Best Games to Play With Coworkers on a Private Server

The best games to play with coworkers on a private server are Trackmania, SuperTuxKart, Puck, Minecraft, OpenTTD, Factorio, Core Keeper, Garry's Mod and Valheim. The quick ones fit a lunch break and need no skill to enjoy, the persistent ones let a remote team across time zones play at different hours in one shared world, and several are free, so nobody needs an expense claim. A private server keeps it to your team and runs on 1 to 4 GB for most of them.

Team games have constraints friend groups do not. People have wildly different skill levels, some are on work laptops, sessions need to start and end on time, and the content needs to be fine to screen share in the office. Games where you blow each other up a lot can still work, but games where nobody can be singled out work better.

Team game picks

Quick games for a lunch break

1. Trackmania (2020)

Cars pass through each other as ghosts, so there is no contact, no griefing and no one ruining anyone's race. Everyone chases their own time on a leaderboard, which works across skill levels because improving your own time feels good even in last place. A club room on your own server holds your track pack and a password. Free to play, though it needs a reasonable PC.

• RAM: 2 GB for a club room of up to 32.

2. SuperTuxKart

Free, open source and runs on almost any work laptop, including Macs and Linux machines. One lobby runs races, battles or kart soccer. Two or three races fill a lunch break exactly.

• RAM: 1 GB for a private lobby.

3. Puck

Physics based hockey that is hilarious for beginners and deep for anyone who sticks with it. Short periods, team based, and the smallest server holds 6v6 with goalies.

• RAM: 1 GB for up to 12.

Shared worlds for remote and hybrid teams

4. Minecraft: Java Edition

A team SMP is a classic remote culture project: everyone has a plot, the office gets rebuilt in blocks, and people in different time zones leave builds for each other to find. A whitelist keeps it to your team. Peaceful difficulty keeps it calm.

• RAM: 2 GB for up to 5 on vanilla or Paper, 4 GB for 10 to 25 with plugins.
• Read next: how to whitelist on a Minecraft server.

5. OpenTTD

Free and open source, and perfect for asynchronous play: the team runs one shared transport company, or a few rival companies, on a map that lives for weeks. Someone adds a rail line before their morning standup, someone else fixes the jam in the afternoon. Players can spectate when they just want to look.

• RAM: 2 GB for a team map.

6. Factorio

If your team writes code or designs systems, Factorio will feel uncomfortably like work, in a good way. Building a factory together is a real collaboration exercise, and the server keeps the factory between sessions.

• RAM: 2 GB for a small team.

7. Core Keeper

Calm mining, farming and boss fights in a top down world. A good pick when the team wants co-op without stress, and the dedicated server holds up to 100 if the whole company joins.

• RAM: 4 GB for up to 8.

For the Friday social

8. Garry's Mod (Trouble in Terrorist Town)

TTT is social deduction with guns: a few traitors, everyone else innocent, and a lot of accusations. It is a great icebreaker for teams that already get along. Keep the Workshop collection work safe and the server passworded.

• RAM: 4 GB for TTT with a few addons.

9. Valheim

For a small team that wants a weekly adventure: up to 10 Vikings, a boss ladder to work through together and a base to build. Crossplay lets anyone on Xbox or Game Pass join too.

• RAM: 4 GB for up to 5, 6 GB for 10.

Making a team server work

1. Keep it private. Whitelist or password, shared in the team channel only. How to make a game server private covers each method.
2. Check work laptops. Many company machines block game installs or game ports. Pick SuperTuxKart or a browser friendly option if in doubt, and ask IT before installing anything on managed hardware.
3. Schedule it. A recurring calendar slot does more for attendance than any game choice.
4. Mix skill levels with game choice. Time trials and co-op work better than duels when the team ranges from veterans to people who have never held a controller.

Hosting the team server

A GamezServers server needs no one's work or home PC: it has its own address, runs around the clock for teams across time zones and is live in about a minute. Settings live in a panel, backups are one click, and the bill can be split between up to 10 people who each pay their own share, or paid by one person. Start with Trackmania or Minecraft.

FAQ

What games can a remote team play together?

Minecraft and OpenTTD work well across time zones because the world persists. Trackmania and SuperTuxKart are great for scheduled sessions.

What is a good free game for a work team?

SuperTuxKart and OpenTTD are free and open source, and Trackmania is free to play.

Do we need a server to play games as a team?

Not always, but a server means nobody has to host from their machine, the world persists between sessions, and you can lock it to your team.

What game works across different skill levels?

Trackmania, because everyone races their own time with no contact, and co-op games like Core Keeper and Minecraft.