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25 Interesting Ice Breaker Games for your Next Team Meeting

ice breaker games

An icebreaker is an activity, game, or event that is used to welcome attendees and warm up the conversation among participants in a corporate setting. Icebreaker can be a quick session for participants to get to know each other, form deeper relationships with one another while having fun or reinforcing the team building skills before the next planned activity at your meeting.

Depending on how well your participants know each other, there are different approaches to break the ice. Through our experience, we have classified the various type of ice breaker games into three main types of icebreaker activities;

Level 1 – Getting to Know You: If your participants don’t know each other well, these icebreaker ideas will be useful for them to introduce themselves in a fun and comfortable manner. Incorporating the element of fun will definitely lessen the awkwardness since they might be meeting each other for the first time. These icebreaker games would be useful if you are welcoming overseas guests for your meeting. 

Level 2 – Connecting With You: These activities are suitable if your participants already know each other. Incorporating an icebreaker game is still effective to warm up the conversation. These activities build deeper interaction among the participants and help them to understand each other better which in turn develop important skills such as leadership, communication and even collaboration.

Level 3 – Having Fun With You: Assuming your participants already know each other inside out, this last type of icebreaker is mainly for fun. Before breaking into a formal meeting, introduce these icebreaker games will lessen the stress level, as the laughter and conversation generated by the activities will definitely warm up the group further. These activities are also very useful for your team building events. 

1. Human Bingo

Human Bingo is an icebreaker game that allows players to learn interesting facts about each other. Players will walk around the room and mingle until they complete the entire bingo sheet with the listed facts, for example, someone who can sing well. Player’s name can only appear once on the bingo sheet. 

To spice up the game, we can get the person to perform the tasks that they have signed on the bingo sheet. This activity is sure to create alot of fun and laughter.

interesting icebreaker activities

2. Superlative Game

The Superlative Game is a simple icebreaker game for participants to get to know the generic information of everyone. The facilitator will get the participants to line up in ascending order for various different categories e.g. height, birthday month, name in alphabetical order etc. In order to do that, your colleagues must go around the room to find the birthday of everyone. It is very easy to learn and play, and it doesn’t require a lot of time for participants to know one another! 

3. Beach Ball

In this icebreaker, you will need a Sharpie marker and an inflatable beach ball. Using the Sharpie marker, each participant will write a question on the beach ball. Participants will then sit in a circle and toss the ball across. When the person catches the ball, they will have to read the question closest to their left thumb aloud and answer it. Once they are done, toss the ball to another person.

beach ball icebreaker game

4. Skittles / M&M's Quiz

This activity is best for a chill session of getting to know each other better! Categorising different coloured skittles / M&M’s into different types of questions (e.g. red = office life, orange = favourite food etc.) grab a random candy and answer accordingly! The best part is that everyone is able to enjoy these candies after answering the questions! What a steal!

5. Tic Tac Toe with a Twist

A simplified version of human bingo, get participants to write their passions in a 3×3 grid! Once they have found someone with a common passion or someone with a matching passion, verify it and get them to sign on it! Many interesting facts might be found out at this point of time! The first to win the tic tac toe wins! 

6. Drop The Facade

Drop the facade is an amazing icebreaker for people who do not know each other at all! 

Split your team into two, getting them to sit on opposite sides. A blanket or any opaque cloth will be put in the middle of the two teams. Two facilitators will hold up the blanket. Each team will choose a volunteer to sit behind the blanket. The facilitators will count “1,2,3” and then drop the blanket. The first participant to correctly identify the name of the other player wins the round, earning a point. This will continue until everyone has had a chance and can be played for multiple rounds! The team that has accumulated the most points will win!  

7. Speed Dating

This speed dating icebreaker game allows for a brief introduction and understanding of every participating colleague! This activity is highly customisable and the main idea is just to have a fun time and better understand your colleagues in a short amount of time!  

One of the ways to do so would be 2 set up chairs in 2 circles (both with equal amount of chairs, one smaller circle within a larger circle). Participants will be given 2 minutes to interact with each other before moving in opposite directions (e.g. smaller circle will shift seats in a clockwise direction and the larger circle in an anti-clockwise direction). 

