What Is Virtual Team Building?
Team building is anything that helps colleagues trust each other and cooperate, so they work better together. Virtual team building does the same job for people who work from home or are spread across locations and time zones. You will also see it called online team building, remote team building or virtual team bonding, and it covers everything from games to virtual campfires and group fitness classes.
Remote work makes this harder. On a video call it is harder to build culture, read non-verbal cues and sort out conflicts, and isolation can wear down motivation. Regular activities give remote employees a chance to connect, help them feel like equal members of the company and build trust in each other’s character and skills. The payoff is better communication, morale and collaboration.
The ideas below are grouped by length and type: quick icebreakers that fit into the first five minutes of a meeting, games for a 20- to 40-minute slot, and longer events of an hour or more.
Quick Virtual Icebreaker Games for Work (5–15 Minutes)
Short enough for the start of a standup or a weekly meeting. Most of these need only the call itself or a channel in Slack or Teams.
1. Opening questions
Ask one casual question as soon as people join, or post it in the team chat before the call. Good ones: the last dish you cooked, a show, anime or movie you discovered over the weekend, your latest trip, your weekend plans, or what you would bring to a company potluck.
2. Emoji check-in
Everyone posts one emoji for their current mood in the meeting chat or Slack, then a few people explain theirs. It doubles as a quick read on team morale.
3. Rose and thorn
Each person shares the best part of their week (the rose) and the worst (the thorn), personal or work. It makes a good opener for a Friday standing meeting. A close variant is highlights and lowlights, which encourages empathy and open communication.
4. Fun Fact Friday
Open the meeting with team members sharing an interesting fact about themselves. Prompts that work: your least favorite word, or the weirdest food you have ever eaten.
5. Word association
Before the agenda, each person sums up the meeting topic in one word, such as “strong,” “inconsistent” or “work-in-progress.” It brings everyone’s assumptions to the surface before the discussion starts.
6. Around the world in 80 seconds
Each person gets 80 seconds to share a fun fact, tradition or story from their home city or country.
7. Birth map
Upload a world map to a shared channel and have everyone mark where they were born, then share a fact about the place. People who like slides can present a one-page summary.
8. Native language vocabulary
Team members say a word or phrase in their native language, and everyone else guesses what it means.
9. Two-minute life story
Each person tells their life story in two minutes flat.
10. Bucket list challenge
Give everyone five minutes to think of items on their bucket list, then go around and share. Pair people with the same goal, like running a marathon, so they can hold each other accountable. Plan 10 to 15 minutes.
11. Photo of the week
Start or end a meeting with a photo on a weekly theme: a baby picture, prom, something you cooked recently, the view from your home office or your coffee mug. For a twist, keep the photographer secret and let the team guess. A version for new hires: share a photo that tells a story, such as a pet, kids or the view from home, and explain the story behind it.
12. Desk photo
Everyone snaps their workstation, messy or tidy (working next to a cat, under Christmas lights or beside a pile of dishes), and posts it in Slack for laughs and feedback. It takes five minutes.
13. Online riddle
Post a riddle in the team chat or a work discussion thread and see who solves it first. Riddles.com has ready-made riddles with answers.
Fun Virtual Games to Play With Coworkers
Classic party games that translate well to a video call. Most take 10 to 30 minutes and need no prep.
14. Would You Rather
Pose a question with two options and have everyone pick a side and explain why, for example: “Would you rather always be 10 minutes late or 20 minutes early?” Keep the questions tasteful for work. For a ready list, see our would you rather questions, including a section for work.
15. Two truths and a lie
Each person shares two true statements about themselves and one false one, and the team guesses the lie. In the longer version, three truths and a lie, correct guesses earn points. Keep the lie realistic, or it is too easy to spot.
16. Never Have I Ever
Someone says “Never have I ever” plus something they have not done, for example, “Never have I ever bought noise-canceling headphones.” Anyone who has done it lowers a finger, and the player with the most fingers left wins. Plan at least 30 minutes. The Never Have I Ever game deals the prompts for you.
17. 20 Questions
The thinker picks an object and says whether it is animal, vegetable or mineral. The group gets 20 yes-or-no questions to guess it. If nobody gets it, the thinker wins.
18. Read my lips
One person mutes and silently mouths a short phrase, while everyone else tries to read their lips.
19. Guess who
Before the call, the facilitator asks everyone for a few favorites (comfort food, a guilty-pleasure show), unusual facts, hobbies or experiences. During the game, the group guesses which colleague gave each answer. It needs some prep. In How Well Do You Know Me?, one player picks an answer and the rest guess it.
20. Who’s that baby?
Participants send in baby photos, ideally from around ages 2 to 3. Post them in a shared Google Doc, have everyone write down their guesses, and let the host grade the answers and announce the winners. Plan 15 to 30 minutes.
