizers can turn raised hands off.
Polls: Multiple choice polls, quiz questions with a marked right answer, word clouds, ratings and rankings. Build them before the call and launch one at a time.
Organizers and presenters create and launch; attendees answer from a phone, the web or the desktop app.
Whiteboard: A shared canvas for drawing, notes and text that you share into the meeting.
Works with people in your organization by default. Guests from outside can join in only if your admin allows it.
Annotation on a shared screen: The presenter selects Annotate and can let everyone draw on top of a shared map, photo or slide.
The presenter picks Everyone can annotate or Only I can annotate. Phones can annotate when the presenter shares from a computer.
Breakout rooms: Up to 50 rooms with a timer that brings everyone back. Each room has its own chat.
The organizer on the Teams desktop app, or a presenter they make a breakout room manager. People on free Teams accounts can't be assigned.
Q&A: A question feed people can upvote, with an anonymous option. Made for big calls.
Turn it on in meeting options. Attendees post and upvote on desktop, mobile and web.
Two things older lists still recommend are gone. Microsoft's Games for Work app (Solitaire, Minesweeper, Wordament and IceBreakers) was discontinued in May 2024, and Together mode, the shared auditorium view, was retired starting June 2026. Every game below works without them.
30 Teams games for work, by how long they take
Numbered top to bottom, so you can say “let's do number 12.” Every one is written for work: nothing anyone has to share that they wouldn't say in a meeting.
5-minute ice breaker games for Teams
Openers for the first minutes of a regular meeting. No setup beyond the meeting itself.
1. Applause if you have
Read five lines like “applause if you have ever been on a boat”; everyone who has sends the Applause reaction.
3 to 300 players · 5 min · Live reactions · Cameras optional
2. Hand-raise race
Call out something to fetch, like a mug with writing on it; the raised-hand order shows who got back first.
3 to 50 players · 5 min · Raise hand · Cameras on
3. Answer in GIFs
Ask one question, such as how your week is going, and everyone replies with a GIF only; two people explain theirs.
3 to 40 players · 5 min · Meeting chat · Cameras optional
4. Emoji jargon decoder
Post emoji that spell a work phrase (a fire and an extinguisher for firefighting); the first right guess in chat sets the next one.
3 to 50 players · 5 min · Meeting chat · Cameras optional
5. Background story
Everyone picks a built-in background that fits their ideal weekend; teammates guess the reason behind each one.
3 to 15 players · 5 min · Background effects · Cameras on
6. Workload weather report
Each person posts one weather emoji for their week ahead; two volunteers say what is behind the forecast.
3 to 25 players · 5 min · Meeting chat · Cameras optional
More chat-only games, the kind that also work in a Teams channel between meetings, are in our games to play over text, and our GIF games stretch the GIF opener into a full round.
15-minute games to play on Teams
Room for one real game at the end of a team meeting, or two back to back.
7. One-line whiteboard relay
Name a thing to draw, like a lighthouse; each person adds a single line in turn while the rest guess in chat.
3 to 10 players · 15 min · Whiteboard · Cameras optional
8. Whiteboard spectrum
Draw a line from “never” to “every day”, read a habit like reading the last page first, and everyone moves a named note to their spot.
4 to 15 players · 10 min · Whiteboard · Cameras optional
9. Five-poll company quiz
Write five quiz polls about your company or product before the call, mark the right answers, and launch them one by one.
5 to 300 players · 10 min · Polls (quiz) · Cameras optional
10. Pin the map
Share a world map, turn on Everyone can annotate, and each person marks where they grew up; the team guesses whose mark is whose.
3 to 20 players · 15 min · Screen share annotation · Cameras optional
11. Spot the difference slide
Share two copies of one office photo with five things changed; the first person to circle a change scores it.
3 to 30 players · 10 min · Screen share annotation · Cameras optional
12. Breakout logo sprint
Rooms of three or four get eight minutes to draw a logo for the team on a whiteboard, then show it in the main room.
6 to 50 players · 15 min · Breakout rooms and Whiteboard · Cameras optional
13. Rank the group
Launch a ranking poll of five lunch foods; before results show, everyone guesses the group's top pick in chat.
5 to 100 players · 10 min · Polls (ranking) · Cameras optional
Breakout rooms need the organizer on the Teams desktop app, and guests on free Teams accounts can't be placed in a room, so check your guest list before you plan a room game.
Longer Teams games for a social hour
Games with rounds and teams, for a 30 to 60 minute social call.
14. Breakout riddle race
Send every room the same three riddles as an announcement; the first room to reply with all three answers wins the round.
8 to 60 players · 20 min · Breakout rooms · Cameras optional
15. Whiteboard telephone
One person writes a phrase on a note, the next draws it, the next writes what they see; compare the first note with the last.
4 to 10 players · 20 min · Whiteboard · Cameras optional
16. Captain's quiz
Read a round in the main room, then send teams to breakout rooms to confer; each captain replies to your announcement with the answers.
8 to 60 players · 30 min · Breakout rooms and chat · Cameras optional
17. Two-minute masterclass
Volunteers teach a tiny skill in two minutes, like folding a shirt fast or a coin trick, and everyone tries it on camera.
4 to 15 players · 30 min · Camera and screen share · Cameras on
18. Mystery fact vote
Collect one little-known fact per person with a Microsoft Forms survey beforehand; read each one and launch a poll with four names.
5 to 25 players · 25 min · Forms and Polls · Cameras optional
19. Landmark from memory
Each breakout room draws the same famous landmark from memory on a whiteboard; the main room picks the best in a poll.