Examples of questions that can be asked would be: Describe your most embarrassing moment? What’s your favourite food in the nearby vicinity of the office? Many more questions (both with regards to office life and personal life) can be asked! Feel free to take the conversation wherever you wish to! The facilitator will signal once the 2 minutes is up! 

speed dating icebreaker game

8. Two Truths One Lie

This is an incredibly simple ice breaker game without the use of any materials. Gather people into teams and within their team, they will have to introduce themselves by stating two truths and one lie. The statements can be intimate, life-revealing things, hobbies, interests or past experiences. The lie can be outrageous, wacky, or sounding like a truth, making it difficult for other teams to guess which statement is a lie.

icebreaker ideas

9. Good Old Days

In this icebreaker, all participants are required to bring an item that is of sentimental value and remind them of their younger days or childhood. Participants will each show their items and share why it is sentimental to them. This icebreaker activity is an interesting and fun game with maximum interaction among participants, allowing them to gain a deeper knowledge of each other.

team ice breaker

10. Guess Who

Guess Who is an icebreaker game that not only allows you get to know your colleagues at a deeper level, but also promises maximum laughter. Each participant will write down a fact about themselves, the sillier the better and then drop it into the mystery box anonymously. Each participant will randomly pick the fact and allocate to the colleague that they think fit best. After all participants are assigned their facts, the facilitator will do a revelation to match all the facts to their rightful owner! This is a great icebreaker to learn tidbits and trivia about your team that may not come up in typical workplace conversations.

11. Uniquely Us

Uniquely Us is a great icebreaker game for teams to see the common in their peers than they might initially realize. Participants will be split into groups of 5-6 pax each. Each group will be given two pieces of paper with a pen. 

On the first paper, teams will have to create a list of many common traits or qualities that members of the group have in common. Afterwhich, use the second piece of paper and get participants to fit the listed traits or qualities to one person in the group. Assign at least two unique qualities and strengths to each person. Lastly, get a spokesperson from each team to share the qualities to the rest of teams in the room. 

This icebreaker not only identifies strengths of team members, but also helps to build empathy skills within teams.

12. Burning Bridges

This icebreaker game is suitable for a group size of less than 50 pax. Split the group into distinct teams, each team cannot be bigger than 10 pax. Give teams 5 minutes to list out as many questions they would like to ask the opposing teams. The facilitator will start by revealing a “punishment” e.g. collective planking for 1 mins. Teams will ask each other questions, one team after another. If a team chooses not to answer, they will have to perform the given “punishment”. This icebreaker allows teams to know each other on a deeper level in a fun and amusing way. 

13. Telepathy Challenges

This icebreaker is great to test your team’s synergy and emphasises on the importance of communication and as such, the difficulty when communication is absent in accomplishing a task.  Tell your attendees to form a line, with the facilitator setting the criteria (e.g. from the youngest to the oldest, from shortest to tallest, years working in the company, etc.). While this might seem easy, the challenge is to form this line without any verbal or bodily communication! Watch as your team will struggle and perhaps succeed in this challenge! Nonetheless, the phrase “communication is key” will be extremely prevalent through this challenge! 

icebreaker game

14. Deserted Island

This icebreaker is open to customisation as well and it’s main aim is just to get people talking! By painting a doomsday scenario such as being deserted on an island and having to survive there, kick off the conversation by asking your colleagues what 5 items they will bring to the island and why! There are bound to be varying answers and different reasonings for their decisions! Have fun and gain a better understanding of your colleagues! Who knows, you might find out something new about them when they’re forced to think in a survival mood! 

15. Office Showdown

Office Showdown, just like any variety show, will definitely bring out everyone’s competitive side! Office Showdown can be played in two manners. One of which would be to test participants on their knowledge of the company! This can be easily done via a Kahoot Quiz (a free, online interactive platform perfect for quizzes!). Alternatively, a google form can be created for the purpose of this activity. This form can include a voting system whereby participants get to vote for their favourite colleagues or those who they think fit the category! E.g. they can vote for who is the best-dressed colleague / messiest one etc! This quiz will definitely strengthen the ties between colleagues and will be a memory to reflect on in the future!

16. Never Have I Ever...

Never have I ever is a game that allows you to better understand the deep … dark … secrets of your colleagues! On a more serious note, never have I ever is straightforwardly played in such a manner: One person will start by saying, “Never have I ever (e.g. been to Bali)” and participants will put a finger down if they have been there before. The one who has the most fingers down wins! 

