Twelve companies on our list have table tennis onsite or at company events. Nine companies have cornhole games.

BRPH, a Melbourne-based architecture and engineering firm, has both. “BRPH uses fun and games as a chance to build relationships among the team and within the community,” says Kimberly Eye, the company’s communications manager. “The company holds both Ping Pong and cornhole tournaments throughout the year, and both are themed to benefit local charities.”

Eye says BRPH’s first pay-to-play tournaments in 2015 led to a 28% increase in giving to the United Way. “Our in-house champs that claimed bragging rights happened to be our CEO, Brian Curtin, and director of civil engineering, Jason Abbott,” Eye says. The gaming isn’t restricted to tournaments. “On any given day, around 12 p.m., you’ll find a crowd around the tables cheering on their teammates. They are set up in office common areas and can be used during lunch breaks, team functions and special company events,” she says.

If game rooms are an economic indicator, prospects look good at Florida’s Best Companies. One in five on our list has a game room or at least a game table. Suppliers say there’s been a post-recession increase in companies spending on games. “We are seeing a resurgence. Businesses are investing in their office space,” says Anthony Bollo, vice president of Florida Game Rooms, an Orlando-based supplier to the residential and the commercial market from Tallahassee to Miami.

Table tennis “serves as a nice cool-down for a busy work day,” says Rachel DeAngelo, marketing coordinator for Baldwin Krystyn Sherman Partners, a Tampa-based insurance firm. “It also does a good job of promoting wellness. We want our colleagues to remain active, and a few rounds of Ping Pong can encourage activity on a day where you’ve been stationary at their desks. We also encourage team-building exercises, and nothing says team-building like a casual game of Ping Pong.”

Best Companies engage in myriad other diversions — pickup basketball, Frisbee, running, cycling and obstacle course races, target shooting and pool, among others. Table tennis is the most prevalent, though cornhole is capturing an increasing share of the corporate imagination for offices, company picnics and trade show booths. “It’s huge,” says Frank Geers of the American Cornhole Organization in Ohio. “Tons of businesses have it as a lunchroom amenity. It’s safe, and it is engaging. They use it as a way for employees to engage with each other on a social level.” Cornhole is a level playing field for all ages and genders. It doesn’t take any time to learn and not much skill to throw the bag, though it takes skill to be very good at it. In Florida, cornhole state championships are held in Lakeland. Every October, the American Cornhole Organization has a masters-level competition there. Last year’s drew 230 people from 13 states. He says he expects double the number of participants this year.

A new gaming challenger already may be emerging. At Fort Lauderdale staffing company Hayes Locum, “our Ping Pong table is one of the most used things in the office other than coffee, of course,” says HR manager Aubrey Liem. But recently, the company sales manager has introduced pickelball play at a local park after work.

Next page: Free lunch; encouraging fitness; on the water; wage factor; "Wine Down Wednesdays."

Free Lunch

Surgical instrument maker Arthrex has an executive chef, culinary department and state-of-the-art kitchen at which lunch — entrée, soup and side plus full salad bar — is prepared for 2,000 employees at its locations in Collier and Lee counties. A recent weekly menu included broccoli rabe, honey-pepper salmon and German apple onion soup. It’s an American Heart Association “Platinum Level Fit-Friendy” worksite.

Accounting firm Markham Norton Mosteller Wright & Co. provides fresh fruit, nuts and other healthy snacks plus a free salad bar. During the busy tax season, it adds catered lunches. Workers are asked to contribute $3 per lunch to the United Way. The firm has been an American Heart Association “Gold Level Fit-Friendly” worksite for four consecutive years.

Encouraging Fitness

Berkowitz Pollack Brant Advisors and Accountants in Miami offered its workers Fitbits two years ago. It’s since distributed more than 200 to employees. Monthly contests see departments, offices and groups vie to come out on top for things like longest distance traveled or most steps taken. “During football season, we host a Fitbit draft where top performers gather around a table and based on past performance recruit members from across the firm to their team,” says the firm’s marketing coordinator, Vanessa Botero.

On the Water

National firm Duke Realty has a person from each of its markets serve on a companywide wellness committee that plans events. Duke’s Orlando office held a canoe outing in 2015 at Wekiwa Springs that drew the entire local office staff. It also took on a high-ropes course in Kissimmee and visited a trampoline arena. This month, the outing will be a rock-climbing gym. “All our employees look forward to these events, and we are excited for our next one,” says Katyann Beerbower, a property manager.

At Uproar PR in Orlando, there are half-day Fridays, wellness hours and potluck meals. Once a quarter, it holds a team-building exercise as well so that employees can work together on something beyond the day-to-day tasks. One such exercise: Team racing swan boats around Lake Eola, with a lunch afterward.

Wage Factor

Best Companies To Work For generally pay well compared to average wage levels statewide. The median annual salary for exempt (salaried) employees on our list is $78,675. The average for non-exempt: $39,797. The overall median is $53,583. That compares to Florida’s 2014 per capita income of $42,737, according to the University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research. Much of the disparity owes to the prevalence of professional firms on our list.

Wine Down Wednesdays

For the past three years, primarily during the busy season for accountants, from February through May, employees at PDR Certified Public Accountants based in Clearwater wind down on Wednesdays at 5 with “Wine Down Wednesdays” featuring cheese platters, sometimes chips and dip and, of course, wine. Conversation ranges from client and community events to family and upcoming training. “It’s a time to decompress and have more of a team-building time, while also talking about how everyone is doing with work during the busy season,” says Veronica Malloy, marketing manager. In the fall, the firm plans to pick it up again.

Giant Jenga

Nitro Mobile Solutions in Tampa builds camaraderie and team spirit with a giant version of Jenga, the tower building challenge game around since the 1980s. Digital branding specialist Zach Marner says the company’s had it for about a year and a half. It’s played during employee breaks and downtime and sometimes taken to events to draw people to the company’s booth.

Jenga isn’t the only game at Nitro. Several months ago, it also brought in a foosball table. “It’s a pretty even match when employees challenge each other, though I’ll say that our CEO (Pete Slade) loves to challenge employees to foosball. It’s a great way for us all to interact,” Marner says.