Best Ice Breaker Games: How to Play (Step-by-Step)

A curated list of the best ice breaker games with clear, step-by-step instructions. Perfect for team meetings, workshops, classrooms, and virtual events.

🤥1. Two Truths and a Lie

Players guess which of three statements is false, revealing surprising facts about each other.

⏱️ 10 min🔄 Hybrid

Steps

  1. Each person prepares three statements about themselves: two that are true and one that is false.
  2. Taking turns, each person shares their three statements with the group.
  3. The rest of the group votes on which statement they believe is the lie.
  4. The person reveals the lie after everyone has voted. It's a great way to learn surprising facts about each other!

🏝️2. Desert Island

Participants share the three essential items they'd bring to a deserted island.

⏱️ 10 min🔄 Hybrid

Steps

  1. Ask the group: 'If you were stranded on a desert island, what three items would you bring and why?'
  2. Go around the circle and have each person share their three items.
  3. Encourage follow-up questions to understand the reasoning behind their choices.

🕵️‍♀️3. Virtual Scavenger Hunt

A fast-paced online game where participants race to find common household items and show them on camera.

⏱️ 15 min💻 Virtual

Steps

  1. The host calls out a common household item (e.g., 'your favorite mug', 'something red', 'a book you'd recommend').
  2. Participants have 30 seconds to find the item in their home and show it on camera.
  3. The first person back gets a point. Play for a few rounds!

🌹4. Rose, Thorn, Bud

A thoughtful sharing activity about a recent positive (rose), a challenge (thorn), and something to look forward to (bud).

⏱️ 10 min🔄 Hybrid

Steps

  1. Go around the group and have each person share three things:
  2. A 'Rose': a positive thing or highlight from their day/week.
  3. A 'Thorn': a challenge they faced.
  4. A 'Bud': something they are looking forward to.
  5. This is a great way to check in and share on a deeper level.

🤔5. Would You Rather

Pose fun and thought-provoking dilemmas to the group, sparking lighthearted debates and revealing personalities.

⏱️ 15 min🔄 Hybrid

Steps

  1. Prepare a list of 'Would You Rather' questions (e.g., 'Would you rather have the ability to fly or be invisible?').
  2. Take turns asking the questions to the group.
  3. Allow for some debate and discussion on why people chose their answers.

🗿6. Rock Paper Scissors Tourney

A high-energy competition that turns a simple game into an epic showdown with cheering squads.

⏱️ 15 min🏢 In-Person

Steps

  1. Everyone finds a partner and plays one round of Rock, Paper, Scissors.
  2. The winner advances, and the loser becomes the winner's 'cheerleader'.
  3. Winners find new opponents. When a winner wins again, their cheerleader and the opponent's cheerleader now cheer for them.
  4. Continue until two finalists face off with huge cheering sections!

↔️7. This or That

A quick and easy game of preferences that gets people moving and making choices.

⏱️ 10 min🔄 Hybrid

Steps

  1. The host calls out two related options (e.g., 'Coffee or Tea?', 'Beach or Mountains?').
  2. For in-person, designate two sides of the room for each option and have people move to the side they prefer.
  3. For virtual, have people use a specific emoji reaction for each choice.
  4. It's a great way to see who shares similar tastes.

8. Quick Questions

A rapid-fire question game that keeps energy high and helps people learn fun facts about each other quickly.

⏱️ 5 min🔄 Hybrid

Steps

  1. Prepare a list of simple, fun questions (e.g., 'What's your favorite pizza topping?', 'What was the first concert you attended?').
  2. Go around the room and have each person answer a different question as quickly as possible.
  3. Keep it moving to maintain a high-energy and spontaneous atmosphere.

🧠9. Virtual Trivia

A classic team-based competition that tests knowledge on various topics and encourages collaboration.

⏱️ 30 min💻 Virtual

Steps

  1. Prepare a set of trivia questions across different categories (e.g., pop culture, history, science).
  2. Divide the group into teams and place them in breakout rooms.
  3. Read out the questions or share them on screen, giving teams time to discuss and submit their answers.
  4. The team with the most points at the end wins bragging rights.
Materials: Trivia questions, Breakout rooms

🎵10. Theme Music

Pick a personal ‘theme song’ for different scenarios (win, focus, superhero) and share why.

⏱️ 10 min🔄 Hybrid

Steps

  1. Offer 3–5 scenarios (celebration, focus, motivation, etc.).
  2. Each person names a track for one scenario.
  3. Invite short reasons or 5-second snippets if feasible.

📝11. Human Bingo

An interactive game that encourages mingling as players search for others who match descriptions on a bingo card.

⏱️ 15 min🏢 In-Person

Steps

  1. Create bingo cards with different characteristics or experiences in each square (e.g., 'Has traveled to Asia', 'Speaks more than two languages', 'Is left-handed').
  2. Players mingle and find people who match the descriptions in the squares, getting their signature.
  3. The first person to get a 'Bingo' (a full row, column, or diagonal) wins!
Materials: Pre-made bingo cards, Pens

📖12. One-Word Story

Collaborate on a spontaneous and often hilarious story by having each person contribute just one word at a time.

⏱️ 10 min🔄 Hybrid

Steps

  1. One person starts a story with a single word.
  2. Going around the circle, each person adds one word to the story.
  3. The story builds one word at a time, often with hilarious and unexpected results. Continue for as long as you like!

🎨13. Draw Your Neighbor

A hilarious challenge where everyone draws their colleague on a video call without looking at their screen.

