Office games to play with co-workersBored at work? Need something fun to get your through the day. These seven office games can help make the time go by. If your boss walks by, tell them it’s a team building exercise.


1. Air Can Soccer

players: 2
materials: 2 cans canned air, 1 balled up piece of paper, 1 conference table
gameplay: Players are take place on either side of the table and the “ball” is tossed into play. The ball is “kicked” shooting canned air at it. Points are awarded to the player that knocks the ball off the opponents side of the table.

2. Paper Football

players: 2
materials: 1 piece of paper folded like a flag into a triangle
gameplay: Variation A: Player makes an “L” with both of their fingers and touches their index fingers together to make a goal post. The opponent stands the football on it end and “kicks” it by flicking into the uprights.Variation B: Player gets 4 downs (downs) to push the football across the table with his back of index finger. Points awarded for a football to hang over the edge of the table within 4 downs.

3. Pencil Pop

players: 2
materials: Many #2 pencils
gameplay: Player holds a pencil flat with both hands. The other player flicks his pencil against the others in attempt to break the other player’s pencil. Points awarded for number of opponent’s pencils broken.

4. Nerf Melee

players: unlimited
materials: Nerf guns or nerf projectiles
gameplay: Players shoot the nerf guns at one another and are out of play if they get hit by an opponent. The last player remaining is declared the winner. Variation: Players are allowed multiple hits until they are out.

5. Grasshopper

players: Up to 4
materials: Large paper clips
gameplay: Paper clips are bent according to instructions. Players take turns making their grasshoppers “jump”. Points awarded for highest jump for each round.

6. Bullshit Bingo

players: unlimited
materials: Piece of paper, Pen/pencil, Meeting, Bingo card
gameplay: During a meeting conference call, words on the card are filled in once mentioned. Once a player achieves a row across, down, or diagonal they stand up and shout, “Bullshit!”

7. Paper Airplane Jarts

players: 2 - 4
materials: 4 paper airplanes, 2 trash cans
gameplay: Players take alternating turns attempting to fly their paper airplane into the trash can. One point is awarded for each airplane that goes into the can. First player to 21 points wins.

Reader Submitted Office Games

8. Pinchy

players: unlimited
materials: 2 fingers
gameplay: Players take turns pinching one another until the one cries out.

9. Circle Game

players: unlimited
materials: 2 fingers
gameplay: Players try to trick their opponents into looking directly at the player’s hand gesturing an upside-down OK sign. If opponent looks directly at the hand, then play is allowed one punch in the arm. Circle must be below the waist to qualify.

What games do you play with your co-workers? Let me know and I will add them to the post.

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26 Responses to “7 Office Games You Can Play with Your Co-workers”

  1. HubmaN Says:

    Hehe… “We shall egregriously synthesize to meet the capabilities of our targe-BULLSHIT!”

  2. Mr. McGeek Says:

    I play “Pinchy.” It’s where you take turns pinching each other, and whoever cries out first loses. A great way to annoy your boss during meetings!

  3. Shrike2214 Says:

    What about the good ol circle game you hold your fingers in a circle shape below your waist if someone looks at the circle you get to punch them :D

  4. Jason Bartholme Says:

    Thanks Mr. McGeek, I added you game to the list. My co-worker read your comment and proclaim that it’s “on” for the next meeting.

  5. Jason Bartholme Says:

    Shrike2214, I was going to that one originally, but I thought there was a better name for it that just the “Circle Game”. Many other people have said that was simply the name. Thanks for your suggestion and it is now above.

  6. Molly Says:

    Well, I’m only 15 so I don’t exactly work in an office, but during school my friends and I play The Drowning Game. When someone isn’t facing you, you call out their name and put your hands, curled into circle shapes, around your eyes like binoculars. If they respond by turning and looking at you then they have to immediately lie down on their stomach on the floor no matter where they are, flail their arms and legs and scream “I’m drowning! I’m drowning!” But if you call their name and have your “binoculars” on and they respond by turning to face you with their thumbs in their ears, wiggling their fingers around, they YOU have to “drown.”

  7. Das Pandii Says:

    Man,i don’t work in an office but there are some games that we play on the teachers…one wasn’t started as a game, but merely a birthday card that we passed around to 6 different tables in two widespread rows, and got everyone to sign it. The trick was to get it past the teachers. there was also a game that was rather funny to play on the subs that we wanted to strangle.first,we would switch names before class, then halfway through switch back.besides that,we switched seats when they weren’t looking,sprayed Axe every ten minutes, dropped our pencils frequently(not enough to get caught though), and sharpened our pencils right in the middle of lectures.other than that we were angels. its especially great when the teacher comes back the next day and says he got a glowing report from the sub.now,don’t criticize me on the last game,i mean, when you go to a school for geniuses(to put it bluntly) and the sub thinks that the class doesn’t know how to spell banana slug, then criticizes us for into being able to play our instruments when we’ve been labeled as the best damn orchestra in the state, there are gonna be some consequences.

