Keeping your remote teams connected and engaged is a real challenge. It's hard enough keeping teams involved in a physical workplace. The added distance makes it much more difficult to ensure your team members feel connected to one another and their job.

However, ensuring your teams feel engaged in their position has tangible benefits. According to a study from Gallup, employees who feel engaged in their workplace have 22% higher productivity. Not only are engaged employees more productive, they’re more likely to stick with the company, making any investment toward team cohesion an investment toward employee retention.

Here, we cover some fun, exciting games that help keep your team members connected no matter where they are. From single-player games to teambuilding exercises, these games are a fun, cost-effective way to keep your team members engaged with the workplace and build team unity, regardless of whether your team members are remote or in the office.

1. Live Games with Luna Park

What if you could bring the excitement of a live gameshow to your workplace? With Luna Park, you can do just that. These live game show events allow your team members to engage with a game host for an experience like no other.

Each ten-minute game session is unique, giving your team a customized experience they will remember. These games build engagement, encourage teamwork, and help team members get to know one another in a fun, interactive atmosphere. If you want to transform your next workplace event, these live games are just the thing.

2. Slack-Integrated Games

Taking a break during the workday can increase productivity and fight off burnout. What better way to relax on the clock than with Slack-integrated games? These games are fun team experiences that give employees a break from the daily grind. From the gut-busting fun of an Overcooked-like barista game to classics like Drawing a Blank, these games increase engagement and help keep your team members engaged throughout the workday.

If you’re looking for a game set up for your next employee event or want to encourage team members to take a load off during the workday to help fight burnout, these games are quick, easy, and seamlessly integrated into your workplace’s Slack channel for ease of use. Who can pass up that?

3. Guess the Workspace

One thing that remote teams miss out on is the ability to visit one another’s workspaces throughout the day. A casual visit during a lunch break can tell you a lot about another person, which is where this game comes into play. This game can be broken up into multiple sessions or done simultaneously as a matching game. Have each team member submit a picture of their workspace or desktop to start the game.

The game's goal is to guess which workspace belongs to each employee. Not only does this allow for a fun detective-style game where each team member tries to remember the background from different calls or piece together things they know about each team member, but it works as a nice ice breaker for new team members.

4. Pictionary

Pictionary is a classic game that's easy to play with the invention of screen sharing. The game aims for each team to guess what their team member draws within a time limit. The drawing team member cannot speak or write numbers, words, or symbols. This game encourages teamwork and lets your employees showcase their creativity and artistic talents while giving them a break from the daily grind.

This game is easy to set up. Split your players into two groups and set up a Slack call with screen sharing. A simple drawing app like those on most operating systems works as a sketchpad, making it much easier for everyone to join. You can choose workplace themes as drawing prompts or pick from a random list of objects to mix things up.

5. Kahoot Trivia

While most people associate Kahoot! with classroom games, this fun trivia-style gaming platform has many uses. For example, you can use it to teach workplace procedures or include fun facts about each employee. No matter the trivia brand, this game allows each team member to join from their device as they choose from a list of answers. The person with the most correct answers wins.

Kahoot is simple to set up, easy to use, and makes for a quick icebreaker at company events. If you’re looking for a creative way to engage your employees and learn more about your company or team members, this game has you covered.

6. Minute to Win It

You’ve probably seen Minute to Win It games for holiday parties, birthdays, and more. These simple challenges get you moving and encourage team members to do fun stunts. Not only is this a great break from sitting in an office chair, but it encourages team members to get creative and engage with their team members.

While there are countless Minute to Win It games out there, working with examples that use traditional office supplies allows the most members of your team to join in. Of course, these games are best done on video calls where everyone can appreciate the chaotic competitiveness of the games in real-time.

7. Workplace Bingo

Workplace bingo is an easy game that doesn’t require a video call. This game can happen throughout the workday in a separate Slack channel. Take the traditional bingo template (plenty of bingo generators are available online) and add different workplace tasks to the list.

Examples of bingo activities include using an emoji, complimenting an employee’s work, responding to 10 emails, and more. Not only does it turn employee tasks into a fun experience, it gives each task a competitive edge, encouraging employees to engage with benign workplace tasks in a way they wouldn’t ordinarily. You can also use bingo cards for meetings or other work events that need a boost in engagement.

Of course, if you're looking for easy workplace games that require little to no setup and drive employee engagement, check out the CultureBot gaming suite in partnership with Luna Park, perfect for team-building events, work parties, and more.

~ Oswald