Building rapport with remote colleagues doesn't need a big offsite or a budget. The most effective thing is small and frequent: short games you drop into a normal workday that slowly turn coworkers into a team.
Here are fun games to play with colleagues online that take 15 minutes or less — and actually get played more than once.
The rule that makes it work
Keep it short, keep it optional, and avoid anyone publicly losing. Done lightly, a quick game reads as a welcome break — not mandatory fun.
Meeting warm-ups (2–5 minutes)
- Two truths and a lie — one round at the top of a call. Instant personality, zero setup.
- Word association — host says a word, everyone adds one in turn, no repeats. Fast and funny.
- This or that — quick either/or polls (tea or coffee, beach or mountains) in the chat.
- One-word check-in — everyone drops a single word for how they're feeling. Tiny, but it builds the habit of speaking up.
Coffee-break games (10–15 minutes)
- Psych — invent fake answers to fool each other; great for newer groups.
- Quick trivia — five questions on a rotating theme; let different colleagues pick the topic.
- Pictionary / Drawful — light, creative, no trivia knowledge needed.
- Emoji stories — describe your weekend (or a project) in emojis only; others guess.
Building rapport, not just killing time
The point isn't the game — it's the side conversations it unlocks. A colleague's terrible drawing or surprising "lie" becomes the in-joke that makes the next meeting warmer. That's why frequency beats production value.
For a bigger list of games, see 10 online fun games for teams; to pick the right one for a specific goal, use our framework for choosing online games for teams; and for the wider picture, remote team building ideas that actually work.
When you want more than a break
Quick games keep a remote team connected week to week. But when you want to genuinely invest in colleague relationships — a new joiner, a team that's drifted, an end-of-quarter thank-you — a hosted experience lands deeper. ChefPassport's virtual cooking classes bring colleagues into one shared kitchen online, ingredients delivered and a chef guiding the cook, so the rapport-building has something delicious at its centre.
Planning a team event?
ChefPassport runs hands-on cooking experiences for corporate teams — in person at Kachatelier, Luxembourg, and virtually worldwide. Custom proposal within 24 hours.
Frequently asked questions
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