We did this once as a farewell to a departing team member -- share-a-drink-over-zoom; worked quite well too. Mostly people chatting and reminiscing and discussing the current customer-from-hell -- it was an unexpectedly good way to bond. Maybe it worked well because the focus was on one person. But zoom can be a pain for separate one-on-one conversations in a group -- but there are now newer online conference systems that seem to facilitate that (haven't used any of those though).
Ask HN: Team fun event ideas during WFH?
51–60 of 273 posts
Re: Ask HN: Team fun event ideas during WFH?
#52Jackbox games like Patently Stupid or Fibbage are great since only one person has to buy the game in order for everyone to play. Just do a screen share of the main screen and have everyone connect using their phones. My friends and I do it frequently and it works great.
I can't recommend these enough. The game packs can be bought in Steam, and there are games for everyone (trivia, drawing, puzzles). The trivia games even have a "Disable US centric questions" so everyone on the globally distributed team can enjoy them. I started remotely last year and playing these kind of games have been a great way to get to know the team in a more informal setting.
I heartily recommend Talking Points. Most of the work is done by actual players, rather than relying on the game to provide trivia or whatever, so there's no way for someone to play in advance and figure out all the answers ahead of time.
Re: Ask HN: Team fun event ideas during WFH?
#53Two teams of ten or at least more than 5 and play Among Us. We do as a team and it’s awesome!
Among Us was my first thought, because it's a good social game, but is it a good team game? Encouraging dishonesty and distrust doesn't sound like a good team-building exercise. Perhaps it depends on how much the team already trusts one another.
It is! Because if your team is on good terms it’s more of a laugh than legit lying to hurt others on your team.
Re: Ask HN: Team fun event ideas during WFH?
#54If you want to play something async, http://gamesbyemail.com/ has a bunch of different board games that you can play by email and will email you when it's your turn. We've had most success with Risk and Chinese Checkers, which both support up to 6 people. Games can last a few weeks. There's also a bunch of 2 player games (Connect 4, Chess, etc).
last year i set up a game of scythe in my kitchen with an overhead camera -- i could hit a button on my phone to snap a pic and upload to my vps. played this way with a group of friends over the course of a few days and it worked pretty well. some things were tricky -- cards that players receive that are supposed to be "private", for instance, but most of the game worked face-up.
Re: Ask HN: Team fun event ideas during WFH?
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
Among Us was my first thought, because it's a good social game, but is it a good team game? Encouraging dishonesty and distrust doesn't sound like a good team-building exercise. Perhaps it depends on how much the team already trusts one another.
It is! Because if your team is on good terms it’s more of a laugh than legit lying to hurt others on your team.
But there's nothing funny about being dishonest and lying, calling it a game changes nothing.
Re: Ask HN: Team fun event ideas during WFH?
#56There are quite a few listed here: https://quickparty.games
Re: Ask HN: Team fun event ideas during WFH?
#57A small sites I created that is super easy to set up fun event for even 15+ people.
https://www.virtualmorale.com/
Have games like Telestrations and Draw and Guess that are very fun for teams!
Re: Ask HN: Team fun event ideas during WFH?
#58Everybody gets sent a lego set and (for those who can) a drink, and you spend a couple of hours building and talking.
My team did this recently and it was a lot of fun!
Re: Ask HN: Team fun event ideas during WFH?
#59Related note: do it during work hours, if possible. Not all of us want to be expected to take an evening to devote to work events. Even if I genuinely like my co-workers, there are times that I want to set aside where I don't have to think about work.
Work "fun" events that happen outside of work hours are totally bogus.
Re: Ask HN: Team fun event ideas during WFH?
#60I have a good friend who runs http://barnonetrivia.com - they have professional hosts who lead ~hour long live zoom trivia games. Questions are creative and original. Can't recommend enough - very fun!