35 office desk games you can play without leaving your chair
Solo puzzles, games for two, whole-office challenges and chat games for remote teammates. Each one with players, time and what you need.
Desk games are the small games you play without leaving your chair: a coin puzzle between emails, paper football with the person across from you, a pentathlon the whole floor joins at 3 pm. Here are 35 office desk games in five groups, each with players, time, what you need and how to play in a few lines. Most need nothing more than paper, a pen and a few coins, and every group has something remote teammates can join.
Which desk game to play when
Short on time? Start here, then jump to the game.
| When | Play |
|---|---|
| Two minutes alone between tasks | Coin triangle flip or Hidden word sentences |
| A slow afternoon with your desk neighbor | Paper football or Sprouts |
| Friday afternoon for the whole floor | Desk pentathlon or Origami frog race |
| A pod or meeting room, laptops shut | Bulls and cows or The office cat |
| A remote team that lives in chat | Fictionary or Badly described movies |
Solo desk games for a two-minute break
Puzzles and paper tricks for one, between emails. Most end with something to show the person next to you.
1. Coin triangle flip
Players: 1, then challenge a coworkerTime: 2 to 5 minutesYou need: 10 coins
Lay 10 coins in a triangle pointing up: 1 on top, then rows of 2, 3 and 4. Make the triangle point down by moving only three coins. Once you have it, set it up on a colleague's desk.
Show the answer
Move the top coin to just below the middle of the bottom row. Then move the two end coins of the bottom row up to the ends of the second row. You now have rows of 4, 3, 2 and 1 pointing down.
2. Paper clip Roman numerals
Players: 1 or 2Time: 5 minutesYou need: Unbent paper clips, coffee stirrers or toothpicks
Lay out a wrong equation in Roman numerals, one stick per stroke. Fix it by moving a single stick of a numeral; the plus, minus and equals signs stay put. Start with these two, then build one for the next desk.
- V + I = IV
- VI − II = II
Show the answer
V + I = VI: move the I from the left of the V to its right. V − II = III: take one I from the VI and add it to the answer.
4. Sticky note tangram
Players: 1Time: 10 minutesYou need: A square sticky note, scissors and a pen
Copy any tangram diagram onto the note and cut out the seven pieces: two large triangles, one medium, two small, a square and a parallelogram. Build a house, a cat and a boat from all seven. Then put the square back together, which is harder than it sounds.
5. Sticky note flipbook
Players: 1Time: 10 minutes over a few breaksYou need: A pad of sticky notes and a pen
Draw a small figure in the bottom corner of the last note, then move it a little on each note above it, working back to the top of the pad. Twenty notes give you a short animation when you flip from the back. Start simple: a bouncing ball, a paper plane taking off, a mug filling up.
6. Möbius strip cut
Players: 1, plus anyone you want to surpriseTime: 3 minutesYou need: A strip of paper, tape, scissors and a pen
Give the strip one half twist and tape the ends into a loop. Draw a line down the middle without lifting the pen: it covers both sides, because the loop has only one. Ask your neighbor what happens if you cut along the line, then cut it.
Show the answer
You get one long loop, not two. Cut a new strip a third of the way in from the edge instead and you get two loops linked together, one long and one short.
Desk games to play with the person next to you
Paper, pen and coin games for two. Each round fits in a coffee break and none of them needs a screen.
7. Paper football
Players: 2Time: 5 to 10 minutesYou need: A sheet of paper folded into a tight triangle
Fold a strip of paper into a small triangle, like folding a flag. Take turns flicking it across the desk: it's a touchdown (6 points) when it stops hanging over the far edge, and your turn ends after three flicks or if it falls off. After a touchdown, kick for 1 point through goalposts your opponent makes with thumbs touching and index fingers up.
8. Coin soccer
Players: 2Time: 5 minutesYou need: 3 coins of the same size
Lay three coins in a triangle and flick one through the gap between the other two, always the coin at the back. Keep going until you're close enough to shoot between goalposts your opponent makes with an index finger and little finger on the desk. Miss a gap, touch another coin or knock one off and it's their turn.
9. Dots and boxes
Players: 2 or 3Time: 5 to 10 minutesYou need: Paper and a pen each, ideally different colors
Draw a grid of dots, 5 by 5 for a quick game. Take turns joining two neighboring dots with a line. Close the fourth side of a box and you write your initial in it and go again; most boxes when the grid is full wins.
