1.

Assassin (also known as Werewolf or Mafia)

Assassin is a great game - it's simple to setup, needs no equipment, and is heaps of fun. You need at
least 7 or 8 people to play. Assassin Youth Group Game

There are five roles people play in the game - The killers, a medic, townspeople, and a moderator. For a
group of eleven, the ratios should be approximately:

2 Assassins
1 Medic
1 Policeman
6 Townspeople
1 Moderator

Except for the Moderator, the other roles should be allocated secretly. Normally, the Moderator writes
them on cards and hand them out, so no one knows what role others are playing. The moderator
should be someone who knows the game well (perhaps a leader to start out with).

In a nutshell:

The two assassin's objective is to work together to assassinate all the townspeople (including the police
& medic)
The townspeople's objective is to vote out both the assassins

The game starts with the moderator telling everyone to close their eyes.
Once all eyes are closed, the moderator asks the Assassins to open their eyes. Given it's the first turn,
each assassin will discover the fellow 'assassins'. The moderator asks the two Assassins who they wish
to kill. They silently agree (by pointing to someone) who to 'kill' that turn. Once they have selected
someone, the moderator thanks them and asks them to close their eyes.

The moderator then asks the Medic to open their eyes. They can then choose someone to 'save' (more
on what this means later). Once they have selected someone to save, the moderator asks the Medic to
close their eyes
Finally the moderator asks the Policeman to open his/her eyes, and select someone to accuse (of being
an assassin). The moderator must honestly (and silently) answer the policeman with a nod or a shake of
the head whether the accused is one of the assassins or not. The policeman then closes their eyes.
That's the end of the first round, and the moderator then asks everyone to open their eyes.

The moderator announces to the group who was killed during the night. The person who has been
killed takes no further part in the game. It is essential they are not allowed to talk.
(Note that if the person the assassins selected to be 'killed' was also the one selected by the medic, the
moderator only reveals there was a failed assassination attempt (and doesn't give any further
information) so the person remains alive).

It is them up to the remaining group members to discuss amongst themselves who they think the
assassins are. After a few minutes of discussion, the group must vote (one at a time) who they think is
an assassin. Given the roles have been handed out in secret, the early rounds are often full of
speculation, people justifying their innocence, or explaining their suspicions. And as the game
progresses, lies, deception and strategy creep in. When all votes have been cast, the person with the
most votes is out of the game (and must also not speak again). If there is a tied vote, give the group
another minute for further discussion then vote again.
The policemen add a twist to the game - if they have accused someone and learnt they are an assassin,
they may choose to disclose this to the group, but doing so has consequences - will the group believe
they are the policemen? Often doing so puts a bigger target on their back - the assassins may choose to
target that person next round. Or if the group are suspicious they may revolt and vote that person off.

The game continues on this cycle, with everyone closing their eyes, the assassins again selecting
someone to kill, the medic selecting someone to save, the policeman someone to accuse, the moderator
announcing who was killed, then voting again. If the medic and/or policeman have been voted out, the
moderator should continue pretending to ask them to select someone to save (or to accuse) just so the
townspeople don't know who those people are. If one of the two assassins is voted out, the game still
continues with one assassin.

As the game progresses, less and less people are in the game, and people (especially the medic and
policeman) build up more and more knowledge of who the assassins may be. Thus the discussions get
more and more interesting. It's recommended the medics and policemen keep their identity a secret in
the early rounds to avoid being picked off by the assassins. There comes a time however when it may be
beneficial to reveal their role to the group, especially if the policeman has an accusation confirmed.
Whether they can convince the rest of the group they are genuinely a policeman (and not an assassin
posing as a policeman) adds to the mystery!

Adjust the number of policemen / assassins according to the size of the group. For 15 players, have two
policemen, for 20, have three assassins, etc.
 2. Captain Is Calling

A great blood pumping game, Captain Is Calling lasts about 15 minutes. One leader who is outgoing and
loud plays Captain, explains the rules, and controls the game. Another leader serves as the Jailer. The
group forms lines with individuals standing one behind the other, facing front. The Captain says the
following: “You are crew members on a ship and I am your captain. Whatever I say to do, you do. If you
disobey my orders then you go to jail, where the jailer will make you do push-ups, jumping jacks, and
other exercises.” The captain uses the following commands in any order:

Stern – the crew must go backwards.

Bow – the crew must come to the front.
Port – the crew must go left.
Starboard – the crew must go right.
Captain’s Ball – two people get together and dances with one another.
Rowboat – three people get together and row a boat.
Octopus – four people get together, sit back to back, and kick their legs up.
Starfish – six people link arms and swing around in a circle.
Make sure the crew understands these commands before you begin the game. When an order is given,
it must continue until the Captain says. “Captain is calling.” When the captain says this, all players must
stand at attention. If a player does not follow a command correctly or are not in a group for a group
command, they are out. The game ends when there are only two people left.

