Ages: 10-21 years old.  Recommended # of People: 5-20.  Messiness Factor: No Sweat.  Materials Required: A fun attitude.  Recommended Setting: Indoors.

The Name Game
 
How to play

The Name Game (also known as the Adjective Game) starts with one person in the room picking a word that describes himself or herself as a person. The catch is, that the word must start with the first letter of their first name.  For example, my students call me Miss Velasquez.  I would say “Hello! My name is Vivacious Velasquez.” The person after me must say my adjective and name before saying theirs.  So they would go, “Hello, Vivacious Velasquez, my name is Silly Sam.” Then the third person would go, “Hello, Vivacious Velasquez, and Silly Sam, my name is Easy-going Edwin.”  This continues on until all of the students have gone. Being last is hilarious in this game, because they must remember everyone’s name AND adjective before stating theirs. 
  
Additional comments and suggestions

I’ve played this game in college and, of course, used my first name. I said, “Hello, my name is I-love-you Irene.” It was funny because everyone after me had to say “Hello, I-love-you Irene, I’m (insert witty adjective and name here).”  This is neat because you don’t necessarily have to pick a single word that describes you.  In fact, it doesn’t have to be an adjective at all.  Notice, however, that the first word of my phrase started with the letter “I.”  This is the only rule that cannot be broken. The more creative you are the better and more humorous the game will be.  This game will help students that may not already know each other to get to know one another better. When students pick their adjective (or phrase) it will also double as a great “tip” for the next person if they get stuck and cannot remember the other student’s name.  
 
(This game was contributed by Irene Velasquez.  Thanks Irene!)

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Ages: 10 and up. Recommended # of People: 5-6. Messiness Factor: No Sweat. Materials Required: None. Recommended Setting: Indoors.

Telephone Charades

How to Play

Telephone Charades or “Charades Down the Line” is an icebreaker/stationary game that is a hilarious blend of telephone down the line and charades. This group game is fairly simple to play. Select five to six participants and ask them to leave the room. The audience chooses an action that is specific, silly, and obscure to act out (e.g. “a nerd’s romantic first date”, “washing an elephant”, “going skydiving”, etc.). Once the clue has been decided, bring in all the participants and instruct them to face the right side. The moderator reveals the clue to the first person, who taps the second person on the shoulder and acts out the topic using charades rules (no talking allowed, no noises). The second person then taps the third person and acts out his or her understanding of what was acted out. This continues until it reaches the last person in line, who must guess what the action is. This game is funny because the action mutates and changes based upon each person’s interpretation of what is going on, often leading to confusion and silly motions.

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Ages: All. Recommend number of people: Groups of 3-12. Messiness factor: No sweat. Materials required: A large bag of M&Ms or any candy with multiple colors (e.g. Skittles).

M&M Game

This icebreaker is a simple way to help people introduce facts about themselves. It’s very flexible and adaptable - and (if you have a sweet tooth) delicious too! The M&Ms Game goes by other names: the Skittles Game, the Candy Game, the Color Game, among other names.

Setup

Pour M&Ms or any other multicolor candy into a bowl. Have everyone in the group grab as much or as little as they like from the bowl. Make sure that no one eats their candy right away.

How to Play

For each piece of M&M candy they took, they will have to answer a question, depending on its color. For example, you can designate:

• Red candy: favorite hobbies
• Green candy: favorite foods
• Yellow candy: favorite movies
• Orange candy: favorite places to travel
• Brown candy: most memorable or embarrassing moments
• Blue candy: wild cards (they can share anyone they choose)

You can be creative and choose any questions you think would be fitting for your group. The facilitator will then call out the color topic and everyone will go around the room sharing 1 answer per M&M. As an example: if you chose two red pieces of candy, you will have to name two of your favorite hobbies. After the individual has shared that color with the group, he/she may then eat their candy. Continue to go around the room until each color topic has been shared. (This game was provided by LeeLee1433. Thanks LeeLee!)

