Games to Play With Coworkers When Bored

Unplanned games of about five minutes for a desk, a break room or a team chat.

Games to Play With Coworkers When Bored

  1. A Word That Fits the Rule1. The host posts a rule, such as "eight letters, starts with S, no E". 2. The first player to post a real word that fits scores a point. 3. The scorer writes the next rule and must already have a word in mind that fits it. 4. If nobody finds a word in one minute, the rule writer shows theirs and writes another. Players: 3 to 12. Time: 5 min. Props: the team chat.
  2. Desk Supplies Felt Through an Envelope1. Each player secretly puts five small desk things into five large envelopes, one in each: a binder clip, an eraser, a pen cap. 2. Swap envelopes. 3. Feel each one from the outside only, without opening or shaking it, and write down what is inside. 4. Open them together. Most right wins, and ties are broken by who finished first. Players: 2. Time: 5 min. Props: ten large envelopes, small desk supplies and scrap paper.
  3. Rank Five Mugs by How Much They Hold1. Stand five mugs of different shapes on the counter. 2. Each player writes the mugs in order, from the one they think holds least to the one that holds most. 3. Test it by the sink: fill the mug ranked smallest to the brim and pour it into the next. If it overflows, those two are in the wrong order. 4. Work up the row. The player whose list needed the fewest changes wins. Players: 3 to 6. Time: 8 min. Props: five different mugs, water, scrap paper and pens.

Next step Office party games for a planned party

How it works

These are games to play at work when bored that nobody has to plan: each uses what is already on a desk or in a chat window. Every game is about things, words or numbers, never about a colleague.

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Start from where you are

Two people at neighboring desks can open Desk games for two, which run on pens, sticky notes and binder clips. A line at the kettle suits Break-room games for a few. A remote team plays Games over chat for a remote team in one thread, and nobody needs a camera. Games for the minutes before a meeting starts stop the moment the meeting does.

Keeping it friendly

Anyone can pass on any turn. Votes here are on snacks, sentences and drawings, and no game asks about private life.

  • Keep the score on a sticky note, and the next break picks up where this one stopped.

Questions and answers

What games can two coworkers play at their desks?

Binder Clip Tower, One Clip a Turn needs only a box of clips. The Hidden Typo needs paper and two pens, and Ruler Hockey With a Bottle Cap needs two rulers and four erasers.

What games can a remote team play in a chat?

Spot the Swapped Emoji, A Word That Fits the Rule and Eyes-Closed Typing, Posted Unedited all run in one thread with no camera. Each round takes a minute or two, so people can drop in between tasks.

What can you play while waiting for a meeting to start?

Seat Search: The Longest Word on Any Wall and Room Chain: Only Things You Can See need nothing at all. How Many Slides Are Coming? takes one guess each and ends when the presenter gives the number.

Are these games safe for work?

Each was read against the harassment page of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. None touches age, bodies, beliefs, family or money, and nobody is voted on. This is a list of games, not legal advice.

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All 40 games

Desk games for two 10

  • Binder Clip Tower, One Clip a Turn 1. Stand one large binder clip on the desk with its handles up. 2. Take turns clipping one more binder clip onto any part of the tower. 3. A clip that touches the desk does not count and comes off again. 4. Whoever makes the tower fall, or knocks a clip off, loses the round. Best of three. Players: 2. Time: 5 min. Props: a box of binder clips.
  • Desk Supplies Felt Through an Envelope 1. Each player secretly puts five small desk things into five large envelopes, one in each: a binder clip, an eraser, a pen cap. 2. Swap envelopes. 3. Feel each one from the outside only, without opening or shaking it, and write down what is inside. 4. Open them together. Most right wins, and ties are broken by who finished first. Players: 2. Time: 5 min. Props: ten large envelopes, small desk supplies and scrap paper.
  • The Hidden Typo 1. Each player writes a three-sentence note about something dull, such as the stapler, with exactly one spelling mistake hidden in it. 2. Swap notes on the count of three. 3. The first to circle the other player's mistake wins the round. 4. Play three rounds. Each round the notes get one sentence longer. Players: 2. Time: 5 min. Props: paper and two pens, or a shared document.
Show all 40 games (37 more)

