For a quick game with coworkers, pick three A/B dilemmas, let everyone choose before hearing the group, then reveal the answers and ask for a reason. Set aside roughly ten minutes and make participation optional. This guide offers eight examples, a worked round and a plan for a coffee break, video call or after-work catch-up.
Start without scheduling another meeting
“Three questions, ten minutes at most. You can pass, and every situation is fictional.” That is enough of an invitation. Skip the compulsory introduction round and let the first choice give people something to respond to.
Start in a world where the coffee machine demands compliments or the printer negotiates an apology. Nobody needs to explain what bothers them about their actual employer. The interactive example below was created for this article.
Choose the question for the people in the room
A prompt can feel different among work friends and on a call with their manager. Pick the level of satire for the setting rather than assuming that every activity labelled “team building” suits everyone.
| Setting | Start here | Save for another time |
|---|---|---|
| New coworkers or a manager present | The imaginary coffee machine, calendar and technology in the editorial examples. | Questions about job hunting, working hours or actual people. |
| Remote team | One shared question and simultaneous answers, without a mandatory microphone round. | Inside jokes about incidents that half the team never witnessed. |
| Close coworkers after work | Workplace satire when everyone wants that tone. | Anything that reopens a real disagreement. |
Five original dilemmas for a coworker break
These five prompts were written for this article and are not presented as questions from the pack. You can play them here. The follow-ups show how identical choices can come from different reasons.
EDITORIAL EXAMPLE
01For a week, the coffee machine works only after you compliment it OR the printer works only after you apologise to it?
Which would come more naturally: flattery or making peace? Invent the line without naming a coworker.
EDITORIAL EXAMPLE
02Your calendar marks every event, including coffee breaks, as “urgent” OR your chat permanently says you are typing, even when you are away?
Would you rather face pressure from your own calendar or expectations from everyone watching the chat?
EDITORIAL EXAMPLE
03Every automatic email reply sounds like a medieval town crier OR every presentation has unchangeable dramatic soap-opera transitions?
One embarrassment happens in writing, the other in front of an audience. Which would you tolerate more easily?
EDITORIAL EXAMPLE
04Every meeting lasts five minutes, but all explanations must use cooking metaphors, OR meetings last fifteen minutes and everyone can speak normally?
Are the minutes saved worth wondering whether “let the project rise” means a day or a month?
EDITORIAL EXAMPLE
05Your computer applauds whenever you save a file OR sighs theatrically whenever you press Undo?
Which would wear you out sooner: constant praise or commentary on every correction?
Three real samples from Workplace Chaos
Workplace Chaos is the DILEMMIX pack about bosses, coworkers, meetings, deadlines and working-life absurdities. These are its three existing public samples; the other 47 dilemmas stay in the game.
The samples also show the move from light irritation to satire close to real experience. Use the editorial prompts first with a new group. Working hours and job searches suit close coworkers who have chosen that tone.
PUBLIC PACK SAMPLE
06The coworker who loudly discusses personal drama on the phone OR the coworker who microwaves fish and garlic every day?
This is noise versus smell. Keep both coworkers fictional: ask which would bother you more, without identifying someone from the office.
PUBLIC PACK SAMPLE
07An office with massages, Xbox, and ping-pong, but a culture that pushes you to stay until 8 p.m., OR zero “cool” perks but your laptop is closed at 5:01 and you're done?
This touches working-hour culture. It can suit an after-work discussion; do not use it to test who would accept overtime.
PUBLIC PACK SAMPLE
08Have your boss catch you asleep with your head on the keyboard OR with a job-search page wide open on your monitor?
An imaginary awkward moment. Skip it if a manager's presence could make an answer sound like a confession.
A ten-minute plan you can use
Ten minutes is this guide's suggested break, not an official DILEMMIX session length. Select three questions beforehand instead of trying to get through all eight.
With a larger group, hear from two volunteers per round rather than everybody in turn. On a call, prepare A or B and send answers at a shared signal. Make any predictions before that reveal.
| Minutes | What to do |
|---|---|
| 0–1 | Explain the time limit, invitation and option to pass. Read the first dilemma. |
| 1–7 | Play three roughly two-minute rounds: choice, optional prediction, reveal and one or two reasons. |
| 7–9 | Return to the most surprising choice. Ask what would make someone switch sides. |
| 9–10 | Finish. Continue another time if you want; the break need not become another calendar obligation. |
A worked round: time or clarity?
Take the five-minute meeting with cooking metaphors. One person chooses A because reclaiming ten minutes sounds excellent. Another chooses B because unclear instructions might create three more meetings. Both reasons fit the scenario.
Before seeing the answers, each person can predict the other player's choice in a pair or the majority choice with three or more people. These are also the prediction targets in DILEMMIX multiplayer. For a paper version, agree beforehand how to handle a tie.
After the reveal, ask: “What if the metaphors are completely clear?” or “What if the short meeting creates extra work?”. Change one condition in the scenario and see whether the argument still holds. A real group may have different reasons from those in the example.
Keep the situation at the centre of the joke
An answer about an imaginary office can become uncomfortable when someone immediately says “that's what you do”. A host can redirect it simply: “Let's stay in the scenario. What made you choose that?”.
- Do not request names or turn choices into votes about who works hardest.
- Accept a pass without an explanation. People may listen or leave the break.
- Hear reasons after the reveal so the first speaker does not choose for everyone.
- If an actual workplace problem comes up, suggest a separate conversation. A game cannot resolve a workplace dispute.
- Stop at the promised time, including when someone needs to return to a task.
What research supports, and what this guide proposes
Albulescu and colleagues found small micro-break benefits for vigour and fatigue, without a significant overall performance improvement. [1]
Edmondson describes psychological safety as a shared team belief that interpersonal risk-taking is safe. [2]
The game plan and hosting rules are DILEMMIX editorial proposals. Neither study tested this pack. A break can also mean quiet, movement or time alone; it need not become a compulsory group activity.
Turn the break into a DILEMMIX game
DILEMMIX is an online game of dilemmas and social predictions: choose for yourself, predict the other player or the group majority, then compare answers. Workplace Chaos contains 50 dilemmas about annoying habits, compromises and awkward moments.
In the same room, Pass & Play uses one device. For a remote group, Party Online can accompany your call. Solo keeps the A/B choice and comparison with global statistics, without a prediction about another participant.
Open the pack page, check access and unlock options in the game, and read its samples before choosing it for your group. Workplace Chaos is listed as Premium; a shared workplace theme does not make every dilemma suitable for every team.
Practical questions
What quick game can I play with coworkers?
Three A/B dilemmas, simultaneous answers and a reason from a volunteer are enough for the suggested break. Use the article's examples without planning an entire event.
Does it work for a remote team?
Yes. Read the same question and reveal answers at a shared signal. For the digital choice-and-prediction flow, use Party Online alongside your call.
Can we play when the manager joins?
Preview the questions and start with imaginary objects or technology. Job-search and working-hour samples can wait for a different setting.
Does this article contain all 50 dilemmas?
No. It offers three public pack samples and five separate editorial examples. The complete pack is in the game.
Sources and their limits
- 01Read the source
“Give me a break!” A systematic review and meta-analysis on the efficacy of micro-breaks for increasing well-being and performance
PLOS ONE, 17(8), e0272460 · 2022
Micro-breaks, vigour and fatigue.
- 02Read the source
Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams
Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350–383 · 1999
The psychological safety concept.
How predictable are your coworkers?
Open Workplace Chaos, preview its samples and choose the right setting for your next round.