Back to Blog
8 team building Zoom games your remote team will love
Team building games and activities are essential to promoting cohesiveness within a team. But what happens when your teammates are distributed in different locations?
Using Zoom, you can put together virtual games that will help your remote teammates connect with each other. We’ve put together a list of eight team building Zoom games that are fun, interactive, and will help strengthen your remote team.
Read more about team building activities for specific scenarios:
Free and fun games for Zoom
It doesn’t matter if you’re on a tight budget or have got some money to spare on team building activities. As long as you’ve got Zoom, we’ve got you covered. We’ve put together a list of 8 games to play over Zoom and divided them into two categories for your convenience.
1. Virtual bingo
Best for: Learning weird and interesting facts about co-workers
Price: Free
One of the most fun team building games to play on Zoom is bingo, and the best part about it is that it’s super easy to organize virtually.
All you need to do is:
- Create a bingo card or download a template online
- Email the card to all players along with a link to your Zoom meeting
- Use a service like YoMotherboard to randomly select bingo numbers
After coming up with your statements, you can use a bingo generator like My Free Bingo Cards to help you build your board and randomly select statements for the game. Bingo fanatic? Go down a rabbit hole with our dedicated virtual bingo article.
2. Team polls
Best for: Icebreaker events
Price: Free
Zoom has a cool polling feature that allows attendees to submit their votes on questions. This feature is helpful because you can get the opinions of your coworkers in an instant, so why not turn it into a fun game?
Start by coming up with a list of questions and potential answers. Zoom lets you provide between two to four options for each poll. Then have participants vote.
A few questions to include could be:
- Do you prefer working from home or working in an office?
- Emails or Slack messaging?
- Would you rather be able to mind-read or teleport?
- Rich and famous or rich and unknown?
- What is the best pizza topping?
Pro-tip: Remember that the goal of team building games is to help teammates know and relate with each other better. So at the end of each poll, give participants the chance to reveal which option they voted for and take turns discussing why they made their choices.
3. Guess the emoji board
Best for: Quick but fun pre-meeting games
Price: Free
To play, you’ll need to ask your teammates to send you a screenshot of their ‘most recent’ or ‘frequently used’ emoji board on their phone. Once you’ve received all the photos, it's time to get started!
Invite everyone to a Zoom meeting and share your screen. One by one, display each screenshot to the group and give the players some time to guess who owns the board based on the set of emojis. Read more for more easy virtual ice breakers.
4. Lightning Scavenger Hunts
Best for: Small to mid-sized teams
Price: Free
To play this game, start by putting together a list of items, themes, or characteristics most people would be able to find in their homes. Then set up a Zoom meeting and challenge your teammates to search and return with the items on your list to earn points.
Read more: 10 virtual scavenger hunt activities you shouldn’t miss.
5. Shark Tank
Best for: Encouraging creativity
Price: Free
If your co-workers are up for a bit of a challenge, Shark tank is the way to go! This work team building game is not only entertaining but is also easy to play over Zoom.
To organize this:
- Divide your team into smaller groups using the breakout feature on Zoom
- Have each group come up with a creative product or service as well as a quick pitch for their idea (whether this should be related to your business or not is entirely up to you!)
- After the allocated time, bring all the groups together and have each one take turns presenting their idea to the rest of the team.
The group with the best idea and pitch wins!
Step things up with paid Zoom games
6. Virtual cooking class
Best for: Foodies
Price: $100-750
To host this event, you’ll need to research a simple yet delicious dish your team can prepare together from the comfort of their homes. Before the class, send out a list of ingredients and equipment so everyone can get what they need ahead of time.
Alternatively, you can book a virtual cooking class online. These classes are led by professional chefs who direct participants on how to prepare a meal of their choosing. For example, Life At The Table and Sur La Table offer cooking classes tailored to remote teams.
Read more: 8 interactive virtual cooking classes for teams.
7. Online murder mystery game
Best for: Adventure lovers
Price: $80-200
Virtual murder mysteries have quickly become popular team bonding games to play over Zoom because they provide an opportunity for participants to work together as a team while solving problems.
These events are organized by third-party companies like the Murder Mystery Co that delivers a fully immersive experience with guests acting as detectives. Parties typically last between 90 minutes to 2 hours and promise to be a fun and stress-free adventure.
Read more: Virtual murder mystery team building for remote teams.
8. Virtual escape room
Best for: People who enjoy puzzles
Price: $250-1000
Similar to online murder mystery parties, virtual escape rooms are also hosted by third-party companies and allow team members from anywhere in the world to play over Zoom.
For example, The Escape Game offers live games which involve a game guide in a physical escape room wearing a video feed camera to give participants a 360-degree view of the space. Players must then work together to solve puzzles and direct the game guide on how to escape. Games can be customized to accommodate both large and small teams.
Read more: The 8 best virtual escape rooms for every taste.
What are the benefits of playing team bonding games over Zoom?
