I’ve been team building for over 15 years, and in that time, I’ve discovered some of the most powerful tools for boosting team morale: game shows! Ideas like Jeopardy and In It to Win It might not sound like the secret to improving team interactions, but I’ve seen the magic firsthand.
It’s truly astounding to watch a bit of playful competition transform a team and breathe new life into the workplace. You have to see it to believe it.
Office game show events are about more than giving everyone a chance to blow off steam. It’s about taking a strategic approach to better team cohesion and communication while everyone unwinds. These aren’t just games; they’re experiences that can fundamentally change how your team members relate to each other.
Without further ado, here are my top 11 awesome game show ideas for work that require little to no effort to prepare and launch.
My Top 11 Game Show Ideas for Team Building
Since you’re here, I’m guessing you’re looking for a list of the best game show game ideas for keeping your team engaged from beginning to end. If so, you’ve come to the right place!
For those who’d like to hear more of my thoughts about the process, check out our podcast episode where I discuss how game shows can build team leadership.
And for everyone else, let’s dive into my list of game show games that your teams deserve! It’s in no particular order because they’re all in the top spot for me, so pick the one(s) that stand out to you.
1. Jeopardy
I can’t tell you how often I’ve seen Jeopardy light up a room. It’s not just about the trivia—game shows like this let teammates showcase their hidden knowledge and unexpected expertise. This, paired with friendly competition, has been known to spark new workplace friendships and always helps people learn more about each other.
The idea is that three players get together and participate in a question-and-answer session. The goal? To answer more questions correctly than your opponents, just like the real thing.
You’ll start by setting up a game board. You can use an actual whiteboard in your office or go digital with something like a PowerPoint presentation. Then, you’ll need to come up with interesting categories and questions before you’re ready to host the event!
No worries if all the prep work sounds like too much of a hassle. That’s why we’re here! (Okay, we’re not just here to make your quiz show ideas like Jeopardy come to life, but it’s part of it.)
TeamBonding offers The Official Jeopardy!® – Virtual Game Show as a team building activity that’s easy to set up. You can let us deal with creating customized questions, hosting the game, and taking care of all things technical while you enjoy participating in the game with your team.
2. In It to Win It
Talk about pure entertainment! In It to Win It is another team game show with the power to turn office items into tools of creativity. I’ve seen it transform simple challenges into moments of hilarious collaboration and excitement. Plus, it’s one of the easier game shows to play at the office.
One reason In It to Win It makes my list of the best game show game ideas is because it’s flexible. You can play this game in large groups, smaller teams, or individuals competing against each other, so it’s a fantastic game show for corporate events, small businesses, and everything in between.
Plus, whether you’re in-person or virtual, it brings out the playful problem-solver in everyone.
The concept is straightforward: teams use common household or office items to complete simple challenges. As the game progresses, you ramp up the difficulty of the challenges, and in the end, only the most creative and determined team wins!
TeamBonding makes it easy to play In It to Win It with your teams, too. Our In It to Win It spin-off event brings excitement, laughter, and friendly competition with unique 60-second challenges that everyone will have a blast solving.
3. Win, Lose or Draw
Not to date myself, but Win, Lose, or Draw was a game show that aired briefly in the 80s. (I found an episode on YouTube if you’re curious.) For our purposes of game show ideas for the office, it’s basically Pictionary meets corporate creativity.
Teams take turns trying to guess a phrase, title, or thing based on the drawing of one of the team members. There’s a no-talking rule, so you’ll have to rely on your creativity and drawing abilities to communicate the secret phrase.
As a team building activity, Win, Lose, or Draw can help your team work better as a team, think on their feet, and develop creativity. It has a simple format that’s easy to implement in a virtual or in-person setting. And I’ve seen shy team members become absolute STARS during this game, which is always a plus.
4. Family Feud
Survey says… this game is a crowd-pleaser! Family Feud is the embodiment of quality entertainment for the whole family. With 26 seasons and counting, this game show still draws nearly eight million viewers per episode. I love this one because it encourages quick thinking.
