1. Casino Simulation Games
2. Casino Builder Game Play

Cassino (US) or Casino (Europe), is a fishing card game, often said without substantiation to be of Italian origin, for two, three, four (possibly in two partnerships), or even theoretically five players. It is the only fishing game to have penetrated the English-speaking world. It is mostly played by two with a standard deck of playing cards, the object of the game being to score 21 points by fishing up cards displayed on the table. It is very similar to the later Italian game Scopa.

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History[edit]

Although Cassino is often said to be of Italian origin, despite detailed research by Pratesi, there is no evidence of it ever being played in Italy and the earliest references to its Italian cousins, Scopa and Scopone, post-date those of Cassino.^[1]

In fact, as 'Casino', the game is first recorded in 1792 in England^[2] where it appears to have become something of a fashionable craze.^[1] At that stage, sweeps were not part of the rules – that came later.^[1]

One country to follow hard on English heels was Austria-Hungary where, as early as 1795 in Vienna and Prague, rules were published that incorporated English terminology such as “sweep” and “lurch.”^[3] Rules continued to be published in German until at least 1975.^[4]

However, while the game began to fade away in England, it was in America that Cassino gained its second wind in the second half of the 19th century, largely due to several interesting new variants that emerged, including what became Royal Cassino, in which court cards were given a numerical value such that they could capture two or more cards, Spade Cassino, in which players scored for the most Spades, and Diamond Cassino, in which three cards are dealt instead of four. In America, it was eventually eclipsed by Gin Rummy.^[1]

The deal[edit]

The dealer deals four cards to each player and four cards face up in the center. Traditionally, the deal is in twos: two cards at a time to each player. The remainder of the deck is temporarily put aside. After everyone has played their four cards, another hand of four cards is dealt to each player from the remaining cards (two at a time), but no more cards are dealt to the table after the first deal. After these cards have been played there is another deal, and this continues until all 52 cards have been dealt. The dealer announces 'cards' when dealing the last cards. After the last cards have been played, and the hand scored, the deal passes to the left for the next round.

The play[edit]

Beginning with the player to the dealer's left, each player plays one card at a time, performing one (or more) of the following actions:

• Trailing: Any card may be discarded face up to the table.
• Pairing: Any card may be used to take one or more cards of the same number, or a build with the same value, that is face up on the table.
• Combining: A number card may be used to take two or more cards whose pips total the number on the card being used to take them. For example, a player may take a 3 and a 6 with a 9, or may take a 2, 4, and 4 with a 10.
• Building: Cards may be built upon in one of two ways (see Building).

Players may perform two of the above actions only when pairing and combining simultaneously; e.g. a player may take a 3, a 4 and a 7 with his own seven.

Players with builds on the table are limited in the actions they are permitted to make. This is described in more detail below.

Face cards do not have a denomination in Cassino and are not available for building. The face-cards may only be paired one at a time; if there are two queens on the table, only one queen can be paired up. This removes the possibility of a so-called 'orphan' face card remaining and preventing further sweeps.

An ace has a numerical value of 1.

Cards are usually left on the table after each player's final hand is exhausted. These cards are given to the last player to take in cards through pairing or combining. It is common for the dealer, if dealt a face-card in the final hand, to hold this until the final play, as they are certain to pair with it.

Building[edit]

Under the first type of building, a player may lay one card on top of another if their total equals the total of a card in their hand, and announce that the two cards are built to the total. For example, a player may build a 2 onto a 7 and announce 'building nine,' provided they have a 9 in their hand. The two cards cannot be split up for pairing or combining and are treated as a single nine.

Builds of this type may be taken in by any player by pairing. The building player's adversaries may also take in a build by combination, increasing the capturing number; that is, an eight build may be combined with an ace if an adversary holds a nine. Any player may also continue to build on a build, for example, a seven build could be built to nine by a player with a 2 and a 9. The player who originally builds may also re-build, but only if they hold all appropriate cards: they would have to hold both a 7 and a 9 to make the required building steps.

Under the second type of building, called 'multiple building,' 'natural building', or 'double building,' a player may lay one card on top of another if their values are the same, and announce that the two cards are built together. That is, a player can place a 7 on top of another 7, or on top of a 5 and a 2 which have been built to 7, and announce 'building sevens,' provided that he has a 7 in his hand. The built cards are gathered only with another 7. As with the first build type, a player must hold the card necessary to gather his build for the natural build to be permissible. Importantly, the capturing number of a multiple build can never be changed.^[5]

An optional rule is that, when building in this manner, players may combine other cards on the table, and build in the first manner. For example, suppose the cards on the table are 2 K 6 5 8, and the player holds a 3 and an 8. They may play their 3 onto the 5 to 'build eight' and in the same move 'build eights' by gathering the 5-3, the 8, and the 6-2 together onto one pile, taking in all five cards on their next play.

Advantages gained through building[edit]

Building exists as a means of protecting cards from being captured by adversaries. The first form of building is a weaker form of protection, and primarily protects cards against combination by mid-to-high range cards. Natural building is a much stronger protection, and prevents adversaries from taking cards unless they hold a card of specific face value, one of which the builder already knows resides in their own hand.