21. Pancakes vs. Waffles
The team votes one word out of each pair, majority rules, and people are allowed to argue for their pick before the vote. The winner faces a new contender every round: “Pancakes vs. Snickers,” then “Salads vs. Festivals,” then ski resorts, and so on. Later rounds can pit your product’s features against a competitor’s, such as “Time tracking vs. Random screenshots.” Give it 40 to 45 minutes.
22. Story chain
One person starts a story with a single sentence, and each teammate adds the next one. The result is an unpredictable story.
23. Typing speed race
Everyone takes the same online typing test and posts their score in Slack or by email. In the relay version, scores are added up by team. It takes 15 to 30 minutes.
Share the room code in the chat: each coworker votes privately, then the whole call sees the split.
Online Team Games With Drawing, Memes and Music
Games built around acting, drawing, memes and music.
24. Charades
Pick a category, such as movies or animals, and have team members act out clues on camera while the others guess. Exaggerated gestures are encouraged.
25. Pictionary
One person draws a word or phrase and teammates guess it. Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet all have whiteboards you can draw on. For a Pictionary showdown, split into teams that take turns drawing on a digital whiteboard while teammates guess within a time limit. The team with the most correct guesses wins. Plan 30 to 45 minutes.
26. Meme contest
Team members submit the best meme they saw that week or make their own, and the team votes for the funniest or most relatable. To make an event of it, run a warm-up plus four rounds, each with its own topic, with memes posted on a shared board under each person’s name and thumbs-up votes. The round winner gets crowned “Troll King of the Internet.” If nobody wants to hunt for memes, What Do You Meme? hands everyone the cards.
27. Photo caption challenge
Share a funny or unusual image (pet photos work well), collect captions from everyone, then vote on the cleverest one.
28. Virtual background competition
Everyone picks a creative video background and the team votes on the best. Themes keep it interesting: “dream vacation,” “sci-fi adventure” or “throwback nostalgia.”
29. Name that tune
Play a short clip of an upbeat song, and team members race to name the title and artist. Name That Tune plays the clips and keeps score.
30. Karaoke or lip-sync battle
Each person picks a favorite song, dresses up if they want to, and performs it live or lip-syncs along.
31. Shared playlist
Build a team playlist on Spotify that everyone adds to on their own time, such as mellow jazz for focus or electronic beats for energy.
Each person draws a secret word on their phone, the team writes fake titles, and everyone votes for the real one.
Virtual Trivia and Game Shows for Remote Teams
From a five-minute round at the start of a meeting to a hosted battle in breakout rooms.
32. Quick trivia round
A short round with a mix of topics, so everyone has a fair chance. Offer a small prize or just bragging rights.
33. Office trivia
Prepare 20 to 25 questions about the company, mixing serious and light ones (“When was it established?”, “Who are your ideal customers?”), and add hints such as the first letter, multiple-choice options or numbers. Form teams of three, each with one representative who buzzes in. Each team picks its buzz sound at the start and can’t change it; a silly one, like a chicken squeak, adds laughs and buys time to think. The team with the most correct answers wins. Plan about 30 minutes. You can also theme the questions around company history, pop culture, history, team interests, traditions and celebrations, or Hollywood, and run them in PowerPoint or Kahoot!, with prizes for the top scores.
34. Trivia night with a rotating quiz master
Elect a quiz master, or have every person write the questions for one round so everyone gets a turn to host.
35. Team trivia battle
Teams compete in breakout rooms on topics from pop culture to history, while a live host tracks the scores in real time. Give it 30 to 60 minutes.
36. Online game show
Recreate a show like Jeopardy! or Family Feud, using Kahoot to build the questions, and let team members contribute questions of their own. RoomPlay has a Family Feud-style game ready to go.
Type a theme and the AI quiz writes the questions. Everyone answers on their own phone, and the scores update after every round.
Online Team Building Games: Hunts, Bingo and Mysteries
Longer remote team building games and events, usually 30 to 90 minutes.
37. At-home scavenger hunt
Read out a list of items and give everyone a time limit (five minutes works) to find them around their home office: a childhood photo, a favorite mug. Whoever finds the most wins. For a looser version, use clues instead of items and award a point for each match, such as “something that makes you happy,” “something that starts with F” or “something cold.” You can also hide clues across your company’s online workspace, with inside jokes or work-related challenges.
38. Virtual bingo
Make bingo cards with squares like “Forgot to unmute,” “Wearing pajama pants” or “Kid or pet made a surprise appearance,” plus your team’s inside jokes. Players cross off squares as things happen on calls (someone is wearing sweatpants, for example), and the first to complete a card wins a prize, such as a gift card or company merch. In people bingo, the caller reads statements like “has brown hair” or “works for the HR team,” and players mark the colleagues who match. The first to get three in a row wins, then play on for a full house. A round takes 15 to 20 minutes.
