1. What are Google Meet games?
Google Meet games are team games or activities for remote employees that can be played over the Google Meet platform. As Google Meet is free to use, anyone can join the game session using the meeting link. These virtual Google Meet activities enable distant teams to come together and have casual conversations with each other and build rapport.
The Google Meet games are simple, easy to play, and don’t require much setting up. Turning the video on can be optional or set according to the rules of the google meet games.
Once the link is shared, ready, set.. Meet!
2. How to play virtual games on Google meet at work?
To play virtual games on Google Meet:
- Decide on a date and time:
Discuss with your remote and hybrid teams on a mutual date and time to play virtual games on Google Meet. It can also be played during a virtual office party or get-together.
- Set a meeting:
Create a meeting on your online calendar and ask employees to RSVP for the same. Share the meeting link on your team communications channel as well, if needed.
- Select an activity:
Choose a set of Google Meet activities or google meet games to play with your remote team. It can be charades, scavenger hunt, etc. Ensure you have explained the rules of the online games to play on Google Meet to all members. Ask members to switch on their videos as and when needed.
For more fun and ideas on virtual games, read this article here.
3. 15 Google Meet virtual game ideas
3.1 Virtual Scavenger Hunt
To keep your employees energetic and on their feet for the session, virtual scavenger hunt is one of the best virtual Google Meet games to play. Make a list of common household items and ask employees to fetch them one by one. Whoever brings the most number of items first, wins.
You can keep a timer to make employees fetch the items faster. Keep exciting rewards for the winner. You can make the game fun by adding some quirky items like:
- A printed sock
- Motivational poster
- House plant
- Dental floss
- Fridge magnet
This is one of the easiest games you can play on Google Meet.
3.2 Virtual Trivia
Get all your quiz fanatics together and organize a virtual trivia activity. You can build questions for your google meet trivia games based on various categories like General Knowledge, History, Geography, Pop, Literature, etc. You can divide your team into groups accordingly and score them. If the team size is huge, send them into breakout rooms and have the Google Meet trivia games session for all of them simultaneously.
You can also keep a lightning round (Ross style) and ask teams to answer maximum questions within a time limit. Ensure the audience’s mics are muted while you ask the questions to avoid foul play. Participants can use the ‘raise hand’ feature if they know the answer.
The best part of google meet trivia games is that they are completely customizable, giving you complete control over the game.
3.3 Twenty Questions
Are you someone who is good at guesswork? Twenty Questions is one of the online games for Google Meet for you to play with your remote team. You can either ask participants to guess an item that you’ve chosen - or even a famous personality. Think of names that can’t be guessed easily to make the game more exciting.
With the help of Google Meet’s Q&A feature, participants can ask close-ended questions in the chat box and guess the object or personality within twenty questions. The host can keep a track of the number of questions.
3.4 Locate the Lair
Locate the liar is one of the most fun google meet games you can play. It’s time to become a secret agent and locate the supervillain’s lair. With the help of Google Maps, the players have to track down the location of the lair. They can interview the ‘informant’ who someone else will play. This person is someone who will know the exact location. You can limit the number of questions. The agent who pins the location closest to the actual one, wins.
You can also play GeoGuessr with your team. You can select multiplayer mode or just share your screen and select the individual mode. Participants have to guess the city/ country as close as possible, as they browse the area they’re in and check for hints as they walk along. The team can be split into breakout rooms for this game.
3.5 Would You Rather?
One of the popular ice breaker games out there, Would You Rather is a fun virtual game to play on Google Meet. Employees are asked questions that are often bizarre or uncomfortable, and they have to pick the better option - and explain why. You can use the polling feature on Google Meet and read out the question, following which employees have to choose either option 1 or 2.
Some examples for the Would You Rather questions can be:
- 15 minutes late to the office or twenty minutes early?
- Eat only pizza for the rest of your life or Biryani for the rest of your life?
- Be able to travel to any place on Earth or only be able to travel to space?
- Have the ability to read minds or to become invisible?
- Be stuck in traffic or a long virtual meeting?
3.6 Name That Tune
This is to test all the music buffs out there. Create a playlist of intros, interludes, bridges, or even just a line from various songs. The duration can be 5 seconds or less. Play the audio clip for your participants. In these kinds of Google Meet activities, you can divide your team into groups and ask them to use the ‘raise hand’ feature to identify the song.
To make the game more challenging, you can ask the players to identify the artist along with the song. You could also add famous theme songs from TV series and anime shows. Brownie points to players who can hum the whole tune!
3.7 The Caption Game
The Caption game is one of my favourite games you can play on Google Meet. Collect random funny pictures from the internet or even candid photos of your teammates, and create a Google form with all the pictures and a blank space below each. Send the link in the chat box of your Meet platform.
Give around 5 minutes for participants to fill in the captions for each picture. In the end, share your screen and read the captions out loud. You can also ask the audience to vote for the best ones. Create memes out of the best ones and post them on your company’s social media pages!