The value of building decreases significantly as the number of players in the game increases. In a two-player game, one requires only one adversary to be bereft of the necessary cards; in a four-player game, one requires three adversaries to be lacking the necessary cards to steal a build. As such, building effectively in a two-player game can be very advantageous, but in a four-player game is very difficult.

Acting with builds on the table[edit]

At least three rule variants exist dictating the actions which may be taken by a player who has a build on the table:

• Variant 1: a player with a build on the table is not permitted to trail a card until that build has been taken in or rebuilt upon by an adversary; they may, however, pair or continue their 'build' with any card on the table.
• Variant 2: a player with a build on the table is obliged to either take in that build, by pairing or combination, or to add to that build on their next turn.
• Variant 3: A player with a build on the table cannot trail. Play must initiate from the hand. Continuing a build from only cards on the table is not allowed. You must either take in the build, duplicate it or increase it, OR defer by starting another build or assuming ownership of an opponent's build. A build 'belongs' to the last player that set its value. You may assume ownership of a build started by another by increasing it. But only if it consists of a single combination, i.e., not duplicated. You may have more than one build, but only one of any particular value, and having a build of the same value of another (an adversary's) makes no sense at all.

While Hoyle recommends variant 1, all variants are very common in different regions. The regional variant of this rule in particular should always be checked before play.

Which variant is used changes the tactics, particularly in a two-player game. Under variant 1, the builder has a profound advantage; if they know that their adversary lacks the cards necessary to steal their build, they can often take several cards trailed by their adversary before taking in their build at the end of the round. Variant 2 allows the adversary to trail a card they wish to subsequently capture without the risk of it being taken, reducing the builder's advantage.

Scoring[edit]

The round is over when the stock has been exhausted, and the last deal played. Players count their tricks and score points as follows:

• Higher number of cards: 3
• Higher number of spades: 1
• 10 of diamonds ('big cassino', 'big ten', or 'good ten'): 2
• 2 of spades: ('little cassino', 'little deuce', 'good two', or 'spy two'): 1
• Each ace: 1
• Each clearing of the board known as a 'Sweep' : 1 extra point

If 'most cards' or 'most spades' are held by two or more players, no points are awarded in that category.^[5]

Thus there are 11 points to be won in each round if there are no sweeps scored and there is not a tie for number of cards. Typically, when at least one player has reached a score of 21 or more at the end of a round, the winner is the player to score the highest after tallying points.

In one two-player variation, a player can call for a game to be concluded once they are convinced they hold sufficient cards to bring their score to 21; if they do have 21 points, they win regardless of their adversary's score; if they do not have 21 points, their adversary wins.

All 11 Points[edit]

If one player has won the entire 11 points, some rules state that this player will be awarded an extra point for 12 total points in the round. Other rules state that this is a 'skunk' if it occurs in the first round, and therefore that player wins. In other variations, taking all traditional 11 points in a single round is an automatic win, no matter when it occurs.

Three players in the game can share 11 points and one must lose with fewer points out of 11 points; this is a perfect balancing.^[vague]

Rules variants[edit]

Sweeps[edit]

A sweep is declared by a player who manages to capture all face-up cards from the table. In some localities, each sweep is worth an additional point. The opponent has no move except to trail, and a follow-on sweep may result. Points for sweeps are awarded after the base 11 points, in the event that two players reach 21 in the same round. In another variation, trailing the five of spades sweeps the table, the sweep giving one point.

Sudden-death scoring[edit]

There is a variation in which sweeps are scored as they occur; if the sweeper had 20 points (or more, due to a tie score), the sweep would end the round instantly. A scoring variation in which each point card is scored as it is captured also exists.^[5]

In a variation devised in Michigan,^{[citation needed]} a player who defaults on his duty after building gives up 2 points at the time of the violation. This is sometimes an acceptable cost to trap cards from the other player in builds the player cannot take. Sweeps also score 2 points. In a series of 'rounds to 5,' any three instant scores (sweeps or defaults) against the same player ends the round.

These sudden-death variations make short-term tactics more important in certain situations than the longer-term goal of achieving the high score for the round.

Face cards[edit]

In some regions, all four face-cards of the same rank may be gathered simultaneously. This allows natural building with face-cards, while still removing the possibility of an 'orphan' card. However, this provides no particular advantage if all four face cards are shared between one player and the table, as is necessary to build in such a manner.

Initial Pairs[edit]

Any pairs dealt to the table at the start of the round may be automatically granted to the first player to move, regardless of whether or not that player has a card to capture them. These cards cannot be built upon, but multiple pairs may constitute an automatic sweep if the table is cleared this way. This rule variation is intended to counteract the advantage of later players' ability to poach or modify builds started by the first player, by awarding extra points at the start.

Game variations[edit]

Five players[edit]

Five-player Cassino can be played by removing the deuces of hearts, diamonds and clubs, and by giving an extra card to each player on the last deal.

