Indoor team building activities for your office

Indoor team building comes down to three choices: bring a host to your office, play a hosted game from the conference room screen, or put a kit workshop on the table. Below: every in-person activity we run in 17 US cities, room setup by headcount and 15 free indoor activities with steps.

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A host with a microphone leading a game from the front of the room

In-person team building activities at your office

A host comes to your office with the game, runs it for about an hour and handles setup and cleanup. Trivia, Feud Night and Music Bingo run in 17 US cities, and the painting workshops in those cities and more. Book about 2 weeks ahead.

What each in-person activity includes and what you provide
Feud NightWe bring: A live host, the game, setup and cleanupYou provide: Tables and chairs, a TV or projector with HDMI, a phone per team to scan a QR code
Team TriviaWe bring: A live host, the game, setup and cleanupYou provide: Tables and chairs, a TV or projector with HDMI, a phone per team to scan a QR code
Blitz-Speed TriviaWe bring: A live host, the game, setup and cleanupYou provide: Tables and chairs, a TV or projector with HDMI; players answer on their own phones
Music BingoWe bring: A live host, bingo cards and daubers, setup and cleanupYou provide: Tables and chairs, a TV or projector with HDMI
Canvas PaintingWe bring: A host, a canvas, easel, apron, paints and brushes for each person, setup and cleanupYou provide: Tables and chairs, water access, trash cans
Watercolor Card DecoratingWe bring: A host, watercolor paper, pens, paints, brushes and an apron for each person, setup and cleanupYou provide: Tables and chairs, water access

City not listed? Send us the city, date and headcount through the quote form and we will look at options.

Indoor team building games on the conference room screen

No host in your city, or part of the team at home? Book a hosted virtual game and play it from the room. Zoom by default, or Teams, Google Meet or Webex on request.

How a room plays a virtual game

For game shows and trivia like these, the room plays as a team on one screen, so you need one good device rather than a laptop per person. For escape rooms and games with individual answers, everyone joins on their own laptop instead. The full checklist for sound and camera is on hybrid team building.

  1. The room joins as one player. One device on the call with one camera and one mic, and the host on the big screen. The room plays as one or two teams.

  2. One person types for the room. Many rounds collect answers in the chat or through a link, so give the room one laptop and one person to enter answers.

  3. Test before the host arrives. Join with the event link early and check that the room can see and hear the host, and the host can hear the room.

  4. Anyone at home joins the same call. Remote colleagues play on their own laptops as their own team, or mixed into the room's team.

Kit workshops at the table

A kit ships to each person's address, and that can be the office. On the day, everyone sits at the table and a live instructor on the screen leads the session. Book 3 weeks ahead.

Every kit we ship is on team building kits.

Room setup, timing and how to pick

Our advice for the room, from a conference table to the cafeteria. Every team should be able to see one screen and hear the host without straining.

Room, tables and screen by headcount
Up to 12One conference roomOne big table; play as one team or twoThe room TV; for a virtual game, one camera and one mic for the room
13 to 30A large meeting room or an open area3 to 5 tables of about 6A large TV or a projector everyone can read from their seat
31 to 60A training room, cafe or kitchen area6 to 10 tables of about 6A projector, plus a speaker the back tables can hear
61 to 150A cafeteria, all-hands space or event room10 to 25 tables of 6 to 8A projector or two screens, and a PA or microphone

How to pick

  • Everyone in one office, in one of our cities? Book a host in the room. It is the least work for you, and nobody has to set up a call.
  • A few people remote? Play a virtual game from the conference room so home and office play the same game. More in hybrid team building.
  • Want something people keep? Pick painting at your office, or a kit workshop at the table.
  • No budget this quarter? Run one of the 15 do-it-yourself activities below, and save the hosted event for the next one.

Timing

  • Book ahead. About 2 weeks for a host in your office or a virtual game, 3 weeks for kits.
  • Keep it inside the working day. An hour in the early afternoon gets more people than an evening slot.
  • Hold the room for 90 minutes. Thirty minutes for setup and the screen check, then the 60-minute game.
  • Food first, game second. If you are ordering lunch, eat before the game starts, not during it.

More than 60 people? See team building for large groups. Planning for the whole company? Start at corporate team building.

15 indoor team building activities you can run yourself

Office team building games for when there is no budget, using what is already in the building. Each has a time, a group size, what you need and three steps.

