Stimulating Board Games for Office to Get Your Brain Juices Flowing

1. Best Board Games for the Office

1.1. Scattergories

A classic word-play board game for office, Scattergories is one that everyone is aware of. Each player/team selects a category and comes up with answers that fit the category, but those answers must start with the letter rolled on the dice. The team/player that comes up with a word no one else has within the said time limit gets the point. It is one of the best board games for team building.

Difficulty Level: Moderate
Number of Players: 2-6 players or more
Time: 30-45 minutes

1.2. Codenames

Codenames is a classic spy game combined with a word game all leading to it becoming one of the best team building board games. Players are split into two teams, and each team assigns a spymaster. The spymasters then give one-word clues that can point to multiple words on the board. Their teammates try to guess words of the right color while avoiding those that belong to the opposing team. If the Assassin is chosen, the player is out. The team that identifies all the 'codenames’ wins.

Difficulty Level: Moderate
Number of Players: 4-8 players (best with 6-8)
Time: 15-30 minutes

1.3. Dominion

Dominion is one of the best board games for office break room for those who love card games and building kingdoms. It is a game that tests your tactical skills to get hold of unclaimed land while defending your lands, hiring help, constructing buildings, and filling your treasury. The team/player with the most victory points at the end of the game wins. It is a classic game often featured on the list of best board games for workplace.

Difficulty Level: Moderate to High
Number of Players: 2-4 players
Time: 30 minutes to 1 hour

1.4. Carcassonne

A unique board game for the office, Carcassonne is a strategy game that lets you develop the landscape of a medieval fortress city one tile at a time. You can block a city's growth or connect with your opponent’s road to share the points. Players complete a feature with the tiles to score points, and the one who makes the most strategic placements of tiles and followers wins the game.

Difficulty Level: Easy to Moderate
Number of Players: 2-5 players
Time: 30-45 minutes

1.5. Exploding Kittens

The cat lovers and Russian Roulette enthusiasts in our office went crazy over this cute yet engaging board game for the office. To play Exploding Kittens, you place the cards and take turns drawing them. You pick an exploding kitten, you die unless you play a Diffuse card. Our favorite is the “relocate exploding kitten card” that allows you to place the card elsewhere, and waiting for it to reappear to someone else is exhilarating. Such kind of board games at work are a great way to break the monotony of a regular day and add some fun.

Difficulty Level: Easy
Number of Players: 2-5 players
Time: 15 minutes

1.6. Monopoly

When it comes to the best board games for workplace, this one is a classic. We all have at least one person who always gets irked when you play Monopoly during family game nights. The rules might be complicated for this work board games, and sometimes people have custom rules built into them as well. But it is always an exhilarating experience to play this strategic banking office board game. Just don’t end up hating the ‘banker’ you choose in.

Difficulty Level: Moderate to High
Number of Players: 2-6 players
Time: 1-3 hours

1.7. Apples to Apples

If you are looking for the best team building board games, Apples to Apples is among the infamous board games for office, maybe only next to Monopoly. This hilarious, wild card and party game is perfect for those Friday Funs board games for the office. Select a judge, deal the cards, and select the card from your hand that you think is best described by a card played by the judge. We bought the Marvel edition just to irk the DC fans in our office (evil grin).

Difficulty Level: Easy
Number of Players: 4-10 players
Time: 30-60 minutes

1.8. Telestrations

Telestrations and Telestrations After Dark are bonding board games for office that are the perfect board game for team building for those hysterical happy hours. It is a fun mix between Chinese Whispers and Pictionary. As it says on the game page, “Draw what you see, then guess what you saw.” Players alternate between drawing and guessing. It is enjoyable after a couple of shots and if you have abysmal drawing skills! When looking at best board games for workplace, do give this a try.

Difficulty Level: Easy
Number of Players: 4-8 players
Time: 30 minutes

1.9. Half-Truth

Trivia lovers go berserk over Half Truth board game for office. Each card has 1 question and 6 choices of answers. 3 are correct, and 3 are wrong. Players place their bets on which are correct and which are not. The one with the most points wins in this best office game.

Difficulty Level: Moderate
Number of Players: 3-6 players
Time: 30-45 minutes

2. Virtual Board Games for Team Building

2.1. Who Is This Kid?

Among the best board games for office, this one’s offbeat but sure to keep you guessing till the end. The ‘host’ collects baby photos of the players and displays them during the virtual meeting. Then, all players (including the adult who the baby in the photo has become) have to guess who the kid is among them. The host can give 1-2 clues, and the one with the most correct guesses wins the game. It ranks as one of the best board games for team building and just general fun.

Difficulty Level: Easy
Number of Players: NA
Time: 45-60 minutes

2.2. Heads Up

If you use Zoom as your conferencing platform, Heads Up is the perfect virtual board game for office. The famed game from the Ellen DeGeneres Show has a plugin on Zoom Marketplace. Enable it for all the players, select a person to guess the words on the screen as the other players excitedly shout out clues. It can get hilariously confusing if all players shout out hints simultaneously in this particular entry into board games for the office.

Difficulty Level: Easy
Number of Players: 2 or more
Time: Depends on the number of players

2.3. Charades & Reverse Charades

As yet another classic for word board games in office, we could not miss this one. For both games, you split the players into two teams and select one player for guessing or enacting the word. These are board games where you work together to win.

