Short group games

Messiness factor: Not too messy. Materials required: A standard deck of 52 playing cards, and spoons the total number of players minus one. Recommended of People: Small groups of Messiness Factor: No Sweat. Materials Required: Pens and lots of paper. Recommended Setting: Indoors in a not-too-noisy environment. Have you heard of the famous party game called Scattegories? You can play this on your own at parties or hanging out with friends. You receive one point for every unique not shared by any other player word that starts with the given letter and fit into the given category.

Write down as many valid words those that fit the category and start with the correct letter for the category as you can. When the timer ends, stop writing. Go clockwise and have each player read aloud their words. If someone else has the same word, both players cross out that word no points are earned. In the case of a tie, the word is disqualified. If you prefer to buy the official Scattergories party game with prepared categories, alphabet dice, you can buy it from Amazon.

Summary: Human Sculptures also known as Human Clay is an icebreaker group game that involves posing people into large human sculptures based on predefined topics. Two versions exist: a competitive version based on a guessing game, and a version that is more about coming up with a creative interpretation.

Ages: 12 and up. Recommended number of people: Groups of at least three. Messiness factor: Minimal — hold a pose for a few minutes. Materials required: Sheets of paper and pens. Recommended setting: Indoors or outdoors.

Materials Required: pens, blank white cards, an open space. A Thousand Blank White Cards is a fun game that will ask players to make up creative rules. Everyone starts with a wide open blank canvas.

The facilitator should prepare small stacks of white index cards. Give each person a pen. Instruct everyone on how to create a good card. Each card should have 1 a title, 2 a consequence, and 3 a simple drawing. Some cards can describe a way to win the game. More explanation on that below. Each player writes various cards, each with the 3 required parts as described above.

It should have the title, consequence and drawing. It can be funny and involve silly actions as well. Collect all the cards once they are written. Place the deck in the middle of the room on a table or anywhere easy to reach. At the end of a game, you can discuss as a group which cards were good and should be kept for play in future games.

The fun of this game is not so much winning, but rather being creative in making unique cards that can be retained for future play. Materials Required: Bowl, lots of paper, and pens. Summary: A teambuilding activity that asks people to identify what object they would bring if they were to be stranded on a deserted island. Each person discusses why they brought the object. Within groups, people decide how to improve their chances of survival by combining various objects.

Recommended number of people: Groups of 5 to Materials required: Paper and pen, if desired. Recommended setting: Indoors. Summary: A classic get-to-know-you icebreaker in which each person says two truths and one lie. The goal is to figure out which statement is actually the lie! Messiness factor: No Sweat. Summary: Signs is a simple party game involving stealth, silliness, and not getting caught! Recommended of people: Groups of people. Messiness Factor: No mess!

The acting typically becomes distorted over time and hilarious, as the last person in line tries to guess what the original clue was. Close Menu Cart.

When a group does not know each other, it may be difficult for people to start talking. Here is our list of icebreaker games that lets your team have a great time, while also providing shared experiences to facilitate future interactions.

Icebreaker Bingo is one of the best games you can play for new introductions. The game is a familiar format, easy to learn and a lot of fun. Plus, the game format lends itself to prizes and other forms of recognition.

Here is a free icebreaker Bingo card template you can play with. In this game, eight individuals, each representing a different intelligence, are stranded on a desert island. Because the island has a finite amount of resources, your team must decide what order to eliminate the individuals in, in order to ensure survival.

For similar ideas, check out this list of problem solving games. While Speed Networking may seem better suited for large group icebreakers, this activity can also be reworked as an intimate icebreaker activity. This exercise provides a fast and easy way for teams to get to know each other. To play Speed Networking, using a random team generator , pair your team into groups of two.

Then, give each pair icebreaker questions and five minutes to make their way through as many questions as possible. After five minutes are up, switch up the pairs. Since you are playing with a smaller group, you can cycle through the pairs more than once, so your colleagues can ask even more questions or simply chat about some information that came up in a previous question.

Need help thinking of ways to break the ice? Check out our list of icebreaker questions for some pointers. Hometown Map is an icebreaker game for work that is easy to set up. To start, pin a large world map to a bare stretch of wall and place a marker, small Post-It notes, and box of push pins nearby. Then, notify your team to use the push pins and Post-Its to mark birth places or hometowns on the map over the next few days.

When your team members walk past the map, the pins may prompt your colleagues to ask each other about experiences growing up in different places. Psychology Masks is another icebreaker activity pulled from Psychology that is especially suited for artistically inclined teams. To get started, order blank white masks and paints.

Then, ask your team to fill the outside of the masks with images signifying what others think of them, and illustrate the inside with drawings that symbolize their inner selves. When the masks are complete, display the finished products in the office. Because of the dual nature of the masks, the display is sure to stimulate discussion among your team members and provide a low pressure icebreaker game for employees to share more about themselves,.

To participate in this icebreaker game for employees, ask all your coworkers to name an accomplishment achieved by age These accomplishments can range from academic to personal, and you can play as many rounds as you like.

The end state of the chairs is a big circle with pairs of chairs turned upside down. Let the participants shout out numbers in the sequence from 1 up to 33 clockwise. Give the instruction:. Whenever a participant makes a mistake, the following participant has to start all over again with 1. Debrief when the group reaches the number So maybe stop at 32 or if you play it with nerds try to get to 42!

And you can control the duration of the game by setting the goal number. Let participants lift their feets from the ground. Announce the following instructions:. From now on, nobody is allowed to touch the floor or speak anymore. Others, often the ones furthest away from the exit, will cooperate by forming a bridge with their chairs. Some will also help others, e.

Assign a fruit out of three or four possible fruits to each participant and yourself, like. When they get up, the person in the middle also tries to find a chair. Given that there is one chair less than the number of participants, one person will end up without a chair, and the game starts over. Let them close their eyes.

Tell them to count to 10 aloud. Whenever two people shout out any two numbers together, let the group start over. They have to collaborate to find a appropriate strategy like letting one person alone do the counting, or by using a counting token which will be passed from one to the other.

Start by saying and doing three things in this order:. Game ends with the last person.