Office party games: fun games for coworkers with zero prep

The best office party games don’t need a stage, props or the nerve to perform: drawing games, deduction games like Mafia, debate-and-vote games, trivia and word games. The easiest setup is a shared screen — a TV, a projector or a tab shared in a video call — with everyone playing on their own phone. It works the same in the office, at a restaurant and with a remote team.

Below: how to pick games for your format, a cheat sheet with a table, a run-of-show for the evening and tips for the holiday party.

Create a room for your team

How to choose team building games for your format

Decide three things first: where you’re playing, how many of you there are and how much time you have.

Office or restaurant with a screen

If the room has a TV or a projector, games on a shared screen work best: everyone sees the same thing. Plug a laptop into the TV with an HDMI cable or open the game in the TV’s own browser. At a restaurant, ask ahead whether there’s a screen you can connect to — otherwise it becomes the surprise of the night.

No screen? Classic games with no props will save the day — more on them below.

Remote team on Zoom

Virtual team games work when the shared screen is a screen share in the call and everything personal stays on each player’s phone. The organizer shares the game tab, coworkers tap buttons on their phones, and secret roles and cards never show up in the call.

Share just the game tab, not your whole screen, so your notifications stay private. If the game has sound, turn on audio sharing: in Zoom, tick Share sound in the screen-share window.

Hybrid team: some in the room, some on the call

Hybrid is the trickiest format. The office plays on the big screen, the same screen is shared to the call, and everyone plays from their own phone — on equal terms. Put the room mic close to the players: remote folks need to hear who said what.

Group size and time

• Up to 8 people — everyone can play any game on the list together.
• 9–16 — go for games that scale: drawing games, Mafia, team trivia.
• More than 16 — split into teams: trivia by table, or a few games running in different corners.

Short games of 10–20 minutes are warm-ups and fillers between speeches; long ones of 30–40 minutes are the main event.

How to keep it fun, not awkward

The rule is simple: playing is optional, tasks are never humiliating, and the joke is on the situation, not on a person.

• No “dance”, “sing” or “chug it”. Contests where one person stands in the middle looking silly are the ones people remember with a wince. Let the funny part be what happens in the game: a wonky drawing, a bluff gone wrong.
• Give introverts a phone. When you can type an answer instead of shouting it, quieter coworkers join in too.
• Mix departments. Teams by department carry work arguments into the game; random teams help people get to know each other.
• Bosses play on equal terms. A manager drawing a lopsided cat does more for the mood than any speech.
• Family mode by default. In Roomzy games, the room owner picks the mode. In Exodus and Squiggly, Family mode is made for kids and work: friendly cards, kid-friendly words, a narrator with no rude jokes. Only the owner can turn on 18+, confirming that everyone playing is 18 or older.
• Watching is fine. Anyone who’d rather not play can cheer for the others.

Games for coworkers: format, group size, time

The first three are Roomzy games: up to 8 players in a free room, up to 16 with Premium.

Drawing games: everyone laughs, even people who can’t draw

Why it works for coworkers: no talent needed — the worse the drawing, the funnier. A drawing turn lasts 80 seconds, so each person is in the spotlight only for their own turn.

In Squiggly, one player draws a secret word with a finger on their phone, the drawing appears live on the shared screen, and everyone else types guesses on their phones. The faster you guess, the more you score. Wrong guesses show up for everyone — that’s half the fun. At the end, everyone votes for the Drawing of the Night, and the gallery can be saved as a picture. 2 to 16 players, 10–25 minutes a game.

It’s the perfect icebreaker: start Squiggly while people are still finding their seats — the ice breaks on the very first drawing.

Deduction games: Mafia without cards or closed eyes

Why it works: coworkers already know how to argue and bluff — here it’s actually allowed. The quiet person from the next desk turns out to be the best mafioso of the night.

Classic Mafia needs a human host who knows the rules, deals the cards and makes sure everyone really closes their eyes. In Roomzy Mafia, roles arrive secretly on phones, night moves happen there too, and Roomzy runs the game with a narrator voice on the shared screen. Even players with no night move are asked to pick someone they suspect, so nobody can tell from the taps who has a role. 4 to 16 players, about 40 minutes a game. More in our article on playing Mafia online.

Debate and vote: Exodus

Why it works: everyone has a reason to speak up, even people who stay quiet in meetings. You argue about characters, not people, so things can get heated without hurt feelings.

In Exodus, the planet is dying and the last ship can’t take everyone. Each player gets a character made of eight cards: profession, health, hobby, baggage, a secret fact. Cards are revealed one by one, and you have to convince everyone the colony can’t survive without you. Then the colony faces its trials, and the game counts the colonists’ real skills — even the cards nobody revealed. 5 to 12 players, 20–35 minutes. More on survival games where you argue over who gets a seat — in a separate article.

Trivia and Q&A games

Why it works: everyone knows something, and in a team you can hide behind a shared answer — ideal for introverts. One downside: someone has to write the questions, and that takes a few hours.

How to keep prep manageable: 3–4 rounds of 6–8 questions, teams of 4–6 mixed across departments, answers on paper or in the call chat. A round about the company works if newcomers can answer too: the founding year, the first product. Leave “who’s always late” out of it.

