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“Play is often talked about as relief from serious learning. But Play is serious learning”

-adapted from Fred Rogers

Why PLAY? Play can reduce stress. Play can increase joy. Play can help you learn. According to psychiatrist Stuart Brown “Play is a basic human need as essential to our well-being as sleep, so when we’re low on play, our minds and bodies notice.” Lynn Barnett, a professor of recreation, sports and tourism at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign notes that “At work, play has been found to speed up learning, enhance productivity and increase job satisfaction; and at home, playing together, like going to a movie or a concert, can enhance bonding and communication.”

How To Play Stuff was created to enable play.

Learn how to play a new game or re-discover a game you played with your grandma. Whether you want to learn how to play hearts, soccer, team building games, or board games, we’ve got something for everyone!

Check our our Top 10 Team Building Games. Whether you have a small group, large group, or limited supplies we’ve got a game for you that will increase communication and engage even the most stubborn team members.

Best Team Building Games

Flip the Tarp

Get your whole team to work together to flip over a tarp that they all happen to be standing on. The trick is you cannot touch the ground or use any other object to help. Ideal for building: Teamwork, communication, trust and problem solving 1 Tarp (should be just big enough to hold the whole...

How to play Clue

Background Info: Clue is a board game that has been around since 1948. The style of the game is murder mystery, deduction, and bluffing. Clue is considered best when playing with 4 or 5 players, but can be played with 3-6. If you want to learn how to play clue, know that the object of the game...

How to Play Spoons

Learn how to play Spoons, a simple card game with an active twist. It's simple to learn and can be played by children or adults. There's even a version of spoons that has become popular as a drinking game at parties. It's a sneaky, fast-paced and involves bluffing, so if you have a good face for...

How to Play Go Fish

Go Fish is a great game for 2 to 6 people. This is how you set up the game: 5 cards (7 cards if only 2 people are playing) are dealt to each player from a standard 52-card deck. The balance of the deck is splayed out in the middle of the group. The object of Go Fish is to collect the most books...

The Big Picture

A leader from each team studies a picture for 15 seconds and memorizes as much as possible. The leader then goes back to their team to describe the picture, who then has to draw based on the instructions. Ideal for building: communication, teamwork, understanding, positive conflict, leadership A...

Noodle Dual

Get your group moving around and working on communication while trying to whack the other team with a pool noodle. Ideal for building: Communication, trust, and group energy 4+ people 2 standard pool noodles 2 Blindfolds Whistle if possible Boundary markers (cones, rope, circle of people, etc.) At...

I Talk You Draw

Describe an object while your partner attempts to draw. The catch is you cannot tell your partner what the object is used for or what it is. Ideal for building: Communication, attention to detail Random objects (1 for each team) Paper Pencils or pens 2+ people 15 minutes Set Up: Collect as many...

How to Play Go

Originating in China, Go is an ancient game of strategy. An Introduction The game of Go is played on a flat board divided up in to a 19 by 19 grid of evenly spaced lines. That's 19 horizontal lines by 19 vertical lines. The board looks like a grid of squares, but it's the lines that are the focus...

How to play BS

B.S. is a simple bluffing card game. It is known by many names including Cheat, I Doubt It, Bullshit, Bologna Sandwich, Bluff, and many others. BS is best played with 3+ players and the object of the game is to be the first to get rid of all your cards. What you need to play BS: Standard 52-card...

How to play Hearts

Hearts is a 4-player trick-taking card game. It has Spanish origins from around the mid 1700s and is said to have evolved from a game called Reverse. Hearts has gained increasing popularity due to Microsoft adding the computer-game-version of Hearts to its Windows operating systems. The object...