Recommended indoor games and recreational activities for the workplace
We’re introducing recommended indoor games and recreational activities you can enjoy at the office!
Good communication with your coworkers is essential to keeping work running smoothly.
But with everyone so busy, many people end up “only talking about work,” don’t they?
If you feel like it’s hard to ask for help or there’s no one you can consult with, we recommend trying some recreational games.
These days, opportunities like icebreakers—aimed at building rapport with those around you—are becoming more common.
By playing together and sharing enjoyable moments, conversations will naturally increase, and your work may become easier too!
- Team-based recreational activities for adults that are fun even with large groups
- [Simple Games] Recommended Indoor Recreational Activities for Adults
- Fun activities that liven up the office: recreation games
- Fun games recommended for making friends with people you’ve just met
- A simple and fun co-op game that enhances teamwork
- Games you can play with just conversation. Classic and popular activities you can enjoy without any props!
- [Part 2] Recommended Indoor Activities and Recreation Games for December
- Games that liven up social and networking gatherings
- Liven up even first meetings! A collection of fun games perfect for welcome parties
- A collection of simple indoor recreational games
- [For Adults] Fun recreational games. Perfect for short breaks too!
- Brain-teasing game roundup
- [Play Right Away!] Exciting Recreation Games Recommended for Elementary School Students
Recommended indoor games and recreational activities at the office (21–30)
Without Katakana
We use katakana for many names in daily life.
Katakana is familiar, but let’s try playing without using it.
First, show items that have katakana names and have people describe them without using katakana.
For example, for “pen,” someone might answer, “something you write with that isn’t a pencil.” It’s a game where you shift your thinking a bit, describe the given topic without using katakana, and have others guess.
If the topic is “game,” you could describe it as “something where you use your fingertips to control characters on the screen.” From there, everyone tries to guess the topic together.
Explaining with your current vocabulary makes for a good brain exercise.
Looking for the King
A fun King-Finder game for large groups.
First, split into a Detective Team and a King Team.
The King Team will imitate the King’s movements for one minute.
During that minute, the King should change their movement three times.
The detectives carefully observe during this time to figure out who the King is.
Setting a time limit can make it even more exciting.
At the end, the King Team asks, “Who is the King?” The Detective Team answers, “The King is ___,” and tries to guess correctly.
Adjust the difficulty according to the players’ ages and enjoy.
Drawing song: challenge without looking at anything
Let’s try a drawing-song game you can enjoy while sitting indoors.
The person giving the challenge chooses a theme and plays a drawing song.
The person answering does not watch the video—only listens to the song—and draws the illustration.
When the song ends, try to guess what you’ve drawn.
To help everyone around enjoy it, prepare large sheets of paper and draw in a way that’s easy to see.
It’s important for both the viewers and the person drawing to keep that sense of excitement as you go.
Choosing easy-to-recognize subjects—like famous characters or seasonal fruits and flowers—will make the game more lively.
Up-Down-Left-Right Game
Prepare a passage in advance that contains the words “up,” “down,” “left,” and “right.” One person reads it aloud, and the listeners must turn to face the corresponding direction whenever any of the characters for up, down, left, or right are read.
Since it won’t always be read as “ue, shita, hidari, migi,” they have to react to both the on-yomi and kun-yomi readings, which makes it a challenging but fun game.
Pedometer rapid-shake game
https://www.tiktok.com/@laviena_himeji/video/7525733897766833426Some of you may be using pedometers for your health.
Since many smartphones now come with a built-in pedometer function, there may even be young people who have never seen a standalone pedometer.
This little game using pedometers seems like something people of all ages can get really into.
You might even see your department head or manager going all out, mindlessly shaking a pedometer or their phone! There are lots of variations: time-attack challenges, matching a target count exactly, shaking two at once, and more.
Just be careful not to get too carried away and accidentally throw the pedometer.
If you say 31, you lose! The terrifying DETH Pie 31
If you want a game that makes you think and still gets everyone excited, this one’s a great pick.
The basic rule is that players take turns saying numbers in order, and the person who ends up saying 31 loses.
You can only advance the count by up to three numbers per turn, so use your head to avoid having 31 land on you.
And of course, the penalty has to be a pie in the face!
Let’s try a management game!
The “Management Game” is a game in which each player becomes a company president and runs a business.
It’s known as a training game that Sony created for in-house use in 1976.
One round of the game represents one fiscal year, and at the end of each period you prepare a P&L and a balance sheet.
After five periods, the player with the highest equity wins.
Despite being a game, it offers the chance to learn practical know-how such as procurement, manufacturing, and bidding.
By experiencing the role of a president who must oversee everything, participants can expect to improve their proactiveness, sense of purpose, and team capabilities.