Quick indoor group games (10 to 15 minutes)

For the start of a meeting or the last half hour of a long day.

  • 1. Mystery bag

    10 min · 6 to 30 people · A tote bag and 10 ordinary office objects

    1. Put 10 objects in the bag where nobody can see: a binder clip, a tea bag, a USB stick, a rubber band.
    2. Each team sends one person to feel inside for 30 seconds, then describe what they felt to the team without naming anything.
    3. The team writes its guesses. Reveal the objects one by one; most right answers wins.

  • 2. Name that sound

    15 min · 6 to 50 people · A phone to record and a speaker

    1. Beforehand, record 10 sounds around the office: the stapler, the printer starting up, the fridge door, the elevator chime.
    2. Play each clip twice while teams write their guess on paper.
    3. Reveal each answer with a photo of the source. The sound nobody gets is the best moment of the game.

  • 3. Folded figures

    10 min · Groups of 3 people · Paper and pens

    1. Fold a sheet into three bands. The first person draws a creature's head on the top band, folds it out of sight and leaves two lines showing.
    2. The second person draws the middle, folds again, and the third draws the legs or feet.
    3. Unfold, put every creature on the wall and vote for the best one.

  • 4. Hot potato questions

    10 to 15 min · 8 to 25 people · A soft ball, a playlist and a stack of light questions

    1. Stand or sit in a circle and pass the ball while the music plays.
    2. When the music stops, whoever holds the ball answers a question from the stack, or says pass and hands the question on.
    3. Keep the questions easy: the best snack in the office, a song you know every word to, the best thing you watched this month.

  • 5. Higher or lower

    15 min · 6 to 100 people · A slide or whiteboard and 10 true numbers about your company

    1. Collect 10 real numbers: coffee pods used last month, the year the first office opened, the number of meeting rooms.
    2. Show a starting number for each one. Teams call higher or lower, then you reveal the answer.
    3. A point for every right call, and double for the team closest on the last number.

Build challenges (20 to 60 minutes)

Teams of 4 to 6, a timer and whatever is in the supply cupboard.

  • 6. Build-a-hole mini golf

    45 to 60 min · 12 to 40 people · Cardboard, paper cups, tape, books, a ball and a ruler or poster tube as a putter

    1. Each team gets 20 minutes to build one mini golf hole somewhere on the floor: a ramp off a stack of books, a tunnel under a chair. Keep walkways and exits clear.
    2. Teams name their hole and set its par.
    3. Everyone plays the whole course in mixed groups. Fewest strokes wins, and the group votes for the best hole.

  • 7. Chain reaction

    45 min · 12 to 40 people · Books, markers, paper cups, string, tape and a marble

    1. Give each team a section of a long table or floor and one rule: its section starts when the one before it ends.
    2. Teams build for 25 minutes with what is on hand: books as dominoes, a marble down a ramp of binders.
    3. Test each section, then start the whole thing with one push and film it.

  • 8. Tabletop curling

    20 min · 6 to 24 people · A long conference table, a paper target and 4 coasters or tape rolls per team

    1. Tape a paper target with three rings to the far end of the table.
    2. Teams take turns sliding their pieces toward the center. Knocking other teams' pieces away is allowed.
    3. When everyone has slid, score 3, 2 or 1 for each piece in the inner, middle or outer ring. Play three ends.

  • 9. Puzzle swap

    40 min · 8 to 40 people · Paper and pens

    1. Each team writes five puzzles in 15 minutes: a riddle, a word scramble, a simple code, a picture clue and a question about the company.
    2. Teams swap puzzle sets and race to solve them in 15 minutes.
    3. A point per puzzle solved, and a point to the setters for every puzzle another team solved. Puzzles nobody can crack score nothing for the team that wrote them.

Creative activities (20 to 35 minutes)

Something to make together, with a vote at the end.

  • 10. Office radio play

    35 min · 8 to 30 people · Objects for sound effects and a phone to record

    1. Give each team a one-line plot: a parcel that keeps getting lost, a power cut on the fourth floor, a mystery in the break room.
    2. Teams get 15 minutes to write and rehearse a two-minute radio play, with every sound effect made from something in the office.
    3. Perform with the audience facing away, or record and play it back. Vote for the best sound effect.

