Guaranteed to boost team power! A collection of fun training game ideas
We’re looking for games to play with colleagues during training sessions, but doing the same old thing isn’t fun! So, we’re here to help planners facing that dilemma.
We’ll introduce engaging training games that are perfect for team building and can be enjoyed with both small and large groups.
From mini icebreaker games to full-fledged problem-solving activities, we’ve got plenty of ideas to liven up the atmosphere.
Use this as a reference to energize your employee and new-hire training sessions!
- A collection of icebreakers you can enjoy with a small group
- Liven up even first meetings! A collection of fun games perfect for welcome parties
- Ideas for team-based games to enliven a party
- Games that get everyone excited without any equipment! A collection of simple ideas everyone can enjoy
- A collection of fun indoor play ideas: easy-rule games that hype up the fun
- Get the office buzzing! A collection of recommended entertainment and performance ideas for year-end and New Year parties
- Big fun with no props! A collection of party game ideas
- A roundup of recommended icebreakers for college students
- Games for conversation practice: a collection of ideas everyone can enjoy
- Company recreation ideas everyone can enjoy!
- Icebreaker Ideas and Games Collection
- Recreation Ideas That Truly Excite High School Students! A Fun Collection of Activities
- Games and activities everyone can enjoy together. A collection of fun play ideas.
Guaranteed to Boost Teamwork! A Collection of Fun Training Game Ideas (1–10)
Does an English conversation telephone game work?
Let’s try playing a game of telephone in English, where each person passes along the same phrase to the next! First, present an English sentence as the prompt.
It’s recommended to have an AI tool read it aloud rather than a person pronouncing it directly.
The first person listens to the sentence and passes it on to the next person.
If the last person can accurately state what the original English sentence was and provide its Japanese translation, the group succeeds.
You could also make the sentence a question and have the last person give an appropriate answer to that question.
It’s a fun communication game that will make you laugh while also testing everyone’s English skills.
No equipment needed! Air catch ball
“Air Catch,” a make-believe game of tossing an imaginary ball without any props, is a very simple team-building activity.
Participants form a circle.
Someone calls another person’s name while miming a throw of the “air ball,” and the next person pretends to catch it and continues in the same way.
The rules are: make eye contact and call the person’s name before you throw.
Once everyone gets used to it, you can increase the difficulty by tossing multiple balls at once or speeding things up.
It builds communication skills and concentration and gets people laughing, making it great for training icebreakers and strengthening team cohesion.
It takes about 5–15 minutes, so give it a try!
Samurai sword-fighting (chambara) battleNEW!
Chanbara Battle is a game where players use soft swords to knock off balls attached to each other’s arms.
Because it’s played in teams, you’ll naturally develop a sense of camaraderie even with people you’ve just met.
As you plan your strategy, conversation will arise naturally too.
Have fun getting active together and work as a team to lead your side to victory.
If time allows, switch up team members and leaders to create more opportunities to talk with new people.
You can purchase chanbara equipment from online shops.
Guaranteed to boost team power! A collection of fun training game ideas (11–20)
Minority wins! The Minority Game
This is a game where the people who choose the minority—the less popular answer—win.
First, split into groups and set a prompt and two choices.
Since there are only two options, pick one based on your own thinking.
After choosing, hold a debate—i.e., a discussion—within your group about the prompt.
After the discussion, think again about which option to choose as your answer, then everyone reveals their choice at the same time.
If you picked the minority answer at that moment, you win; if you picked the majority answer, you lose.
Royal Road Guessing Game!
The “Royal Road Game” helps you understand others better by discovering what each person considers the classic choice.
First, choose one person to be the lead, and decide on a topic.
The lead then lists three items they think are the quintessential picks for that topic.
For example, if the topic is “What are the classic ingredients for miso soup?”, the lead should select the three ingredients they personally consider the classics.
The others ask the lead questions and try to guess their three picks.
Once the answers are revealed, build the conversation by sharing your agreement, asking why those choices feel like the classics, and expanding the discussion from there!
Easy! Tim Tam Game
This is a simple word game invented by Yamana from the comedy duo Akina.
First, one person says “Tim” and “Tam” in a random order 14 times.
The other person predicts whether the 14th will be “Tim” or “Tam,” and at the moment the 14th comes, say the one you think it is together.
If you’re right, the predictor wins.
You can also do it so that after 13 times, the predictor answers the 14th alone like a quiz and then you check if it’s correct.
Feel free to change how many times you say “Tim” and “Tam,” or adjust how you answer—make your own rules through communication and enjoy!
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.