What Makes an Amazing Team Building Activity?
You've tried dinner, escape rooms, rope courses, maybe even some workshops. Some activities were alright, some may even have been fun - but what makes an activity amazing?
An amazing activity is one you can't wait for. It's one where the whole team can't stop chatting about it in anticipation. It is:
-
Interactive. Everyone gets involved.
-
Collaborative. Team work makes the dream work.
-
Memorable. Preferably fun, exciting, and unique.
-
Accessible. Everyone on the team can participate.
-
Flexible. It can accommodate your team's style and preferences.
Virtual Reality is an Amazing Team Building Activity!
Archery
Music
-
Memorable: VR technology brings you to places that seem so lifelike and real that your body will be fooled and your mind will be amazed. Walk on top of a skyscraper and try looking down, shoot zombies in the New York subway that seem so real most people scream, or explore beautiful fish underwater.
-
Interactive: You're not just watching, you're actively interacting with it. Because VR technology tracks your hands and headset, you don't need to be a gamer to be able to play. To shoot a bow physical place an arrow in the bow and pull back. To pick up an object, put your hand in it and close your fingers. You interact naturally and intuitively.
-
Collaborative: Even though everyone is in their own station, you see and talk to each other in the games! Different games have different limits on the number of players that can play together in one game. Whereas paintball can have 18 people play together, RevolVR3 can have 6, while boxing only 2. If your team is larger than the limit of a particular game you want to play, don't fret as you can split the team into multiple instances of the same game. Since you'll be playing many games, the team will have lots of opportunity to play with each other.
-
Accessible: VR can be played by anyone, young or old, male or female, short or tall. It can accommodate wheelchairs. If you can't stand for too long, a chair can be provided. If you have eyeglasses, they can be worn as long as they are not particularly big.
Sometimes there is concern about motion sickness. In our experience, this is very rare and is most often caused by poor equipment and poor choice of games. Low frame rates and laggy or inconsistent performance will cause motion sickness. Choosing games with smooth locomotion (rather than teleportation) will also cause motion sickness. That is why we only carry top of the line equipment and avoid games that do not support teleportation. -
Flexible: Is your team competitive and wants to challenge each other, or do they want to work together in a common task? Do they want an intense experience such as shooting zombies, a musical experience that gets you to move to music, or a calm visual experience? Whatever your preferences, VR offers a wide variety of experiences. Best of all, you're not locked in - you can change your experience whenever you want, how often you want!
Types of VR Experiences
Not all VR experiences are the same. Some are better than others while others should be avoided at all costs. VR experiences tend to fall in one of the following categories and we break them down for your next team building activity:
-
Station VR: You pay for a fixed amount of time per station. Each player plays in their own station but they can interact together in the same game. The VR arcade should have enough stations so that every person in your team can play at the same time. There should be a good selection of multiplayer games that can be played together. This is one of the best and most economical experiences as everyone should be able to participate together for the longest period of time. You should have access to a large number of games that can be changed at will. This offers the most diverse worlds as players can move independently.
-
Free Roaming VR: Free roam VR brings everyone together into the same room. You can all move around in the room and you will see each other in VR. This can provide a slightly more immersive experience but comes at the cost of game selection and limitations in the game world size. Game worlds are limited to the size of the actual room and will switch to the next world only once the current puzzle is solved. Often this is limited to playing a single game experience per session and game selection is much smaller than station VRs.
-
Ride Based VR: Similar to a theme park, ride based VR try to impress the player by going through some quick but awe inspiring experience (for instance, a roller coaster ride in VR). Unfortunately, most cause motion sickness and are almost always single player experiences.
Best Team Building Games
Choosing the right game can be the difference between a good time and a great time! Here we list our favorite games for team building activities. Note that if your team is larger than the maximum number for the game, you can start multiple instance and play in groups.
Elven Assassin
Elven Assassin
What
Archery game
Why
Simple to learn yet hard to master.
Mechanics of shooting arrows lots of fun.
Team members work together but also has the best player vs player action.
# Players
4 for co-op, 8 for player vs player
Paintball
Paintball - Rec Room
What
Capture the flag paintball in VR
Why
Simple to learn and non-violent.
Team members work together and against each other - blue team vs red team.
# Players
Up to 18 players. Best played with 6+ players.
RevolVR 3
What
Wild west shootout
Why
Easiest game to learn - point and shoot.
Players move around in their booths ducking and dodging, which is lots of fun.
Team members shoot each other.
# Players
Up to 6 players.
RevolVR 3
Synth Riders
Synth Riders
What
Catch balls to music
Why
Very easy to learn.
Moving to music is fun.
Team members compete for the highest score.
# Players
Up to 10 players.
After the Fall
After The Fall
What
Zombie apocalypse shooter
Why
Beautiful graphics and intense gameplay.
Good story.
Team members work together to survive.
# Players
Up to 4 players.