Fun Office Party Games & Ideas

The Fun & Easy Way to Keep Your Next Office Party Cracking Up

For some people, attending an office party is something that they don’t really want to do because it is an obligatory task that every employee needs to perform. It is like a social responsibility in the office. The idea that people who work together but do not know each other on a more personal level are forced to mingle by attending a party is what makes office parties unappealing.

This is why being the organizer of parties held in a corporate setting can be a challenging task. It is important to ensure that the party is fun and at the same time appropriate for the boss and coworkers.

Below is a list of ideas that are great for organizing an office party.

Theme

There are many different kinds of themes suitable for an office party. For large companies, they can use the themes carnival, circus, and masquerade. The costume, props, and activities will surely make everyone feel glad that they have attended such exciting event. Another great theme is an office awards show, the corporate equivalent of the Academy Awards in Hollywood. Women can wear glittering long gowns and men can wear tuxedos. They can also experience walking down the red carpet and posing in front of the paparazzi.

Las Vegas night where people can participate in friendly gambling is also a great idea for a corporate party. Company picnics are also great for outdoor get-togethers during daytime. Small companies can also hold potlucks where employees can bring their specialty or favorite dish.

Food and drinks

Office parties usually have food from caterers. Choose food suitable for the party’s theme. For example, if it is an office awards night, it is best to choose elegant dishes fit for red carpet events. For corporate picnics, traditional picnic foods like bread, cheese, and fresh fruits are perfect choices. For drinks, it is best to choose non-alcoholic beverages just to be on the safe side. Wines are also okay but be sure that the boss gives his okay first.

For potlucks, bring foods that do not require refrigeration or cooking, like brownies or sandwiches. It is also important to consider how the food will be transported to the office. When preparing food for office parties, be sure to prepare dishes that are suitable for vegetarians.

Games and activities

Choose games and activities that are suitable for the party’s theme. For a Las Vegas themed office party, friendly gambling activities and games like roulettes, slot machines, and poker will surely make the event more fun and exciting. For generic games, charades are always fun games at the office because participants are challenged to guess the word or phrase without any verbal clue. Name that Song is also a great game especially for music lovers. Be sure to prepare the list of songs in advance. Human bingo, office picture hunt, and fun guessing games that do not require too much physical effort are ideal games for office parties.

You need to consider the age range of people who work in the office. If there are old people aged 50 plus, consider games and activities that are not too tiring. It is also important to consider the space where the party will be held. If it is in the work area, there will be limited space for running around so choose games that do not require too much movement.

Office Party Games to Shake Up the Office

How's It Hangin'

Scavenger hunts

The Laughing Game

This game is great to relieve tension, brighten moods, and loosen things up in the office.

Have the entire office stand around in a tight cicle so that you can see and hear everyone perfect. Then, everyone takes turns saying ""HA HA"" or ""HO HO"" or ""HE HE"". These can be forced laughs or faked!

As members in the office start to laugh, they are eliminated from the game. The last person to not laugh is the winner!

Name That Tune

This game is great for getting to know other people's interests as well as having a very fun, friendly competitive game.

Start by setting parameters of what music you will be playing. (e.g. time period, genre, etc). Have someone run the music. When the person turns on the music, it will be the offices job to guess what song is playing. Whoever guesses the song the fastest is awarded a point.

Additionally, if the person who got the correct answer is able to not only name the song but the artist, and the next verse, they are awarded bonus points.

Well Known Phrases

This game is great for getting to know people's interests, as well as working the memory in a fun way!

Start by getting a list of well known phrases from movies. For example, ""Luke, I am your Father"". Whoever can guess what movie this comes from the fastest is then awarded a point.

For additional point, if the person can tell the characters name of who said it, as well as what year the movie was made they are awarded bonus points.

The Desk Bandit

The Desk Bandit is ideal for testing how well you know your co-workers.

Have someone collect one peculiar item from the desk of every person in the office. When the entire office is gathered around, bring out the box of items and present them to the audience.

Pulling the items out one at a time, the office will guess who the item belongs to. Whoever can guess the owner of the most items is the winner of the game.

Become Another Person

This game is great to create interaction between members of the office.

Start by taping a famous character to each person's back. Don't let them see what the character is! Once the character is written on their back, they then become that person.