Royal Cassino[edit]

In Royal Cassino, face cards are given number values upon which building may occur: jacks count as 11, queens as 12, kings as 13. For example, a player could combine a jack and a two with a king, since 11+2=13, and all applicable building laws remain. An Ace is 1 or 14, the player's choice. If trailed, it is not yet determined. If not, it is fixed. There are no 'Face Cards'. Sweeps do not count. The total points is always 11. You may play to 6 or 21. Ties are possible if no one has the majority of spades, broken by another hand played for 6.

In Buckeye Cassino, all rules of Royal Cassino are inherited. In addition, the ten of diamonds ('Big Ten') holds two values: ten and eleven, poking fun at college basketball's Big Ten Conference, which then consisted of 11 teams.

Trailing-royals Cassino[edit]

In the Trailing-royals Cassino variant, orphaned face cards are not considered a problem. Face cards may be naturally built or paired in any way, so a player may gather three of the same face card simultaneously. The remaining face card will be an orphan, because there is no card left with which to capture it. Such cards remain on the table until the end of the round, and are taken by whoever performed the final capture, as are all other cards left on the table. This method of play does not pair well with the preceding variant that rewards sweeps, because having orphaned cards on the table prevents sweeps.

Pluck Cassino[edit]

Pluck Cassino is a modern variation that follows all the rules of classic Cassino, with an optional additional play option called 'pluck'. Each player has one opportunity each time cards are dealt to 'pluck' a card from the table and add it to their pile of 'won' cards. Players still need to play a card on their turn, plucking is an additional move that they can make either before or after playing their card. The player may pluck at any time during play of that deal, with the following restrictions:

• Point cards cannot be plucked - so plucking excludes aces, big casino (10 of diamonds) and little casino (2 of spades).
• Plucking cannot be done when there is only one card left on the table, i.e. sweeping with a pluck is disallowed.
• Plucking cannot be used to get the last trick of the round (after the deal pile is exhausted).
• Players are not allowed to pluck a card they just played on the same turn.

Portuguese Cassino[edit]

The gameplay of Portuguese Cassino is the same as the Italian version^[vague], except for the following differences:

• The game is either 2 player or 4 players split in 2 teams
• The first player/ team to reach 31 points or more is declared the winner.
• Scoring: points allocation are as follows:
  • Highest number of cards: 3
  • Highest number of spades: 1
  • 10 of diamonds ('menina'): 2
  • 2 of spades: 1
  • Each ace: 1
  • Each clearing of the board known as a 'clearance' ('clareza') : 1 extra point

If both players/teams finish the round with 26 cards each, the player/team with the most spades is awarded the points for most cards.

California Cassino[edit]

California Cassino is a variation for two, three, four or six players, played with a standard deck of cards. The object is to score the most points through acquiring certain cards or by acquiring a certain number of cards.

The play[edit]

The dealer deals four cards to each player, one at a time, and, in the first deal, four cards face up to the table. This is the only point at which cards are placed on the table by the dealer. Beginning with the player to the dealer's left, each player plays one card at a time, performing one of the following actions:

• Laying: Any card need to be discarded face up to the table.
• Pairing: Any card can be used to take another card of the same rank, or build with the same value (to know what the build is, please continue reading).
• Adding: A number card need to be used to take two or more cards whose rank total the number on the card being used to take them. For example: a player needs to take a 2 and a 5 with a 7, or may take a 2, 4, and 4 with a 10.
• Building: Cards need to be placed upon one another to draw a new value on the table. The way for this way is listed below.

Face cards don't have a denomination and are not available for combining or building, though multiple face cards can be paired simultaneously. For example, if a player has a queen in their hand and two queens lie on the table, that player can acquire all three queens.

While other forms of cassino use 'sweeps,' a point for clearing the table, California Cassino prohibits points based on sweeps. Cards are usually left on the table after each player's final hand is exhausted. These cards are given to the last player to take in cards through pairing or combining.

Scoring[edit]

The round is over when the deck has been exhausted and the last deal played. Players count their cards and score points as follows:

• Higher number of cards: 3
• Higher number of spades: 1
• 10 of diamonds ('big cassino' or 'good ten'): 2
• 2 of spades: ('little cassino' or 'good two'): 1
• Each ace: 1 (4 points total for aces)

There are 11 points to be won in each round. If 'most cards' or 'most spades' are held by two or more players, no points are awarded in those respective categories. The number of rounds played is determined by the number of players present. Each player must deal twice in a complete match, so if there are 3 players, then there are 6 rounds of play. At the end of the 6 rounds - the player with the highest score is the winner.

Diamond Cassino[edit]

Diamond Cassino is a variant of Cassino which is similar to standard Cassino, but it is not played with the picture cards. It is, therefore, played with a forty-card pack. Players are dealt three cards each, and four cards are dealt to the table; these are the cards which the players aim to capture. In this game, players get points if they capture all aces, and extra points if they capture the seven of diamonds. Diamond Cassino has been described as an Italo-American version of Scopone.

