Pass the Face
Turn to your neighbour with a face. They copy it, then turn the other way with a new one.
A face travels round the circle: you receive one, copy it exactly, then turn to the next person with a completely new one. It is Pass the Move done with faces only, which somehow makes a room far more self-conscious and then far more committed.
Circle up. The screen gives the first face, and the person nearest the screen turns to their left with it. You copy it exactly, then turn to the person on your left with a completely different one. Copy, change, pass. No sounds — faces only.
A room needs loosening and there is no space to move — everything happens above the shoulders.
Props: None
Run this when…
If none of these is your room, pick another.A tight room with no floor space
Before anything about expression or non-verbal signals
A short reset in a circle
How to run it
Written to be glanced at mid-room, not memorised.
- Circle up so everyone can see their neighbours.
- The screen names the first face. The person nearest the screen turns to their left with it.
- They copy it exactly, then turn to their left with a new one.
- No sounds. Faces only — it is harder and funnier.
- Let it travel all the way round, then back to the start to compare.
- Finish by asking everyone to make their favourite one at once.
Running it well
Only the host sees these. Participants never do.
- Encourage the starter to commit fully to the first face. A half-hearted opener produces a circle of people barely moving their eyebrows and the whole thing dies in four people.
- Copy exactly before changing. Skipping the copy turns it into everybody pulling their own face at once, which is not the same activity.
- Everyone making their favourite face at the same time is the best finish, and it takes three seconds.
Watch out for
Space, safety and the traps worth knowing before you start.
- Nobody moves from their spot, so there is nothing physical to manage.
- Pulling faces in front of colleagues is exposing for some people. Keep it fast — the first face on screen is genuinely daft, so the bar starts low.
Already seated
Nobody has to stand for this one.
It is already a face-only activity and works entirely from chairs.
On a video call
The cards work as they are. This is what changes about how you call it.
Runs on a call with one change: the circle becomes the gallery, and you have to fix the order first. Read out the order once — or ask people to rename themselves with a number — and then it passes exactly as it does in a room. Faces are bigger on a screen than across a circle, so it is easier to copy accurately.
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