Word games: Fishbowl

Why it works: fast, competitive and almost prop-free. Everyone writes 5–10 words on slips of paper, the slips go into a bowl, and teams race the clock to get their teammates to guess. There are usually three rounds with the same slips: describe the word, then act it out, then give just one clue word — the order varies from group to group. By round three, every team has its own inside jokes.

Classics with no props

For a restaurant table with no screen:

• Charades — split into two teams; one player acts out a word or phrase without speaking, and their team guesses against the clock.
• Two Truths and a Lie — everyone shares three facts about themselves, one of them made up, and the rest hunt for the lie. Great for a new team: you learn more about your coworkers than in a year of chat threads.

How to run office party games: a run-of-show

The gist: two or three games, breaks in between and one person in charge of the tech.

A three-hour timeline

For a remote team, cut it down: on a call, aim for an hour to an hour and a half — one short game and one long one.

Who hosts

Classic games need a human host. In Roomzy games, the built-in host takes care of the rules, the timer and the scoring. The organizer just opens the room and picks the game. In Exodus and Squiggly, the room owner can pause or end the game; in Squiggly, they can also skip a turn or hide a drawing if someone gets carried away.

Tech: screen, Wi-Fi, phones

• Screen. A TV with a browser, a laptop hooked up to a TV or projector, or a tab shared in the call for remote teams. Test it the day before, not five minutes before kickoff.
• Sound. In Mafia, the narrator speaks from the shared screen — you need a speaker or the TV’s sound, and on a call, audio sharing switched on.
• Internet. Every phone needs internet: guest Wi-Fi or mobile data. Signal can be weak in basement venues — put the Wi-Fi password on table cards.
• Phones. No apps, just a browser. Coworkers scan the QR code or type in the room code, and guests don’t sign up. If a phone drops, open the link again — you’re back in the game with your role, cards or points.

More on setting up the screen — in our article on party games on your TV.

Roomzy for teams

Roomzy is browser party games: the screen is a TV, a laptop or a call, the controller is a phone. Nothing to install, and guests play for free with no sign-up.

• Where to play: TV, laptop, Zoom, Telemost, VK Calls.
• Games: Mafia — 4 to 16 players, Exodus — 5 to 12, Squiggly — 2 to 16.
• Pricing: only the room owner pays. Free: 1 game per night and up to 8 players. A night pass unlocks all games for 24 hours, the club for a year (pricing). With Premium, a room holds up to 16 players.
• For companies: team building in a call, on an office screen or hybrid. Your logo, questions about your team, a contract and closing documents — write to us from the For companies section.

Remote team? Create a room and share the tab in your call — coworkers join from their phones with the code. How this compares with other party games on a screen — in our article on alternatives to popular party game packs.

Holiday office party: what to plan for

The end-of-year party is the same kind of evening, just longer, louder and with a program: speeches, toasts, sometimes coworkers’ kids.

• Games between program blocks. A long game won’t survive a round of toasts: put a short Squiggly between speeches, and Mafia or Exodus in a block of its own.
• Toast time — hit pause. In Exodus and Squiggly, the room owner can pause the game.
• Kids around — Family mode. In Squiggly it keeps only kid-friendly words, in Exodus — friendly cards. Ages 6 and up.
• Holiday words in the bowl. Snowman, eggnog, ugly sweater, mistletoe — Fishbowl gets better with a seasonal word list.
• Results to the team chat. Save the Squiggly gallery with the Drawing of the Night as a picture and share it after the party.

Picked a date? Open a room ahead of time and test the screen while the venue is still empty.

Create a room for your team

FAQ

What games can you play at an office party with no prep?

Games where the rules explain themselves or everyone already knows them: drawing games, Mafia on phones, Charades, Two Truths and a Lie. With Roomzy, just open a room on the screen: the built-in host handles the rules, the timer and the scoring, and coworkers join from their phones with a code.

Trivia is the opposite — the questions have to be written in advance.

What are good virtual team building games for Zoom?

Games where the shared screen is shown in the call and everyone plays on their own phone, so secret roles and cards stay off the screen share. Roomzy works in Zoom, Telemost and VK Calls — share just the room tab, and everyone plays on equal terms.

What games work at a restaurant table?

If there’s a screen, connect a laptop and play Squiggly or Mafia from your phones without leaving the table. If not, Charades, Fishbowl and Two Truths and a Lie need a pen and paper at most.

How do you keep office party games funny but work-appropriate?

Pick games where the situation is funny, not a person, and keep playing optional. In Roomzy games, Family mode suits work: no adult jokes. Only the room owner can turn on 18+.

How many people can play Roomzy, and how much does it cost?

Mafia takes 4 to 16 players, Exodus 5 to 12, Squiggly 2 to 16. A free room holds up to 8 players and one game per night; with Premium, up to 16. Only the room owner pays, and coworkers play for free with no sign-up.

For companies: your logo, a contract and closing documents — write to us from the For companies section on the home page.

What do you need for games on a screen at a team event?

A screen with a browser — a TV, a laptop or a projector — phones for the players and internet. No console, no apps.