Callabra[edit]

In this game, each player is dealt three cards, and five are dealt to the table. Players may trail or take cards from the table, if they have cards which match the cards on the table, or if they have two cards which add up to a card on the table and equal the table card's value. In this game, Jacks are worth eleven points, Queens are worth twelve points and Kings are worth thirteen points. Game ends when a player finally clears all the cards from the table.^[6]

Tablanette[edit]

Tablanette is said to be of Russian provenance. In this game, each player has six cards, and a player with a jack may use it to clear the whole table. At the end of a round, players score points for holding the most cards, and extra points if they are holding picturecards.^[7]

Spade Cassino[edit]

In Spade Cassino, players are awarded two points for gathering the jack of spades, and one point for each additional spade, in addition to the one point awarded to the player with the most spades. This lifts the number of points awarded in one round to 25. A game of Spade Cassino is usually played to 61.

Draw Cassino[edit]

In Draw Cassino, players draw a replacement card each time they make a play, so that they always have four cards in hand (until the end), rather than being dealt cards in discrete rounds of four.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abcdPratesi 1995, pp. 6-12. sfn error: no target: CITEREFPratesi1995 (help)
2. ^Long 1792. sfn error: no target: CITEREFLong1792 (help)
3. ^_ 1795, pp. 395-406. sfn error: no target: CITEREF_1795 (help)
4. ^Grupp 1975, pp. 55-57. sfn error: no target: CITEREFGrupp1975 (help)
5. ^ ^abc'Rules of Card Games: Casino'. www.pagat.com. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
6. ^The Penguin Book of Card Games
7. ^The Penguin Book of Card Games (Penguin, 1979).

Literature[edit]

• _ (1793). The Conjuror's Magazine, Locke, London. January issue, 'Short Rules For Playing The Game Of Cassino'
• _ (1795). Der beliebte Weltmensch. Joseph Gerold, Vienna.
• Grupp, Claus D. (1975/79). Kartenspiele. Falken, Niedernhausen. ISBN3-8068-2001-5.
• Long, Robert (1792). Short Rules for Playing the Game of Casino, J Owens, London.
• Pratesi, Franco (1995). 'Casino From Nowhere to Vaguely Everywhere' in The Playing-Card, Vol. XXIV, No. 1, Jul/Aug 1995, ISSN 0305-2133.

You found our list of the best online team building games for remote teams.

Online team building is the intentional creation of relationships via online platforms. Online team building games are any games that you play online to help foster collaboration and team spirit with employees. Examples of these online games include Spreadsheet Wars, Online Office Games and Virtual Charades.

These games are similar to virtual team building activities and are effective for remote team engagement.

This list includes:

• online games for remote teams
• fun online team building games
• free online team building activities
• online group games
• virtual games to play with coworkers

And other games to play virtually 🙂

So, check out the list!

List of Online Team Building Games

Below is a list of online team building games. From Bingo to Lightning Scavenger Hunts to The Ground is Lava, you will find games that are fun, free and easy to play with remote teams.

1. Online Team Building Bingo (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

One of the best starter online games for teams is Online Team Building Bingo. Bingo, a game played across retirement homes and summer camps everywhere, is familiar, fun, and works extremely well in the online format.

Here is an Online Team Building Bingo board you can start with:

You can “Right Click + Save As” to download the Bingo board.

You can freely distribute and use this virtual bingo board for internal use 🙂

To play Online Team Building Bingo:

1. Distribute the board to your team
2. Establish rules and a timeline to play
3. Track the results and award prizes

Pro tip: Amazon gift cards and bragging rights are usually sufficient prizes for successful online team building games.

Learn more about Online Team Building Bingo.

2. Online Office Games (Most Popular)

Online Offices Games is a facilitated series of online games and challenges for remote teams. You can learn more about the various games included on our page for Online Office Games.

The challenges are specifically designed for remote teams and to help develop the essential skills for working from home. For example, each event starts with virtual icebreaker questions, then pub-style trivia and games like “Can Your Hear Me Now”, which is a game that emphasizes the precision of communication you need for working remotely.

It’s fun 🙂

Learn more about Online Office Games.

3. Murder in Ancient Egypt (Collaborative)

One of our most popular online team building games is Murder in Ancient Egypt. This game uses mechanics of escape rooms, puzzles and problem solving and so encourages your team to work together. This murder mystery also has an interesting twist; the murder is actually a real mystery from ancient Egypt, and after your teams make their guess, our master storytelling will share the big reveal.

Murder in Ancient Egypt is a 90 minute, fully-facilitated event. We provide an energetic host to keep your team engaged, and a co-host that manages the technical aspects. The event is fun, challenging and perfect for groups that want to work both collaboratively and competitively.

Casino Simulation Games

Learn more about Murder in Ancient Egypt.

4. War of the Wizards (RPG Game)

War of the Wizards is a collaborative storytelling game of wisdom and magic. The story start that a group of wizards have been at war since ages past, and no-one even quite remembers why. Your people become the wizards’ minions, working together to collect magic items, cast spells and overcome obstacles. For example, you may develop a strategy to leap over a wide chasm, or challenge an ogre to a battle of wits.

War of the Wizards is a little nerdy, and a whole lot of fun. You don’t have to be a Dungeons & Dragons master either; the game is simple to follow and fun to participate for all skill levels. The game lasts for 90 minutes, and is facilitated over video conference by our talented host.

Learn more about War of the Wizards.