  8. Andrew G.R. Says:

    Cool list, nice! I also play Office BINGO to kill the time!
    http://www.jobacle.com/blog/2007/8/22/bored-at-work-play-office-bingo.html

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  10. Steven Snell Says:

    Paper football. Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve played that.

  11. stalkingyou Says:

    at school we always play 2 for flinching you know……but theres this game called peg fight and what you do is pick someone to peg with wads of paper during the day and at the end of school(or work day) whoever has the most pegs wins.or you could use hard things like footballs…….

  12. Rissa Says:

    We play ‘boss tennis’ - every time your boss comes to your desk to ask a question, you have to send him across the room to a colleague, and keep going like that…loser is whoever makes him leave/return to office etc.

  13. gaz Says:

    well im in collage doing engineering so i get bored easy so me and m8 play a game so we play games like eyespy(wer u have to choose an object and u m8 gotta guess wat object uve chosing and if they guess u get punched :) but if they dont guess i they get punched fun game ) and we all so play a game wer u throw paper balls trying to hit it in the bin and u get point further away u are

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  15. Simon Wharton Says:

    Inspired by the joy of bullshit bingo, in the same way that monopoly has grown by exploiting niches, we have spent literally minutes developing
    It’s taking over the world!

  16. dave Says:

    we used to call it p-nukle

  17. brandon Says:

    We like to play buzzword bingo during quarterly and annual update meetings. Use words like “lean”, “six sigma”, “improvement”, “savings”, and “customer satisfaction”. There’s a host of other fun ones that are industry specific as well.

  18. kk Says:

    We play Trust Ball. It’s a team building exercise. Get a ball. Lob it directly at your coworker’s face. The challenge: the receiver has to keep his/her eyes open, hence the Trust, because the receiver trusts that the thrower will be gentle. You can actually use any object within reason and keeping safety in mind. Plush stuffed animal toys work, empty water bottles, trash can…basically nothing sharp. Trust. We also have another game that involves falling off of an office chair after being spun around a bunch and then pushed across the room… More to it than that, but too complicated to explain right now.

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  20. Cheryl Says:

    I come from a very large team of bankers….give this one a try. At huddle, which we have every thursday and friday, bring 2 to 4 beach balls.Divide everyone up into 2 to 4 teams. Everyone on the team has to be given a can of air, a straw or piece of hose. Set up an obstacle course around the office, bring the elevator into play if you have one. Use only the air produced from the device you have chosen to move the ball around the office (cannot touch the balls with any part of your body or use anything else other than the air device to move the ball). The first team to finish the race wins!!! No interference with the other team is allowed!!! I know……… but there has to be rules. FUN FUN FUN!!!

  21. Tiffani Says:

    The Game of Killer

    This game is only played when our store is closed, so we can’t get into trouble with customers. Basically, if someone makes a gun symbol with their hand and shoots you, you have to die dramatically. If you ignore getting shot three times, you are out of the game for an indefinite amount of time, maybe forever depending on how into the game people are.

    I stole this from The Monkees.

  22. Pete Says:

    Play Tag round a bank of desks!! :-D

    Office Snowball Fight with paper balls

    Who can shout “SOCKS” the loudest without getting looked at strangely, or fired

    Spot the tard (very easy at my work)

    Stare at one co-worker (everyone stares at one person) till they realise.

    Slowly hide one particular co-workers posessions again, till they realise (hopefully they wont).

    Have fun!!

  23. Christy Says:

    Everyone takes turns saying a famous person’s name then the next person has to say a name that begins with the same letter as the previous person’s last name…like: Britney ‘S’pears…’S'arah Jessica ‘P’arker…’P'enelope ‘C’ruz…’C'hristina Aguilara…and so on…pretty easy but when you work at a manufacturer there isnt much to do so time flies with this one

  24. Doug Says:

    Ive found switching ink colors in co-workers pens is quite amusing. As is constantly emptying their staplers or stapleing thing together on all 4 corners

  25. Joe Says:

    We play a game called claymores. For those who don’t know, a claymore is an explosive device used by the military. We hide a claymore in plain view (around a corner, in the refrigerator) and if another participant walks by your claymore, then you get a point.

  26. office skiver Says:

    The fruit game- get a piece of fruit, like an orange or grapes, leave it on your desk for a few weeks until it goes black and mouldy (drawing a face on it with black pen adds a personal touch- we’ve had bob, and dick- then when nice and wrinkly, you have to eat it.. or, if you want to wind a collegue up, put the mouldy fruit in their bag- or car!

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