One of the reasons why in-person teams usually have strong team bonds is because they regularly interact with each other in and outside the office. Work lunches, after-work drinks, boardroom meetings, team game nights, and water-cooler chats all contribute to better work relationships.
Remote teams rarely get to partake in these bonding experiences due to their limited (and sometimes non-existent) physical interactions. One way to bridge this gap is by organizing team bonding activities and games over video conferencing platforms like Zoom.
Doing this brings your virtual team together and encourages them to have fun as they interact with and learn more about each other.
Some other benefits of playing team bonding games over Zoom include:
- Keeps your remote team connected
- Helps employees develop their collaboration skills
- Engages teammates and reduces Zoom fatigue
- Improves communication
- Improves morale and mental health
- Combats loneliness
Key takeaway - team building Zoom games
While playing virtual games together over Zoom is fun, it also helps your remote employees feel connected to their teammates. These games create an opportunity for meaningful team building, help combat loneliness and monotonous work schedules, and improve employee engagement.
For more fun and affordable team games, you can check out our extensive list of free virtual team building activities.
FAQs
What are some fun Zoom games for team building?
There are numerous games you can play with your team over Zoom. Some of our favorites include scavenger hunts, virtual trivia, virtual bingo, and mock shark tank. Not only are these games fun, but they’re also free to play!
How do you bond with your team virtually?
A great way to bond with your remote team is by organizing virtual team building activities. These are designed to bring remote teammates together to have them learn more about each other and bond over shared experiences. Some effective virtual team building activities include movie nights, virtual lunch meetings, and icebreaker games.
How do you make team Zoom meetings fun?
You can make your team Zoom meetings fun by starting with short, lighthearted games like ‘guess the emoji board’ or quiz questions to liven up the atmosphere.
What games can you play on Zoom with a large group?
Some games to play with large groups over Zoom include virtual murder mystery games, office trivia, scavenger hunts, bingo, and quiz shows. We dedicated an article to team building with large groups if you want to learn more.
Share fun facts and bond with a team quiz
Have your participants choose from a list of questions they’d like their coworkers to answer about them, before watching as they guess the right answer.
01. Yes
share-fun-facts-and-bond-with-a-team-quiz
Run a guided recognition activity
Have your participants choose from a list of questions they’d like their coworkers to answer about them, before watching as they guess the right answer.
01. Yes
run-a-guided-recognition-activity
Organize a virtual cooking class
Hire a professional chef to help your team cook a delicious lunch or dinner. May be difficult for co-workers with families. To find providers and get tips, read our blog about virtual cooking classes.
02. No
organize-a-virtual-cooking-class
Hire a stand-up comedian
Have your participants choose from a list of questions they’d like their coworkers to answer about them, before watching as they guess the right answer.
02. No
hire-a-stand-up-comedian
No items found
No items found
Table of contents
Team building games and activities are essential to promoting cohesiveness within a team. But what happens when your teammates are distributed in different locations?
Using Zoom, you can put together virtual games that will help your remote teammates connect with each other. We’ve put together a list of eight team building Zoom games that are fun, interactive, and will help strengthen your remote team.
Read more about team building activities for specific scenarios:
Free and fun games for Zoom
It doesn’t matter if you’re on a tight budget or have got some money to spare on team building activities. As long as you’ve got Zoom, we’ve got you covered. We’ve put together a list of 8 games to play over Zoom and divided them into two categories for your convenience.
1. Virtual bingo
Best for: Learning weird and interesting facts about co-workers
Price: Free
One of the most fun team building games to play on Zoom is bingo, and the best part about it is that it’s super easy to organize virtually.
All you need to do is:
- Create a bingo card or download a template online
- Email the card to all players along with a link to your Zoom meeting
- Use a service like YoMotherboard to randomly select bingo numbers
After coming up with your statements, you can use a bingo generator like My Free Bingo Cards to help you build your board and randomly select statements for the game. Bingo fanatic? Go down a rabbit hole with our dedicated virtual bingo article.
2. Team polls
Best for: Icebreaker events
Price: Free
Zoom has a cool polling feature that allows attendees to submit their votes on questions. This feature is helpful because you can get the opinions of your coworkers in an instant, so why not turn it into a fun game?
Start by coming up with a list of questions and potential answers. Zoom lets you provide between two to four options for each poll. Then have participants vote.
A few questions to include could be:
- Do you prefer working from home or working in an office?
- Emails or Slack messaging?
- Would you rather be able to mind-read or teleport?
- Rich and famous or rich and unknown?
- What is the best pizza topping?
Pro-tip: Remember that the goal of team building games is to help teammates know and relate with each other better. So at the end of each poll, give participants the chance to reveal which option they voted for and take turns discussing why they made their choices.
3. Guess the emoji board
Best for: Quick but fun pre-meeting games
Price: Free
To play, you’ll need to ask your teammates to send you a screenshot of their ‘most recent’ or ‘frequently used’ emoji board on their phone. Once you’ve received all the photos, it's time to get started!