5. Spreadsheet Battleship (Nostalgic)

If you grew up in the late eighties and early nineties then you will likely remember the energetic proclamation “you sunk my battleship!”

Over 20+ years later, it turns out that Battleship has a perfect format for online games. You can also play the game multiplayer, with three to 10 players or more if you are feeling audacious.

To play Spreadsheet Battleship, each player needs two things: a game board and the placement of ships. You can use graph paper labelled with letters and numbers for the game board, and either randomly assign battleship placement or let each player choose where to place the ships.

Here is a Google Sheets game board you can use.

Spreadsheet Battleship game mechanics are a little like Go Fish. On each player’s turn, that player chooses another player and names a square on the grid like A-5 or C-10. The receiving player says, “you missed”, “you hit” or “you sunk my battleship!” depending on what happened. The next player then goes in sequence, which could be in order of age or geographic location.

Continue playing until only one player has ships remaining.

6. Lightning Scavenger Hunts ⚡ (Fast)

In the real world, we run scavenger hunts at some of the coolest locations in the world: like the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC and Grand Central Terminal. Scavenger Hunts can be a fun way for your people to work together.

Virtual scavenger hunts are more difficult to find that team spirit with. You might have game mechanics that have your team searching Google, Wikipedia, YouTube and other sites, without really working together.

The solution for successful online scavenger hunts is to throw away the normal and adopt a lightning version instead. For Lightning Scavenger Hunts, fire off a rapid series of clues that have your team members dashing to find objects, solve clues and win points. For example, you could have everyone grab their favorite mug and award points to the best mug story.

The fast paced nature of Lightning Scavenger Hunts is what makes it work for online team building games.

Here are more virtual scavenger hunt templates.

7. Lexulous “Scrabble” Style Game (Free)

Lexulous is a free online game that is mode led after Scrabble. The main difference is that Lexulous has eight tiles in play at a time, and the value assigned to each letter is a little different.

The main similarities are that Lexulous looks pretty darn like Scrabble, and like me and my brothers: my mom loves them all equally.

You can easily include Lexulous in your options for online games to play with coworkers. You can keep track of points and total scores over a month, and award a Lexulous champion at the end.

8. Guess the Refrigerator (Quirky)

My refrigerator mostly contains fatty pork, 100% dark chocolate and pears. Your refrigerator may be different. A fun game we could play together is Guess the Refrigerator.

Guess the Refrigerator is similar to “Who Da Baby?” and other guessing games. To play, everyone submits a photo of the inside of their refrigerator to one point of contact. That organizer then posts the photos to a channel where all participants can study the contents and make best guesses at which refrigerator belongs to who. The players submit answers to the organizer, who then tallies up the scores and announces a winner.

Sharing an inside view of your refrigerator takes a degree of vulnerability, which is a factor that contributes to the success of great online team building games.

9. “Can Your Hear Me Now?”

“Can You Hear Me Now” is one of the most popular games we play as part of Online Office Games. You can play this game 100% online, and as part of a virtual conference call.

To play, name one person as the Describer and the other players as Artists. The Describer must explain to the Artists how to draw an item like a sunflower, kite or calculator using only geometric terms.

For example, you could say “draw a large square” and then “add a line at a 45 degree angle from the top”, but not “draw the letter E.”

You can play each round for as long as you like, and three minutes is usually sufficient. At the end of each round, the Describer gets one point for each Artist that guesses the object correctly, and each Artist that guesses correctly also gets one point. Tally up points and award cool prizes to the winner.

10. Five Clicks Away

Five Clicks Away is a logic game for online team building. To play, you select a starting topic and an ending topic, which you can decide on your own or randomly generate. For example, the starting point could be Blackbeard the Pirate and the endpoint could be grilled cheese sandwiches.

Each player must start on the Wikipedia page for the starting point, and in no-more than five clicks reach the end point. The idea is that Wikipedia has so many internal links that you should be able to follow a chain to reach the end point in less than five clicks.

Five Clicks Away is difficult to get started with, but as you start to understand Wikipedia’s structure the game becomes easier. Like “Can You Hear Me Now?”, the game is also a proxy for learning a useful remote work skill, which in this case is obscure research.

11. Typing Speed Race (Competitive)

One of my favorite online team building games is a Typing Speed Race with friendly competition. For the Typing Speed Race, you can use a free tool like typingtest.com and have each of your team members do a one minute challenge. Then, each person posts their test results to Slack, email or another platform.

The Typing Speed Race is a great way to encourage friendly competition with remote teams. You can make the experience more collaborative by doing a Typing Speed Relay, which requires forming your people into teams and then adding the cumulative score from each person to create a team total.

With the Typing Speed Race, everyone wins because typing quickly is an important skill for remote work.

12. Chair Up! (Positive Powerup 🙂)

Chair Up! is both my favorite pun-inspired name for a chair store, and also a fun and easy game for video conference calls.

The game is played over email, messenger or conference call, and is specifically meant to counter the doom and gloom that sometimes guides conversations. Whenever someone calls out “chair up!”, everyone must stand up and do something cheerful. For example, you could do yoga sun-salutations, clap your hands, laugh or have a small dance party.