Desk games for two, continued

  • Paper Clip Tiddlywinks Into a Mug Lid 1. Put a travel mug lid or a jar lid upside down in the middle of the desk. 2. Each player has six paper clips of one color and one large clip as the flicker. 3. Press the edge of the large clip down on the edge of a small one so that it jumps. Take turns, one flick each. 4. A clip that lands in the lid stays there. A clip that leaves the desk is flicked again from the edge. First to land four wins. Players: 2. Time: 5 min. Props: paper clips in two colors, two large clips and a lid.
  • Pen Click Echo, One More Click Each Round 1. One player clicks a retractable pen in a short rhythm of three clicks. 2. The other player repeats it exactly, then adds one click of their own at the end. 3. The rhythm goes back and forth, one click longer every time. 4. The first player to miss a click or lose the rhythm gives the other a point. Play to three, and keep it quiet enough for the next desk. Players: 2. Time: 5 min. Props: a retractable pen each.
  • Rubber Band Ring Toss Onto a Marker 1. Stand a marker upright in a roll of tape at the far side of the desk. 2. Each player gets five rubber bands and stays seated. 3. Take turns lobbing one band at a time so that it lands around the marker. Lob, do not snap: a snapped band does not score. 4. A ringer scores three and a band leaning on the marker scores one. First to ten wins. Players: 2. Time: 5 min. Props: ten rubber bands, a marker and a roll of tape.
  • Ruler Hockey With a Bottle Cap 1. Clear the desk. Each player sets two erasers a hand apart at their end as a goal. 2. Each player holds a ruler flat on the desk. A plastic bottle cap is the puck. 3. Push the cap with the ruler, never lift it, and keep your ruler on your own half. 4. A cap that leaves the desk goes back to the middle. First to five goals wins. Players: 2. Time: 5 min. Props: two rulers, a plastic bottle cap and four erasers.
  • Tape Roll Bowling at Marker Pins 1. Stand six markers on their caps in a triangle at one end of a long desk or a quiet stretch of floor. 2. From the other end, roll a roll of tape on its edge toward them. 3. Two rolls a turn. Count the markers knocked over, then stand them up for the next player. 4. Highest total after three turns each wins. Players: 2 to 4. Time: 8 min. Props: six markers and a roll of tape.
  • Two Pens as Chopsticks, Ten Paper Clips 1. Put ten paper clips in one cup and an empty cup a forearm away. 2. Hold two pens in one hand like chopsticks. 3. Move the clips one at a time into the empty cup while the other player times you. 4. A dropped clip is picked up with the pens, not with fingers. Swap over. The faster time wins. Players: 2. Time: 5 min. Props: two pens, ten paper clips, two cups and a phone timer.
  • Typed Out of Sight: Count the Keys, Guess the Word 1. One player turns their screen away and types one office word of five to nine letters, at an even pace. 2. The listener says how many keys they heard. 3. The typist says whether the count was right, then gives the first letter. 4. The listener gets three guesses at the word. A right count scores one and the word scores two. Swap after each word. Players: 2. Time: 5 min. Props: one keyboard.

