You found our list of the best office game room ideas.
Office game room ideas are plans for rooms where teammates can gather for friendly competition and team bonding. Examples of fixtures include ping-pong tables, arcade games, and board games. These creative ideas seek to elevate these common areas beyond the standard setup and offer more opportunities for connection and camaraderie-building.
These spaces are types of office break room ideas and ways to help employees have fun at work. Workplace game rooms can serve as work perks, team building games, office games, and office challenges.
This post includes:
- small office game room ideas
- office game room setups
- gaming room ideas
- budget game room ideas for work
- artwork ideas for office game rooms
Here we go!
List of office game room ideas
From ping-pong tables and video game tournaments to claw machines and 3-D chess, here is a list of fun ideas to make your company’s game room appealing and effective.
1. Ping-Pong Table
Ping-pong tables are one of the most common ideas for workplace gaming rooms. Also known as table tennis, this sport is a competitive, high-energy game that offsets the sedentary effects of desk jobs. To add a ping-pong table to your game room, be sure to allow for extra space so that players do not crash into furniture and coworkers can observe from a safe distance.
2. Foosball Table
Foosball tables are an office game room favorite. Foosball is a tabletop take on soccer where players control plastic men on rotatable sticks to score goals. While some higher-end tables retail for over $1,000, you can find more basic models for a few hundred dollars. Budget-conscious or limited-space game room designers can even buy mini versions of foosball fields that sit atop regular tables so that you can store the game when not in use.
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3. Multigame Table
If you have limited space and budget but want to give employees options for gameplay, then a multigame table is an excellent solution. These entertainment systems allow players to convert the table into different games like air hockey, pool, chess, and basketball. Before buying the table, set a budget, then poll employees to find out which games are most popular. Most multigame tables come with at least three games, but you can also find affordable options with up to ten games.
4. Old School Arcade
When many folks hear “game room,” they think “arcade.” You can fill your office break room with old-school arcade games like pinball machines, Mrs. Pacman, and Frogger. Since these games are straightforward and simple, workers do not need to be avid gamers to enjoy them. You can either buy or make full arcade cabinet games, find tabletop versions, or get classic games for modern consoles.
Here is a retro-style arcade tutorial from Buzzfeed.
5. Video Game Tournaments
One of the most standard office game room setups is to connect a gaming console or two to large TVs. Be sure to provide workers with a wide variety of games to play at these stations and include many multiplayer games to encourage teamwork. To fully utilize this setup, you can organize officewide tournaments where colleagues face off in popular video game battles. These events can be a great way to encourage interdepartmental mingling and help employees interact with colleagues that might not otherwise meet.
6. Large-Print Word Games
Large-print word games are one of the best budget game room ideas for work. These games are inexpensive and easy to print. If your office has an industrial-size copier, then you can print the games directly from the machine. Otherwise, you can visit a print shop or print the game in sections on regular-sized paper. Simply blow up a crossword puzzle, word search, or Scrabble tiles. Then, hang the games on a bulletin board or tape them to tables, and allow coworkers to collaborate to solve the challenges. You can also do this exercise with number games like Sudoku.
Here is a list of word games for adults.
7. Giant Jenga
Giant Jenga is a crowd-pleaser popular at backyard cookouts and picnics that tends to be a hit in workplace game rooms. This version of the game has all the problem-solving and risk of traditional Jenga, only with a louder, messier crash when the blocks tumble. Simply get a set and build the blocks up in your game room. Coworkers can gather and try to build the biggest tower without toppling the blocks. Make sure that you have plenty of space around the setup so that your blocks do not knock over anything while falling, and put the game in a part of the office where noise is not an issue.
8. Board Game Library
Board game libraries make good options for small offices. At a minimum, you need a corner with room for a shelf. Then, you can fill a bookshelf or file cabinet with games like Trivial Pursuit, Scattergories, Monopoly, Life, Uno, Apples to Apples, and Battleship. Feel free to also include more involved and unusual games to spark interest. Employees can play the games in the room or can take the boxes back to their desks or another area of the office. For convenience, you can even include some travel-sized games.
Here is a list of the best team building board games.
9. Original Board Game
One of the most unique ideas for workplace game rooms is to have employees make original card and board games. You can host a game-building workshop or event where employees work in teams or individually to create a unique game, then teach the game to colleagues. Stocking these games in the common room can be a conversation starter and a way for teammates to meet and get to know each other. Each game box should include instructions for playing along with a photo and the name of the creators.
10. Word Magnets
Word magnets are office game room ideas ideal for the word nerds on your team. You can get alphabet magnets or magnetic poetry sets and set them on a refrigerator or cookie pans. Coworkers can write each other messages and craft collaborative stories and poems. You could even include some blanks so that team members can create their own word magnets.
11. Doodle Wall
A doodle wall is one of the best artwork ideas for office game rooms. This activity allows employees to express their creativity as well as their playfulness. Simply hang a large whiteboard, blackboard, canvas, or piece of paper, and provide markers. Teammates can draw on the medium and can create collaborative artworks with colleagues. If your office is okay with it, then you could even allow employees to draw directly on the wall and regularly paint over it. Whatever the method, plan to regularly clear the doodle wall so that teammates have space to keep creating.
Pro tip: Take pictures of the more intricate, funny, and interesting creations before erasing them!
12. Blackboard or Whiteboard Paint
Blackboard or whiteboard paint is an easy way to make office game rooms more interesting and interactive. Simply paint a wall or a section of the wall with the paint, then provide chalk or markers. Employees can play games like hangman, tic tac toe, and pictionary, or can draw and create art together.
