One opening game built on numbers, with steps, a group size and minutes.
Number Icebreaker Game
Number Tag Hunt: Even, Prime, Over Fifty1. Each student wears a tag with a whole number from 1 to 99. No two tags are the same. 2. Each student also gets a card with six boxes: an even number, a prime number, a multiple of five, a number over fifty, a square number, a number with two matching digits. 3. Walk around and write one classmate's first name in each box, with their number beside it. 4. A name may be used only once. Sit down when all six boxes are full. Players: 12 to 36. Time: 8 min. Props: a number tag and a six-box card for each student, pens. Noise: loud. First meeting: yes.
Each press deals one number icebreaker game with steps: a counting game, a game about people told in numbers, a guessing game or an opener for a math class. Nobody is out, and no number asked for is an age.
Read the full guide
Math icebreaker games for a class
The games under For a math class in the list below are openers played with numbers, not practice. Everyone Ends on 1089 has the whole room say the same answer, and Digit Sum Groups seats the class by arithmetic.
By group size and by time
After the first press an Any group size box appears under the button, with 6 to 11 people and 12 to 30 people. More filters, its last entry, opens Nothing to bring and Five minutes or less.
Questions and answers
What is the number game icebreaker?
On this site, three games fit that name. Groups of the Answer: a called sum makes groups of that size. Three Numbers About Me: a group decodes three numbers on a card. The third, a group count, is the next answer.
Where is the count to twenty game?
Count to Twenty Together is on youth group ice breaker games, with Mingle, Mingle, With a Question, where a plain number is called. Tens Turn the Circle Around and Ten Voices, Then Nine are this page's counting games for a circle.
Which number games need nothing but people?
The ones the Nothing to bring choice keeps, such as Groups of the Answer, Ten Voices, Then Nine, Letter-Count Clubs and A Number We Share. The rest use simple props such as paper, a board or a timer.
Does the 1089 game always work?
Yes, for any three-digit number whose first and last digits differ by two or more. Every such number was put through the three steps for this page, and each one ended on 1089.
A Longer Number Every Turn1. Sit in a circle. The first person says any digit from one to nine. 2. The next person repeats it and adds a digit of their own, and so on around the circle. 3. The circle may mouth the digits to help whoever is speaking. 4. When the chain breaks, write its length on the board and start again from the next person. Players: 6 to 20. Time: 5 min. Props: a board. Noise: medium. First meeting: yes.
Groups of the Answer1. Everyone walks around the room. 2. The leader calls a small sum in place of a number: "Two plus two." "Ten minus seven." 3. Players form groups of the answer. Nobody is out: the players left over form their own group and call out how many they are. 4. After five sums, the leader calls the one that makes the groups needed for the next activity. Players: 12 to 40. Time: 5 min. Props: none. Noise: loud. First meeting: yes.
Numbers Printed Around the Room1. Everyone has one minute to find a number that is printed or written somewhere in the room: on a clock, a calendar, the spine of a book, a door. 2. Stand beside it. Two people may not use the same number. 3. Without leaving their spots for long, the group works out who has the lowest number and who has the highest. 4. From the lowest up, each person reads their number aloud and says what it counts or labels. Players: 6 to 30. Time: 5 min. Props: none. Noise: medium. First meeting: yes.
Show all 26 games (23 more)
Counting games, continued
Ten Voices, Then Nine1. The group counts down from ten to one with no leader and no plan. 2. The catch: "ten" has to be said by exactly ten voices together, "nine" by nine, and so on down to one voice for "one". 3. A listener outside the circle judges each number by ear and calls "again" when it is off. 4. Three tries at each number, then move on. Fifty-five voices in all make a perfect countdown. Players: 10 to 30. Time: 6 min. Props: none. Noise: loud. First meeting: yes.
Tens Turn the Circle Around1. Sit in a circle and count around it from one, a number each. 2. Whoever says a number that ends in zero points the other way, and the count goes back the way it came. 3. A slip costs nothing: the circle helps, and the count goes on. 4. Stop at fifty. Then play again with every number that ends in five turning the circle as well. Players: 6 to 30. Time: 4 min. Props: none. Noise: medium. First meeting: yes.
Two Numbers That Make the Target1. Count off around the room, and remember your number. 2. The leader writes the target on the board: one more than the last number called. 3. Find the person whose number and yours add up to the target, and trade first names. 4. With an odd head count, the person with the middle number pairs with the leader. The pairs stay together for the next task. Players: 6 to 40. Time: 4 min. Props: a board. Noise: loud. First meeting: yes.
Me in numbers 6
A Number We Share1. In pairs, partners have one minute to find a number that is true for both of them. 2. It may count anything they can check on the spot: pockets, pens they are carrying, letters in a middle name. 3. Each pair tells the pair beside it the number and what it counts. 4. Change partners and find a different number. Players: 6 to 40. Time: 4 min. Props: none. Noise: loud. First meeting: yes.