Break-room games for a few 10

  • Alphabetize the Tea Shelf Against the Clock 1. Take eight boxes or jars from the tea and coffee shelf and stand them on the counter in a jumble. 2. One player puts them in A to Z order by the biggest word on the front, while another runs a phone timer. 3. The group checks the row. Each box out of place adds five seconds. 4. Jumble them again for the next player. The fastest time puts the shelf back. Players: 3 to 6. Time: 8 min. Props: eight boxes or jars from the shelf and a phone timer.
  • Before the Kettle Clicks Off 1. When someone switches the kettle on, they name a list: things found in a desk drawer, words that end in "ing", kinds of soup. 2. Everyone in the room calls out answers, and one person keeps a tally on the whiteboard or on their fingers. 3. When the kettle clicks off, the list closes. 4. Write the total on the board with the list name. The next group to boil the kettle tries to beat it. Players: 3 to 8. Time: 3 min. Props: a kettle.
  • Notice Board Quiz, Facing the Other Way 1. Everyone turns their back on the notice board or the fridge door. 2. One player, the only one facing it, asks five questions: "What color is the fire-drill poster?" "How many magnets are there?" 3. The others answer aloud together, and the asker gives a point for each right answer. 4. The top scorer asks the next five about a different wall. Players: 3 to 8. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
  • Put the Mugs Back in Order 1. Line up six different mugs on the counter. Everyone studies the row for ten seconds. 2. One player turns to face the wall. 3. The others move the mugs into a new order. 4. The player turns back and rebuilds the first row from memory. Count the mugs in the right place, then the next player has a go with seven mugs. Players: 3 to 6. Time: 8 min. Props: six or more different mugs.
  • Quiz From the Back of the Coffee Bag 1. One player picks up a package from the counter: the coffee bag, a tea box, the dish soap. 2. They read the back silently and ask three questions about it, such as "How many cups does this bag say it makes?" 3. Everyone answers at once on a count of three. The reader shows the label. 4. Whoever was closest most often picks the next package and reads. Players: 3 to 6. Time: 5 min. Props: any package with printing on the back.
  • Rank Five Mugs by How Much They Hold 1. Stand five mugs of different shapes on the counter. 2. Each player writes the mugs in order, from the one they think holds least to the one that holds most. 3. Test it by the sink: fill the mug ranked smallest to the brim and pour it into the next. If it overflows, those two are in the wrong order. 4. Work up the row. The player whose list needed the fewest changes wins. Players: 3 to 6. Time: 8 min. Props: five different mugs, water, scrap paper and pens.
  • Sell the Break-Room Toaster in Twenty Seconds 1. Someone points at an ordinary thing in the break room: the toaster, a dish rack, the paper towel holder. 2. The player to their left has twenty seconds to pitch it as a brand-new invention. 3. The next player adds one feature it does not have and names a price. 4. The pointer says "sold" or "not yet", then the pitcher points at the next thing. Players: 3 to 6. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
  • Snack Bracket on the Whiteboard 1. Write eight snacks or lunch foods down the side of the whiteboard and pair them off as a bracket. 2. For each pair, everyone votes by show of hands. The snack with more hands moves on. 3. On a tie, one person gets ten seconds to argue for each side and the room votes again. 4. Leave the champion on the board for the next people who walk in. Players: 3 to 10. Time: 8 min. Props: a whiteboard and a marker.
  • Tea Bag Sniff Test 1. Lay out four wrapped tea bags of different kinds from the tea shelf and read the names aloud once. 2. One player closes their eyes. Another unwraps one bag and holds it a hand away from their nose. 3. The player names the tea. A right answer on the first sniff scores two, on a second sniff one. 4. Everyone has a turn with a fresh four. Nothing is tasted, and anyone bothered by scents just judges. Players: 3 to 6. Time: 8 min. Props: wrapped tea bags of at least four kinds.
  • Which Appliance Was That? 1. Everyone but one player closes their eyes. 2. That player makes one break-room sound: the fridge door, the microwave door, a paper towel pulled, a spoon dropped in the sink. 3. The first to name the sound scores a point. Two wrong calls and the sound is made again. 4. After three sounds, the top scorer becomes the sound maker. Players: 3 to 6. Time: 5 min. Props: none.