  • 11. Book spine poetry

    20 min · 4 to 30 people · Books from the office shelves, or printed book titles

    1. Each team gathers 10 to 15 books from shelves around the office.
    2. Stack them so the titles on the spines read as a short poem from top to bottom.
    3. Photograph each stack, put the photos on the screen and vote. Then return every book to its shelf.

  • 12. Paper fortune tellers

    20 min · 4 to 40 people · Square paper and markers

    1. Everyone folds a paper fortune teller, the four-flap folding toy from school. Show the folds on the screen for anyone who forgot.
    2. Under each flap, write a light question: a hobby you would try, the best meal you have had this year.
    3. Pair up, play each other's, then swap partners twice.

Around the office and over lunch

Formats that run in the background or fill a lunch hour.

  • 13. Secret missions

    All day · 10 to 100 people · One sealed envelope per person with a harmless mission inside

    1. In the morning, everyone draws a mission: get three people to say the word brilliant, start a chat about the weather, get someone to recommend a podcast.
    2. Missions run until late afternoon, and nobody tells anyone what theirs is. Keep every mission kind and never at anyone's expense.
    3. At the end of the day, people guess who was on which mission, then everyone reveals.

  • 14. Floor plan from memory

    25 min · 8 to 40 people · Large paper and markers

    1. Teams get 10 minutes to draw your floor from memory and mark 10 things you call out: the fire extinguishers, the first aid kit, the exits, every plant.
    2. Walk the floor together and check each one.
    3. A point for every item in the right place. Most teams learn where the first aid kit is, which is a win on its own.

  • 15. Name brand or store brand

    20 min · 6 to 30 people · Five pairs of the same snack, one name brand and one store brand

    1. Ask about allergies first, and keep every package so people can read the ingredients.
    2. Put out each pair labeled only A and B. Teams vote on which is the name brand and which tastes better.
    3. Reveal pair by pair. The fun is finding out which one the room actually preferred.

Want more? Hide a list around the floor with our office scavenger hunt ideas, run a week-long contest from these office competition ideas, set up quick heats of minute to win it games, or pick an exercise with debrief questions from team building exercises.

Indoor team building questions

What are good indoor team building activities?

For a team in one building: a hosted game in the office like trivia, Feud Night or music bingo; painting at the table with a host; a virtual game played from the conference room screen; or a free activity you run yourself, like a chain reaction build or tabletop curling. Pick the one where everyone plays at once.

What are some office team building activities with no budget?

Mystery bag, name that sound, tabletop curling, a puzzle swap, an office radio play, book spine poetry and secret missions all use what is already in the office. Each one is on this page with steps, timing and group size.

Can you run team building in our office?

Yes. We run 6 in-person activities at your office in 17 US cities: Feud Night, Team Trivia, Blitz-Speed Trivia, Music Bingo, Canvas Painting and Watercolor Card Decorating. The host handles setup and cleanup; you provide the room, tables and chairs, and a screen with HDMI for the games or water access for painting.

How do we play a virtual team building game from a conference room?

The room joins the video call as one participant, with one camera and one mic and the host on the big screen, and plays as one or two teams. Give the room one laptop for typing answers, and test the sound both ways before the host starts.

How much space do we need for indoor team building?

Enough for tables of about six with a clear view of one screen. Up to 12 people fit around one conference table; 30 need a large meeting room or open area with 3 to 5 tables; 60 need a training room or cafe area and a speaker the back can hear.

What are good indoor team building activities for small groups?

Under 12 people, keep the group together: tabletop curling, a puzzle swap between two halves of the team, a mystery bag or a kit workshop at one table. Painting at your office is a base fee plus a price per person, so a small team pays less than for a game package built for 50. More on team building for small groups.

How much does indoor team building cost?

Feud Night starts at $1,750 for up to 50 people (about $35 each). Canvas Painting is $55 a person plus a $750 base fee. Quiz Showdown! starts at $975 for up to 25 people (about $39 each). Every card on this page shows its live price, and the do-it-yourself activities cost next to nothing.

How long should an indoor team building activity take?

Our hosted games and workshops run about an hour, which fits a working afternoon without moving deadlines. Most do-it-yourself games run 10 to 60 minutes, so a quick one can open a meeting and a build challenge can fill a long lunch.

Keep planning

Bring team building into the office

Send us your city, date and headcount. You get a plan and a price within 24 hours.

See in-office gamesGet a free quote