3. Birdie on a Perch

Ask everyone to find a partner so everyone is paired up in groups of two.

Have them decide who is the birdie and who is the perch.
All the birdies stand in a circle and all the perches stand in a circle surrounding the birdies. Have some
music ready.
When the music starts, the birdies walk clockwise around the circle and the perches walk counter-
clockwise.
When the music stops, the birdies must find their perches and sit on them (the perch kneels on one
knee, making a perch out of the other leg).
If you don't have music, you can just have a leader yell "Birdie on a Perch!"
The last couple to pair up is eliminated and the object is to be the last couple left.
It's more fun if you make them move quickly in their circles so that they are at least jogging.

4. Birthday Bash

Setup a circle a set of chairs with one less chair then the amount of people present.

Make one person "it".

Go around the circle and have each person state which month he or she is born in. The "it" person calls a
month and everyone with that month must switch seats. The "it" can also call multiple months and if the
"it" would like everyone to move seats the person calls out "Birthday Bash" and then everyone is
required to switch seats. The person left out is the new "it".
 5. Animal Farm

This is a quick, fun activity to divide your group into smaller groups.

Give each person a card or post-it note with the name of a farm animal on it (ie. Cow, Pig, Horse, Sheep,
etc). To find the rest of their group, they must make the sound of the animal from their card, and then
assemble into groups based on their animal (ie. all the pigs together, all the sheep, etc).

Variations include blindfolding participants, or having different types of sounds (nursery rhymes, etc)

6. Caterpillar Race

Form teams of equal size, with five to seven players on each team (3 also works). Have kids think up
one-syllable names for their teams. Then line teams up next to each other behind a starting line.

Instruct team members to place hands on the shoulders of the team members in front of them and race
to a finish line according to the following rules of movement: The first person in line may hop one step
forward. Continue down the line until the last person in line hops one step forward. After the last person
hops, he or she must shout the team name. Then the whole team may hop one step forward at the
same time. Repeat this process to move the caterpillar along.

Players must keep their hands on the shoulders of the team members in front of them at all times
during the race. Players may move forward only by hopping one step forward with both feet at once. If a
team member breaks any of the above rules, it must return to the starting line and begin again.

6. Aardvark Relay

To play this game, you will need to divide the group into teams (the number of teams depends on the
area you have available and group size).

You will need some equipment for this game. Place empty bowls on one side of the room and bowls full
of dried peas on the other side. Make sure there is an equal number of peas in each bowl. Give each
team member a straw.

The aim of the game is for each team to transport a small pile of dried peas from a bowl on one side of
the room to another bowl on the other side, using only their straw. They do this by sucking through the
straw so the pea stays fixed to the end of the straw. If they drop the pea they must pick it up again
using the straw

The winning team is the one that transports all the peas first.

Game Debrief
You can conclude this game with a devotion on our tendency to want to hold onto material things and
the costs & difficulties involved with that.

A good bible verse to use is Luke 12:15-21

7. All Stars

Give each person a piece of paper and have them draw a self-portrait. Ask them to put their name on it
(in case it's not obvious who it is!). You can spend a little or a long time on this first half of the activity.

When everyone is finished, stick them all up on a wall.

The second step of this exercise involves handing out some stars. Each person should write a positive
adjective describing each person and stick it on their self-portrait.

You can buy star shaped Post-it Notes for this which work well, otherwise make your own.

This is a similar game to the Encouragement Game

8. Anyone Who?

This activity is a good icebreaker - perfect to get people mingling and talking. You need to print out a
piece of paper for each person with something like this:

Someone who has been to the Someone who prefers Someone who roots for the Chicago
Grand Canyon custard over jelly Bulls

Someone who has been on an Someone who reads Someone who knows the first and last
airplane in the past 12 months comics letters of the Greek alphabet

Someone who has been skiing Someone who is Someone who still owns a teddy bear
wearing red
People then have to find someone in the room who fits the criteria, and have them sign or initial their
name in the box - for example, if someone has been to the Grand Canyon, they can sign their name in
the box. When all boxes are complete, you are done! It can either be a competition to see who
finishes first, or simply an exercise everyone completes.
You can obviously change the questions to suit your group.
A potential variation (although requires additional preparation) is to have a number of different
versions of the piece of paper (so everyone's is not the same).

9. Blanket Volleyball

This game is just like normal volleyball, but each team is given a blanket.
The team should stand around the edge of the blanket, stretching it out so it is tight. The 'serving'
team should start by placing the ball on the blanket, loosening then brining it tight so it 'throws' the
ball over the net. The other team then use their blanket to catch the ball then throw it back.