Games over chat for a remote team 10

  • A Word That Fits the Rule 1. The host posts a rule, such as "eight letters, starts with S, no E". 2. The first player to post a real word that fits scores a point. 3. The scorer writes the next rule and must already have a word in mind that fits it. 4. If nobody finds a word in one minute, the rule writer shows theirs and writes another. Players: 3 to 12. Time: 5 min. Props: the team chat.
  • Emoji Riddle of a Task on Your List 1. One person posts three to five emoji that stand for a task on their to-do list today. 2. Everyone else guesses the task in the thread. 3. The poster reacts to the first right answer, or gives one word of help after five wrong ones. 4. The solver posts the next riddle. Tasks only: nothing that names a client or a colleague. Players: 3 to 12. Time: 5 min. Props: the team chat.
  • Every Word Swapped: Guess the Plain Sentence 1. One player takes a plain office sentence, such as "Please refill the printer paper". 2. They rewrite it so that no word of the original is left: "Kindly restock the copier's sheets". 3. They post only the rewritten line. 4. The first player to post the plain sentence, give or take a small word, scores a point and rewrites the next one. Players: 3 to 12. Time: 5 min. Props: the team chat.
  • Eyes-Closed Typing, Posted Unedited 1. The host posts one sentence of about twelve words. 2. Everyone reads it, puts their fingers on the keys, closes their eyes and types it once from memory. 3. Without looking or fixing anything, each player presses send. 4. The host picks the line closest to the original. Its typist writes the next sentence. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 3 min. Props: the team chat and a keyboard each.
  • Keyboard-Character Drawing: Guess the Object 1. One player draws an office object using only keyboard characters, on three lines or fewer. 2. They post it in the thread without a caption. 3. The first right guess scores a point for the guesser and one for the artist. 4. A drawing nobody gets within a minute scores nothing. The guesser draws next. Players: 3 to 12. Time: 5 min. Props: the team chat.
  • Let the Phone Finish the Sentence 1. The host posts the first three words of a sentence, such as "The meeting will". 2. Each player types those words on a phone, then presses the middle suggested word above the keyboard ten times. 3. Everyone posts the finished sentence exactly as it came out. 4. The host picks the one that sounds most like a real announcement. Players read their sentence over before posting and may roll again. Players: 3 to 12. Time: 5 min. Props: a phone each and the team chat.
  • Longest Word From the Top Row of Keys 1. The host names one row of letter keys on the keyboard, starting with the top row. 2. Players have one minute to find the longest English word typed with letters from that row alone. 3. On "post", everyone sends their word at once. 4. The longest word that a dictionary accepts wins. The next round uses the middle row. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 5 min. Props: the team chat and a keyboard each.
  • Spot the Swapped Emoji 1. The host posts one line of ten different emoji. 2. After ten seconds the host posts the line again with one emoji replaced by another. 3. The first player to name the emoji that vanished scores a point. 4. Each new line is two emoji longer. Play five lines. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 5 min. Props: the team chat.
  • Trackpad Portrait of the Office Printer 1. The host names one object everyone knows, such as the office printer or the lobby plant. 2. Each player has sixty seconds to draw it from memory in any paint or whiteboard app, using only a trackpad or mouse. 3. Everyone posts their picture at the same moment. 4. The host gives one award for the closest likeness and one for the most hopeful attempt, then names the next host. Players: 3 to 10. Time: 5 min. Props: any drawing app and the team chat.
  • Which Meeting Title Is Real? 1. The host copies the title of one real meeting from their own calendar, changing any confidential word. 2. In private messages to the host, every other player invents a meeting title that sounds real. 3. The host posts the real title and the invented ones as one numbered list. 4. Everyone posts the number they think is real. A point for spotting it, and a point each time someone picks yours. Players: 4 to 10. Time: 8 min. Props: the team chat.