10. Sprouts
Players: 2Time: 5 minutesYou need: Paper and a pen
Start with three dots. On your turn, draw a line joining two dots, or a loop from a dot back to itself, without crossing any line, then add a new dot on the line you drew. A dot can have at most three lines touching it, and the player who can't move loses. A three-dot game lasts at most eight moves.
11. Ghost
Players: 2 to 5Time: 5 minutesYou need: Nothing
Take turns adding one letter to a growing word, always with a real word in mind, but never finishing one. Complete a word of four or more letters and you take the next letter of GHOST. Think the last player is bluffing? Challenge them: if they can't name a real word, they take the letter; if they can, you do.
Remote: Plays the same in a chat thread, one letter per message.
12. Graph paper battleships
Players: 2Time: 15 minutesYou need: Graph paper, pens and a folder as a screen
Each player draws two 10 by 10 grids and secretly places five ships, of 5, 4, 3, 3 and 2 squares, in straight lines on one of them. Take turns calling a square like B7; the other player says hit or miss, and you track your shots on the second grid. Sink the whole fleet to win.
Remote: Works over direct messages, one shot per message, through a slow afternoon.
13. Ultimate tic-tac-toe
Players: 2Time: 10 minutesYou need: Paper and a pen
Draw a big tic-tac-toe board with a small board inside each of its nine squares. Where you play in a small board sends your opponent to the matching board: play the top-right square and they must play in the top-right board. Win three in a row on a small board to claim it, claim three boards in a row to win, and if you're sent to a finished board, play anywhere.
14. Squiggle swap
Players: 2Time: 2 minutes a roundYou need: Paper and pens
Each of you draws one random squiggle and swaps sheets. You have 60 seconds to turn the other person's squiggle into a picture. Guess what each other drew, then go again with a theme like animals or office supplies.
Remote: Draw on paper, then hold it up to the camera or post a photo in chat.
Whole-office desk games
Office games for desk rows and whole floors: everyone joins from their own desk, from a 10-minute dash to a game that runs all day.
15. Desk drawer dash
Players: 4 to 40Time: 10 minutesYou need: A caller with a list
The caller names something, and the first person to hold it up from their own desk scores a point. Call things anyone might have, so nobody digs through bags or anything private. Ten calls, then the winner takes over as caller.
- A pen that isn't blue or black
- The oldest coin you have
- Something perfectly round
- Two things the same color
- A business card that isn't yours
Remote: Works the same on a video call: hold the item up to your camera.
16. Desk pentathlon
Players: 4 to 30Time: 30 minutesYou need: Coins, a ruler, bottle caps, paper and a score sheet
Five seated events, each scored 5, 3 and 1 points for first, second and third, with a medal for the top total. Run one event every few minutes so people can drop in between tasks.
- Coin spin: spin a coin on its edge on the desk while a partner times it; the longest spin before it drops wins
- Ruler drop: a partner holds a ruler with zero between your thumb and finger and lets go without warning; the catch closest to zero wins
- Cap flick: flick a bottle cap onto a paper target with rings worth 1, 3 and 5
- Blind coin sort: eyes closed, sort a handful of mixed coins into piles by type in 30 seconds
- Freehand circle: draw a circle in one stroke, and the group votes for the roundest
Remote: Remote players can do four events on camera; skip the ruler drop.
17. Pass-along crossword
Players: The whole floorTime: One working dayYou need: One printed crossword
Start a printed crossword at one desk in the morning. Each person fills in one answer, initials it in the margin and passes the sheet on. The only hint you may ask for comes from the person who handed it to you; post the finished grid in the team channel.
18. Riddle pass
Players: Desk pods of 3 to 6Time: One riddle a day for a weekYou need: Sticky notes
Each pod writes one riddle on a sticky note and passes it to the next pod at 10 am. Solve it by lunch for a point; if nobody cracks yours, your pod takes 2. The writers keep the answer, so no peeking on the back.