6 to 40 players · 20 min · Breakout rooms and Whiteboard · Cameras optional
Need riddles for the race? Our riddles for adults come with answers.
Games for big all-hands calls
For big calls with most microphones off. Polls, reactions and Q&A do the work, so nobody needs to unmute.
20. Upvote idea battle
Open Q&A and ask for one small fix that would make work easier; the most upvoted idea gets an owner before the call ends.
20 to 1,000 players · 10 min · Q&A · Cameras optional
21. Higher or lower poll
Put up a guess at a real company number, like orders shipped last year; a poll asks if the true figure is higher or lower.
20 to 1,000 players · 10 min · Polls · Cameras optional
22. Reaction showdown
Put two options on screen, like names for the new meeting room; Love votes left, Applause votes right, and the host calls it.
20 to 300 players · 5 min · Live reactions · Cameras optional
23. All-hands word cloud
Launch a word cloud poll asking for one word about the last quarter; the biggest word opens the leader's update.
20 to 1,000 players · 5 min · Polls (word cloud) · Cameras optional
24. Sixty-second chat flood
Set the whole call a target, like 40 different fruits in 60 seconds, then let the chat fill while the host counts.
20 to 300 players · 5 min · Meeting chat · Cameras optional
25. Guess the year poll
Show an old photo of the office, the product or the founding team, and launch a quiz poll with four years.
20 to 1,000 players · 5 min · Polls (quiz) · Cameras optional
Christmas games for Teams and other winter games
Wintry December games that work whatever people celebrate.
26. Winter song emoji riddles
Post winter and holiday song titles as emoji, one at a time; the first right answer in chat scores a point.
3 to 50 players · 10 min · Meeting chat · Cameras optional
27. Winter wish wall
Draw a big snow globe on a shared whiteboard; each person adds a note with one wish for the team next year.
3 to 30 players · 10 min · Whiteboard · Cameras optional
28. Festive background contest
Everyone joins with a wintry background or a decorated corner behind them; a poll picks the winner.
5 to 50 players · 10 min · Background effects and Polls · Cameras on
29. Team year-in-review quiz
Ten quiz polls about your team's year: the biggest launch, the busiest month, the best-attended meeting.
5 to 300 players · 20 min · Polls (quiz) · Cameras optional
30. Five-word movie plots
Each person describes a holiday movie's plot in exactly five words in chat; the rest race to name the film.
4 to 40 players · 15 min · Meeting chat · Cameras optional
December dates for hosted events fill first. For a full hour, see our virtual holiday party games, which run on Teams on request.
Run Zoom too? Our virtual game ideas are written for Zoom, and the 35 team meeting games work on any platform, with none of these repeated.
A 30-minute Teams game plan you can copy
Three games and a vote, timed to the minute. It mixes a buzzer game, a quiz and a small-group drawing round so quiet people and quick people both get a turn.
| Time | What happens |
|---|---|
| 0:00 | Welcome, and ask everyone to open Teams on a laptop or desktop 3 min |
| 0:03 | Hand-raise race: three fetch calls, first three hands win each 4 min |
| 0:07 | Five-poll company quiz (polls built and saved before the call) 7 min |
| 0:14 | Open breakout rooms of three or four, eight-minute timer on 2 min |
| 0:16 | Breakout logo sprint on each room's whiteboard 8 min |
| 0:24 | Rooms return; each shows its logo in 30 seconds 4 min |
| 0:28 | Reaction showdown or a poll to pick the winning logo 2 min |
Before the call: build the five quiz polls in the Polls tab, set up the breakout rooms, and test that you can share a whiteboard.
A meeting invite you can paste
People show up ready when they know what's coming. Paste this into the Teams meeting description.
Subject: Team game half hour We're taking 30 minutes for quick games on Teams: a short quiz, a drawing round in small groups and a vote. No prep, no prizes worth stressing over. Join from a laptop or desktop if you can, since the drawing round uses Whiteboard. Cameras are welcome but optional.
Tips for running games in Teams
- Build polls and breakout rooms before the call. Setting them up live eats a third of a short game slot.
- Do a 2-minute test with a colleague: share a whiteboard, launch one poll, open one room.
- Make cameras optional and say so in the invite. Every game here except four works with cameras off.
- Ask someone else to watch the chat and call out answers, so the host can keep the pace up.
- For a team spread across time zones, run the same game twice in one day rather than asking half the team to join at night.
For a whole program of remote games beyond Teams, see our virtual team building games. Short on time? Our 30-minute team building activities each come with a minute-by-minute plan.
Run it with a host
DIY games are perfect for 15 minutes. For a full hour, a live host writes the questions, runs the rounds and keeps score, so the organizer gets to play too. Our hosted games run on Zoom by default and on Teams, Google Meet or Webex on request, and teams split across time zones can book two sessions.
- Trivia with a Twist! mixes rounds that use different parts of your brain, so non-trivia people score too. See every virtual trivia format.
- A virtual game show splits the call into small groups for rounds straight out of TV game shows.
- A virtual escape room puts teams against the clock with puzzles to solve together.
- For December, Christmas Trivia Party covers holiday movies, music and traditions; see the virtual holiday party lineup.
Each runs 1 hour. Book about 2 weeks ahead, and earlier for December, because those dates fill first.
Hosted games with today's prices. Get a free quote with your date and headcount.
KraftyLab isn't affiliated with Microsoft. Microsoft Teams is a trademark of Microsoft, used here only to describe the platform.