13. Outdoor Game Room
Outdoor game rooms are one of the best small office game room ideas. These spaces work well in hot climates or for offices that want to enjoy the outdoors during the summer months! You can set up a game room outside on the company patio with games like cornhole, giant connect four, horseshoes, tetherball, and lawn chess. You can also set up giant, walkable versions of well-known board games on the lawn. For best results, set out the games only on good weather days, or find a covered space under an awning so that players can take cover from the elements.
14. VR Corner
A VR corner is a modern idea for workplace game rooms. First, invest in VR equipment, such as Oculus. Then, gather VR games and experiences that employees can play. You can find multiplayer games that coworkers can enjoy together, or let workers try out virtual reality solo. You may be able to justify the investment into this equipment by using the VR headsets for corporate training purposes as well.
15. Sports Simulators
Sports simulators are video games that get players moving, like Wii Sports. You can set up this type of game in your space to help employees get exercise alongside their friendly competition. Be sure to offer a variety of sports game options, make sure you have the right equipment and controllers for each, and set up the station with plenty of space so that players can move freely.
For a lower-tech version of this idea, stock the break room with equipment like over-the-door basketball hoops, cup putters, and plastic bowling pins.
16. Ball Pit
Ball pits add an extra touch of playfulness to workplace game rooms. To set up the pit, get an inflatable or pop-up kiddie pool and fill it with plastic balls. You can get play balls in bulk relatively cheaply. To clean the pit, pack the balls into their mesh sacks and hose them down, then wipe down the pool. To make this attraction even more fun, you can add a slide and pool inflatables.
17. Claw Machines
Claw machines add an extra challenge to the office game room. You can fill the machines with traditional prizes like stuffed animals or candy, or you can stock them with more adult-appropriate rewards like snacks, special office supplies, gadgets, or vouchers for free food and drinks.
18. Bracket Wall
A bracket wall is an interesting feature for a workplace game room. You can paint one wall of the space with brackets or install a whiteboard with permanent brackets and use this tool to track tournaments. This tracker can keep score of office contests, real-world showdowns like March Madness, or office opinion polls like “best ice cream topping.”
If you do not have the space for a full wall, then you could do a “war of the jars” and have teammates cast votes for one of two options instead.
19. Lego Table
A Lego table is one of the more unique setups for your office game room and will likely be loved by engineers and artists alike. The surface of these tables is a large Lego baseplate, and employees can build structures and landscapes with bricks. Participants can make collaborative structures or can build solo. There are many affordable Lego-type tables, but if you have a modest budget, then you can DIY by affixing baseplates to an ordinary table.
20. 3-D Chess
Three-dimensional chess is a challenging spin to the classic game. This version uses multiple boards on staggered levels to give players more options for movement. This version of the game requires a different set of strategies and is likely to be a hit among analytical and data-driven employees.
21. Pick-Your-Piece
Pick-your-piece is an activity that makes the office game room more personal. When a new employee joins the company, have the hire select a knick-knack that represents them to use as a playing piece on various playroom game boards. The employee can choose from a box of plastic figures or bring in a meaningful piece from home. You can display the pieces on a shelf or cabinet with the owner’s name next to each figure.
For a more high-tech version of this exercise, have each employee design an avatar or create a special username for video games and display these icons on a bulletin board.
These representations can be conversation starters that help team members learn more about each other.
22. Trivia
Trivia is one of the most beloved games to play at work. There are several ways to bring trivia into your game room. For instance, you can get tabletop trivia game machines often seen in bars. Or, you can provide trivia board and card games like Trivial Pursuit. Or, you can print off questions and post the prompts on the tables or a bulletin board. You can also facilitate social trivia contests inside the room regularly.
Check out these lists of trivia night ideas and trivia games for adults.
23. Mingle Bingo
Mingle Bingo is a social game that encourages players to interact with peers. Instead of numbers, each Bingo card has boxes of descriptions that might apply to staff. Players must talk to colleagues and can only mark the square upon finding a coworker who fits the description. If your staff is large, then do not allow players to use the same coworker more than once on the card. For smaller staff, you can tweak the rule to not include the same coworker in a single line.
Players who mark five squares in a row, fill the whole card, or get a requested shape can turn in the completed card for a prize.
You can stock the game room with cards and change up the prompts weekly, monthly, or quarterly.
For inspiration, check out icebreaker Bingo.
24. Karaoke Corner
A karaoke corner adds an extra element of fun to a workplace game room and appeals to less competitive and more outgoing staff. At a minimum, this feature can be a karaoke machine. Or, you can go all in and build a small stage, hang up a screen to project lyrics onto, and provide props like tambourines and microphones. You can hold team socials in this space, or team members can come here to blow off steam and embrace the music on break.
25. Game Show Set
One of the most extraordinary gaming room ideas is to turn your game room or a part of your game room into a game show set. You can set up podiums with buzzers and display large screens to play games like Jeopardy, Family Feud, and Wheel of Fortune. You can also install game show set staples like prize wheels and audience seats. Feel free to add decorations like bright colors and flashing lights for extra authenticity. You can use this space to host team building events.
Check out virtual game show ideas.
26. Coloring Corner
Coloring is a stress-reducing activity beloved by children and adults. The exercise is great for creativity and mindfulness. You can stock your work game room with adult coloring books, crayons, and markers and allow employees to drop in and make art anytime. The finished pages can decorate the room’s walls, and you can even hold coloring contests where team members color the same design and compete for the best interpretation.
Conclusion
The more interesting and engaging you make your office game room, the more likely employees are to use it. These spaces are more than fun places you can show off on office tours or on your company website. These common areas are spots where employees can meet and mingle and build relationships and camaraderie that will help in their work and their careers. Game rooms offer workers an outlet to blow off steam and be social and can make staff happier and more excited to come to the office.
Next, check out this list of office coffee station ideas, plus these fun group activities for adults and connection games.
We also have a list of tips for moving your office.
Angela Robinson