Beyond the laughs, it’s a great quiz show idea for developing social connections and communication skills. And it’s as simple as having two groups compete against each other to test their knowledge of random survey answers.
You can split a single team into two “families” or pit two small teams against each other. The host asks the teams to guess as closely as possible to the most popular answers to random survey questions. The team with the most points after all the rounds wins the game.
If researching survey answers and questions seems daunting, TeamBonding offers a spin-off team building game called Survey Says! Our facilitators will take care of everything, from building out the questions to hosting the game so you can focus on having fun.
As always, you can reach out to us to learn more about customized options to ensure your entire team stays engaged until the very end.
5. Name That Tune
As someone who’s spent years designing team building experiences, Name That Tune isn’t just a musical challenge—it’s a powerful way to demonstrate how teams connect. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, this show was a cultural phenomenon that brought people together through the language of music.
Each episode featured a panel of four or five celebrities trying to guess songs being played by contestants. They had to correctly identify a certain number of tunes within a time limit. As a workplace game show, it’s about so much more than who knows the most songs. It’s about how we bridge gaps, share experiences, and celebrate diverse backgrounds.
I’ve watched countless teams transform during Wild Card Bingo, our version of this game show. Team building is just the beginning—it starts as a simple music trivia game show and quickly becomes a dynamic exploration of general knowledge and collective intelligence. It shows the importance of having a common goal and working as a team to achieve it.
Contestants work to fill up their bingo cards by naming the tune based on the hints provided. Or, if you don’t want it to be focused only on music, you can quiz your team with pop culture trivia or personalize the game to test your team’s knowledge about the company.
Human Bingo and Team Bingo variations of Wild Card Bingo are fantastic game show ideas if you want to encourage teamwork and help teammates get to know each other. To win the game, the players have to guess things about other teammates or accomplish certain challenges rather than guessing the names of popular songs.
6. Survivor
Most people know Survivor as the reality show where contestants battle it out in isolated locations, eliminating each other until only the winner remains. But that’s not how we do things at TeamBonding.
While the original game is centered around exclusion, our version—Corporate Survivor—flips the script. It’s all about inclusion. Rather than competing against each other, we’ve created challenges that transform competition into collaboration.
I’ll never forget watching a group that was described to me as “completely disconnected” become a unified force in just one game. That was the moment when it became one of my all-time favorites. The magic happens in those moments when someone who thought they didn’t have anything to offer suddenly becomes key to solving a complex challenge.
It’s not about who’s the strongest. It’s about how strong we can be together. We create scenarios where everyone can contribute, support, and elevate each other. It’s excellent for annual meetings, company outings, or big project kickoffs.
Sound good? Go ahead and reach out to us so we can discuss available locations and get you set up.
7. Chopped
A cooking competition might seem like an unlikely office game show idea, but hear me out. Chopped is a unique show where chefs compete against each other to prepare dishes using mystery ingredients. It has three rounds, and the judges score the dishes at the end of each one.
While you probably won’t have time to cook an entire dish, you can modify this activity to fit your time frame and budget. It’s less about culinary skills and more about unleashing collaborative problem-solving with creativity and communication.
The best part? It doesn’t need to be an in-person event—you can play it virtually on Zoom! Just make sure to send each of your team members a box with all the mystery ingredients. Once you’ve set the timer, it’s time for everyone to open their boxes and start cooking.
Ask everyone to explain what they’re making. It’s about the process, not the final dish. And since you won’t be able to taste the dishes if you’re playing virtually, ask the team to rate each other’s dishes based on their appearance.
Once again, if this sounds like more work than you want to put in, check out our Team Cuisine program. You can get inspiration or ask us to help you make this game show idea come to life.
8. The Price is Right
I’ve always loved how The Price is Right turns guessing into an art form. This game show idea is about more than price estimation—it’s also a masterclass in strategic thinking. I love watching teams trying to guess the price of specific items without going over the actual cost (especially when we throw in some expected additions).
This game is easy to set up in virtual and in-person settings. The most daunting task is researching the prices and making sure it’s not too easy. For example, most people know how much a PlayStation costs, but try guessing the cost of a vintage golf club set—suddenly, you have a room full of engaged, collaborative problem-solvers.
