25 Jul 2018

You should be playing more games at work

Surely you can’t be serious. I am serious and don’t call me Shirley.

Silly games, little inventive ways of fooling around or full-on competitive play should become a regular part of your workday. Stopping work to play a game helps with reducing stress, encouraging teamwork, developing strategy, improving cognitive functions, but most of all, it gives employees a boost of new energy and motivation.

Here are some ideas for spontaneous fun activities that will recharge your batteries.

Nerf War – In a room full of people with glasses there’s no fear of poking anyone’s eyes out. Nerf wars are the equivalent of a high school food fight. There are no bystanders. Grab your weapon or hide since trying to work during an all-out Nerf attack is basically impossible.

Blast Music – Nothing shifts gears like some good ol’ fashioned music. When you need to get pumped on a Monday morning turn on your favorite tunes or maybe try some of our own!

Office Statues – If you’ve been chosen to start, pick a random (possibly dramatic) moment in the day, stop in the middle of a motion and hold. Anyone that sees you in this state should freeze too until the whole office turns into a gallery of white-collar statues with the exceptions of those few and very confused individuals who missed the memo.

Secret Mission – This one is sneaky. At the beginning of the shift, every participant is given a note with secret instructions. If you successfully achieve your mission before you go home, you win. The nature of the instructions is up to you. Rearrange someone’s desk without being caught, use three offbeat words in a coherent sentence, or just try to do your job while everyone else has been instructed to distract you.

Tag a Co-worker – Another game to prove your ninja skills. Tag a co-worker with a binder clip and don’t get discovered! Use only one clip for this game. Whoever finds the clip on them must pass it forward and tag someone else. If you go home with a clip on you be sure to bring some snacks the day after because you just lost the game.

Name that Staff Member – Can be played during a smoke break, while you’re stretching, or while waiting in line to grab some food. One player must describe another person from your office without giving it away too fast. The more creative you get with your descriptions the better.

 

And in case you work at a super cool place that actually allows game time, we are also listing some non-covert activities you might want to try out.

Community Jigsaw Puzzle – The half of you that just rolled their eyes doesn’t understand the joy of making things fit together. For everyone else with a slight case of OCD, this is the perfect game you can play to unwind, except when some pieces get lost or someone deliberately hid them as part of their secret mission. On second thought, maybe you shouldn’t play this at work.

Ping-pong – Chances are you’re already playing this one, but in case you don’t own a table tennis, well, table, you should improvise in the most absurd way. Buy a couple of paddles and balls and swing away on your meeting room table. With a little practice, you can even qualify for the office Olympics.

Foosball – This one requires some proper budgeting since you should never settle for cheap alternatives. But once you get a proper foosball table it will withstand any amount of bar spinning, tilting, angry banging, and shots so powerful you could swear the ball broke the sound barrier. Fun times.

LAN-party – If you’re working with computers there are tons of free-to-play multiplayer games that can be played on any relatively recent office desktop. Putting together a LAN-party on an existing network is no big issue, but you should wait for after hours for this one. Anyone still trying to do some work will probably not appreciate the sudden intense clicking, key mashing, and occasional insult.

Last but not least is our honorable mention. The Oregon Trail. Should you ever want to relive your childhood or contract dysentery you can visit this address.


Did you know that meetings aren’t the only thing you can book in your office? For a complete list of bookable office activities like games and workout sessions read this blog article.