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Ages: 14 and up. Recommended number of people: A groups of 8 to 12. Messiness factor: No sweat. Materials required: A deck of cards to determine who plays which role. Recommended setting: Indoors.

Mafia Game

This stationary game (originally invented by psychology student Dimitry Davidoff in Russia, 1986) is a popular group game involving strategy and bluffing. It is good for discussing topics such as lying, deception, trust, good versus evil, etc. or just for a fun time. There are five roles one can play: one narrator, two members of the mafia, two members of the police (or one the group is not large), one doctor, the remaining people are townspeople.

Setup

The narrator needs to prepare the right number of playing cards to set up the game. He or she takes out two aces (which represent mafia), two kings (which represent police), one queen (which represents the doctor), and several number cards (one for each of the remaining roles to be played). Therefore, if there are 12 people playing, there would be two aces, two kings, one queen, and seven number (non-face) cards, adding up to 12 cards. The narrator shuffles these cards and each person randomly selects a card, without revealing his or her identity. The person assumes the role for the round.Roles

• Ace card: Anyone who gets an Ace card is a Mafia member. Their goal is to keep secret that they are Mafia and blend in with the Townspeople. For them to win the game, they want to eliminate the townspeople one by one each round but not to get eliminated (voted off) during the day.
• King card: Anyone who gets a King card is a member of the Police. These members try to figure out who is guilty of being a Mafia and who is innocent. Thus, their goal is to help the townspeople vote correctly in who to eliminate during the day (the good people, not the bad!). They generally want to keep their identity secret so that the Mafia cannot eliminate them early.
• Queen card: The doctor role. This optional (but recommended) role serves one purpose - to try to protect people during the night. He or she can also be selfish and choose to protect himself during the night.
• All other cards (number cards): Townspeople. Their goal is to figure out who is a member of the secret Mafia, and to eliminate them from the town during the day.

How to Play

Arrange the players in a circle, with the narrator outside the circle and walking around it. Each “day” of the game, the narrator takes the entire town through the following commands in this order:

1. Nighttime

• It is nighttime, so everyone please go to sleep.” (Everyone puts their head down and closes their eyes)
• “Mafia, please wake up.” (Only the mafia quietly opens their eyes. The ones that are still “alive” quietly and unanimously choose a person to eliminate by pointing to someone in the group. The narrator takes note of the person chosen.
• “Mafia, please go to sleep.” (The mafia closes eyes and places their heads down again.)
• “Police, please wake up.” (The member(s) of the police that are still alive open their eyes and quietly points to one person who they suspect is a member of the Mafia.
• The narrator quietly nods or shakes his or her head to indicate whether that person is indeed Mafia.
• “Police, please go to sleep.” (The member(s) of the police close their eyes and place their heads down.)
• “Doctor, please wake up and choose someone you’d like to protect.” (The doctor, if still alive, wakes up and silently points to someone they would like to protect for that day.)
• “Doctor, please go to sleep.” (The doctor closes his or her eyes and puts his/her head down.)
• “It’s morning. Everyone please wake up.” (Everyone opens their eyes and raises their head.)

2. Daytime Update

• The narrator announces the person who was eliminated, unless the doctor correctly selected the person who was targeted by the Mafia for the night. The person who was eliminated MUST quietly leave the circle. This person may not speak to anyone for the remainder of the entire game, but he or she may now keep his/her eyes open to watch everything.

3. Daytime Discussion/Voting

• The townspeople (along with the Mafia and Police who may pretend to be townspeople) then nominate and vote on people who they suspect is a Mafia. Each person nominated may make a defense and plead their case. The person receiving a majority vote (50% or above) is eliminated. After someone is voted off, the day is over. The day may also end without any eliminations if the entire group decides to do so. The day ends, and the pattern starts again (Nighttime, Daytime Update, Daytime Discussion/Voting).

