A team game is a game played between two teams, each consisting of more than one player. It's also possible to have a team playing against a person or a computer.
To start a team game, players need to use three channels. At the moment Channels 20, 21 and 22 are primarily for this purpose. All the participants turn on one channel (Channel 20) to enable communication. Each of the two remaining channels is for each of the teams. All players of one team turn on the corresponding channel but not the other. The players in each team must agree to a captain. Then a game is started by the two captains. Now everybody observes that game.
Players can suggest moves using the appropriate channels. They can adopt a democracy and vote before making moves, or they can opt for dictatorship where the captain can decide on the move, taking advice from the think tank. Any form of decision making is possible, provided the team has agreed to it beforehand.
Typically, it takes much longer to play a team game than a game between individuals, because a lot of discussion is going on. Hence a longer time control and longer increment are recommended.
Playing team games is a good way to learn, because you are involved in a position and can hear different views on it. Some people play mainly positionally and some prefer sharp combinations. It is enlightening to see how widely different analyses can come out from the same position. Moreover, you can learn more about openings with which you are unfamiliar with.
Team games are also fun. During the consultation, it is typical that players talk and make jokes. It helps develop a friendly relationship between members of the FICS. In fact, even the process of forming teams can be fun. There are many ways to divide the players interested in a team game into two teams. One is to let the players join a channel randomly, another is to agree to two captains first and let them pick their teams in turn. Again a lot of imagination can be put to use here.
Remember: chess in FICS is for fun. So please don't flame. Sometimes even a team can overlook something and play a bad move. In that case, just take it easy. Try to work as a team and fight back from behind. Bitter words do nobody any good.
See also: channel, inchannel, tell, observe