39. Virtual escape room
Teams solve a series of puzzles and clues together to “escape” before time runs out. It builds teamwork, communication and creative thinking. For a hosted version, The Escape Game’s Remote Adventures put the team on a Zoom call with a live Game Guide who is inside a real escape room and goes wherever the players tell them.
40. Murder mystery
Each player gets a character with clues, then the team questions suspects and examines the evidence to identify the culprit before time runs out. The crime can be as low-stakes as a cookie stolen from the virtual cookie jar. Costumes are encouraged. Plan 60 to 90 minutes. For a ready-made event, The Murder Mystery Co. runs live, interactive murder mystery parties over Zoom, hosted by a professional actor.
41. Mafia
A mystery game with one silent “killer” whom the group has to identify. Other roles include the Doctor, the Detective and the Townspeople. It is usually played in large groups and can run an hour or more.
42. Codebreaker challenge
Teams race to solve a series of codes or ciphers online. The first team to crack them all wins. Plan 30 to 45 minutes.
43. Aliens have landed
Split into groups of three or four. Each group explains your company to “aliens” using only five images or symbols, and one member uploads them. Compare the results and look for common themes: they show how well people understand the company. It takes 30 minutes to an hour and trains communication and creative thinking.
44. Squid Game–style challenges
A live facilitator runs challenges inspired by the show, and players are eliminated each round until one remains. Plan 60 to 90 minutes.
45. Online board games
Play card games together on the virtual tabletop at playingcards.io, or use Board Game Arena, which is free once you create an account and has games like Exploding Kittens.
46. Phone-controller party games
In Jackbox, only one person needs to own the game for Mac or PC; everyone else joins from their phones. Tee K.O., Bomb Corp and Quiplash are good picks, and the format works best for smaller teams of about 8 to 10. RoomPlay games such as Quiplash and Fibbage also run on players’ phones, straight in the browser.
Virtual Team Activities for Sharing and Recognition
Activities where people show something of themselves, or recognize each other’s work.
47. Show and tell
Team members share something meaningful, like a favorite book or a quirky memento, and the story behind it. You can prepare a story in advance, but grabbing something within arm’s reach and improvising works even better. It builds public speaking and storytelling skills.
48. Office tour (MTV Cribs: WFH edition)
Each person gives a tour of their home office or workspace, ideally in the style of a ’90s MTV Cribs episode. People discover shared hobbies (desk cacti, corgis) and bond over setups. It also gets everyone to tidy up and invites creative touches, like matching outfits or hidden Easter eggs. Let the team vote on a favorite, and the winner gets bragging rights. The room tour version was inspired by the team at Help Scout.
49. Talent show or open mic
Team members perform a talent, such as singing, magic tricks, jokes or stand-up comedy. For an open mic, give each person 1 to 2 minutes on stage with 15-second breaks in between; the whole thing takes 15 to 20 minutes. It can be a team event or a company-wide one.
50. Virtual improv
Teams make up scenes and games on the spot. It builds trust and breaks down awkwardness.
51. PowerPoint party
Each attendee gives a five-minute presentation on any subject they like. The quirkier the topic, the better.
52. Fake podcast
Pair people up to interview each other about their roles for up to 10 minutes each, record it, and upload the recordings to a shared drive. It builds empathy across cross-functional teams. Plan about an hour.
53. Praise train
Each person compliments the next person’s work, forming a chain: one praises a work ethic, the next a client call, the next a blog post. It takes 30 to 60 minutes.
54. Rotating recognition
Each week, nominate a teammate who went above and beyond, and thank them with a public shoutout, a gift card or a small token. That person nominates someone the following week.
55. Share a goal
Team members share a goal outside of work, why it matters and a target date. Keep the list in a collaboration tool and check in on progress as deadlines approach. It builds trust and accountability: the “dreamers” get support, and the “supporters” learn more about their colleagues.
56. Personality test
Everyone takes the free test at 16personalities.com, then the team compares results: strengths, weaknesses, and how to work with each type. For fun, search your type plus “famous people.” Plan about 30 minutes.
Virtual Happy Hour Ideas and Games
A virtual happy hour is a relaxed get-together where people talk about anything but work. Plan an hour or more, and let people bring any drink they like: tea, seltzer and other non-alcoholic options count. Any game from the sections above works as a happy hour game. A few more ideas:
57. Virtual coffee break
Schedule short, informal chats with no agenda. To widen people’s networks across the business, pair participants at random each week (the Donut app for Slack does this) for a 15-minute coffee conversation.
58. Virtual wine tasting
Book a private Zoom tasting with a sommelier, for example through Le Grand Triage, and add some cheese. A simpler version is a show-and-tell of everyone’s favorite drink.