It's an interesting and fun variation to a game we're all familiar with.

10. Build a bridge

The idea of this game is simple - split your group into teams of 3 or 4, and give each team a "Building
Kit" (explained below) and a bowl of water. Each group has 30 minutes to build a bridge to span
across a bowl of water.

At the end of 30 minutes, each group has to demonstrate their bridge. You then test it for strength by
adding pebbles one at a time, until the bridge collapses. The team with the strongest bridge wins!

Building Kit

The Building Kit is a shoebox with a variety of building materials. For example:

Ice cream sticks

Putty / Bluetack / Elmer's Tack
Paper clips
String
Glue
etc
Make sure each group has the same amount of materials, just to keep things fair.

11. Acrostic

An acrostic is an arrangement of words in which certain letters in each line, when taken in order, spell
out a word or motto.

Ask each person in the group to introduce themselves to each other by using words or phrases that
describe them to create acrostics of their own names (or nicknames). For example:

Andrew: Ace, Nice, Dynamic, Reliable, Energetic, Wonderful

12. Animal, Bird, Fish

Sit everyone in a circle, and select someone to start. This person (a) walks up to any other person (b)
in the group and says either “animal" "bird"or "fish."

The person (b) must then name a specific one of these that has not yet been said during the game,
before (a) counts to 10. If (b) succeeds, (a) stays in the middle and quickly approaches a new victim. If
(b) cannot think of one in time, he or she goes to the middle, and (a) returns to his seat.
13. Animal Kingdom

Ask kids to introduce themselves and say which of the following animals they most identify with: eagle,
dolphin, lion, sparrow, whale, or unicorn. (Use fewer animals for groups of 10 or fewer.)

Then have kids group themselves according to the animals they chose. Direct kids to answer the
following three questions in their small groups.

What is one thing all of you have experienced that many other people have not
What is one thing all of you believe in?
What is one thing all of you are afraid of?

14. Bun shuffle

Arrange chairs in a big circle. Choose someone from the group to be 'it', and that person stands in the
middle of the circle. Have the rest of the group sit on the chairs, and make sure you have one spare
chair.

The aim of the game is for people sitting down to prevent the person that is 'it' to take a seat. They do
this by shuffling their 'buns' left or right to occupy the empty chair before the person who is 'it' can sit
down. Players are only allowed to move left or right (ie. not run across the circle). Eventually once the
person who is 'it' gets a seat, the person to their left or right (whoever was slowest) becomes 'it'.

For bigger groups, you may need to have two or three empty seats

15. Chubby Bunnies

Please ensure you read the warning and disclaimer below before attempting this game

Chubby Bunnies is a very simple game.

Pick 3-5 kids, and stand them up the front of the group. Chubby BunniesGive each kid a marshmallow
which they must put and hold in their mouth (ie. they are not allowed to swallow it).

They have to say "Chubby Bunnies" out loud to remain in the game. Sounds easy, but each round they
need to fit another marshmallow in their mouth. By round 7 they have 7 marshmallows in their mouth
and it gets harder!

They are allowed to use their fingers to push the marshmallows into the corners of their mouths. One
by one people will drop out as they are unable to say "Chubby Bunnies". The winner is the last one
standing!

A word of warning - this game can often result in marshmallows being spitted across the room in
laughter, so it does get messy! :)
 16.Do you really know me

Everyone needs a pen and paper. Have everyone sit in a circle and place a bowl in the center. To start,
everyone writes down one thing that they think no one knows about them and then places it in the
bowl.

After everyone has put one in the bowl, everyone pulls someone elses paper. Go around the circle and
one at a time the person reads the paper out loud and trys to guess who the paper belongs to. You get
three trys to get it correct. The first person to guess 3 correct first wins. (the number correct can
change depending on size of group).

17. Encouragement Game

This game is a potential life changing game. It works best for groups that know each other reasonably
well.

Sit in a circle and give everyone a piece of paper and pen. Each person should write their name at the
top of the piece of paper, then pass it to the person on their left. Each person then writes one or two
(or more) positive characteristics about the person who's name is at the top of the paper.

After 30-60 seconds, everyone passes the pieces of paper around to their left again. This continues
until everyone has written on everyone else's paper.

A typical piece of paper would look like this:

/-----------------------------------\

| Jo Smith

| Kind
| Thoughtful
| Always thinking of others
| A good cook!
| etc
The final step is that everyone receives their piece of paper back again. It works best if you collect
them and hand them out one at a time, so everyone can see people's reaction seeing the positive
comments about themselves. Depending on the make up of the group, one option is to have people
read out their own list. As some commentators have pointed out below, it may be worth doing a quick
check to ensure the comments are appropriate and positive.