19. Office sounds bingo
Players: Anyone on the floorTime: One afternoonYou need: Printed 4 by 4 bingo cards
Fill each card with everyday office sounds in a different order. Mark a square when you hear it, and the first full row posts “bingo” in chat instead of shouting. Sounds that work:
- The microwave beeping
- A kettle clicking off
- The printer warming up
- A chair squeaking
- An elevator chime
- A coffee grinder
- A phone buzzing on a desk
- A package being opened
20. Origami frog race
Players: 2 to 20Time: 20 minutesYou need: Index cards and a strip of tape for a start line
Everyone folds a jumping frog from an index card while one person demonstrates the folds. Press the back edge and let it slip to make it hop. Race twice: the farthest single jump, then across a desk in the fewest hops.
Remote: Works on camera with any stiff card; measure jumps against a ruler on the desk.
21. Window pixel art
Players: Two teams or two floorsTime: A lunch hour per roundYou need: Packs of sticky notes in several colors
Each team plans a picture on graph paper, one square per note, then builds it on a window or a blank wall. The other team answers with their own. Check with facilities first, and keep themes office-friendly: a coffee cup, a rocket, the company mascot.
Want bigger events with a leaderboard? Our Office Olympics events page has 24 more, from paper-ball basketball to chair curling, and our office competition ideas run for a week or a month. For a game that gets people out of their chairs, try an office scavenger hunt.
Screen-free desk games for a pod or meeting room
Talking, card and counting games for three to ten people with the laptops shut. Good for the last ten minutes of a lunch.
22. Fizz buzz
Players: 3 to 10Time: 5 minutesYou need: Nothing
Count up around the group, one number each. Say “fizz” for multiples of 3, “buzz” for multiples of 5 and “fizz buzz” for multiples of both. Slip up and you're out; for a harder round, add “bang” for multiples of 7.
23. Bulls and cows
Players: 2, or two pairsTime: 10 minutesYou need: Paper and a pen
One player writes a secret 4-digit code with no repeated digits. The other guesses, and the code keeper answers with bulls (right digit, right place) and cows (right digit, wrong place). If the code is 4271, a guess of 1234 gets 1 bull and 2 cows. Fewest guesses wins, then swap.
Remote: Plays well over direct messages.
24. The office cat
Players: 3 to 8Time: 5 minutesYou need: Nothing
Go around the group describing the office cat with adjectives in alphabetical order: “The office cat is an adventurous cat,” “The office cat is a brave cat,” and so on. Hesitate, repeat a word or skip a letter and you're out. Harder version: everyone gives an A word until someone runs dry, then move to B.
25. Crazy eights
Players: 2 to 5Time: 10 minutesYou need: A deck of cards
Deal 7 cards each for two players, 5 each for more, and turn one card face up. On your turn, play a card that matches the top card's suit or rank, or play an 8 and name a new suit. If you can't play, draw a card and pass if it doesn't fit; first to empty their hand wins.
26. Don't say 21
Players: 2 to 6Time: 3 minutesYou need: Nothing
Count from 1 in turns, saying one, two or three numbers each time: “1, 2,” then “3, 4, 5.” Whoever has to say 21 loses. In a two-player game there's a trick that never loses; let people hunt for it before you share it.
Show the answer
End your turns on 4, 8, 12, 16 and 20. Whatever your opponent says, you can always reach the next of those numbers, and once you say 20 they have to say 21. If your opponent knows it too, go second.
27. Office spelling bee
Players: 3 to 12Time: 10 minutesYou need: A word list
The caller reads a word and uses it in a sentence, and the player spells it aloud. Miss a letter and you're out; last speller standing wins. Work words that trip up even good spellers:
- Accommodate
- Conscientious
- Liaison
- Millennium
- Occurrence
- Questionnaire
- Bureaucracy
- Entrepreneur
- Privilege
- Necessary
28. Hide the stapler
Players: 3 to 10Time: 5 minutes a roundYou need: A stapler or any small object
One player steps away while the others hide the stapler somewhere around the pod; in plain sight counts. The seeker hunts while the group says “warmer” or “colder”. Nothing goes into anyone else's drawers or bags.
Got a full minute and some props? Our minute to win it games are 33 one-minute challenges with cups, coins and paper clips. For a quick brain game you can play right now, try our free memory game.
Desk games for remote workers on chat
Games that live in a team channel, so remote and hybrid teammates play from their own desks at their own pace.
29. Badly described movies
Players: Any numberTime: 10 minutesYou need: A team channel
Describe a well-known movie's plot as flatly as you can in under ten words, and let people guess. “Fish dad crosses the ocean to find his son” is Finding Nemo; “toys panic when a new toy arrives” is Toy Story. First correct guess posts the next one.
