Competitive socialising for companies is one of those terms that gets thrown around a lot at the moment, and most of what’s written about it is aimed at venue owners, not the person who has to book a team night out. So what is it, and why do companies keep choosing it over the usual meal out or a standing drinks reception?
We’ve supplied games for events at Saffery, Atlassian, and Yoto, everything from individual arcade machines to full pub and arcade takeovers, delivered wherever the event is happening rather than at a fixed venue. None of those were trips to a bowling alley or a mini-golf bar. They were the games brought to the company, on the company’s own terms.
Here’s what competitive socialising for companies means, why it’s being booked, and the two different ways you can get it.
The short version: Competitive socialising is socialising built around a shared game: darts, crazy golf, shuffleboard, arcade machines. The game does the work an icebreaker would otherwise have to do, low-skill by design, so anyone can join in regardless of fitness or experience.
Companies book it because it replaces the awkward mixer or stiff formal dinner with an instant shared reason to talk. You can get it two ways: book an external venue (a Flight Club, Puttshack, or similar), or bring the same games to your own venue as a hosted package. The right call comes down to group size and how much you want the day built around your team specifically.
What is competitive socialising
Competitive socialising is socialising built around a shared game, where the competition does the work a host or icebreaker would otherwise have to do. Instead of a standing reception where people make conversation from a cold start, everyone’s playing and reacting as they go, so the connecting happens through the game rather than being the awkward thing people have to work at.
The games themselves, darts, crazy golf, shuffleboard, arcade machines, quiz formats, are the vehicle, not the point. They’re low-skill on purpose. Nobody needs to be sporty, competitive by nature, or senior in the room to join in and enjoy it, which is exactly why the format works for a mixed group of colleagues in a way a five-a-side football match never will.
The trend has grown quickly across UK hospitality: nearly a third of UK adults have visited a dedicated competitive socialising venue in the past year, and the people who go tend to go more often than they did two years ago. Most of the commentary on why it’s growing focuses on the venues themselves: social media, changing drinking habits, empty high street units getting a new lease of life. Useful context, but not much help if you’re the one trying to work out whether competitive socialising for companies is right for your team.
Why companies are booking it
Companies book competitive socialising for reasons that have very little to do with the hospitality trend behind it.
It replaces the awkward mixer. A standing drinks reception or a formal sit-down dinner relies on people making conversation from a cold start. A shared game gives everyone something to do and talk about immediately, without anyone having to work at it.
It’s accessible in a way sport isn’t. A traditional corporate sports day (five-a-side football, cricket) quietly excludes anyone who isn’t sporty. Darts, shuffleboard, crazy golf, and quiz-based games level that out. A graduate, a director, and someone who’s never picked up a dart in their life can compete on equal footing.
It works for mixed, unpredictable groups. Company events rarely have a uniform crowd: different ages, different fitness levels, different comfort with being the centre of attention. Game formats that don’t demand any particular skill are the easiest way to make sure nobody’s left standing at the edge of the room.
It gives the day structure without making it feel corporate. A few hours of hosted games breaks up an away day or a conference without turning into another agenda item. It’s downtime that still feels like an event, not a gap in the schedule.
Two ways to book it
Almost everything written about competitive socialising assumes you’re booking a table at an external venue: a Flight Club, a Puttshack, a Boom Battle Bar. That’s a genuine option, and it works well for smaller groups who want a night out somewhere new. Their downside is exactly what you’d expect from a public venue: it’s shared with whoever else has booked in, fixed to one location, and the same experience every visit.
The alternative is bringing the same kind of games to your own venue as a hosted package. Our Pub Package brings Shuffleboard, Digital Darts, Footpool, and a Human Jukebox, plus a personalised swing sign with your company’s name on it, to your office or chosen venue: a proper pub night, built for your team and nobody else. Our Arcade Package does the same for the arcade-bar experience: neon signage, leaderboards, and a run of classic and iconic arcade games, all hosted and delivered by us.
| External competitive socialising venue | In-house hosted games at your event |
|---|---|
| Best suited to smaller groups (a table, a section of the venue) | Built around your whole group, private to your event |
| You travel to the venue, and share the space with other bookings | The games come to you: your office, your away day, your chosen venue |
| Games and format are fixed by the venue | Games are chosen to suit your team and the occasion |
| Hosting is whoever’s working that shift | A dedicated compere and host team run the whole session |
| Pricing is typically per person, per activity slot | Pricing is typically a single day-rate package covering the whole group |
| Same setup, same crowd, every visit | Personalised signage and a layout built for your event only |
Neither one is better in every case. A venue booking makes sense for a smaller team wanting a change of scenery for an evening. A Pub or Arcade Package makes more sense once you’re planning for a whole company, want the day to run to a schedule, or want the format tailored to your team rather than shared with whoever else happens to be booked in.