How to Win

The police or townspeople win if they successfully eliminate all mafia members. The mafia win if they successfully eliminate all the townspeople. This group game involves lots of strategy, knowing how and when to reveal your identity, who to trust, etc.

Variations

A variation for younger kids is known as Predator. Instead of mafia, there are “predators,” and instead of police there are “hunters.” Usually three separate predators (lion, wolf, bear) are chosen and they are instructed to pick up their heads separately and kill someone (they sometimes kill each other). Also, rather than using cards, simply just tap them while their heads are down (”If I tap you now, you are the bear.”) It makes it easier for the kids to keep it a secret. (Thanks Sara!)

Many other variations exist for the game of Mafia. If you know some more good ones, please leave a comment and tell us!

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Ages: 12 and up. Recommended number of people: Groups of 5-8. Messiness factor: No sweat. Materials required: Two sheets of paper and a pen for each group. Recommended setting: Indoors.

Commonalities and Uniquities

Form groups of five to eight people and give them two sheets of paper and a pencil or pen. The first part of the activity is Commonalities, where each subgroup compiles a list of the things they have in common. In order for it to make the list, it must apply to everyone in the subgroup.  You want to avoid writing things that people can see (e.g. “everyone has hair,” or “we are all wearing clothes”).  Try to get them to dig deeper. After about 5 minutes, have a spokesperson from each subgroup read their list.

Then, depending on your goals for the session, you can have half of each subgroup rotate to another group for Uniquities or you can leave everyone in the same group. On the second sheet of paper have them record uniquities, meaning that each item applies to only one person in the group. The group tries to find at least 2 uniquities for each person. After 5-7 minutes, you can have each person say one of their uniquities or have a person read them one by one, having others try to guess who it was. (Again, you want to go beyond the superficial, avoiding those things that people can readily see). This is an excellent team-building activity because it promotes unity, gets people to realize that they have more in common than they first might realize. The awareness of their own unique characteristics is also beneficial in that people can feel empowered to offer the group something unique.

(Contributed by Amy R.) Thanks Amy!

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Ages: 13 and up. Recommended number of people: At least 10. Works with very large groups and meetings. Mesiness factor: No mess, no stress! Materials required: A large piece of paper or posterboard for each participant, pens/markers, sturdy tape. Recommended Setting: Indoors or outdoors.

First Impressions Game

This is a fun game that involves writing your first impression of someone you meet. If some people already know each other, that’s fine too — people can simply write some nice, encouraging words or adjectives to describe each other. This works well as an icebreaker for meetings, when there are new people present, or when people don’t know each other well. It can be entertaining as a party game, too.

To set up First Impressions, pass out the large sheets of paper and writing utensils. Have each person write their name on the top of a sheet of paper. Tape each person’s sheet to their back so that they can’t see it. Instruct everyone to mingle with each other and to converse. Tell everyone to say hello and to introduce each other for a few moments. After a minute or so, ask each person to write an adjective (their “first impression” of the person they just spoke with) on each other’s papers. Then have each person continue mingling with new people, repeating the process. After 10-20 minutes (depending on how large your group is and how long you want this activity to run), each person should have several adjectives and descriptive words listed on their backs. Go around the room and introduce each other, reading the words writen on your neighbor’s paper. This should be pretty humorous, and if people did this activity correctly, there should be lots of kind things said about each other.

Important note: instruct everyone to write nice (or encouraging) words ONLY! Do not allow any mean, rude, or critical words to be written. For example, one can write words such as “beautiful smile,” “great sense of humor,” “smart and witty personality,” “gifted listener,” etc.

(Credits: This game was brought to you by osu_fan. Thanks, osu_fan!)

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Ages: All. Recommended # of Players: A small group of 2 to 5 people. Messiness factor: No mess, no stress! Materials required: None. Recommended Setting: Indoor settings such as cars, classrooms, and just about anywhere else.

Twenty Questions

The objective of Twenty Questions is quite simple: guess the person, place or thing in 20 questions or less! This game is a stationary game, and also a good car game (meaning it’s a game that’s useful for long car rides). Little or no movement is required. It takes about 5 minutes per round to play.

