Fun activities that liven up the office: recreation games
Here are some fun games and recreational activities that will liven up the office.
We interact with bosses and colleagues a lot at work, but many of us don’t have much contact in our private lives.
If you’re thinking, “I actually want to get closer to everyone…!” why not try playing a quick game when you have a little spare time?
We’ve gathered activities and games that are perfect for breaks or in-between moments at office parties, so feel free to use them for ideas.
Forget about work for just a bit, and let’s build camaraderie while having a great time together!
- [Simple Games] Recommended Indoor Recreational Activities for Adults
- Team-based recreational activities for adults that are fun even with large groups
- [In a Short Time] Icebreakers and Fun Games That Shine at Morning Meetings
- Games you can play with just conversation. Classic and popular activities you can enjoy without any props!
- Simple yet exciting! Recommended games and activities for year-end parties
- A collection of simple indoor recreational games
- [For Adults] Fun recreational games. Perfect for short breaks too!
- A simple and fun co-op game that enhances teamwork
- Office party games that get everyone excited
- Games that liven up social and networking gatherings
- Recommended indoor games and recreational activities for the workplace
- Break the ice with intros and team battles! Party games to spice up your welcome event
- Fun games recommended for making friends with people you’ve just met
Fun games that liven up the office. Recreation games (1–10)
No-English Bowling
Going bowling as a company recreation might be a fairly common situation, but banning English makes it way more exciting and fun than just enjoying the game normally.
The more a game is filled with loanwords like this, the higher the difficulty.
If someone slips up and uses English, adding a penalty game or making them treat everyone to drinks will make people take it even more seriously.
Stopwatch Game
People perceive the passage of time differently, and this game puts that to the test by having you stop a stopwatch at exactly 60 seconds.
It’s fun solo, but it gets even more interesting as a team challenge if six people each take a 10-second turn, which really tests teamwork.
If you’re playing at work, having departments face off against each other could make it even more exciting.
Finger exercise of ‘Moshimo Shika Moyo’ (If, If, Mr. Turtle)
The song “Moshimo Shikameyo” itself is a very well-known children’s song, and the hand game that uses it is surprisingly brain-engaging and fun.
Games where the right and left hands move differently can be enjoyed by all generations as a form of brain training and are said to be effective for rehabilitation in older adults.
So it could be great for everyone to do together—from the company president to new employees.
Fun games to liven up the office: Recreation Games (11–20)
Drawing Telephone Game
This game is like the classic telephone game—usually played with whispers or gestures—but done through drawing! The person who knows the correct answer starts by drawing a picture, and then several people pass it along by redrawing it in sequence.
At the end, everyone guesses what the original drawing was.
Simple prompts tend to make it all the way through accurately, but if the prompt is complex, the idea might not carry over, and the final drawing could end up completely different! You can have fun not only with the final answer, but also by enjoying the whole chain of drawings along the way.
100-yen rock-paper-scissors
It’s a recreational activity where everyone brings a 100-yen coin and plays a rock-paper-scissors tournament.
The loser gives their 100-yen coin to the winner, and then the winners face off against each other again.
Depending on the number of participants, the final pot can exceed 10,000 yen.
It gets a lot more intense than a regular rock-paper-scissors game, doesn’t it?
Do-Re-Mi Song Game
It’s a game that uses the song everyone knows, Do-Re-Mi.
You start with “Do is the do in donut,” then specify the next person to sing and where they should sing.
The rules are simple, and because people end up singing off-key or making mistakes, it’s super fun and guaranteed to get everyone excited!
A game where you clap with overlapping hands
The hand-slapping game we used to play as kids.
It actually gets surprisingly exciting when you play it as adults.
If your hand gets slapped, that hand is out, and the person whose hand remains last is the winner.
Also, if you try to slap but miss everyone, you’re out.
In the midst of the subtle mind games, you might even end up slapping your own hand by mistake—it’s full of fun, so give it a try.