The mistake companies make when booking
The most common mistake isn’t picking the wrong game, it’s assuming the choice is harder than it is. Faced with a long list of games, a lot of organisers freeze trying to pick the “right” one, when the honest answer is that most groups enjoy a well-hosted mix more than any single game done perfectly, which is exactly why the Pub and Arcade Packages are built as a curated set rather than a pick-one-game menu.
The second mistake is treating it as a generic add-on rather than something tailored to the team. A quiz-heavy pub night that works for a 20-person sales team won’t necessarily land with a 100-person all-staff day. Getting a proper steer on group size, age range, and how competitive people want to be (some teams want a serious tournament, others want an excuse to laugh at each other) matters more than the specific games on the list.
The third, more practical mistake: assuming a public venue can comfortably absorb a large private booking. Most competitive socialising venues are built around walk-in customers and small group bookings. Once a company group gets past 30 or 40 people, you’re often better served by a private session built entirely around your group, not sharing lanes with whoever else turns up that night.
When competitive socialising for companies is worth the cost
It’s not overhyped, but it isn’t automatically the right fit either. The value depends entirely on scale and purpose.
For a smaller team wanting a fun evening out, a booking at an external venue is often the simplest option, and a good one. For a company-wide offsite, an annual away day, or anything where you want the whole group engaged under one roof rather than splitting into whoever fancies bowling versus whoever fancies the bar, a hosted Pub or Arcade Package tends to deliver more for the same rough spend per head. Our Pub and Arcade Packages start from £3,495 for a smaller group, rising to just under £10,000 for our largest tier: a similar bracket to a full evening at an external venue once travel, food, and drink there are factored in. The difference is what you get for it. One full evening built entirely around your team, versus an evening shared with a venue’s usual footfall.
The genuine risk with any competitive socialising booking, in-house or external, is treating it as filler rather than planning it properly. A hosted session with a confident compere, clear structure, and games matched to the group works. The same games without any hosting or structure tend to fizzle out after twenty minutes.
Frequently asked questions
What is competitive socialising for companies?
It’s socialising built around a shared game, so the competition carries the conversation instead of leaving people to make small talk from a cold start.
Why are companies booking competitive socialising for their teams?
Mainly because it removes the pressure of the cold-start mixer and works for mixed groups regardless of fitness, seniority, or how competitive people are.
Should we book an external venue or bring in hosted games?
It depends on group size and what you want from the day. External venues suit smaller groups wanting an evening out. A hosted Pub or Arcade Package suits larger groups, or anyone who wants the whole event built around their team rather than shared with a venue’s other bookings.
What’s included in a Pub or Arcade Package?
The Pub Package includes Shuffleboard, Digital Darts, Footpool, a Human Jukebox, and a personalised swing sign with your company’s name on it. The Arcade Package includes neon signage, leaderboards, and a run of classic and iconic arcade games. Both are fully hosted and delivered by our own team.
How much does a competitive socialising package cost?
Our Pub and Arcade Packages start from £3,495 for a smaller group and go up to just under £10,000 for our largest tier, covering the whole group rather than being charged per person.
What’s the biggest mistake companies make when booking competitive socialising?
Overthinking the choice of game. Most groups respond better to a well-hosted mix of activities than to any single “perfect” game, so the more important decisions are group size, age range, and how competitive people want to be.
Does competitive socialising work for large company-wide events?
Yes, more easily than most external venues can manage. A hosted package is built around your group size rather than a public venue’s usual capacity, which is harder to arrange once a booking gets past 30 or 40 people.
Written by
Kirsty Davidson
Account Manager
Kirsty joined the team as an Account Manager in September 2024, and has since established herself as the undisputed Dance Machine champion and the office’s most vocal Taylor Swift advocate. When she’s not on the golf course, in a yoga class, or at a wine tasting, you’ll find her deep in a good book or making a creative case for why she’d absolutely win Taskmaster. Red (Taylor’s Version, obviously) is the one album she’d take to a desert island. Don’t try to argue with her on this.
Thinking about competitive socialising for your team?
We host Pub and Arcade Packages, plus our full entertainment hire range, for companies across London, backed by our satisfaction guarantee and clients including Google, Amazon, and Atlassian. If you know roughly what you’re planning but not which package fits, we’d like to hear about it.
