One short game that opens a session on disagreement, with steps and one debrief question.
Conflict Resolution Icebreakers
One Sentence, a Roomful of Drawings1. The leader reads one sentence, once: "Someone is waiting by a door with a bag." 2. Everyone has one minute to draw it. No questions. 3. Lay the drawings side by side on a table, or hold them up. 4. List what differs: the kind of bag, the side the door is on, who is waiting, indoors or outdoors. Players: 4 to 40. Time: 6 min. Props: paper and pens. Noise: quiet. Debrief: Which detail did you add without noticing that the sentence never said it?
These conflict resolution icebreakers open a workshop or a class with an invented disagreement: a point score, a picture seen from two seats, a silent line-up. Each ends with one question about what happened in the game.
Read the full guide
Conflict management icebreaker activities, by group size
After the first press an Any group size box appears under the button. Most of the games run in pairs or in groups of four, so they fit 4 people or 40. More filters, the last entry in that box, opens Five minutes or less and Nothing to bring.
What the debrief line asks
The last line of every game is one question for the room. It is about the game: what a pair did with ten tokens, or why two reports of the same twenty seconds differ. Nobody is asked about a real dispute, and this page gives no advice on one.
Tips
In Score as Many Points as You Can, the leader never says who "you" is until the totals are added.
Questions and answers
What is a quick conflict resolution icebreaker for a large group?
Persuade Your Partner Over the Tape takes five minutes with 40 people: pairs have thirty seconds to get each other across a taped line, and the pairs who trade places both succeed. Six or Nine on the Floor runs with 40 as well.
Which icebreakers for conflict resolution need no materials?
The ones the Nothing to bring choice keeps, among them Three Yeses Before You Answer, Start With Their Last Word, Meet at the Same Number and One at a Time, Everybody Up. The rest use paper, cards, tokens, tape or an everyday object.
Do these games ask people about a real conflict?
No. Every disagreement is invented: who gets a box of paper, whether a window stays open, how to split ten tokens. Nobody describes a real dispute or names a colleague, and each debrief question asks only what happened in the game.
Where do the point games come from?
Three follow patterns that game theory has named: Score as Many Points as You Can follows the prisoner's dilemma, Split Ten Tokens the ultimatum game and The Shared Pot the public goods game. The point values and the steps are this site's own.
One Box, Two Secret Needs1. Tell each pair that one box of copy paper is left in the building and both of them need it today. 2. Hand out role cards face down. One reads: "You need the cardboard box for a display." The other reads: "You need the paper to print a report." 3. Pairs have three minutes to settle who gets the box. Nobody may show a card. 4. Ask how each pair settled it: one took everything, they split the paper, or each got the part they needed. Players: 4 to 40. Time: 8 min. Props: a role card for each person. Noise: medium. Debrief: Which question, if anyone asked it, showed that both of you could have all you needed?
Persuade Your Partner Over the Tape1. Pairs face each other across a line of tape on the floor. 2. The leader says: "You have thirty seconds to get your partner onto your side of the line. No touching." 3. Start the clock. Pairs may say anything they like. 4. Ask which pairs both made it. Two people who trade places both succeed. Players: 4 to 40. Time: 5 min. Props: tape for a line on the floor. Noise: loud. Debrief: What in the instruction made it sound as if only one of you could succeed?
Score as Many Points as You Can1. Split into teams of two to five and pair each team with another. The leader says only: "Score as many points as you can." 2. Each round, both teams secretly pick red or blue and show their cards together. 3. Two blues score 3 each. Two reds lose 3 each. Red against blue: red scores 5 and blue loses 5. 4. Play ten rounds. The two teams may talk to each other before rounds five and nine. 5. Add the two totals of each pair of teams together, and compare the sums across the room. Players: 4 to 40. Time: 15 min. Props: a red card and a blue card for each team, a scoreboard. Noise: loud. Debrief: Who did you take "you" to mean: your own team, or both teams?
Show all 28 games (25 more)
Win-lose or win-win, continued
The Shared Pot1. Sit in groups of four. Each person starts every round with five tokens. 2. In secret, each person puts none, some or all of them in the cup. The rest are theirs to keep. 3. Each of the four then scores half of what was in the cup, on top of what they kept. 4. Play four rounds and keep your own score. A group may talk only between rounds two and three. Players: 4 to 40. Time: 12 min. Props: five tokens for each person, a cup for each group. Noise: medium. Debrief: What happened to the cup after your group was allowed to talk?
