For most of my career I was an entrepreneur that had my own company and called my own shots. That generally meant that I had a lot of freedom to do what I wanted. Those who have worked at my various businesses over the years can attest that our workplae was anything but appropriate. It was not your typial workplae, that’s for sure but we loved it.
Well in Otober of 2023, I had to close my business. It was unfortunate but necessary. It was also one of the most difficult things I have had to do. Fortunately for me, I found a job fairly quickly. I am now a Senior Strategist at a local digital marketing firm. I was very lucky to both find something so quick and find something that was such a good fit for me.
Why am I telling you all of this? Mostly just to set the tone that working in an office is a fairly new experience for me but it’s been a positive one so far. Shortly after starting at this job I asked the owner if I could start a small board game library at the office and teach games at lunch as a fun team building exercise. He loved the idea and we announed it to the rest of the company before I really had a chance to prepare. That was okay though, I work great under pressure and researching board games
I hate long intros that go nowhere so let’s get to the point. Let’s talk about how I came up with my list of the best board games to play at work. The first thing I had to do is ome up with my criteria for picking games.
Board Game Criteria
- Playing Time: We only have a max of one hour for lunch and most people want at least a little time to eat so I set the criteria of games that would be played in 15 to 30 minutes.
- Workplace Appropriate: The game had to be something you could play in an office without anyone getting offended so Cards Against Humanity was out!
- Player Count: We are a small agency and most people don’t participate every week but on average we get anywhere from 3 to 6 people that play each week.
- Easy to Teach: I am a veteran board gamer but no one else at the company is so it had to be a game that would be easy to teach.
Rating Criteria
- Highly Recommend: These are games I introdued at work that were very well received and I would recommend you give them a try
- Recommend: These are games that weren’t as well received but still liked well enough that they are staying in our work library.
- Not a Favorite: These are games that I introduced that really didn’t go over well with the other employees and probably won’t make it back to the table. This rating does not mean I don’t love the game, rather that it simply wasn’t well received by my co-workers.
- Haven’t Played Yet: These are games I have bought for our office game library but have yet to be played. It could be because we just haven’t gotten around to it yet or it could be because people just aren’t interested in it.
It’s important to remember that these ratings are simply a note on how well they did with my group at work and your experience with your group could be completely different.
It’s important to remember that these ratings are simply a note on how well they did with my group at work and your experience with your group could be completely different.
Now that we have covered the criteria we used, let’s get to the games. My intention is to continue to add to this list as we go so it doesn’t become stale and inludes some new games. I would not describe this as a definitive list but an ever evolving list of board games you can play during your lunch hour. If you have any suggestions, post them below, we would love to check them out.Favorite Board Games to Play at Work Over Your Lunch Break
Please note, these games are in no particular order
Sushi Go!
Playing Time: 15 to 30 minutes
Workplace: Appropriate for Work
Player Count: 2 to 5 Players
Difficulty: Easy to play and teach
Publisher: Gamewright Games
Highly Recommend!
This was the first game I ever introduced at the office. Keep in mind that it’s a diverse group of people and while they like video games and casual board games, none of them are really in the board game hobby so most of what I am introducing to them has been new. The game was very well received and across the board the people that played it thought it was a great game. It only took me a few minutes to explain it and only a few rounds before people mostly got it. People were confused at how certain cards scored but it really didn’t take long for everyone to get into the swing of things and figure out a strategy. When the group can’t think of anything to play, this has become our go to game to play on Thursdays.
People liked it enough that quite a few went out and bought it to introduce to their friends and family. The manufacturer claims the game can be played in 15 minutes but since you play 3 rounds of it, 30 minutes is a much more accurate time estimate.With Sushi Go! you are customers at a sushi restaurant and as the dishes are being passed around, you are trying to collect the most delicious meal. The catch? You are dealt a hand of cards, you are choosing one card out of that hand and then you are passing your entire hand to the next person so you have no idea what cards you are going to be handed next. It’s a super fun card drafting game and is easy to play over your lunch break.
No Thanks!
Playing Time: 15 to 30 minutes
Workplace: Appropriate for Work
Player Count: 3 to 7 Players
Difficulty: Easy to play and teach
Publisher: Amigo
Highly Recommend!
This is another easy game to teach and it has the advantage of a higher player count. When we play at work, if we have a larger than normal group show up for game time, it’s an easy choice to break out No Thanks! and play a few rounds. The game publisher says this card game can be played in 20 minutes. I think 15 to 30 is a better estimate especially how we play it. We play 3 rounds and add up the score.
In this game you want to have the lowest number of points. You are going to draw a card and either decide to take it or say No Thanks! If you don’t want the card, you have to spend one of your black tokens (which are each worth negative one point) to pass on taking the card. The round goes until someone takes the card and then they draw a new card. It’s easy and fun and has a great push your luck element to it.
Codenames
Playing Time: 15 minutes
Workplace: Appropriate for Work
Player Count: 2 to 8 Players
Difficulty: Easy to play and teach
Publisher: Czech Games
Highly Recommend!