Done well, this is an incredibly affirming game and can be a night that people literally remember for
years to come.
Potential variations:

 Use a large piece of cardboard per person (rather than a sheet of paper) - this way people
can stick the cardboard in their room as a constant reminder of how they are loved!
 Jump online and make a Word Cloud of the terms (tip: to control the size of the text,
enter the word multiple times; Also click "Do not remove common words")

If you like this game, also check out the game Distinctly Beautiful

18. The Mine Field (15-30 minutes) –

The idea behind this exercise is to improve team members’ trust, their relationship, and to
communicate in a more effective way. You will need an open space such as an empty room or hallway in
which you will distribute ‘mines’ that are placed haphazardly around the area. The ‘mine’s can be cones,
balls, bottles etc. Team members are paired into teams of two. One team member will be blindfolded
and the other can see and talk, but is not allowed to enter the field or touch their partner. The challenge
is for the blind-folded person to walk from one side of the field to the other, avoiding the mines by
listening to the verbal instructions of their partners. (Optional: Have more than 1 pair walking through
the mine simultaneously, so the difficulty of focusing and listening to the right instructions increases)

19. Teeth

Begin this fun icebreaker with everyone sitting in a circle.

Have each player choose a fruit or vegetable.
The fun part of this game is that they will be saying the name of their fruit or vegetable without
showing teeth; they must speak with their lips over their teeth.
The first player says their chosen fruit or veggie two times and then another player’s fruit or veggie
twice.
For example, if the first player has chosen potato and they want to pass the play to someone who
chose celery, they would say, “Potato, potato, celery, celery.” Player number two would say, “Celery,
celery, squash, squash.”

Additionally, if someone shows their teeth, the player who sees them tells the group by screaming,
“Teeth, teeth!” and flapping their arms like wings, without showing their teeth in the process. Play
continues with people eliminated when they show their teeth. This game works well as an adult
icebreaker for introductions by substituting names for the fruits and vegetables.

20. Quiet

There is nothing quite as contagious as laughter. For this adult icebreaker, the goal is to keep from
laughing.

Instruct participants to pair back to back.

Count to three and have everyone turn and face their partner.
They are to look into each other’s eyes and stay solemn and serious with no speaking.
If someone smiles or laughs, they sit down.
Those who remain standing find a new partner.
 The activity continues until there is only one person left – the winner.
This works well also as a team game with two teams lined up and facing each other. At the end of a
given time, the team with the most members still standing wins.

Teens are often self-conscious and hesitate to participate in activities. A funny icebreaker game
involves teens in a non-threatening way and gets them ready to participate in other, more serious
activities. Our funny icebreakers for teens act as warm-ups and, although they can be messy, guarantee
involvement of even the shiest participants.

21. Zip Zap Zoop

Start by having all the teens sit in a circle.

One of the teens points to someone next to him or her and says, “Zip!”
The teens point and repeat, “Zip!” around the circle in one direction.
At any time, a teen can say, “Zap!” “Zap!” changes direction, with the teens pointing and saying, “Zip!”
around the circle in the opposite direction.
At any point, a person told, “Zip!” may choose to say, “Zoop!”
If they do so, they point at someone anywhere in the circle who can then restart the “Zip” in any
whichever direction they choose.
If you wish, you can take those who mess up out of the group and have as a winner the one teen
remaining at the end.

19. What If . . .?

A really crazy and fun icebreaker for teens, this game begins with each person receiving two notecards
(or pieces of paper).

On one card, the teen writes a random questions starting with, “What if . . .? For example, “What if
your cat could talk?” or “What if vegetables tasted like candy?”
On the second card, they write a possible answer such as, “They might ask you to breed pet mice.” or
“We would want to eat them all the time.”
When the teens are done, collect all the note cards, divide them into questions and answers and
shuffle them.
The leader or host picks a random question and answer and reads them aloud. There will be some
hilarious results.
Note: It is a good idea for the leader to read the question and answer first to himself to make sure the
pairing is not “unacceptable.”

20. Superlatives

A good icebreaker game, this one can be as long or as short as you wish. Divide your group into teams of
five to ten people. The goal of this game is for players to reorder themselves as quickly as possible. You
can use your own category or one of the following:

 From shortest to tallest – how many letters are in your first name.
 From farthest away to closest – birthplace.
 From least to most – how many brothers and sisters you have.
 Shortest to tallest – height.
 Beginning to end of year – birthdates.

Once a team has arranged themselves, the leader of the group makes sure they have done so correctly.
The first team to do so wins.