3.8 Virtual Pictionary
Get your artistic mode on with Virtual Pictionary on Google Meet. The more you’re bad at drawing, the more fun it gets! Pictionary on Google Meet can be played by sharing a whiteboard on your screen and drawing the object assigned to you. The team can be divided into groups accordingly with an online timer to keep score. Pictionary on Google Meet can be a lot of fun provided you pick the right words.
You can use a random word generator to assign words to the players while playing pictionary on Google Meet. One player from a group draws the object, and the rest of the group members have to guess the object within the timeframe. You can also use the recording option to showcase the worst drawings after the session!
3.9 Virtual Charades
One of the most entertaining virtual games to play on Google Meet is Charades. All participants are required to turn their videos on for this game. The team is divided into groups, and a member from each group is given the name of a movie, a TV show, or a play. They have to act it out and the rest of the group has to guess the name.
The enactors are not allowed to speak anything, or they’d be disqualified. Keep a timer to make the game more challenging. The participants can enact scenes from the movie or impersonate the lead actors to make it easier for the group to guess! This is one of the games you can play on Google Meet that retains the essence of the original.
3.10 Slideshow Party
A slideshow party adds a sophisticated touch to a fun office party game. Participants can come up with their own topics and create a short presentation with added pictures. They can use breakout rooms and come back to present their topic. It not only sparks humour and creativity, but also encourages teamwork. PPT enthusiasts, get your A game!
The audience can cheer along and score each PPT on the basis of content, slide design, and topic flow. Some examples of the topics can be:
- How would various animals wear pants?
- Which is the best chocolate bar and why?
- TV shows in the order of the best theme songs.
- TV characters that various employees would play flawlessly and why.
3.11 Guess the country
Recreating ‘Fun with Flags’ by Sheldon with a twist, this game requires participants to guess the country by its flag. The host can create a slideshow of various flags, and ask teams to use the ‘raise hand’ feature on the platform to identify the country when you play it as one of the online games for Google Meet.
Mind you, it can get quite tricky. Is it Australia or New Zealand? Is it Qatar or Bahrain? Keep it interesting by including hints! You can also ask participants to name a few states and their capital cities for bonus points. This game can be played during any office party or happy hour.
3.12 Connect the words
‘Connect the Words’ is another tricky virtual game to play on Google Meet. Participants will be divided into groups, and each group will be given a concept to explain - such as photosynthesis, Newton's laws of motion, compound interest, etc. The first player begins the game with a word and the next has to continue with a connecting word. It goes on until the players have finished explaining the concept in a word each, without breaking the flow.
The surprise lies in trying to quickly come up with a word relevant to the explanation as well as continuing the sentence with the right grammar. It’s hilarious, educational, and fun, what more can you ask from online games for Google Meet.
3.13 Heads Up!
Heads Up! Is a game where a player tries to guess what word is appearing on the phone screen which is to be placed on their forehead and unseen to them. When you want to play it as one of the google meet activities, you will have to make sight modification so that they can't see themselves in the screen. The other players who can view the screen give them hints and clues related to the word. The player who guesses the maximum words in the fixed time duration, wins.
Players who provide the clues can speak, sing, or act them out. There are various categories such as movies, celebrities, silly accents, etc. The guesser can skip the word and go to the next one as well.
3.14 Two Truths and a Lie
Another delightful virtual game to play with your coworkers on Google is Two Truths and a Lie. The rules are simple: Every person provides three statements, out of which two are true, and one is a lie. The rest of the participants have to guess which one of those statements is a lie.
This game is a great way for coworkers to know each other and have casual conversations. The players can narrate the stories pertaining to the statements. Sometimes the unexpected statements can turn out to be true, so play wise!
3.15 Guess Who?
A Guess Who? game is always a hoot at any office party. When you play it as one of the google meet activities the host can collect childhood pictures of all employees and create a slideshow. The employees can share pictures of themselves aged 0-2 years to make it challenging. After the guesswork, employees can also engage in childhood stories and moments that they recall.
This game can also be played with childhood pictures of celebrities and famous personalities. The host can give clues to the teams which could be related to their movies or famous lines.
4. FAQs
4.1 What are some good Google Meet activities for work?
Some of the most entertaining Google Meet activities and games for work are:
- Charades
- Pictionary
- Guess the Tune
- Virtual Scavenger Hunt
- Virtual Trivia
- Google Meet trivia games
Click here to get ideas for more fun virtual games that help boost workplace productivity.
4.2 Can you play Pictionary on Google meet?
Yes, Picitonary is one the popular online games to play on Google Meet. Employees can join the game using the meeting link provided. Participants will be given the name of an object using a random word generator. They can use a whiteboard to draw their objects and share their screen while playing Pictionary on Google Meet. The other players can guess within the time limit.