Split Ten Tokens1. In each pair, one person is the proposer and holds ten tokens. 2. The proposer offers a split out loud: "Seven for me, three for you." 3. The other person says yes or no. On a yes, both keep their share. On a no, neither gets any. 4. Swap roles, then find a new partner and play twice more. Keep your own running total. Players: 4 to 40. Time: 8 min. Props: ten tokens or paper clips for each pair. Noise: medium. Debrief: What was the lowest offer that anyone accepted, and what got a higher one turned down?
Three Secret Instructions, Twelve Cards1. Spread twelve playing cards face down on a table, beside a sheet of chart paper. 2. Give each third of the group a secret slip. One says: "Lay the cards in a circle." One says: "Get every card onto the paper." One says: "Turn every card face up." 3. Nobody may show a slip. The group has three minutes, and anyone may move any card. 4. Stop and read the three slips aloud. All three can be done at once: a circle of face-up cards on the paper. Players: 6 to 40. Time: 8 min. Props: twelve playing cards, a sheet of chart paper and three instruction slips for each group of six. Noise: loud. Debrief: How long was it before someone asked what the others were trying to do?
Twenty Paper Clips in the Pond1. Each group of four puts twenty paper clips in a bowl: the pond. 2. Each round, every person takes zero to three clips, all at the same moment. 3. The leader then doubles what is left in the bowl, up to twenty at most. An empty pond stays empty. 4. Play six rounds. Each clip taken is one point. 5. Add up the points of all four, and compare groups. Players: 4 to 40. Time: 10 min. Props: a bowl and twenty paper clips for each group, with spares. Noise: medium. Debrief: In which round did your group work out how much the pond could give, and what changed then?
One thing, two views 7
Clockwise Looking Up, Counterclockwise Looking Down1. Everyone points one finger at the ceiling, arm straight up, and draws a slow clockwise circle while looking up at it. 2. Keep the finger circling the same way and slowly lower the hand until it is below the chin. 3. Look down at the finger. Which way is it turning now? 4. Nobody changed direction: the same circle looks counterclockwise when it is seen from the other side. Players: 4 to 40. Time: 3 min. Props: none. Noise: quiet. Debrief: At what point on the way down did the direction seem to switch?
Five Actions, Two Reports1. Without a word, the leader does five small things in twenty seconds: moves a chair, opens a book, checks the time, picks up a pen, closes the door. 2. Everyone writes down what happened, in order. No talking. 3. Pairs compare their two reports line by line. 4. The leader repeats the five actions so that pairs can check. Players: 4 to 40. Time: 6 min. Props: paper and pens. Noise: quiet. Debrief: Where did your two reports differ, and were both of you sure?
How Many Is a Few?1. The leader reads four phrases: "a few people", "several emails", "back soon" and "a short meeting". 2. Each person writes one number for each: how many people, how many emails, how many minutes. 3. For each phrase, find the lowest and the highest number in the room. 4. The two people with the widest gap may each explain their number in one sentence. Players: 4 to 40. Time: 6 min. Props: paper and pens. Noise: quiet. Debrief: Which of the four phrases had the widest gap in this room?
The Mug From Two Chairs1. Set a mug with a picture on one side on a table between two volunteers, turned so that only one of them faces the picture. 2. Each volunteer describes the mug in three sentences, saying only what can be seen from that chair. 3. The group lists every point on which the two descriptions differ. 4. Turn the mug halfway around and ask both to describe it again. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 6 min. Props: a mug with a picture on one side, a table and two chairs. Noise: quiet. Debrief: Which of the two descriptions was wrong?
One Sentence, a Roomful of Drawings1. The leader reads one sentence, once: "Someone is waiting by a door with a bag." 2. Everyone has one minute to draw it. No questions. 3. Lay the drawings side by side on a table, or hold them up. 4. List what differs: the kind of bag, the side the door is on, who is waiting, indoors or outdoors. Players: 4 to 40. Time: 6 min. Props: paper and pens. Noise: quiet. Debrief: Which detail did you add without noticing that the sentence never said it?