Does Anyone Share a Birthday?1. Before starting, each person guesses with a thumb, up or down: does any pair in this room share a birthday? 2. One at a time, each person says a month and a day, with no year. 3. Anyone who hears their own birthday raises a hand at once. 4. The leader gives the odds: with 23 people in a room, a shared birthday is more likely than not. Players: 12 to 40. Time: 6 min. Props: none. Noise: medium. First meeting: yes.
Favorite Numbers in Order, Lowest to Highest1. Each person thinks of a favorite number from 1 to 100. 2. The group lines up from the lowest to the highest, asking each other aloud. 3. People with the same number stand side by side. 4. Tell the person on your left and the person on your right why it is your number. Players: 6 to 40. Time: 5 min. Props: none. Noise: loud. First meeting: yes.
Letter-Count Clubs1. Each person counts the letters in their first name. 2. Hold up that many fingers and find everyone who shows the same number. 3. Each club trades first names and spells them aloud to check the count. 4. Clubs line up across the room from the shortest names to the longest. Players: 12 to 40. Time: 5 min. Props: none. Noise: loud. First meeting: yes.
Portrait Made of Digits1. Each person draws a face using only the digits from 0 to 9: zeros for eyes, a seven for a nose. 2. Sign it with a favorite number and no name. 3. Tape the portraits to the wall. 4. The group walks past and guesses whose is whose, and each artist claims theirs at the end. Players: 6 to 30. Time: 8 min. Props: paper, pens and tape. Noise: medium. First meeting: save it for later.
Three Numbers About Me1. Each person writes three numbers on a card. Each one counts something true about them: instruments played, towns lived in, a jersey number. 2. In groups of four, hold up your card. 3. The group guesses what each number counts, and the owner answers only "warmer" or "colder" until someone gets it. 4. Each group tells the room the number that took the longest to decode. Players: 6 to 40. Time: 10 min. Props: index cards and pens. Noise: medium. First meeting: yes.
Estimating and guessing 6
Dots for Three Seconds1. Before the session, draw between forty and ninety dots on a sheet and count them. 2. Show the sheet for three seconds, then hide it. 3. Each person writes a guess. Line the guesses up on the board from the lowest to the highest. 4. Give the count. Then ask the middle of the line and the two ends how they guessed. Players: 6 to 40. Time: 5 min. Props: a sheet of counted dots, paper and pens, a board. Noise: quiet. First meeting: yes.
Estimate the Unknowable in Three Smaller Guesses1. In groups of three, estimate a number that nobody could know: how many pencils are in this whole building? 2. Each group writes down the smaller guesses it used on the way: rooms, people in a room, pencils for each person. 3. Groups write their final numbers on the board. 4. The groups with the highest and the lowest numbers read out their steps. Players: 6 to 40. Time: 8 min. Props: paper and pens, a board. Noise: medium. First meeting: yes.
Guess the Sum of the Secret Numbers1. Each person secretly writes a whole number from 1 to 10 on a slip and keeps it. 2. On a second slip, each person guesses the total of everyone's secret numbers. 3. Read the secret numbers aloud around the room, and add them up on the board. 4. The closest guess gets a round of applause. Play again and see whether the room guesses better. Players: 6 to 40. Time: 6 min. Props: paper slips and pens, a board. Noise: quiet. First meeting: yes.
How Often Is the Letter E in This Sentence?1. The leader writes one sentence on the board and covers it after ten seconds: "Every evening eleven beekeepers reset the feeders between the trees." 2. Each person writes down how many times the letter E was in it. No talking. 3. Uncover the sentence and count the Es aloud together, word by word. This one has 24. 4. Exact guessers give a wave. Play again with a sentence of the leader's own and a different letter. Players: 6 to 40. Time: 4 min. Props: a board, paper and pens. Noise: quiet. First meeting: yes.
Step Toward Too High or Too Low1. Everyone stands in the middle of the room. 2. The leader reads a count with a number attached: "The main staircase has forty steps." 3. Step left if you think the real number is lower, and right if you think it is higher. 4. The leader gives the real number, and everyone steps back to the middle. Use six counts from the building. Players: 6 to 40. Time: 5 min. Props: six counts from the building, looked up beforehand. Noise: medium. First meeting: yes.
Two-Thirds of the Average1. Each person secretly writes a whole number from 0 to 100. 2. The winner will be the person closest to two thirds of the average of all the numbers. Give the room a moment to think that through. 3. Collect the slips, add them up with a calculator and work out two thirds of the average. 4. Read out the target and the closest slip. Then play a second time and compare the two targets. Players: 6 to 40. Time: 8 min. Props: paper slips, pens and a calculator. Noise: quiet. First meeting: yes.