Games for the minutes before a meeting starts 10

  • Add One Line to the Whiteboard Drawing 1. The first person in the room draws a single line or curve on the whiteboard. 2. Each person who arrives adds exactly one line, joined to what is already there. 3. Nobody says what they think it is becoming. 4. When the meeting leader arrives, they give the drawing a title and wipe the board. Players: 3 to 12. Time: 5 min. Props: a whiteboard and a marker.
  • Chairs Plus Windows: A Sum From the Room 1. One player gives a sum made from the room, a step at a time: "Start with the number of chairs. Add the windows. Double it. Take away today's date." 2. Everyone works it out silently. No pens. 3. On a count of three, all say their answer together. 4. The caller checks the sum aloud. Anyone who was right gives the next one, with five steps. Players: 3 to 12. Time: 3 min. Props: none.
  • Freehand Circle, Checked With a Mug 1. Each person draws one circle on paper in a single stroke, about the size of a mug rim. 2. No tracing, no second try. 3. Stand a mug upside down on each circle in turn. 4. The circle that shows least outside the rim and least gap inside it wins. The winner draws the next round's shape, such as a square checked against a sticky note. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 3 min. Props: paper, pens and one mug.
  • How Many Slides Are Coming? 1. While people are still arriving, the presenter says only the title of the talk. 2. Everyone else writes down how many slides they think the deck has. 3. The presenter gives the true number before starting. 4. The closest guess wins the right to ask the first question at the end. Players: 3 to 20. Time: 3 min. Props: scrap paper, or the meeting chat.
  • Mirror-Write the Meeting Title 1. Everyone writes the title of the meeting on a sheet in mirror writing, right to left with every letter reversed. 2. Thirty seconds, no practice run. 3. Hold each sheet up to a phone's front camera with mirroring on, or look at it from behind against the window. 4. The group points to the one that reads most cleanly. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 3 min. Props: paper and a pen each.
  • Room Chain: Only Things You Can See 1. The first player names something everyone can see from their seat: "table". 2. The next names a visible thing that starts with the last letter of that word: "eraser". 3. Nothing may be named twice, and a player may point to prove the thing is there. 4. A player who is stuck for ten seconds says "pass". The chain ends when the meeting starts or when three players in a row pass. Players: 3 to 10. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
  • Same Reaction on Three 1. On a call, the host posts a plain message: "The quarterly report is ready." 2. Without discussing it, everyone tries to react with the same emoji on the host's count of three. 3. Count the largest group that matched. That is the team score. 4. Play five messages and try to beat the score each time. In a room, play it with one hand gesture each. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 3 min. Props: the meeting chat, or none in a room.
  • Seat Search: The Longest Word on Any Wall 1. Everyone stays in their seat and looks around. 2. In one minute, find the longest word printed anywhere in view: a poster, a label, the projector, a book spine. 3. On "time", each person says their word and where it is. 4. Count the letters together. Words on a player's own laptop or papers do not count. Players: 3 to 12. Time: 3 min. Props: none.
  • Sixty-Second Pangram Hunt 1. Everyone has a pen and one sheet. 2. In sixty seconds, write one sentence that makes sense and uses as many different letters of the alphabet as possible. 3. Swap sheets with a neighbor, who crosses off each letter of the alphabet as they find it. 4. The sentence with the most different letters wins. A perfect score is all twenty-six. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 5 min. Props: paper and a pen each.
  • Works or Dried Out? Call It Before the Cap Comes Off 1. Lay every marker from the whiteboard tray on the table with the caps on. 2. Each person picks one and says "works" or "dried out" before touching the cap. 3. On "go", everyone draws one line on the board. 4. A right call scores a point. The dried-out markers go in the bin, which is the real prize. Players: 3 to 10. Time: 3 min. Props: the markers already in the room.

How this list was compiled: Written by the Game Night Generator editors for colleagues with a few spare minutes at desks, in a break room, in a team chat or before a meeting starts, in our own words. Player counts and times are our estimates. No game is about a person: nothing touches age, bodies, beliefs, family or money, nobody is voted on, and nothing is staked. The screen is the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's harassment page, https://www.eeoc.gov/harassment, read on 2026-10-03. It is a list of games, not legal advice. Licence: own work