We analyze the problem of effective intercultural communication skills development of university students. We emphasize that the development of these skills can be optimized through the use of the method of game modeling of communication situations, taking into account the intercultural differences of the dialogue participants. The analysis of reflection of cultural aspects of behavior on the example of the attitude to time representatives of different cultures using both different and common languages. We emphasize that members of different linguistic and cultural communities react differently to the same situations depending on their cultural background. The degree of success of the formation of skills of effective intercultural communication largely depends on a well-built system of role-playing games in the educational process. We conclude that it is necessary to create conditions under which the process of formation of effective intercultural communication skills can be formed by solving the problems of expanding the background cultu- ral knowledge, learning communication skills, the study of social and psychological standards of different cultures and familiarity with the ethno-cultural traditions and customs of native speakers of the studied language. Also we define the scope of leisure activities for the skills formation as promising.