Yes, Video Games Can Help

Here at rTraction we love coming up with new ways to promote wellness in the workplace. You may have seen our post on January 28th on Instagram regarding national fun at work day (if not you can check that out here). For a wellness and team building activity we, as a team, played the popular video game Among Us. 

Video games used to get a bad rap, but according to a study from Bringham Young Universty, playing video games in a team based environment has shown to improve team productivity by 20% in subsequent tasks compared to traditional team building activities. You can read more about those results in this article here.

Working from home means a predominately digital environment for teamwork and communication. Social cohesion is extremely important for team building. A challenge to this is that sometimes it can be hard to get to know your team and the ways to better communicate with each other for tasks at hand, especially in an isolated virtual environment. Online video games are arguably one of the best mediums to develop teamwork, communication, and leadership skills, and have a blast together in the process. Whether it be through teaching controls, explaining rules, listening to others, following directions, or working together to solve puzzles and problems; video games can provide the opportunity to learn something new and hone important soft skills. 

Here are video games we suggest you play with your team virtually to build skills and promote wellness in the workplace:

Overcooked (1 or 2)

Console: PC/Current Consoles

Price: Costs $$

Players: 4

If Hell’s Kitchen has taught me anything, it’s that the teamwork needed in a kitchen is crucial and paramount to its success. Overcooked is a whimsical, fun, multiplayer game where you work together to get dishes made based on customers’ orders in a kitchen. Throw in some challenging scenarios — like the kitchen being on separate moving trucks that weave through traffic — and you have the perfect environment for practicing teamwork and communication skills virtually with your team. Nothing screams critical communications skills like screaming about a fire in a virtual kitchen.

Minecraft

Console: Mobile/PC/Current Consoles

Price: Costs $$

Players: 4+

Remember playing office games where you would need to work together to build something within a set time frame using only the materials given? Mini marshmallow toothpick towers anyone? While there are a lot of possibilities for activities to do in an open sandbox game like Minecraft; you could separate your team into smaller teams to try and build a structure with certain requirements in a time frame (10 minutes) and given only materials in a chest — an upgraded version of toothpick towers. 

Mario Kart/ Mario Party

Console: Switch

Price: Costs $$

Players: 4+

The classic couch co-op games are now available for online play! You will need your own console and controller each for everyone to participate separately, or up to four players on the same console in non-virtual times (there is a limit to the number of players for each game). In Mario Kart your team could hold tournaments where teams could work together on a rotating basis to win the most points in a cup challenge. In Mario Party, your team works together in multiple mini games to be the player that comes out on top at the end with the most stars. Both are great games to be set up as tournaments over time. These game options only work if your team already has the console and games.

Pokémon Go/ Pikmin Bloom

Console: Mobile

Price: Free

Players: 4+

Free to play mobile games like Pokémon Go, and Pikmin Bloom, encourage users to use AR (augmented reality) technology to count steps and participate in virtual game activities; like catching monsters, planting flowers, or battling in gyms together. Your team can use these apps to compete in challenges, like who can catch the most Pokémon in a week, plant the most flowers in a community area, or how many steps can they log challenges. For Pokémon Go you could even split up your team into smaller teams to compete against each other in community challenges — for gym takedowns and raids. 

Among Us

Console: Mobile/PC/Current Consoles

Price: Free on Mobile

Players: 4+



This game is a great, simplified, whodunit where there are 1 or more imposters in the team that are trying to sabotage and eliminate the other players. The actual team must run around and complete tasks within the time limit and before everyone is eliminated. The game is played in silence until a team meeting is held by either emergency meeting, or by finding the dead body of a teammate. This game requires critical thinking skills, fast thinking, and communication skills in order to eliminate the right people, or if you are the imposter, survive elimination.

Other Options

Moving Out

Console: PC/Current Consoles

Cost $$

Players: 4

PIVOT! PIVOT!! Moving Out is a whimsy moving game where you need to coordinate with your team of movers to pack a moving truck with the right items, within the time frame, and without breaking any of their stuff. This game requires teamwork, coordination, and quick communication skills in order to get the moving truck rolling smoothly to the next destination.

Video Conference Call Games

Applications: Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet, Google Hangouts etc.

Price: Free, to some cost $$

Players: 4+

It’s time to get creative with those virtual meetings. The category of video conference call games is so vast that we could probably write another 3 articles on the subject. The point is, you can turn almost anything that you played in person into a fun game with a virtual delivery. There are free sites to play games like Taboo, and you and your team could play games together, like Pictionary, and Scattergories, using the annotation tool and whiteboard features; really, the possibilities are endless if you use a little bit of creative thinking to adapt games. 

Tabletop Simulator

Console: PC

Cost $$

Players: 4+

This simulator allows you to play free domain games in a 3D tabletop environment. Whether it's cards, chess, or checkers, there is something for everyone in a tabletop simulator. There is DLC available to purchase other board games, and a workshop section where you and your team could even create your own board game! Just a warning though, there is a bit of a steep learning curve with the controls; it is very easy to accidentally flip the table, or knock a teammate's piece if you are not careful.

All costs per game vary on console platform and sales promotion (sometimes you can find the game for free due to a promotion, so keep an eye out). Most games are not cross platform; what does this mean? This means that you must make sure that the team is all playing on the same device unless otherwise specified by the game (Among US, for example, is cross platform). Games bought through steam sometimes have a remote play option. Remote play is when only one person needs to have a copy of the game and then they can share it with their friends (like virtual couch co-op!) You can check that out here.

We also know of some great options that are perfect for those who might have never played a video game before (although it is a great exercise to teach team mates the controls and learn a skill together!) Our team has had great success playing and hosting virtual euchre tournaments through this website. You can read more about the original experience here.



Another choice for a game experience that isn’t so reliant on an actual video game title, is playing a team Jeopardy style game. Using a site called Factile, you can make all sorts of trivia related games for the team to compete and answer. Our team really enjoyed this game! This one does involve a lot of brainstorming and planning to set up, but it is definitely worth it for the enjoyment factor alone.



One of the most important things to remember is that everyone has different skills and abilities, and it’s important for the team to have good sportsmanship, to remember to have fun, and grow together. You want everyone to feel comfortable to participate and the team should be consulted on voting which game they should try out together.



We hope you try some video games in a team building exercise and let us know how it goes and if you learn something surprising about your team, or yourself, in the process. We would love to hear more about it.