For a math class 8
Digit Sum Groups1. Each student writes the day and the month of their birthday as digits: the 14th of March is 1, 4 and 3. 2. Add the digits. If the total has two digits, add those as well, until one digit is left: 1 plus 4 plus 3 is 8. 3. Students with the same final digit sit together. 4. Each group checks one another's sums and trades first names. Players: 12 to 40. Time: 6 min. Props: paper and pencils. Noise: medium. First meeting: yes.
Everyone Ends on 10891. Each student writes a three-digit number whose first and last digits differ by two or more: 725. 2. Reverse it and subtract the smaller from the larger: 725 minus 527 is 198. 3. Reverse the answer and add the two: 198 plus 891. 4. On "three", everyone says their result aloud. The whole room says 1089, and the first question of the term is why. Players: 6 to 40. Time: 5 min. Props: paper and pencils. Noise: quiet. First meeting: yes.
Follow the Chain in Your Head1. Pencils down. The teacher reads a chain of steps slowly: "Start with six. Double it. Add four. Halve it. Take away three. Multiply by five." 2. Nobody speaks or writes until the chain ends. 3. On "show me", each student writes the answer and holds it up. This chain ends on 25. 4. A volunteer reads the next chain, which they wrote and solved themselves. Players: 6 to 40. Time: 4 min. Props: paper and pencils. Noise: quiet. First meeting: yes.
My Favorite Number, in Disguise1. Each student picks a favorite number and writes it as a small puzzle: "three times four, plus one". 2. Pass the slip to the student behind you. The back row walks its slips to the front. 3. Solve the slip you receive and write the answer under it. 4. Hand it back, and tell its owner one guess at why that is their number. Players: 6 to 40. Time: 5 min. Props: paper slips and pencils. Noise: medium. First meeting: yes.
Number Tag Hunt: Even, Prime, Over Fifty1. Each student wears a tag with a whole number from 1 to 99. No two tags are the same. 2. Each student also gets a card with six boxes: an even number, a prime number, a multiple of five, a number over fifty, a square number, a number with two matching digits. 3. Walk around and write one classmate's first name in each box, with their number beside it. 4. A name may be used only once. Sit down when all six boxes are full. Players: 12 to 36. Time: 8 min. Props: a number tag and a six-box card for each student, pens. Noise: loud. First meeting: yes.
On Your Feet If Your Number Divides It1. Count off around the room, and remember your number. 2. The teacher calls a number, such as 24. Everyone whose own number divides it with nothing left over stands. 3. The class checks who is up. For 24 it is 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 12, and 24 as well if the count reached that far. 4. Sit down. Students then take turns calling a number, looking for the one that gets the most people on their feet. Players: 6 to 40. Time: 5 min. Props: none. Noise: medium. First meeting: yes.
Twenty Facts About Today's Number1. The teacher writes one number on the board, such as 24. 2. Students call out true facts about it: "It is even." "It is two times twelve." "It is one less than twenty-five." 3. A student keeps a tally. A fact counts once, and the class says so when one is repeated. 4. The class is one team: can it reach twenty facts in three minutes? Players: 6 to 40. Time: 4 min. Props: a board, a timer. Noise: loud. First meeting: yes.
Wave If Your Coordinates Add to Six1. Number the rows of desks from the front and the columns from the door, so that every seat has two coordinates. 2. Each student writes down their own pair. 3. The teacher calls a rule: "Wave if your coordinates add to six." "Stand if your two numbers are equal." 4. Students look at who is waving and say what shape those seats make. Call five rules. Players: 12 to 40. Time: 5 min. Props: paper and pencils. Noise: medium. First meeting: yes.
How this list was compiled: Written by the Game Night Generator editors on 2026-10-03 for a teacher, a youth leader or a trainer who wants an opening game in which a number does the work: a group of 6 to 30, students from about age 10 up, or adults. Three games on this site fit the wording "the number game": a called number that makes groups of that size (here, Groups of the Answer), three numbers about a person that the others decode (here, Three Numbers About Me), and a group count with one voice at a time, which belongs to the youth group ice breaker games page and is not copied here. Every set of steps is our own. Nobody is out, nobody is touched, and no number asked for is an age, a weight, a grade or a sum of money. Read on 2026-10-03 at Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthday_problem (only 23 people are needed for the chance of a shared birthday to exceed 50 percent), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guess_2/3_of_the_average (players pick a number from 0 to 100, and the closest to two thirds of the average wins) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1089_(number) (the number is used in magic because it can be produced from three-digit numbers). Checked by the build script: every three-digit number whose first and last digits differ by two or more ends on 1089; partners numbered i and N + 1 - i total N + 1; the digits of a day and a month reduce to a group from 1 to 9; the chain in Follow the Chain in Your Head ends on 25; the numbers that divide 24 are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12 and 24; and the beekeepers sentence has 24 Es. "First meeting: yes" means that nobody needs to know a name already. Player ranges and minutes are planning estimates. Licence: own work