Only If I Say
Do it only when the magic words come first. Half the room will move anyway.
You call out actions, and the room only does them if you said the magic words first. Everyone knows this game and everyone still gets caught, because the catching happens when you speed up rather than when you get clever. Nobody is ever out, so the people who get it wrong stay in and get it wrong again.
Everybody up. I'm going to call out things to do. Only do them if I say the magic words first. If I just say the action, stay exactly as you are. Nobody goes out, so if you get caught just carry on.
A room needs waking up and you want something with no rules to explain and no props at all.
Props: None
Run this when…
If none of these is your room, pick another.The first two minutes of a morning session
A flat room straight after lunch
Any group who need to focus on one voice
How to run it
Written to be glanced at mid-room, not memorised.
- Everyone stands with a bit of space around them.
- Say the magic words are "only if I say" — anything without them is a trap.
- Start slowly with easy actions: hands up, touch your nose, turn around.
- Once the room is comfortable, start mixing in commands without the magic words.
- Speed up. The catching happens with pace, not with cleverness.
- When somebody gets caught, name it cheerfully and keep going — nobody sits down.
- Stop on a caught-everyone moment while the room is laughing.
Running it well
Only the host sees these. Participants never do.
- Say the trap commands in exactly the same tone as the real ones. A change of voice tells the room which is which and there is no game left.
- Resist getting clever with the actions. Speed is what catches people; complexity just makes them stop and think.
- Nobody goes out. The version where people sit down leaves your quietest participants watching from a chair, which is the opposite of the point.
Watch out for
Space, safety and the traps worth knowing before you start.
- Keep the actions above the waist and on the spot. No jumping, no spinning, nothing that needs floor space.
- Anyone who would rather not stand can do every action seated — it changes nothing.
Seated version
“Everybody stand up” is not a neutral instruction. Offer this alongside, not instead.
Every action works from a chair: hands up, touch your ear, fold your arms, look left. The trap and the pace are identical.
On a video call
The cards work as they are. This is what changes about how you call it.
Runs identically. Every action is already above the waist and on the spot, which is exactly what a camera wants. Two changes: pick actions that read in a small frame — hands on head, touch your nose, cover one eye — and watch the grid rather than the room, because on a call you can see every single person get caught, which you cannot do standing in front of forty people.
Run it yourself
Free for thirty days, no card. Put it on the projector and step through it — nobody in the room needs a phone.
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- Where
- Remote or in person
- Props
- None
- Big screen
- Required
- Teams
- Individual only