59. Cocktail making
Send everyone a cocktail kit and have a professional mixologist, or an amateur teammate, lead the session. Include a mocktail recipe for non-drinkers.
60. Cooking night
One person teaches a favorite recipe, then everyone eats together on camera. Massaged kale Caesar salad, carbonara or tacos are good choices. You can also book an online cooking class.
61. Team dinner
Everyone orders takeout from a local spot on the company’s dime and eats together on the call.
62. Bake-off
Inspired by Nailed It! and The Great British Baking Show: everyone tries to recreate an ambitious baked good, shares photos, and the team votes on a winner.
63. Paint ’n sip
Everyone paints the same subject while the host gives step-by-step guidance, and all the paintings are revealed at the end. A variant is an art jam: an hour of guided sketching or digital painting where each person shares their work at the end.
64. Movie night
Vote on a movie and stream it together on a video call, with the chat open for comments. A watch-party tool like Teleparty (formerly Netflix Party) syncs the movie and lets people chat while it plays. Plan about an hour and a half.
65. Party animals
Book a goat, llama or other farm animal to drop into your Zoom call through Sweet Farm’s Goat-2-Meeting program.
66. Virtual magic show
Hire a magician for an interactive show of card tricks and illusions, for example to celebrate a project win.
Workshops, Wellness and Free Virtual Team Building Activities
Slower activities that teach something, help people recharge or give back. Several are free.
67. Book club
Vote on a book every month or quarter, from bestsellers and self-improvement to fun fiction or something relevant to work, then meet over video to discuss it. Team members can borrow free eBooks from their local library through the Libby app.
68. Team workout
Do yoga, Zumba or HIIT together over a video call, or follow a YouTube or Netflix fitness video as a team. You can also book a virtual session at a favorite studio; yoga, barre and pilates are good low-impact options.
69. Guided meditation
Send a video call invite for a 10- to 20-minute session with a meditation recording or an expert guide. For a nice touch, mail scented oils and candles beforehand. It gives everyone ten quiet minutes in a busy day.
70. Healthy lifestyle challenge
Run a monthly challenge, such as drinking a set amount of water every day one month and doing an activity of choice the next. Track it in a spreadsheet; after 30 days, the person with the most marked boxes wins.
71. Creative workshops
Host virtual sessions where the team learns a skill together, such as painting, cooking or crafting. In a terrarium workshop, every participant gets the materials and an expert guides them through building their own; plan 60 to 90 minutes.
72. Skill-building workshops
Run virtual training sessions on communication, leadership or time management for remote work.
73. Collaborative brainstorming
Use a virtual whiteboard or mind-mapping tool to solve a problem, generate ideas or plan a project together.
74. Coding challenges and hackathons
For tech-focused teams: a chance to show off skills, learn from each other and build something useful.
75. Virtual museum tours
Take a virtual tour of a museum or historical site together, each from home.
76. Service projects
Volunteer as a team without leaving home. Foster Love, for example, has teams assemble Sweet Case care packages and Birthday Boxes that go to children in foster care.
77. Remote gift exchange
Set a budget and assign gift-giving pairs; Elfster can keep the pairs secret. Then meet on a call to open the gifts and reveal who gave what.
78. Fun Slack channels
Set up channels just for light topics, like “pets of [company name],” funny GIFs or interesting articles.
How to Plan Remote Team Building Activities
Make it a habit. A one-time event is not enough. Short games at the start or midpoint of regular meetings (rapid trivia, mini scavenger hunts, creative prompts) keep people connected between bigger events. Sessions of 30 to 45 minutes are becoming the norm, and a 30-minute break can refresh attention for the work that follows.
Check the basics. Everyone needs a stable internet connection, a video platform such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Google Meet, and a collaboration tool such as Slack.
Match the activity to the team. Pick by team size, goals, time frame and energy level. Choose games with a clear purpose, whether that is communication, trust, problem-solving or alignment. Departments differ: a marketing team might prefer storytelling, while operations might enjoy logic games and puzzles. Seasonal themes work too. Some teams also mix play with skills like leadership, adaptability and creative thinking, or use AI-facilitated sessions, where the tools help run the activity and adjust it in real time to how engaged people are.
Include everyone. If part of the team is in the office, choose games that work equally well for remote and in-person players. Offer non-alcoholic options at happy hours, and keep quizzes and would you rather questions clean.
Go deeper now and then. Pair regular virtual activities with a hybrid event or a virtual offsite for deeper bonding.
Ask, then measure. Team building doesn’t have to be big or expensive, and it should be something the team looks forward to. Ask your team what they would enjoy, then track participation rates, feedback surveys and any changes in communication or collaboration scores.
For more ideas you can run in person, see our team building activities, or browse quiz games for Zoom for a trivia-only call.