Rabbit or Duck, Five Seconds1. Show the rabbit and duck figure for five seconds, then hide it. It is one drawing that can be seen as either animal. 2. Each person writes down the one animal they saw. No talking. 3. Count hands for each animal. 4. Show the figure again. Each person tells a neighbor how to find the other animal in it. Players: 4 to 40. Time: 5 min. Props: a copy of the rabbit and duck figure, paper and pens. Noise: quiet. Debrief: Once you could see both animals, could you go back to seeing only one?
Six or Nine on the Floor1. Lay a sheet with one large digit on the floor: a 6 with no line under it. 2. Half the group stands on one side of the sheet, and half on the other. 3. On "three", everyone says aloud the number they see. 4. Each side gives one reason that it is right. Then the two sides trade places and look again. Players: 4 to 40. Time: 5 min. Props: a large 6 drawn on a sheet of paper. Noise: medium. Debrief: What would each side have needed to hear before it walked around the sheet?
Listen before you answer 7
Argue the Answer You Did Not Pick1. The leader asks a light question with two answers: "Cats or dogs?" Each person tells a partner which they would pick. 2. Now each person argues for the other answer for sixty seconds, as well as they can. 3. The partner listens and then names the strongest point they heard. 4. Swap, then try a second question: "Mountains or beach?" Players: 4 to 40. Time: 6 min. Props: none. Noise: medium. Debrief: Which point for the other side was harder to argue against than you expected?
Both Talk at Once, Then Take Turns1. In pairs, each person has thirty seconds to describe the ideal office picnic. Both talk at the same time. 2. Each then says what they caught of the other's picnic. 3. Run it again with turns: thirty seconds each, and the listener stays silent. 4. Each says again what they caught. Players: 4 to 40. Time: 5 min. Props: none. Noise: loud. Debrief: How much more of your partner's picnic did you catch the second time?
The Interruption Counter1. In groups of three or four, two people get opposite sides of a light question: "Should the office plant go by the window or by the door?" 2. They discuss it for two minutes. The others say nothing and keep two tallies: interruptions, and questions asked. 3. The counters read out both tallies, with no names and no comment. 4. Rotate until everyone has counted once. Players: 4 to 40. Time: 9 min. Props: paper and pens. Noise: medium. Debrief: Which of the two tallies was higher in your group, and did that surprise you?
Start With Their Last Word1. Pairs are assigned opposite sides of a small question: "Is a picnic better at a park or at a beach?" 2. The first speaker says one sentence for their side. 3. The reply has to begin with the last word of that sentence. 4. Keep going for two minutes. A reply that starts with any other word is said again. Players: 4 to 40. Time: 5 min. Props: none. Noise: medium. Debrief: What did you have to do differently to catch the last word every time?
Their Side as a Headline1. Pairs get opposite sides of a light question: "Is it better to arrive early or exactly on time?" 2. One person argues their side for thirty seconds. 3. The listener sums it up as a headline of exactly five words. 4. The speaker holds up one to five fingers for how well the headline fits. Swap and repeat. Players: 4 to 40. Time: 6 min. Props: none. Noise: medium. Debrief: What was missing from the headlines that scored a two or a three?
Three Yeses Before You Answer1. Give each pair a harmless question to disagree on, and assign the sides: "Are meetings better in the morning or in the afternoon?" 2. The first speaker makes a point in two or three sentences. 3. Before replying, the listener says it back in their own words, a piece at a time, until the speaker has said "yes" three times. 4. Only then may the listener answer. Swap after each point, for four minutes. Players: 4 to 40. Time: 8 min. Props: none. Noise: medium. Debrief: How did the conversation change once you had to earn three yeses first?
Window Open, Window Shut1. Tell each pair that they share a room with one window. Hand out role cards face down. 2. One card reads: "You want the window open: the room is stuffy." The other reads: "You want it shut: the papers on your desk blow around." 3. For two minutes, pairs may only ask each other questions. No statements and no demands. 4. Then each pair has one minute to agree on something that serves both cards. Players: 4 to 40. Time: 8 min. Props: a role card for each person. Noise: medium. Debrief: Which question got you from "open or shut" to why each of you wanted it?