Chair Up! is silly, fun, and an easy way to get started with online team building.

13. Water Shots 💦

When you work from home, taking care of your health and fitness is especially important. You can do squats and eat well, and also make sure you drink enough water.

Water Shots is a game meant to fortify your team around healthy hydration. To play, you first choose a trigger, which could be “every time a pet comes on screen in a video call” or “any time someone says mute.” When the trigger happens, all participants must drink a shot of water, which could be a literal shot or a sip.

Team building games that focus on building healthy habits are a great way to support company culture and development with remote teams.

14. Virtual Charades

Charades is one of those games that nearly everyone plays at school or home while growing up. With this proliferation of Charades, Virtual Charades has the advantages of being fairly familiar while also being moderately fun.

To play Virtual Charades, prepare a set of links that go to Google Image pages or use a random image generator. On each player’s turn, that player must act out what they see in the image and the player’s teammates can guess each one to earn points. Rinse and repeat until you are all out of fun.

Here are some frustrating office words you can use as prompts for your game:

• jammed printer
• dry pen
• empty stapler
• squeaky door
• full refrigerator
• broken heater
• company firewall

You can use other words too, but frustrating office words are a good reminder of why working from home is fun.

15. Pub-style Trivia

You don’t need a pub to play pub-style trivia, and beer and peanuts are also optional. Instead, you can play with at least two teams, a series of trivia questions, and positive attitudes.

Playing pub-style trivia online is similar to the in-the-pub version, with one crucial difference: you need an easy way for people to communicate. Instead of mumbling across a table, we recommend using vivirtual breakout rooms so that each team can discuss the answers openly. Each team can then submit the answers via a web-form and the host can award points as needed.

Here are more instructions on how to play virtual happy hour trivia.

Pro tip: Playing virtual happy hour games like pub-style trivia give you a unique opportunity to include wildly different clues in the game. For example, instead of “guess that tune”, you could have players guess the tune, find it on YouTube and identify a clue at a specific time stamp. The internet is your virtual game oyster.

16. Virtual Werewolf (Team Favorite 🏆)

Werewolf is a game of cunning deceit and tactful manipulation, and the online version is much of the same. The game relies primarily on the spoken word, which makes it perfect for remote teams.

To play, nominate one person as the narrator and then randomly distribute the following roles to players:

• Werewolf: a werewolf has two jobs: eat villagers, and survive to eat more villagers.
• Villagers: these are the common folks in the game who have no special powers, but desperately hope to survive the night.
• Medic: the medic can save up to one villager each round.
• Seer: a seer can peer into the depths of another players soul to reveal whether that player is a werewolf or not.
• Hunter: when the hunter dies, the hunter can point a finger at any other player and take that person down with them.

To play, first distribute the roles via private message or email the players in advance. For a game with five people, you should have 1 werewolf, 1 medic and 3 villagers. For each additional five people add 1 werewolf, 1 special role, and 3 villagers. The ratios are flexible, so can modify them to suit your needs.

To start the game, the narrator declares that “night has fallen” and all players must close their eyes and tap their knees or keyboards to create a pitter-patter sound. After a few seconds the narrator says “werewolves wake up”, and any players with the werewolf role must awake and choose a single victim via private message.

The narrator then puts the werewolves back to sleep and has the medic and seer wake up in sequence. During the medic’s turn to be awake, the medic can point to one player to save that player from the jaws of the werewolf. If the medic selects the same player as the werewolf, then nobody dies during the night. When the seer points to a player, the narrator can answer yes or no to whether that player is a werewolf.

After all special roles act, the narrator declares “the sun is coming up” and either the name of the player that the werewolves ate or that no-one was eaten if the medic chose correctly. All players can open their eyes, and then debate on who the werewolf might be. To end the round, all players vote on one player to eliminate from the game or can pass and wait until the next round. Any player that is eliminated either by the werewolves or by vote becomes a friendly ghost that is not allowed to speak for the rest of the game but may observe it in quiet frustration.

Repeat until the only remaining players are werewolves or villagers.

17. We Didn’t Start the Fire 🔥

We Didn’t Start the Fire is an online team building game inspired by Billy Joel’s song of the same name. To play, divide the attendees of your virtual conference call into groups of four or five people and then give the groups 15 minutes of prep time. During those 15 minutes, each team writes a verse of lyrics that follow the general melody of We Didn’t Start the Fire.

After the 15 minute breakout session, bring everyone back to the main virtual meeting and have the teams present their creation. Vote on the best one with thumbs up and cheers.

18. Spreadsheet Wars (Challenging)

Spreadsheet Wars may be my favorite game to play with coworkers. Like other games on this list, Spreadsheet Wars is a combination of fun and skill-building, which makes it perfect for remote teams and offices.

To play, use a collaborative spreadsheet program like Google Sheets and select a theme like “choose your own adventure” or “scrappy recipe generator.” Each team then has up to 30 minutes to build a tool that matches the theme. The best tool wins, and really everyone wins because you are getting better at using one of the most powerful free tools on the internet.

Because Spreadsheet Wars doesn’t rely on any specific video conferencing platform, you can use it for games on Webex, Slack games, Hangouts and other platforms.

