Guess the Number
The room guesses a number together. You only ever say higher or lower.
You think of a number and the whole room narrows it down, but only one person may guess at a time and nobody may organise who goes next. It is a very small activity that quietly shows a room how badly it coordinates when nobody is in charge.
I'm thinking of a number between one and a thousand. The room gets fifteen guesses in total to find it. Anyone can guess, but only one voice at a time, and nobody is allowed to organise who goes next. I'll only ever say higher or lower.
You want a short thinking activity that turns into a lesson about coordination, with no space and no props.
Props: None
Run this when…
If none of these is your room, pick another.Before a session on decision-making or coordination
A room seated in rows with no space
A five-minute slot that needs a point in it
How to run it
Written to be glanced at mid-room, not memorised.
- Pick a number and write it down where they can see it later.
- Fifteen guesses total for the whole room. Count them out loud.
- Only one voice at a time. Two at once wastes a guess — say so and mean it.
- Nobody may appoint a guesser or take charge. That rule is the activity.
- Answer only higher or lower.
- When they find it or run out, ask what a good strategy would have been and why they did not use it.
Running it well
Only the host sees these. Participants never do.
- Counting the guesses out loud is what creates the pressure. Silent counting means the room never feels the budget running down.
- The no-organising rule is the whole point. A room that appoints a guesser solves it in nine and learns nothing about itself.
- Halving is the obvious strategy and rooms almost never use it. Ask why at the end — the answer is usually that nobody wanted to be the one telling everyone what to do.
Watch out for
Space, safety and the traps worth knowing before you start.
- Nobody moves, so it works anywhere.
- In a very large room, only the loudest voices get guesses. Point out that pattern at the end rather than fixing it — it is part of what the activity shows.
Already seated
Nobody has to stand for this one.
It is already entirely seated and works in rows or at tables.
On a video call
The cards work as they are. This is what changes about how you call it.
Guesses in the chat rather than out loud, which removes the two-voices-at-once problem entirely and makes the no-organising rule harder to break. Fifteen guesses still. Count them off out loud so the room feels the budget running down.
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