They are then able to mingle around the office asking yes or no questions to their coworkers. You can ask 1 question per person, and then you need to move on to another person.

The first person to guess the name on their back wins the game!

Award Ceremony

Award Ceremony is a funny game that is sure to make everyone laugh.

Before hand, print out awards for every person in the office. Try to make it as real as possible to make it more funny, by printing out professional looking awards.

On the awards type things like ""the award for always being late"" or ""the award for always talking about sports"".

Have the entire office sit in a circle and then present the awards. As you present them, the office members will vote who the awards belong to. Whoever gets the most votes from their co-workers will then have the award proudly presented to them!

Make A Burger

Make A Burger requires non-verbal communication!

Make A Burger starts out by labeling each person an ingredient of a hamburger. Then divide everyone in two teams and the teams will compete with each other to make a hamburger in the form of a line.

The catch here is that you can't do any talking. This means that you have to non-verbally assemble yourself, from bun to bun, without saying anything the entire time.

The first team to assemble themselves in a hamburger wins the game!

Lie Detector

Lie Detector is a great way to learn about members of your office.

Start with having each person write down 2 things on a sheet of paper. 1 thing needs to be true about them. Whether it be something that they did that most people wouldn't know about them, or something that they are really interested in that most people wouddn't guess, as long as it's true.

After that, they will then need to write an equally shocking false statement about themselves.

Once all statements are written, have the office get together and everyone takes a turn reading the two statements. Everyone in the office will then vote on what is the false statement. The goal of the game is to get people to think your lie is actually true. The person that has convinced the most amount of people that their lie is actually the truth wins!

Standing as a Statue

Standing As A Statue will test how aware people in the office are.

Explain these rules before you being your party. You will designate one person to become a ""statue"" in the middle of the party. Make sure they do it when no one is expecting it.

While everyone is having a good time at the party, the designated statue will stop doing what the's doing and freeze, no matter what he was doing. He will hold that position until people start noticing. Once people start noticing, they will do the same thing and turn into a statue.

As people start turning into statues, the last person to become a statue will be the loser to the game.

Do What I Don't Say

Do What I Don't Say is a very fun game that is sure to cause a bunch of laughs. The point of the game is to have everyone do exactly the opposite of what you say. If you say ""stand up"" everyone needs to sit down. If you say ""speak very quietly"" everyone needs to speak very loudly!

As members begin to do what you are saying, they are eliminated. The last person to disobey you the best and do the opposite of what you say is the winner!

Additional tips

When organizing an office party, forming committees or groups is a big help because these committees will be tasked to do different things which will make the whole party planning easier. Create committees for music and decorations, refreshments, games, and invitations. Assign a leader for each group to make it easier to follow up on each other’s tasks.

Instead of planning the party at the office where you work every day, why not hold it somewhere else to give everyone else a chance to go out of the office and just have fun? Moreover, holding the party inside the office where there are fax machines, photocopiers, computers, files, folders, and other office equipment and supplies may not put the employees in the mood for partying. Rent an event hall near the office or organize an out of town get-together.

It is also important to ask the employees to dress up for the event instead of wearing their usual office garb of business suits. Ask them to wear gowns and tuxedos if the party is a black tie event or tell them to wear appropriate outfits or costumes based on the theme of the party. Just remind them not to wear anything too revealing because after all, this is still a corporate party with the bosses and colleagues.

For the invitations, you can send them out a few weeks in advance. Send out paper invitations for large, formal parties. For casual parties, especially those that are only held at the office, sending out email invitations is okay. Just be sure to have all the details in the invitation and make sure they are correct. The details of the party can also be announced during meetings in the office.

No matter what kind of party, it is best to prepare souvenirs that the guests can keep after the party. Give out mugs, key chains, pens, T-shirts, and other giveaways with the company’s name and logo printed on them.

Consider planning an office party where the employees can bring someone with them, like their partner or a friend. This will give them a chance to introduce the people from their personal lives to the people they work with. Office parties for the employees’ families are also fun, especially with all the kids who will attend the party. When organizing a family event, be sure to keep the youngsters in mind. Prepare food, games, and activities that children will love.

Final note

Office parties give the employees a chance to break away from work. This makes them look forward to specific dates and months of the year because they know that there will be a big event that is fun and exciting.