Agree without talking 7
Four Objects, One Choice1. Set four objects on a table where everyone can see them: a cup, a key, a pen and a book. 2. On "three", each person points at one object. 3. Without talking, point again on each count of three until the whole group points at the same one. 4. Count the tries, then play again with four new objects. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 4 min. Props: four everyday objects on a table. Noise: quiet. Debrief: What made people give up their first choice: the biggest group, or something else?
Line Up by a Card Nobody May Show1. Deal each person a number card from 1 to 50. Look at it and keep it hidden. 2. Without talking, writing or showing the card, the group lines up from the lowest number to the highest. 3. Clapping, tapping a table and holding up fingers are allowed. 4. When nobody is moving, turn the cards over down the line. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 8 min. Props: number cards from 1 to 50. Noise: quiet. Debrief: Which way of signaling a number did the group settle on, and how did it spread?
Meet at the Same Number1. Pairs face each other with one hand behind their back. 2. On "three", both show any number of fingers from zero to five. 3. Without talking, try again and again until both show the same number. 4. Count the tries. Then change partners and see whether it goes faster. Players: 4 to 40. Time: 4 min. Props: none. Noise: quiet. Debrief: Did you move toward your partner's number, or wait for them to move toward yours?
One at a Time, Everybody Up1. Everyone sits. The aim is for the whole group to end up standing. 2. People stand one at a time, in no set order, with no talking, pointing or nodding. 3. If two people start to rise at the same moment, everyone sits down and the group starts over. 4. Keep going until the last person is standing. Players: 4 to 25. Time: 5 min. Props: none. Noise: quiet. Debrief: What did the group start doing, without a word, that finally made it work?
One Drawing, Two Secret Plans1. Each pair shares one sheet of paper and one pen. Hand each person a secret slip. 2. One slip says "Draw a house." The other says "Draw a boat." 3. In silence, partners take turns adding one line each to the same drawing. 4. Stop after two minutes. Pairs show their drawings and read both slips aloud. Players: 4 to 40. Time: 6 min. Props: paper, a pen and two instruction slips for each pair. Noise: quiet. Debrief: When did you notice that your partner was drawing something else, and what did you do with your next line?
One Step at a Time to One Spot1. Mark a line on the floor. One end is a lunch break of fifteen minutes, and the other is ninety minutes. 2. Everyone stands at the length they would choose. 3. In silence, on each clap from the leader, each person may take one step either way or stay put. 4. Stop when the whole group stands within two steps of each other, or after twelve claps. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 6 min. Props: tape for a line on the floor. Noise: quiet. Debrief: How far did the two ends of the line travel, compared with the middle?
Twenty Cards, No Words1. Give each group of four or five a shuffled set of twenty cards: foods, tools, animals and sports mixed together. 2. In silence, the group sorts them into piles. Nobody is told what the piles should be. 3. Anyone may move any card, including one that someone else has just placed. 4. The sort is done when ten seconds pass with no card moved. Each group then names its piles aloud. Players: 4 to 40. Time: 8 min. Props: twenty picture or word cards for each group. Noise: quiet. Debrief: What did you do when someone moved a card you had just placed?
How this list was compiled: Written by the Game Night Generator editors on 2026-10-03 for the person who opens a workshop, a class or a team session on handling disagreement, with 4 to 40 adults in one room. Each game sets up an invented disagreement for a few minutes: a point score, one object seen from two seats, a sentence that has to be said back, a line-up made in silence. Nobody is asked to describe a real dispute, to name a colleague or to say anything more personal than a small preference, no game has touching, and nobody is out. The steps and the debrief questions are our own wording; the questions ask what happened in the game, cite no study or method, and the page gives no advice on a real conflict. Read on 2026-10-03 at Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner%27s_dilemma (two sides that each choose to cooperate or to betray, the pattern behind Score as Many Points as You Can), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimatum_game (a proposer offers a split, and if the responder rejects it neither gets anything), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_goods_game (players secretly put tokens into a shared pot that is multiplied and shared out), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit%E2%80%93duck_illusion (an image in which a rabbit or a duck can be seen, first printed in 1892) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icebreaker_(facilitation) (an icebreaker should not embarrass anyone or require touching). The point values are ours and were checked by arithmetic: in the pond game a group that takes two clips each scores 48 over six rounds, and one that takes three each scores 32. Player ranges and minutes are planning estimates. A game carries a group size only when it runs with every head count in that band. Licence: own work