Our Play it Forward version takes this concept to another level. It’s all for a charitable cause, and that tends to make teams light up. We’ve designed this giveback game show idea so that teams engage in different challenges and trivia to earn rewards for their designated charity.
We also offer C’mon Down and Foodbank Showdown, two more fun game show ideas based on The Price is Right (because I wasn’t kidding when I said I love the show).
9. Common Knowledge
If you guessed that Common Knowledge is a TV game show about testing your knowledge of everyday trivia that people should know the answers to, you’ve won 10 points. But it’s not just a trivia game show idea—it’s a window into how your team members think and communicate.
You’ll set up two teams and see who can answer the most multiple-choice questions correctly. The twist? Each person must lock in their answers secretly, and the team gets extra points only if everyone has selected the same answer once they’re revealed.
All you need is some common knowledge questions and a way for the players to jot down their answers. A simple pen and paper will do. Then you’re ready to host the competition and watch everyone make some memories! And if you don’t have time to set up the game, TeamBonding has you covered.
Our Corporate Quiz Bowl is a team building activity based on Common Knowledge, and it’ll get the entire team fired up to show off their knowledge. Or, if you’re looking for a virtual event, I highly recommend Almost Anything Goes.
In either case, we’ll supply the questions, track the scores, and run the show so you can join in on the fun too. Both options are perfect for keeping everyone engaged and entertained at meetings, conferences, celebrations, and more.
10. Lip Sync Battle
I’ll be honest—nothing breaks down professional barriers faster than a Lip Sync Battle. I’ve seen some of the most reserved executives transform into rock stars, shy new team members find their confidence, and distant colleagues become best friends.
If you haven’t already watched the show (it only ran from 2015 to 2019), the concept is simple: two opposing teams compete to see who can do the best lip-sync performance to popular songs. The energy it stirs up is unbelievable, and it’s so much fun.
Hierarchies dissolve, the intern can out-perform the CEO, and everyone gets to join in on pure, unfiltered joy. It’s truly a reminder that, beneath our professional personas, we’re all humans who love to have fun. It demands creativity, courage, and commitment as teams learn to cheer each other on and celebrate individual moments of brilliance.
11. Wheel of Fortune
At 42 seasons strong, Wheel of Fortune isn’t just a game show—it’s a cultural phenomenon that almost everyone’s familiar with. It’s also a fantastic way to show how teams truly work together.
Spin to Win is our very own “Wheel Of Fortune” experience where teams take turns solving the toss-up, spinning the wheel, and earning. The team with the most money at the end is named the Spin to Win Champion, but it’s more about the journey.
You’ll see moments of collective excitement, strategy, and shared triumph. Trust me. I’ve witnessed entire rooms fall dead silent as the wheel spins and witnessed bonds form in those spit seconds of potential victory.
The best part? Spin to Win is available as a virtual experience, a hybrid setup, and in person. We have all new equipment, technology, and materials ready to help unify and energize your teams in any setting. So, let us know if you want to create some magical moments for your team, and we’ll make it happen.
It’s Time To Revamp Your Team’s Potential
I’ll be honest—conventional meetings, trust falls, and potlucks aren’t the best ways to bring teams closer anymore. Exciting events that introduce things like these game show ideas are the future of team engagement.
There’s nothing better than an exciting, fun change of pace from conventional brainstorming sessions and meetings. And this list of game show games should be enough to get you started.
I’ve seen so many teams transform from the power of play because they’re breaking down barriers and igniting creativity. These game show games work, whether you’re hosting a virtual trivia game show or an in-person game show at a huge corporate event.
What’s Next?
Some of you are probably thinking, “Sure, this sounds great, Paul, but how do I choose the right experience?” That’s precisely why we’re here!
Your teams are unique. Your organization has its own DNA. And our game show experiences take this into account. They’re not one-size-fits-all—they’re carefully crafted, fully customizable journeys designed to unlock potential.
So, reach out to TeamBonding! Let us turn your next event from mundane to magical.