17. Molecules

In this icebreaker, players are represented as free atoms and they move freely around the playing area. The facilitator will shout a random number (1 – 5), the atoms will come together to form a group of molecules. The remaining players who cannot form their molecules will act as radicals. These radicals will have to catch free atoms when the facilitator shouts a random number again. The last standing molecule (2-5 atoms) will be the winner.

18. Animals Sound

In the Animal Sounds icebreaker, each pair will be given a unique animal and its sound. Players will have to go around the room blindfolded, making only the animal sound to find its pair. This is an interactive and fun icebreaker game that allows players to listen effectively.

team ice breaker ideas

19. Ultimate Ninja

In the Ultimate Ninja icebreaker, the objective is to be the last ninja standing. To remain in the game, players must not let anyone hit their hand. Players have two “lives” each, both their hands will act as the “lives”. Each player will take turns to play. On their turn, the player can either attack another player by hitting their hand or defend by jumping or taking a big step in any direction. This is a fun and engaging ice breaker that tests the alertness and agility of the players. 

20. Frostbite

The group size of this icebreaker activity is best kept within 6 pax. Appoint a leader and the rest of the members will be blindfolded. The leader has frostbite and can’t move, the team members have snow blindness and can’t see. The objective of the team is to pitch a tent by listening to their leader’s directions. 

21. Splat

This heart-racing icebreaker activity is a test of one’s reflexes, alertness and above all, awareness. Splat is a game that can be easily conducted and suitable for any lighthearted setting! Gathering in a circle, with a “shooter” in the centre, he/she will aim at anyone in the circle. The one who has been aimed has to duck down, while those beside him / her have to point a “handgun”and shout “SPLAT!”. Whoever reacts the faster wins! If you’re not alert and bend down in time if you’re aimed, you’re out of the game too! 

22. Dog and Bone

Dog and Bone is a game that requires eager participation aka running to the centre to grab the beanbag (or some item). Labelling your team members by numbers, craft a story that subtly incorporates the different numbers. Once those numbers are subtly called out as the storytelling goes on, the members allocated to those numbers will have to battle it out with the members allocated to those numbers from the opposing team! The first person who can get the item and bring back to the baseline wins for that round! 

23. Macarena x Musical Chairs

This icebreaker game is easy to conduct and can be especially thrilling  for the competitive ones! Like musical chairs, there should be one less chair placed than the number of participants taking part in the game! However, instead of walking around the chairs and sitting on the nearest one when the music stops,  here’s the twist! Participants are to dance to the Macarena song with the correct moves instead of walking! Failure to do so will result in immediate disqualification! This is bound to put the participants’ hand and eye coordination to the test and allow for bountiful fun! 

musical chairs

24. H2O

This highly interactive and thrilling icebreaker activity is sure to get people running around and screaming! Upon appointing a catcher, get your team to sit randomly around the available space in groups of 3. Once the catcher reaches one of the group of 3 (on one end), the member on the other end of the group of 3 will have to start running to another group and replace another member of another group. This happens continuously until someone is caught! 

ideas for ice breaker game

25. Toss It On

This icebreaker activity requires simple materials such as cloth and balls (e.g. ping pong balls, tennis balls etc.) Teams will have to split into smaller groups (pairs preferably) and hold a piece of cloth at each end. The aim of this game is to toss as many balls as possible into a designated basket, forming a chain to do so. However, participants are not allowed to use their hands (other than when picking up the ball to put onto the spread out cloth held between a pair). Once the ball is picked up from the original basket, it would have to be placed onto the cloth held by 2 pairs. Merely by tossing and some chemistry, balls will have to be tossed in this manner to the second basket demarking the end point. Larger teams can compete against each other and the one who ends up with the most number of balls wins! This item requires active communication and cooperation! 

Try them to see if they work!

We hope that these practical and fun ice breaker games and ice breaker ideas listed above are useful for you. 

Always bear in mind that some ice breaker games for meetings can be customised to the size of your group while others work best with lots of people. Identify the most suitable team icebreaker game for your specific group and purpose.

Need more ideas? Contact our corporate event organisers for a quick chat to learn more about our fun and unique team building activities.

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