Another favorite at our office. It’s a team based game while the player count says 2 to 8 people, it’s really two teams playing against each other. If you have a fun and creative group, they can really get into it. This is another game that I introdued that several other people in the office went out and bought. It’s a fun party game and easy to teach so whether you are playing it on your lunch break or getting it out when family over, it’s a great board game.
In Codenames, one person is the Spymaster and is giving a one word and one number clue to his team so they can uncover their agents. The spymaster isn’t allowed to help, make comments or give them any clues beyond the one word and how many cards that word is assoiated with. The players try to guess what cards the spymaster is giving clues about. Guess it right and you can keep going. Guess it wrong and it’s either the other team turns or in some cases, the game ends and you have lost. Loads of fun, easy to teach and quick to play. It makes it a perfect addition to any lunch time board gaming session.
Camel Up
Playing Time: 30 to 45 minutes
Workplace: Appropriate for Work
Player Count: 3 to 8 Players
Difficulty: Easy to play and teach
Publisher: Pretzel Games
Recommend!
This board game went over well when we played it at the office. I believe we have played it at least twice now over our lunch break. The main reason I have it rated as a Recommend instead of Highly Recommend is it does take longer to play. We have always been able to finish it in our lunch break but if you have a more rushed lunch or people still want time to run out and grab something to eat, the play time on this game may be an issue. You will have to try it with your work group and see what they think.
Camel Up is not a racing game, it’s a betting game. Rather than being one of the camels in the race, you are one of the people watching the race and betting on the results but those wacky camels are unpredictable and make the final results difficult to predict.
Fuse
Playing Time: 10 minutes
Workplace: Appropriate for Work
Player Count: 1 to 5 Players
Difficulty: Easy to play and teach but hard to be good at
Publisher: Renegade Game Studios
Not a Favorite
Personally, I really like Fuse but it did not go over very well when I brought it to the office. It’s still part of our office board game library but it was only played once fairly early on and never asked to be played again. This is a cooperative game which I thought would work great for the workplace but the reality is it opens up too many opportunities to yell at slower players. It’s also really hard to win without practice. It’s one of those games that you have to play a few times before you have any hope of winning. For that reason, we marked this game as “Not a Favorite” but don’t let that stop you from trying it with your group, they may love it.
With Fuse, you have a stack of cards that need to be solved either by a combination of dice colors, dice numbers or both. You have to get through most of the stack to win and you are all playing from the same handful of dice that were rolled. You have to communicate and work together and you need to do it quickly before time runs out.
Wits & Wagers
Playing Time: 30 minutes
Workplace: Appropriate for Work
Player Count: 10+ Players
Difficulty: Easy to play and teach
Publisher: NorthStar Game Studio
Haven’t Played Yet
This has been a bit of an oddity. I have played this with family and friends. I have played it with as few as 3 people and as many as 12 and while it’s fairly basi, it’s a lot of fun and easy for just about anyone to participate in. The higher player count and ease of play makes it an easy choice for most offices. Despite that, no one other than me at my office has had any interest in playing it. I have suggested it several times and my co-workers have always opted for a different game that’s why I have given it the “Haven’t Played Yet” rating. I have played it but I have not been able to get my co-workers interested in it. If that changes, I will update this page and let you know how it goes.
Wits & Wagers is both a trivia game and a better game combined into one. All questions can (and should) be answered with a number. Take your best guess but if you think someone else’s guess is more likely to be the winner, you can place your bet on their answer instead of your own.
MUD
Playing Time: 30 minutes
Workplace: Appropriate for Some Offices
Player Count: 2 to 6 Players
Difficulty: Easy to play and teach
Publisher: Pillbox Games
Haven’t Played Yet
I am going to start by saying that I have added this to the board game library at work but we have not gotten it to the table yet. I enjoy the game but I can’t report back as to whether my co-workers enjoyed it or not.
Be Forewarned that this is a game about politics. It doesn’t poke fun at any individual politician or party so I think it is probably fine for most work places but if you work in an office that is very politically charged it may not be the best choice simply beause it could open the door to comments and jokes that may lead to something deeper than the game intended.
In MUD you are trying to garner enough votes from the different regions of the USA while avoiding scandels and being a bit of a Rat by calling out scandels of other players. It’s good easy fun and as long as your players don’t take it seriously or use it as an opportunity to take a jab at players that may think different from them.
This publisher also have a game called Side Effects that I love but that one is definetely not workplace friendly. While you are on their site I would recommend you check it out. Their art work is beautiful and their games are fun.
Hanabi
Playing Time: 20 – 30 minutes
Workplace: Appropriate for Work
Player Count: 2 to 5 Players
Difficulty: Easy to play and teach
Publisher: R&R Games
Haven’t Played Yet
We haven’t gotten Hanabi to the table yet but it’s a great card game for an office setting. Hanabi is a Japanese word that means fireworks and in this game you are trying to put on the best fireworks show by placing your cards out on the table. The catch? You aren’t allowed to look at your cards. Your cards are facing the other players and the other players need to give you hints on what to place. It’s a cooperative game that is fun and teaches teamwork and communication as you work together to put on the most impressive fireworks show that you can.
I have had this game in our office game library for a short while and it hasn’t yet made it into our regular rotation but I am confident that it will get played at some point.
More Coming Soon….