In Charades, the chosen player has to enact the word within the set time limit, and in Reverse Charades, the team gives out descriptions of the word only through ‘acting,’ and the person has to guess the word. Like Heads Up, this can also get hair-ripping-crazy when everyone guesses or enacts at the same time, making it one of the most fun team building board games.

Difficulty Level: Easy
Number of Players: 4 or more
Time: Depends on the number of players

2.4. Sagrada

The is an online game where you don’t use dice to move the coins, but the dice are the ‘coins.’ Sagrada is a board game for office art enthusiasts as they get to design the most beautiful stained-glass window in Spain’s famed La Sagrada Familia. The artisan who creates the most beautiful window wins. It can be played on Steam and Nintendo Switch and on the mobile app available on both the App Store and Play store.

Difficulty Level: Moderate
Number of Players: 1-4 players
Time: 30-45 minutes

2.5. Mysterium

This is a thrilling board game for office murder mystery buffs. Mysterium is a supernatural strategy game where the players can be ghosts or psychics. You get to interpret the dreams and visions on the card and solve the mystery of who committed the murder. It is addictively immersive and includes other puzzles as part of the mission.

Difficulty Level: Moderate
Number of Players: 2-7 players
Time: 45-60 minutes

2.6. Secret Hitler

Travel back in time and stop the Secret Hitler. The fascists are known to each other, and they plant distrust amongst the players, while the liberals must find and stop the Secret Hitler before it is too late. You can also purchase the board and play the game offline. Considering how complicated the premise is it easily is one of the best board games for team building.

Difficulty Level: Moderate
Number of Players: 5-10 players
Time: 30-45 minutes

2.7. Pictionary

This became a special favorite after watching the nerd gang (and Penny) play Pictionary on The Big Bang Theory. You can use the built-in whiteboard of your video conferencing software, use a random word generator, and play the game. Another way is to join the private room on Skribbl and have the multiplayer experience right from the browser. If you are looking for team board games, Time and time again this is considered a top team building board games.

Difficulty Level: Easy
Number of Players: 4 or more
Time: 30-60 minutes

2.8. Boggle

The most favored game of language enthusiasts is also one of the best board games for workplace. Boggle is an invigorating virtual board game for office where you need to find words within a grid of letters. The game is even more fun because this online version has negative scoring for every non-meaning word formed. Just share the screen over the video conferencing platform and play it as a team. The team that scores the most wins.

Difficulty Level: Easy
Number of Players: 2 or more
Time: 15 minutes

2.9. Chess

Flex your brainpower with your teammates. This iconic game is played worldwide, even by themselves (vs. the computer), as a method to sharpen their gray matter. This online version of Chess allows you to invite a friend and play over the browser. So, you can divide the players and play as teams while sharing the screen.

Difficulty Level: High
Number of Players: 2 players
Time: 30 minutes to several hours

2.10. Checkers

When it comes to looking for office games to play individually, Checkers is a good option. This is a game of strategy, which involves capturing your opponent's pieces before they capture yours. The online version follows the same concept. You can select the 2-player mode or the online mode and get immersed in jumping, double jumping, and triple jumping along with your teammate.

Difficulty Level: Easy
Number of Players: 2 players
Time: 15-30 minutes

2.11. Cribbage

In Cribbage, players score by adding different combinations of cards. Pegs move across the “cribbage board”, helping keep track of the score. The player with the highest score wins the game. Cribbage offers different game play modes and provides helpful instructions and guides for newer players. If you are looking for easy office games this is one of the best to try out.

Difficulty Level: Moderate
Number of Players: 2 players
Time: 30-60 minutes

2.12. Connect Four

Connect Four is one of the fast-paced work board games that combines strategy and spatial awareness. The game consists of a vertically standing grid with six rows and seven columns. Players take turns dropping colored discs (typically red and yellow) from the top into the columns. The objective is to be the first to connect four of your discs in a row, either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. It's the ultimate addition to quick board games for the office since it can be played quickly, often in just a few minutes.

Difficulty Level: Easy
Number of Players: 2 players
Time: 10-15 minutes

If you are seeking ways to level up your team building fun at the office, read our engaging articles on virtual game night ideas, virtual team building activities, minute-to-win games, virtual scavenger hunt ideas, online games for designers, outstanding jigsaw puzzles, and more that will make your screens burst with joy.

3. FAQs

3.1. What is a good game to play while working?

Games in between work should be quick, fun, and energizing. Many board games for the office are non-addictive, morale-boosting, and stress-relieving. They also improve communication, problem-solving, and decision-making skills. So, always have a look through the best board games for team building before making a pick.

3.2. What are some quick fun office games?

Our personal favorite and recommendation for quick fun office games are the Minute to Win it games. You can also play mind-bending games like escape room, murder mystery, trivia, jeopardy, scavenger hunt,

3.3. How to play online board games for office?

You can either select a website that offers to host a game for you, or find one you can invite your colleagues to play in a multiplayer game. For the creative lot, you can also get on your virtual conferencing platforms like Zoom, Teams, and Webex, and host the game with your characters and materials. You can refer to this exhaustive article on team-building activities and games for inspiration.

3.4. How can you organize virtual board games for your office?

If you are looking for an easy way to organize a great teambuilding session, we recommend Hooray Teams. This fun virtual team building platform plays host to a number of different activities that are perfect for teams of all sizes. When looking for a way to bring your virtual team together, go through their list of great activities that are all hosted. So, whether it is a great trivia night, an escape room adventure, or a cozy pasta making session, you’ll find it all there.