109 questions

Desert Island Icebreaker

Press Next card for a question about what you bring, who comes along and how you live once stranded.

You are stranded on a desert island. Which three things do you bring?

A morning swim, an afternoon nap or an evening fire: the best hour of the day?

One song is stuck in your head for the whole stay. Which could you live with?

How does this group decide things on the island: a vote, a leader or a coin?

Which friend do you bring: the planner, the joker, the cook or the calm one?

What would you and one companion still be talking about on day one hundred?

One crate of supplies arrives each year. What do you ask for in the first?

Each person names one item. Together, pick the one the group needs most.

Which thing would everyone else forget that you would remember to pack?

The group finds one bar of chocolate. Decide together what happens to it.

Which character from a book or a film would you want as a fellow castaway?

Read it out. Each person gives a pick and one reason.

Next step What if questions Things in common questions

All 109 questions

Three things to bring 20

A hat, sunglasses or an umbrella: you get one. Which?
One crate of supplies arrives each year. What do you ask for in the first?
One item of clothing beyond what you are wearing: which?
One luxury that is no use for survival at all: what is yours?
One musical instrument washes ashore. Which do you hope it is?
One photo comes with you. What is it a picture of?
Three things again, but nothing with a battery. What comes with you?
Three things from this room only. What do you grab?
What would you bring that the island could never supply?
What would you bring to keep from being bored, not hungry?
Which one tool do you bring: a fishing net, a rope, a cooking pot or a flashlight?
Which thing in your junk drawer would turn out to be a lifesaver?
Which thing would everyone else forget that you would remember to pack?
Which three things would you bring if comfort mattered more than survival?
You are stranded on a desert island. Which three things do you bring?
You can bring one piece of sports gear. Which one?
You can bring one thing to sleep on or under. What is it?
You have one backpack. What goes in first?
You may bring one thing that plugs in, and there is one socket. What is it?
You may bring three things from your kitchen. Which three?

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Just one 18

One album on repeat: which one never wears out?
One board game or pack of cards: which lasts longest?
One book, read over and over: which one could stand it?
One color of paint for your hut: which?
One film on a wind-up projector: which do you watch a hundred times?
One food, every meal, for a year. Which could you stand?
One fruit grows on the island. Which do you hope it is?
One hobby you could keep up on an island: which?
One hot meal a month, delivered by boat. What do you order?
One pair of shoes: boots, sandals, sneakers or none?
One piece of furniture: a bed, an armchair, a hammock or a table?
One poem, speech or song to learn by heart: which?
One snack washes up in a crate every month. Which do you hope for?
One song is stuck in your head for the whole stay. Which could you live with?
One sound from home, played on a loop: which would you choose?
One spice or sauce to make island cooking bearable: which?
One subject to study at last, with all that time: which?
One television series, every episode: which?

Who comes along 15

A talker or a quiet type: which companion would you choose?
For the evenings: a singer, a storyteller or a comedian?
Stranded alone or with one stranger: which do you pick?
What would you and one companion still be talking about on day one hundred?
What would you name a parrot that keeps you company?
Which animal would make the best island companion?
Which character from a book or a film would you want as a fellow castaway?
Which character from a story would be the worst possible castaway?
Which friend do you bring: the planner, the joker, the cook or the calm one?
Which habit of yours would drive a fellow castaway up a palm tree?
Which relative's skills would keep everyone fed?
Which storybook animal would you want guarding the camp?
Who from a book would run the camp best?
You can bring one expert: a chef, a doctor, a builder or a sailor. Who?
You may send one message in a bottle a month. Who do you write to first?

Life on the island 21

A beach hut, a treehouse or a cave: where do you live?
A morning swim, an afternoon nap or an evening fire: the best hour of the day?
How do you keep track of the days?
The island has no name yet. What do you call it?
Seeds wash ashore. What do you plant in your garden?
What becomes your island sport?
What do you carve into the biggest tree?
What do you do every evening at sunset?
What do you keep in your treasure chest?
What do you paint on the sail of your raft?
What does your daily routine look like after a month?
What is the dish of the day at your beach cafe?
What is the first thing you build?
What is your first rule for the island?
What is your job on the island, by natural talent?
What would you finally have time to get good at?
What would you invent out of driftwood and vines?
What would you miss most by the end of week one?
What would you not miss at all?
Which part of island life would you secretly enjoy?
Which skill do you wish you had learned before you were stranded?

