Let’s Circle Back, the Ice-Breaking Office Game a UVA Alumna Created

As she recovered from wisdom teeth removal surgery, Shivani Dimri kept within arm’s reach pain medication, an ice pack, an assortment of soft foods – and a notebook.

The senior consultant for Ernst & Young might have been laid up in bed, but her mind was still on the clock.

“Consulting is an all-consuming job,” Dimri said, “whether we like it or not.”

A casual round of brainstorming ensued, and by the end, the University of Virginia alumna had sketched the rough draft of her passion project: a game that’s now available for online purchase.

Let’s Circle Back is a corporate storytelling game and prompt deck that’s designed to break the ice with new employees or enhance the workplace culture within a veteran staff. Dimri, the game’s creator and self-labeled introvert, is hoping to help people like herself.

Dimri’s intention with Let’s Circle Back is to promote team building within a workplace. (Contributed photo)

“I want to help them find common ground with their coworkers,” Dimri said, “which is very hard, especially when you’re new in your career or new at a job or new in a consulting project.”

Dimri, who graduated from the University in 2019 with history and environmental sciences degrees, worked for four years at Ernst & Young and is now in a lead consulting role for PCI Government Services in Northern Virginia. Since 2022, when the concept first came to her while recovering from surgery, Dimri’s kept a side gig as the designer, producer and marketer of Let’s Circle Back.

With Dimri’s friends and co-workers serving as prototype testers, the game, after much feedback and a variety of tweaks, debuted in June. 

How It Works

The game, which can be played during a happy hour or any kind of informal gathering of colleagues, requires three to eight players. 

An appointed “judge,” a role initially given to the person who has the longest commute to work, draws from a stack of 57 “conversation cards” a variety of relatable prompts such as “Tell us about a time when a client or coworker called you by the wrong name (or you called them by the wrong name)” or “Tell us about an email fail” or “If you could restock the office kitchen, which snacks and drinks would you provide?”

The person with the best response to the prompt, as determined by the judge, is awarded their first of six “rank” cards, which begin at “intern” and ends at “partner.” The goal is to become partner. 

The judge rotates clockwise among the group. 

Twists in the game include the judge pulling an “early promotion” card – meaning they get their next rank card for free – or pulling a “performance improvement plan” card – meaning they must give back a rank card, if applicable.

If a person doesn’t have an immediate answer to a conversation card, they can pass by saying “Let’s circle back.”

“That’s just funny, because you actually don’t end up circling back to it,” Dimri said. “And that’s what happens at work, too, because people sometimes say, ‘Oh, let’s circle back’ to just stop the topic and move on.”

Dimri said she drew inspiration for the game’s format from one of her family’s favorites, Apples to Apples. 

Let’s Circle Back just adds a workplace touch.