19. A World of Risk

Growing up, one of my favorite games to play was Risk, the game of global domination that meshes perfectly with my own aspirations. Risk is a game of cutthroat collaboration, friendly competition, resource management and other strategic dynamics that make it perfect for online team building.

The most flexible way to play a Risk-like game online is to use one of the many clones, for example Conquer Club, which provides a free browser based game.

20. Sudoku Throw-down

In the early 2000s, Sudoku took the world by storm; inspiring nerds everywhere to complete numerical logic games instead of the daily crossword. Today, you can play a version of Sudoku for online team building called Sudoku Throw-down.

Here is how it works:

• Send everyone on your team a free game board from a site like Web Sudoku.
• Challenge each player to complete the game board as quickly as possible.
• The first player to complete the game board with 100% accuracy is the winner.

For Sudoku Throw-down, you can easily up the competitive spirit by including prizes for the top three finishers. I recommend nerd-friendly prizes like more Sudoku puzzles, science kits and white boards.

21. Something in Common (Icebreaker)

Something in common is an icebreaker game that works on video conference calls and similar. To play, first organize your attendees into manageable sized groups of four or five people and gently push them into breakout rooms. Each group has the goal of finding three similarities they have in common with other members of that group. For example, “we all have cats, no-one was born in Chicago and we loved Hamilton.”

For the next round, keep the same teams and add a restriction that you can’t mention locations or physical similarities. For the round after that, remove pets and preferences. The goal is to make the game increasingly difficult and encourage your remote team to deep dive into what they may have in common.

Check out our list of icebreaker games for large groups for more ideas.

22. Quick Draw

Pictionary is a fun game where some people draw while other people guess what the drawing could be. The game includes elements of improv, creative thinking, competition and more.

You can play an online game that is similar to Pictionary:

1. Divide your people into breakout rooms.
2. Have each person in each room draw three clues. You can use this random word generator do return three nouns.
3. Teams accumulate 1 point for each drawing someone on the team guesses correctly. Teams get no points for any clues that players skip or do not guess correctly.
4. After 15 minutes, return everyone to the main room and compare scores.

You can play Quick Draw over Zoom, Webex and other virtual conference call platforms. You can also mix up the game and rules by varying the number of clues each person draws, and drawing verbs instead of nouns.

23. Truth or Dare: Remote Work Edition

Truth or Dare is a kind of NSFW game that is a fan favorite of students across Canada, America and other parts of the world. Truth or Dare: Remote Work Edition takes those popular game mechanics and optimizes for team building online.

Instructions:

1. One person starts by naming another player and saying the words, “truth or dare?”
2. The receiving person chooses either truth or dare.
3. The asking person then prompts the receiver with a question or action.
4. The receiving person responds and then prompts another player with the words, “truth or dare?”

Here are examples of prompts you can use:

• Which website do you waste the most time on?
• How many browser tabs do you have open right now?
• How many unread emails in your inbox?
• Make the noise of a dial-up modem from the 90s.
• Show us one object within arms reach of your computer.

The major guideline for Truth or Dare is to keep the questions and prompts friendly.

Here is a list with more question games.

24. Jackbox Games

A year or two ago I played Jackbox Games with Tasia, Ethan and some other close friends. The game prompted me to lie about “how many beers did you have last night?”, and that was game over for Michael “prefers tea” Alexis.

Still, Jackbox Games provides options you can use for online team building. The game options include trivia and similar, and the games have some unexpected and creative dynamics. To play, everyone logs into a website via a special URL.

Learn more about Jackbox Games.

25. Yellow Submarine (Unique)

When I lived in NYC, two dudes at the metro station would play the same two Beatles’ songs over and over. If the train was late and people were standing on the platform longer, sometimes the two dudes would stop playing for a bit. Neither of those songs was Yellow Submarine.

Yellow Submarine is also an online team building game you can play with remote teams. Here is how:

1. Each of your remote employees needs to craft a submarine. You can use paper, magazine cutouts, or nearly anything else to craft your ship.
2. Players get one point every time they show the submarine on a video conference call. You can hide the submarine in the background, have it float up from the bottom of the screen, camouflage it into your outfit, or any other incognito method.
3. You get one point each time you show the submarine.
4. If someone spots your submarine then you are out. You still get the one point for showing your submarine that time.
5. Continue playing until everyone is out, and then tally up the points and name a Yellow Submarine Captain.

The game mechanics work because the incentive is for each player to show their submarine as many times as they can. If you wait it out, then you may be one of the last players in the game but you will also need to catch-up on points.

26. Nintendo Game Night

A few years ago, video game cafes took the world by storm. The idea of going to play Mario Kart or Goldeneye 007 while someone delivers you nachos and beer was a strong pull.

You can host a Nintendo Game Night for your team by using an emulator. The emulator allows you to play team building games online via most modern web browsers. Choose a game like Excitebike, Popeye or Ice Hockey and host a tournament to see who gets the most points. You should probably make the game night “bring your own nachos.”

Learn more at Emulator.online and start planning your online team building games.