Invite everyone to a Zoom meeting and share your screen. One by one, display each screenshot to the group and give the players some time to guess who owns the board based on the set of emojis. Read more for more easy virtual ice breakers.
4. Lightning Scavenger Hunts
Best for: Small to mid-sized teams
Price: Free
To play this game, start by putting together a list of items, themes, or characteristics most people would be able to find in their homes. Then set up a Zoom meeting and challenge your teammates to search and return with the items on your list to earn points.
Read more: 10 virtual scavenger hunt activities you shouldn’t miss.
5. Shark Tank
Best for: Encouraging creativity
Price: Free
If your co-workers are up for a bit of a challenge, Shark tank is the way to go! This work team building game is not only entertaining but is also easy to play over Zoom.
To organize this:
- Divide your team into smaller groups using the breakout feature on Zoom
- Have each group come up with a creative product or service as well as a quick pitch for their idea (whether this should be related to your business or not is entirely up to you!)
- After the allocated time, bring all the groups together and have each one take turns presenting their idea to the rest of the team.
The group with the best idea and pitch wins!
Step things up with paid Zoom games
6. Virtual cooking class
Best for: Foodies
Price: $100-750
To host this event, you’ll need to research a simple yet delicious dish your team can prepare together from the comfort of their homes. Before the class, send out a list of ingredients and equipment so everyone can get what they need ahead of time.
Alternatively, you can book a virtual cooking class online. These classes are led by professional chefs who direct participants on how to prepare a meal of their choosing. For example, Life At The Table and Sur La Table offer cooking classes tailored to remote teams.
Read more: 8 interactive virtual cooking classes for teams.
7. Online murder mystery game
Best for: Adventure lovers
Price: $80-200
Virtual murder mysteries have quickly become popular team bonding games to play over Zoom because they provide an opportunity for participants to work together as a team while solving problems.
These events are organized by third-party companies like the Murder Mystery Co that delivers a fully immersive experience with guests acting as detectives. Parties typically last between 90 minutes to 2 hours and promise to be a fun and stress-free adventure.
Read more: Virtual murder mystery team building for remote teams.
8. Virtual escape room
Best for: People who enjoy puzzles
Price: $250-1000
Similar to online murder mystery parties, virtual escape rooms are also hosted by third-party companies and allow team members from anywhere in the world to play over Zoom.
For example, The Escape Game offers live games which involve a game guide in a physical escape room wearing a video feed camera to give participants a 360-degree view of the space. Players must then work together to solve puzzles and direct the game guide on how to escape. Games can be customized to accommodate both large and small teams.
Read more: The 8 best virtual escape rooms for every taste.
What are the benefits of playing team bonding games over Zoom?
One of the reasons why in-person teams usually have strong team bonds is because they regularly interact with each other in and outside the office. Work lunches, after-work drinks, boardroom meetings, team game nights, and water-cooler chats all contribute to better work relationships.
Remote teams rarely get to partake in these bonding experiences due to their limited (and sometimes non-existent) physical interactions. One way to bridge this gap is by organizing team bonding activities and games over video conferencing platforms like Zoom.
Doing this brings your virtual team together and encourages them to have fun as they interact with and learn more about each other.
Some other benefits of playing team bonding games over Zoom include:
- Keeps your remote team connected
- Helps employees develop their collaboration skills
- Engages teammates and reduces Zoom fatigue
- Improves communication
- Improves morale and mental health
- Combats loneliness
Key takeaway - team building Zoom games
While playing virtual games together over Zoom is fun, it also helps your remote employees feel connected to their teammates. These games create an opportunity for meaningful team building, help combat loneliness and monotonous work schedules, and improve employee engagement.
For more fun and affordable team games, you can check out our extensive list of free virtual team building activities.
FAQs
What are some fun Zoom games for team building?
There are numerous games you can play with your team over Zoom. Some of our favorites include scavenger hunts, virtual trivia, virtual bingo, and mock shark tank. Not only are these games fun, but they’re also free to play!
How do you bond with your team virtually?
A great way to bond with your remote team is by organizing virtual team building activities. These are designed to bring remote teammates together to have them learn more about each other and bond over shared experiences. Some effective virtual team building activities include movie nights, virtual lunch meetings, and icebreaker games.
How do you make team Zoom meetings fun?
You can make your team Zoom meetings fun by starting with short, lighthearted games like ‘guess the emoji board’ or quiz questions to liven up the atmosphere.
What games can you play on Zoom with a large group?
Some games to play with large groups over Zoom include virtual murder mystery games, office trivia, scavenger hunts, bingo, and quiz shows. We dedicated an article to team building with large groups if you want to learn more.
Have a blast with your remote team 🔥
Our team building activities are rated 9/10 by over 900 remote teams.
It's the easiest way to feel close when working remotely!
Related articles
Subscribe to get our latest updates
Subscribe to get our latest updates