Stranded as a team 18

As a team, design the island's flag and describe it in ten words or fewer.
Each person may teach the others one thing. What is your lesson?
Each person names one item. Together, pick the one the group needs most.
The group finds one bar of chocolate. Decide together what happens to it.
The group has one tent and it sleeps half of you. How do you share it?
The group may keep three of everyone's items. Which three survive the vote?
How does this group decide things on the island: a vote, a leader or a coin?
In pairs: agree on one thing to bring between you, then tell the room why.
One hammock, the whole group. Agree on who gets it tonight.
Put these in order as a team: shelter, fire, water, a signal. What comes first?
Vote: stay and build a village, or put everything into a raft?
What is this group's signal that dinner is ready?
What would this group call its raft?
What would this group's evening entertainment be?
Which skill in this room would be most useful on the island?
Which three island jobs does this group need, and who takes each?
Who is up at dawn, and who keeps the night fire? Split the shifts.
The whole group is stranded together. Agree on five things to bring.

Rescue and the trip home 17

A ship appears after a year. What is the first thing you ask the crew?
How long before you want rescuing: a weekend, a month or a year?
Rescue comes after one week. Are you relieved or a little sorry?
What do you leave in your hut as a note for the next castaway?
What do you shout when you first see the sail?
What do you write in the sand in giant letters?
What do you write in your message in a bottle?
What is the first meal you order when you get home?
What is the first ordinary thing you do, just because you can?
What is the title of the book you write about it?
What would you take home from the island as a keepsake?
Which comfort do you go to first at home: a bed, a shower or a fridge?
Which island habit would you keep back home?
Which news would you most want to catch up on?
Which story from the island would you tell at every dinner from then on?
Would you ever go back for a visit?
You have three flares. When do you fire the first one?

How this list was compiled: Our own questions for this page, written in October 2026; no list was copied. 109 cards for the desert island game: 20 on what to bring, 18 that allow just one book, food, song or the like, 15 on who comes along, 21 on life on the island, 18 for a group stranded together and 17 on rescue and the trip home. No card has a wrong answer and none gives survival advice: the picks are for talking about, not for a real trip. Each was screened against the site's clean-deck rules. The cards state no facts, so no outside source was needed. Every card was compared with every other list on this site, by exact text and by shared words, and cards that repeated one elsewhere were replaced. Licence: own work

How it works

The desert island icebreaker strands everyone on an empty island and asks what they would bring. This deck has that question and 108 more: one book, one food, who comes along, life on the island and the day rescue arrives.

Read the full guide

How a round goes

The desert island game rules are short. Read the card out: You are stranded on a desert island. Which three things do you bring? Give the group a moment, then go round: each person names a pick and one reason. No pick is wrong, and the reasons are the game.

The categories

The topics are the desert island game categories. Three things to bring and Just one hold the classic picks: one book, one food, one album. Who comes along and Life on the island ask about company and the daily routine. For desert island game team building, Stranded as a team makes the group agree: The whole group is stranded together. Agree on five things to bring.

With a large room, choose Show of hands: its 17 cards list the choices, so everyone answers at once.
Ask why after every pick. The luxury that is no use for survival says more than the rope.
For a deserted island icebreaker handout, press Print 109 cards: the questions come out as slips to cut apart.

Questions and answers

What is the desert island icebreaker game?

A talking game. Everyone imagines being stranded on an empty island and says what they would bring, often three things, with a reason for each. Nobody wins: the group hears what each person would not do without.

Is the lost on a deserted island icebreaker the same game?

Yes. Some groups call it the stranded on a deserted island icebreaker or the stuck on a desert island icebreaker. The question does not change: what do you bring, and why? The other 108 cards are follow-ups to it.

What can I ask after the three things?

Move to another topic. One book, read over and over: which one could stand it? The island has no name yet. What do you call it? A ship appears after a year. What is the first thing you ask the crew?