27. Ten Strikes (Quick & Easy)

Casino Builder Game Play

Ten Strikes is a fun icebreaker game, so it’s a good way to get to know new team members, or to build deeper relationships with existing teams.

Here is how to play:

1. All participants hold up 10 fingers.
2. The youngest person on the call goes first, and shares one true statement about themselves. For example, “I have a pen pal.”
3. Anyone that the statement is true for gets to keep their fingers up, while anyone that the statement is not true for puts one finger down.
4. If all of a player’s fingers are down then they are out of the game.
5. Play until only one player remains.

The strategy in Ten Strikes is to share facts about yourself that are unique enough that other players will not be able to say it is true of them and will have to put fingers down.

Pro tip: You can also play Five Strikes or Twenty Strikes. Generally the more fingers and toes you start with, the longer the game will go.

28. The Ground is Lava 🌋

Anyone who has either been a five year old or spent time with one has played The Ground is Lava. The entire point of this game is to avoid touching the ground at all costs. You can climb from a chair to the couch, to stepping on a book and similar to get to your destination.

The online team building version of The Ground is Lava for adults is exactly the same as the five year old version. Challenge your team members to hunt for specific objects around the house, like a favorite mug or photograph. Participants can scoot on chairs, beds, throw rugs and other barriers to find the objects and return to the video call. Anyone that touches the ground is disqualified from the competition, but everyone gets to share about the object they brought back.

29. The Question Game

The Question Game is a fun game that requires no prep or special equipment. To start playing, ask someone a question, and that person must respond with a question directed back at you or another participant. If you delay for five seconds then you are out. If you speak without forming a question then you are out too 🙂

Here is an example of how this game might go:

• Ally: “It’s a beautiful day, don’t you you think Jackie?”
• Jackie: “What do you think makes it beautiful, Michael?”
• Michael: “Sorry, I was writing a blog article.”

In this example, I would be 100% out of the game. A more clever Michael would have said, “Sorry, what was that, Jackie?” and kept moving the game forward.

30. The Channel Closing Game

If your team members are on Slack or another messaging platform then starting to practice channel hygiene is important. Closing channels is a good way to avoid “Slack hovering”, which will increase productivity.

Once per month, post a challenge for team members to close out channels they are no longer participating in. We automate this message using Zapier, and include a prompt that you can copy and paste “/leave” to quickly leave channels.

You could keep track of how many channels each player leaves, and award points of prizes, but The Channel Closing Game is really one where everyone that participates wins. Closing down your excess channels is like the Slack equivalent of inbox zero. It just feels good.

Warning: The Channel Closing Game is kind of a productivity hack for managing remote teams that is masquerading in a list of great online team building games. I love it, and at least one of your team members will love it, but don’t pitch it too hard on the fun factor.

31. Online Escape Games

Escape games are a popular group activity in person, and are increasingly popular for online team building too. These virtual escape games provide opportunities for teamwork, collaboration, and developing team building skills. There are dozens of options to choose from, including free or DIY escape rooms, and fully facilitated ones.

Check out this list of online escape rooms for more ideas.

32. Virtual Murder Mysteries

Virtual murder mysteries are similar to online escape rooms, but generally have more theatrical flair. Typically, you either download scripts and choose actors on your team, or hire an outside company to perform the murder mystery for you. These online murder mysteries tend to have fun themes that match holidays, entertainment and other interests.

Here is a list of virtual murder mysteries.

Conclusion

Playing fun team games online is a great way to do team building and create meaningful relationships while working from home.

You can play the online team building games on this list, create your own, or check out other resources for more ideas. Be sure to check out our lists of online games for large groups and offline team building games too.

With online team building, the most important element is that you dedicate some time to games, because all work and no play makes for a pretty dull time.

Next, check out our list of fun games to play on Zoom and this one with virtual game night activities.

FAQ: Online team building games

The following are a few common questions and answers about online team building games for remote employees.

What is online team building?

Online team building is any formation of relationships between team members that occurs via online platforms. For example, you can do icebreakers at the beginning of virtual meetings, or play online team building games.

What are online team building games?

Online team building games are any games that you play online to help foster collaboration and team spirit with employees. Virtual team building games and remote team building games are closely related.

What are the benefits of organizing online team building games?

Organizing online team building games is one way to increase morale and engagement with remote teams. At a basic level, games are a fun way for your people to spend time with each other away from work projects and the requirements of meetings.

What are some fun games to play with virtual teams?

Fun games to play with virtual teams include Virtual Werewolf, Lightning Scavenger Hunts, Water Shots and Chair Up! Of these four games, Werewolf is the best known, and Water Shots is my favorite.

How do you get started with online team building?

An easy way to get started with online team building is to allocate either an entire virtual meeting or at least a portion of one to playing online team games. You can organize some of the games on this list, or create your own to mix up the variety.

Is online team building location dependent?

No! One of the best features of online team building is that it is completely international. Generally, as long as a participant has an internet enabled device and a reliable WiFi connection they will be able to take part in the games and activities.

So, whether your people are in the US, Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, South America or anywhere else, online team building can be a great choice for team engagement.

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CEO of teambuilding.com. I write about my experience working with and leading remote teams since 2010.

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