Icebreaker Games for New Employees: Make Onboarding Actually Fun

First days are awkward. New employees are nervous, existing employees aren't sure how to act, and the standard "go around the room and say your name and a fun fact" does nothing to actually break the ice. The right game changes everything — it creates shared experience, reveals personality, and gives people something to talk about beyond their job title.

Here are the best icebreaker games for new employees in 2026, designed for onboarding events, team welcome sessions, and new hire orientations.

What HR and Team Leaders Need From an Icebreaker Game

• ✅ Works for any group size — from 5 to 50+ new hires
• ✅ Professionally appropriate — nothing that makes anyone uncomfortable
• ✅ Reveals personality without putting people on the spot
• ✅ Creates connection between new hires AND existing team members
• ✅ Easy for HR to run without being a professional entertainer
• ✅ Works in person and virtually for remote onboarding

1. Company Family Feud (Best Overall)

The Family Feud Template is the perfect onboarding icebreaker — and here's why: the survey format means new employees can participate immediately without knowing anything about the company yet. Mix new hires with existing employees on each team for instant cross-team connection.

Onboarding-specific questions that work great:

• "Name something people do on their first day at a new job"
• "Name a reason someone is nervous about starting a new job"
• "Name something people Google before their first day"
• "Name a word that describes our company culture" (great for revealing how existing employees see the company)
• "Name something new employees always ask in their first week"

Add a round of company-specific trivia for existing employees to shine and new hires to learn.

2. Company Jeopardy

Build a Jeopardy board about the company using our Customizable Jeopardy Template. Categories: Company History, Our Products/Services, Team Trivia, Industry Knowledge, "Things We Say Here" (company jargon and culture).

This format teaches new hires about the company in a fun, competitive way — and existing employees are surprised by how much they learn too.

3. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: Company Edition

Load our Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Template with questions about the company, the industry, and the team. The lifeline format — especially "phone a friend" (ask a coworker) — creates natural interaction between new and existing employees.

4. Pub Trivia: Team Edition

Our Pub Trivia Game works perfectly for onboarding events — mix new hires with existing employees on teams and run a full trivia tournament. The diverse categories mean everyone has at least one round where they shine, which is a powerful equalizer between new and experienced team members.

5. Emoji Quiz: Company Edition

Use our Emoji Song Quiz format and adapt it for company products, company values, or industry terms represented in emojis. Visual, fast, and completely accessible to new employees who don't know the company yet.

Virtual Onboarding Games

All our games work perfectly for remote onboarding over Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet. The host shares their screen, teams use breakout rooms for discussion, and answers come in via chat. New remote employees feel included from day one.

Onboarding Game Schedule

1. Welcome and introductions (15 min) — brief, then move to the game
2. Team formation (5 min) — mix new hires with existing employees
3. Main game (30–45 min) — Company Family Feud or Company Jeopardy
4. Debrief (10 min) — discuss what people learned, answer questions
5. Informal mingling — the game gives everyone something to talk about

Tips for HR and Team Leaders

• Mix teams intentionally — every team should have at least one new hire and one veteran
• Include company-specific questions — new hires learn while playing
• Celebrate new hire wins — when a new employee gets a question right, make a big deal of it
• Use the game as a conversation starter — reference game moments in subsequent team interactions
• Run it quarterly — a recurring onboarding game creates a company tradition

Get the Games

• 🌟 Family Feud Template — best onboarding icebreaker, fully editable
• ❓ Customizable Jeopardy — company knowledge board
• 💰 Who Wants to Be a Millionaire — company edition with lifelines
• 🍻 Pub Trivia Game — mixed teams, diverse categories

👉 Browse all onboarding and team games →