How to Play 20 Questions

There are no preparations or special materials required to play. This game works best with a small groups of about 2 to 5 players.

Select one person to begin Twenty Questions. This person is designated as “it.” For each round, this person must choose any person, place, or thing. The person can be living (e.g. a current athlete or classmate), deceased (e.g. a famous person in history), or fictitious (e.g. cartoon or movie character). The place can be anywhere in the world, including creative places. The thing can be an inanimate object, an animal, a food, etc. Basically anything can be chosen, but try to make the selected item something that can be reasonably guessed. It’s no fun to play a guessing game that is impossible to solve!

After the person has chosen a person, place, or thing, the guessing begins! The other players take turns and ask “yes” or “no” questions in an attempt to figure out what the chosen answer is. That is, the questions must be answered with simply “Yes” or “No.” After each guess, keep track of the number of guesses that are used until it reaches the limit of 20.

Once 20 questions are used up, players may not ask any more questions. If a player correctly guesses the object before then, they become “it” for the next game and choose the next person, place, or thing. Otherwise, the answer is revealed.

Variations for Twenty Questions

This game can be useful as an ESL game (a way for non-native speakers to learn English words). You can prepare flashcards with various categories (e.g. popular foods, American States, presidents, famous landmarks, animals, etc.) and have the students choose a category before playing each round.

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Ages: 12 and up. Recommended # of people: Larger groups of 24+ people. Messiness Factor: No problem. Materials required: bingo cards prepared in advance and writing utensils. Recommended Setting: Indoors.

Autograph Bingo

Autograph Bingo is a fun way to help both new acquaintances and old friends discover facts about each other. The goal of this icebreaker game is to mingle and obtain the signatures of people who have the facts listed on their bingo card. Just as regular bingo rules, once a player successfully obtains a full row (5 in a row) on his or her Bingo sheet, whether obtained horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, he or she shouts “BINGO!”

Setup

Prepare a table with 5 rows and 5 columns (5×5), with interesting facts inside the boxes. These facts can include humorous or bizarre things. For example you can use facts such as:

• Speaks more than two languages
• Enjoys walking in thunderstorms
• Likes anchovies
• Has been to Alaska
• Has gone skydiving before
• Has more than three sisters
• Has gone without a shower for more than three days

Try to be as creative as you can. Like traditional bingo, you can mark the center square as a “Free Space”. After you are finished preparing the table, print out enough copies. You are ready to play!

Instructions for How to Play

Pass out pens and the bingo cards to each player. Explain the game along with the following rule: each person you talk to may only sign your sheet once (so that people can interact with as many people as possible). When everyone is ready, say “Go!” and begin the game!Once a player shouts “Bingo!” everyone returns to the center and the person must introduce the people who signed his or her sheet. If desired, you can ask each person to explain their fact.

The Autograph Game is a great way to learn humorous or unique facts about people. Have fun!

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Ages: All. Recommended # of people: 6-10. Messiness factor: No Sweat. Materials Required: None. Recommended Setting: Indoors.

Two Truths and a Lie

Two Truths and a Lie is the classic icebreaker game in which one attempts to identify which of three statements is bogus.

Instructions: Have everyone sit in a circle. Each person prepares three statements, two of which are true and one of which is a lie. In any order, the person shares the three statements to the entire group. The object of the game is to figure out which statement a lie. The rest of the group votes on each statement, and the person reveals which one is the lie.

Variation: Two Truths and a Dream Wish. As an interesting variation to the classic Two Truths and a Lie icebreaker, people may also play a version called Two Truths and a Dream Wish. Instead of stating a lie, a person says something that is not true — yet something that they wish to be true. For example, someone that has never been to Hawaii might say: “I have visited Hawaii when I was young.” This interesting spin often leads to unexpected, fascinating results, as people often share touching wishes about their lives.

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