Goodbye Stale Meetings, Hello Game Breaks: Fun Slack Games for Team Building

Workplaces should be fun.

In fact, fun is essential for employee interactions, collaboration, and team building.

Don’t believe me?

In a 2023 HBR survey, a staggering 81% of employees in companies ranked as “great” described their office environments as “fun.”

However, with one in five employees working remotely across team communication tools like Slack, companies must find creative ways to make the online work environment enjoyable. And Slack games are one of the best ways to do this.

Below, we’ll share some fun Slack games for team building.

But first:

Why are Slack games important for team building?

When team members play games on Slack, they interact in real time. These interactions benefit an organization’s team-building efforts in the following ways.

Stress relief

Slack games give employees a much-needed fun break from work while keeping the conversation going. During these periods, the team relaxes and interacts with each other without work pressure.

These breaks have been shown to minimize work-related stress levels and boost team morale.

Productivity

You might be wondering how taking a break from playing Slack games boosts productivity.

But here’s the catch;

Research shows that taking short breaks helps sharpen focus, thereby increasing productivity. When employees return from those well-timed game breaks, they are sharper and more energized to execute their tasks.

A win for the team!

Inclusivity and Accessibility

Slack games provide the perfect circumstances for team members to develop chemistry. Colleagues can interact with each other regardless of their location, technical skills, or grades—everybody has equal access!

Improved communication strategies

Some Slack games involve splitting teams into groups to compete against each other.

These kinds of games often require team members to work together using a unified strategy. As a result, they develop better team communication and collaboration skills.

Opportunities for creativity and problem-solving

As they play these games, team members must think quickly while solving complex puzzles and making strategic moves. These mental exercises require critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Now, to the fun stuff!

The best Slack games for team fun

Here are some examples of the best Slack games for team fun:

1. ChessBot

ChessBot is the perfect game for exercising your brain while taking a break from work. This classic game, like traditional chess, tests your strategic skills.

And the best part?

It promotes interactions between team members when they challenge each other to a friendly competition right inside their Slack channels. Other team members can also watch.

Do you want to learn how to?

Simply follow the steps below:

• Add ChessBot to Slack via the Slack App Directory

• Challenge colleagues to friendly games of chess

• Wait for them to accept or decline the challenge

• Make your moves when ChessBot announces it's your turn

📝Just a thought!: Although ChessBot prevents the game from spamming the channel by keeping it in threads, your team should still create a special games channel to keep things organized.

2. Icebreakers

As the name implies, icebreaker is a great way to break the ice with remote colleagues. You can learn fun facts about them and bond over shared experiences.

If you just want to relax and have some fun without excessively stressing your brain, icebreaker is a wonderful choice. It is also an excellent avenue to socialize with your remote colleagues.

Here’s how to play icebreakers:

• The icebreaker app generates a list of prompts and questions that teammates can select from

• The app sends each member an icebreaker question to answer in turns

• When it’s your turn, you can respond with your answer by creating a thread in the channel

3. Tic Tac Toe

Virtual Tic-Tac-Toe follows the same rules as the traditional version. It is a simple yet engaging game that provides a nice break from work and an opportunity to bond with your team members.

You can play the game by following the steps below:

• Install either the Ricotta Trivia or Guul app

• Populate the board by typing /ttt

• Take turns playing against your opponent by typing either X or O

• The first player to get three letters in a row, column, or diagonal wins

You can play this game both collectively in a channel and individually in direct messages.

4. Hangman

Hangman is a classic word-guessing game in which team members guess a word letter by letter. The participant who guesses correctly with the fewest incorrect guesses wins.

It contributes significantly to team building because team members are prompted to participate.

You can start a typical game of Hangman by following these steps:

• Open Ricotta games and Trivia on Slack

• Click on Hangman and select game specifics, such as a channel to post the game on, the contest end date, and a time.

• Launch the game by clicking on ‘Start Playing’ and then ‘Play Hangman.’

• Post a certain number of blanks for participants to start guessing the word.

• Every incorrect guess affects the Hangman and lessens your score

• You’ll see your score after guessing the word completely

• Scores are displayed on the channel, and the top 3 scores are shown on the leaderboard.

5. Codenames

This is another classic word-mystery game. However, codenames involve grouping team members into separate teams who compete against each other.

Here’s how to play codenames;

Team members split into teams, and each team selects a ‘spymaster’ who gives their remaining team members one-word hints. The remaining team members are expected to guess the team’s concealed word using the one-word hints. The team that guesses all their words first wins.

You can play codenames on Slack by following these steps:

• Type /codenames on your Slack channel

• Assign participants to different teams

• Let each team take turns guessing their words based on the ‘Spymaster’s’ prompt

Code names provide a wonderful opportunity for remote team members to interact and have fun together. It also helps to test and improve their creativity.

Create a fun work culture with Slack

Remote teams have so much to gain from implementing a fun work culture.

Employees get to take a load off, and their productivity picks up the pace. More so, everybody feels like they're part of the crew regardless of their level or location, and that is good for the team’s overall collaboration and communication strategies.

If your team’s collaboration platform is Slack, you can use the Social and fun apps in our App Directory to promote a fun work culture.

Your team will be better for it!

Goodbye Stale Meetings, Hello Game Breaks: Fun Slack Games for Team Building