Thinking of playing Traitors at the office party? We did, and this is what happened

Earlier this year, at our annual company gathering, the team decided it would be fun to play Traitors.  The Director with the darkest hair was picked to be Claudia and envelopes were handed out at the start to all staff, telling them whether they were ‘faithful’ or ‘traitors’. 

The idea of playing Traitors, I am told, is an HR nightmare.  From a company perspective, you want activities which bring people together not set them against each other.  But we didn’t consider this point before downloading instructions from Chat GPT and forging ahead. I was sitting opposite a close colleague when the envelopes arrived, and we immediately spotted strange behaviour amongst the remaining team. The game was an easy conversation starter for colleagues who didn’t know each other so well as we gossiped about our top suspects.

The meet-up was over several days and had a packed itinerary.  The Traitors set up a secret WhatsApp group and plotted who to kill each day, in between paddle boarding or zip lining.  Instead of awkward moments during and after dinner, each evening was filled with lively team discussions as we decided which colleague to ‘banish’.  We couldn’t wait to get to breakfast to find out who’d been murdered.

And guess who was the traitor who made it to the end? My close colleague who was sitting opposite me when the envelopes arrived.  She was a perfect Cat Burns and, like a complete idiot, I defended her innocence to the end, to everyone’s delight when she revealed her true traitor status.  I now have new-found respect for her ability to keep calm under pressure, and she’d have a great side hustle as a poker player.

So, if you’re thinking of playing Traitors at your office party, go for it! The game provided a unifying theme through our meet-up, much hilarity, and everyone got to know each other really well.  Be prepared to see  a different side to people you thought you knew, and watch out for the quiet ones.