Hosted — in your office
We come to you and run the whole thing — the games, the teach, and your friendly supportive host.
- Melbourne metro
- up to 12
- 1.5 hrs or 3 hrs
- from $600 a session
Team building,
minus the cringe.
An organised board game night for your team. We bring the games and the host — or we set you up to run your own.
Find us in your office right now in Melbourne, or right across Australia through our online hosted event.
In-person events starting from $600 see all prices
Why board games and not, say, bowling or bars?
Because a noisy bar rewards the loudest person in your team, and bowling rewards the one who can bowl.
A board game night is the rare activity that matches the energy levels of the group, where fun conversations are sparked and heard, and rules are new to everyone so no one feels out of their depth.
It also puts people in situations the office doesn't. Someone has to explain a plan under time pressure. Someone has to decide whether to back a colleague's read on the situation. Someone quietly wins by paying attention while everyone else debates.
None of it goes in a performance review, and all of it gets talked about on Monday.
-
Everyone takes a turn, by design
No one gets left behind because of over-enthusiastic teammates.
-
Low stakes, real decisions
People negotiate, bluff and back down over something lighthearted. Not over KPIs.
-
It ends on time
A board game session has a defined ending. Drinks don't. People with families and trains to catch can plan for it.
Working around your team set-up
Four ways to run a night. We host it in your office, we host it online, we drop the games off and you run your own, or you use the platform. If none of those quite fit, let us know and we’ll endeavour to build the session to meet your needs.
Hosted — online
Nothing to install. Your team gets a code by email and opens a browser tab. No accounts, no passwords, no app store, no new vendor for IT to approve. It runs alongside the Teams or Zoom call you already use.
- Anywhere in Australia
- up to 12
- 1.5 hrs or 2.5 hrs
- from $600 a session
Games drop-off
We drop a curated shelf at your office with a teach-card for every title, then collect it on Monday. You have all the tools to run your own night.
- Melbourne metro
- any size
- Friday to Monday
- $290 for the weekend
Online games platform
Our own games, in a browser, run entirely on your end. We set it up; someone on your side hosts it.
- Anywhere
- up to 12
- No time limit
- from $200 a session
The prices are on the page.
Everyone else makes you fill in a form to find out. Pick a format, drag the slider, see the number. One flat fee covers the session, and a team of four to six pays less for the 1.5-hour night in person.
Six players to a table, so nobody
waits fifteen minutes for a turn.
One host covers twelve. The
thirteenth brings a second.
12 on the night
= 2 tables of 6
Shaded zone = covered by the flat fee. The 13th person needs a second host.
Estimate
In person · 1.5 hrs
- Session, up to 12
- $850
- Travel, kit, host
- Included
Your night, all up
$850
= $71 a head · one flat fee
Move it once, free, up to ten days out. Nobody gets charged for a flu that went through the floor.
What kind of games? Monopoly?
No, not Monopoly. Never Monopoly. Fast rules, short games, high engagement — tailored to your group size, with a spread of styles so every personality in the room gets a moment.
-
Social deduction
Someone at the table is lying. Finding out who teaches you more about your colleagues than a year of stand-ups.
- Deception: Murder in Hong Kong
- Quest
- Hollywood 1947
-
Drawing games
No artistic skill required — the terrible drawings are the point. The reveal at the end is the event.
- Telestrations
- Pictomania
- Scrawl
-
Co-operative
The whole table wins or loses as one. Watch who steps up, who listens, and who quietly saves the day.
- Just One
- The Crew
- Hanabi
-
Auction & bluffing
Push your luck, read the room, overcommit spectacularly. Poker nerves, no poker rules.
- High Society
- Skull
- No Thanks!
-
Dexterity
Stacking, flicking, balancing, collapsing. The loudest thirty seconds of any session, guaranteed.
- Klask
- Junk Art
- Rhino Hero
Who's actually running it
Leigh Hathaway built Office Rules on a career spent in the corporate world and fifteen years running a regular game night in the Melbourne CBD for a group of Victorian Government staff. The first part matters more than you'd think. It means knowing how offices actually work — how to read a room with a director in it, how to get people from different levels of the business at the same table, and when a game should end before the energy does.
Every box your people-and-culture team needs ticked is already ticked.
-
Accessibility, without a special request
Colour-blind-safe components, large-print teach-cards, seated-only formats and no-timer variants are normal requests, not special ones. Tell us what you need and we'll bring games that fit.
-
National Police Check
Current, and available to sight on request.
-
Working with Children Check
Held and current, for family days and events where under-18s are present.
-
Public liability insurance
$20m cover. Certificate of currency available for your venue or procurement team.
-
Privacy by default
No attendee data collected or kept. No sign-up sheets, no mailing lists, no photos without your express permission. Your enquiry email is used to reply to you, and that's the end of it.
-
Discretion as standard
What happens in your boardroom stays there. No client names or session stories in our marketing without written permission.
Infrequently asked questions
What's the ideal group size?
In person it's four to twelve with a single host. Six is the sweet spot at a table — turns come around fast and the game choice is at its widest — twelve is two tables with one person running both. Thirteen is where it changes: a second host comes, and that's a real cost rather than a rounding of the fee. Past that we run tables of six in parallel up to about thirty-six. It's a bigger, louder night, and it works — but we'd rather tell you that up front than seat fourteen people around one table and have half of them check their phones.
Online, despite the lack of physical constraints, the ideal group is much smaller. We've found a direct correlation between the number of people and the amount they contribute. With too many staff on the video call they default to turning off their mics and their cameras, and take a back seat. We recommend no more than four to ten people at a time. That gives people the confidence to get involved, and makes it easier for the host to spot anyone getting left out.
What if we need to reschedule?
Move it once, for free, up to ten days out. Inside ten days we'll still try, but it depends what else is in the calendar that week. Nobody gets charged for a flu that went through the floor — though there are peak times, like Christmas and EOFY, where bookings are hard to come by.
What do you need for the invoice?
ABN 97 267 399 426. We invoice the day after the session on 14-day terms, and we're happy to quote against a PO number. There's no deposit for a first booking under $1,100; above that, 25% holds the date.
Insurance and checks. Public liability to $20m, with a certificate of currency on request. National Police Check and Working with Children Check are current and available to sight.
The one-pager (PDF) has all of this in a form you can forward to whoever signs off.
Can you organise something custom?
Yes. Happy to discuss any bespoke plans you have that suit your team and your evening.
Can we take photos and videos?
Yes, you're welcome to capture the moments. If you're going to share on social media it would be great if you could check in with us first.
Can we mix an in-person and online session?
If it had to be, we could make it work — but speaking from experience, these often don't go very well. The two experiences are very different, they don't share components, and the pace of the conversation in the room usually leaves the online attendees spectating.
The rest of the questions, by format
-
In your office
The room, the travel, accessibility, catering, and how the night actually runs.
In-person questions -
Hosted online
Installs, IT approval, what your team needs open, and where the data goes.
Online questions -
Games drop-off
Hiring the shelf, what arrives on Friday, and what has to go back on Monday.
Drop-off questions -
Online games platform
Who hosts it, what your team needs, and what happens to the game data afterwards.
How the platform works
Enquire about a games night
Your name, your company, a work email and a rough headcount. Add a date and a format if you have them. You'll hear back today, or first thing tomorrow.
[email protected] 0416 426 579Weekdays, 9am to 5pm.
Not ready to book?
Take the one-pager — formats, prices, insurance and police check details — and forward it to whoever signs off.
Download the one-pager (PDF)