30. Daily puzzle scoreboard
Players: AnyoneTime: 5 minutes a dayYou need: One free daily word or number puzzle
Pick one free daily puzzle everyone can play and post your result each morning without spoilers; most daily puzzles have a share button for this. Keep a weekly tally of guesses or times and crown a winner on Friday. No hints in the thread before noon.
31. Team vs team chess
Players: Two teams of any sizeTime: One move a day for a few weeksYou need: A real board at one desk, or any free online board
Split into two teams. Each day, a team's captain posts the three moves teammates suggested as a poll, and the winner is played at 3 pm with a photo of the board. People who have never played chess can vote too, and learn as the game goes.
32. Spot the change
Players: 3 or moreTime: 10 minutesYou need: A phone camera
Post a photo of your desk, change one thing (move the mug, swap a pen, turn the plant), then post a second photo. The first reply that names the change scores and posts the next pair. Keep it to the desk itself, with nothing personal in the frame.
33. Fictionary
Players: 4 to 15Time: 15 minutesYou need: A host
The host posts an obscure real word, and everyone sends the host a made-up definition in a private message. The host posts every definition, with the real one mixed in and numbered, and players vote with number reactions. You score for picking the real one and for each vote your fake earns. Words to start with:
- Petrichor: the earthy smell after rain falls on dry ground
- Apricity: the warmth of the sun in winter
- Susurrus: a soft whispering or rustling sound
34. Backwards quiz
Players: Any numberTime: 10 minutesYou need: A team channel
Post an answer and let people reply with the best question that fits it, like a quiz show played backwards. The answer “Tuesday at 4 pm” might get “When does the fridge clean-out really happen?” Vote with reactions, and the winner posts the next answer.
35. Name that desk sound
Players: Any numberTime: 10 minutesYou need: A phone
Record three seconds of a sound at your desk (a stapler, a drawer, a mug set down, a pen click) and post it in the thread. The first correct guess scores and posts the next sound. No audio clips in your chat app? A short video with the lens covered works.
Desk toys and mini desk games worth keeping
Ten toys and games for the office desk that earn their space, by type. Any brand will do.
- A deck of cards. Crazy eights, solitaire and a dozen other games in one pocket.
- A magnetic travel chess set. The pieces stay put when someone bumps the desk.
- A 3 by 3 puzzle cube. Learning to solve one is a good month of coffee breaks.
- Wire disentanglement puzzles. Two linked pieces of metal that only come apart one way.
- A wooden tangram or pentomino set. Shape puzzles with no wrong time to put them down.
- A mini whiteboard. For dots and boxes, ultimate tic-tac-toe and keeping score.
- A one-minute sand timer. Times rounds without anyone reaching for a phone.
- A small set of dice. Settles who goes first and keeps scores for longer games.
- A clip-on hoop for the recycling bin. Turns every scrap of paper into a shot.
- A pad of square origami paper. Frogs for the race, plus planes, boxes and cranes.
Setting up a shared spot instead? Our break room ideas cover a game shelf and a jigsaw table everyone can use.
How to play desk games without bothering anyone
Six house rules that keep games fun for the players and invisible to everyone else.
- Keep it opt-in. Post the game and the time, and let people join. Nobody gets pulled away from work to play.
- Pick a time, not all the time. After lunch or Friday at 3 pm works. Headphones on means do not disturb, game or no game.
- Match the noise to the room. Open-plan floors get the quiet games. Fizz buzz and the pentathlon finals go to a meeting room.
- Hands off other people's desks. Games use what's on your own desk. Nobody opens a colleague's drawers, bags or photos.
- Bring remote teammates in. Choose games with a chat or camera version and post scores in the team channel so everyone sees them.
- Tidy up. Coins back in the jar, paper in the recycling, sticky notes off the windows when the round is over.
Want someone to run office games for your team?
In Office Olympics, a live host leads your team through three Olympic-style challenges, with team games, quick solo rounds and medals, in breakout rooms and the main room. It runs about an hour on Zoom by default (Teams, Google Meet or Webex on request), so remote and hybrid teammates play together. Book about 2 weeks ahead.
Two hosted games, with today’s prices.
Loved the origami frog race? Our hosted Origami kit workshop ships folding paper to every desk. For more ideas that make a workday lighter, see our fun activities at work, or get a free quote for a team event.