⏱️ 10 min💻 Virtual

Steps

  1. On a video call, have everyone pin the video of the person to their right.
  2. Without looking down at their paper/drawing tool, everyone tries to draw a portrait of that person in 60 seconds.
  3. At the end, everyone holds up their masterpiece for a good laugh.
Materials: Paper and marker, or a digital drawing tool

🥨14. Human Knot

A team-building puzzle that requires communication and collaboration to untangle a 'knot' of linked arms.

⏱️ 15 min🏢 In-Person

Steps

  1. Have everyone stand in a circle, shoulder to shoulder.
  2. Each person reaches across the circle with their right hand to grab the hand of someone opposite them.
  3. Then, each person reaches across with their left hand to grab the hand of a different person.
  4. The group must now work together to untangle themselves into a single circle without letting go of hands.

🖐️15. Never Have I Ever (SFW)

A safe-for-work version of the classic game where players discover shared (and not-so-shared) experiences.

⏱️ 15 min🔄 Hybrid

Steps

  1. Everyone holds up ten fingers.
  2. Taking turns, each person says something they have never done, starting with 'Never have I ever...'.
  3. If someone in the group *has* done that thing, they must put one finger down.
  4. The game continues until only one person has fingers left up, or for a set number of rounds.

🧸16. Show and Tell

A nostalgic activity where participants share a meaningful object, offering a glimpse into their personal lives.

⏱️ 15 min🔄 Hybrid

Steps

  1. Ahead of time, ask everyone to choose one object from their home or desk that has a special meaning.
  2. Each person takes a minute or two to 'show' the object on camera and 'tell' the story behind it.
  3. This is especially effective for remote teams to feel more connected.

🎂17. Birthday Line-Up

A non-verbal challenge where the group must line up in order of their birthdays without talking.

⏱️ 10 min🏢 In-Person

Steps

  1. Instruct the group to arrange themselves in a line according to their birthday, from January 1st to December 31st.
  2. The catch: they cannot speak or write anything down.
  3. Participants must use gestures, like holding up fingers for the month and day, to figure out the correct order.
  4. Once done, go down the line and have everyone say their birthday to see if they succeeded.

🏆18. Superlatives

A positive and uplifting game where the group assigns fun 'most likely to...' awards to each other.

⏱️ 15 min🔄 Hybrid

Steps

  1. Create a list of positive superlatives, like 'Most likely to have a secret talent' or 'Best person to have on a trivia team'.
  2. Read out each superlative one by one.
  3. Have the group vote (either publicly or anonymously using a poll tool) on who best fits the description.
  4. It's a great way to give and receive compliments.

👍19. Three Things in Common

A simple but effective way to encourage deeper conversation in smaller breakout groups.

⏱️ 10 min🔄 Hybrid

Steps

  1. Divide everyone into smaller groups of 3-4 people.
  2. Challenge each group to find three things they all have in common, excluding obvious things like 'we work here'.
  3. Give them 5-10 minutes to chat.
  4. Bring everyone back to the main group and have each breakout room share their three commonalities.

✏️20. Pictionary

The classic drawing and guessing game that can be easily adapted for virtual settings.

⏱️ 20 min🔄 Hybrid

Steps

  1. Split the group into two teams.
  2. One person from a team gets a word and must draw clues for their teammates to guess within a time limit.
  3. For in-person, use a whiteboard. For virtual, use the whiteboard feature in a video conferencing tool or a dedicated online Pictionary game.
  4. Teams earn points for correct guesses.
Materials: Whiteboard and markers, or a digital whiteboard tool

🚤21. Marooned

A problem-solving game that encourages group discussion and consensus-building.

⏱️ 15 min🔄 Hybrid

Steps

  1. Tell the group they are marooned on an island with 10 items, but can only keep 5.
  2. Present the list of items (e.g., rope, knife, water filter, tarp, etc.).
  3. As a group, they must discuss and agree on which 5 items to keep for their survival.
  4. This reveals group decision-making dynamics and priorities.

🕵️22. Whodunit

A simple mystery-solving game where one person is the 'detective' and must figure out a secret rule.

⏱️ 15 min🔄 Hybrid

Steps

  1. Secretly select one person to be the detective and have them leave the room (or virtual space).
  2. The rest of the group agrees on a rule for answering questions. For example, 'Always answer as the person to your right would'.
  3. The detective returns and can ask yes/no questions to anyone in the group.
  4. The detective's goal is to deduce the secret rule by noticing the pattern in the answers.

😂23. Emoji Story

A creative and modern way to tell a story using only emojis.

⏱️ 5 min💻 Virtual

Steps

  1. One person starts by typing a single emoji in the chat.
  2. The next person adds an emoji to continue the 'story'.
  3. Continue this for a set number of rounds or until the story reaches a funny conclusion.
  4. At the end, have someone try to narrate the emoji story that was created.

🦋24. If I Were A...

A lighthearted game that explores personalities through creative comparisons.

⏱️ 10 min🔄 Hybrid

Steps

  1. The facilitator asks a series of 'If you were a...' questions.
  2. Examples: 'If you were a type of food, what would you be?', 'If you were a car?', 'If you were a musical instrument?'.
  3. Go around the circle and have each person give their answer and a brief reason why.
  4. It's a fun, abstract way to learn how people see themselves.

🗓️25. Team Timeline

A collaborative activity for teams to visualize their shared history and key milestones.

⏱️ 20 min🏢 In-Person

Steps

  1. Using a physical or digital whiteboard, draw a horizontal line to represent a timeline.
  2. Have team members add sticky notes for key events they remember: project launches, new hires, memorable moments, etc.
  3. This builds a sense of shared identity and helps new members understand the team's history.
Materials: Whiteboard, Sticky notes, Markers