Zombie Name Game Icebreaker

Purpose

Zombie name chase game is a high-energy, low-prep activity that combines laughter with learning. It can be used as warm-up or icebreaker to help delegates learn each others’ names. It is also great for warmup in acting courses. It can be a good start to cover serious topics such focus under pressure, rapid decision-making and quick thinking.

Objective

Delegates must avoid being turned into a zombie by quickly recalling and saying the name of another human before they are tagged. The game continues until all but one has turned into zombies or until a set time is reached.

What You Need

• A large open space where all delegates can stand in a circle.

Setup

• Form a circle. Everyone is a human to start with.
• One person starts as a zombie.
• The zombie walks towards another person of their choice in the circle.
• The targeted person must say the name of another human in the circle before the zombie tags them. Otherwise, they turn into a zombie. If so, they should adopt the behaviour of a zombie but stay where they are.
• The current zombie should move to replace the person who was named.
• The named person becomes the new zombie.
• The cycle continues with the new zombie targeting another person of their choice, and the named person tries to avoid becoming a zombie by naming another human.
• Zombies must always walk like a zombie.
• Zombies in the circle must always stand like a zombie and should be obvious that they are a zombie.
• If a person makes a mistake by calling the name of another zombie instead of the name of a human, they are turned into a zombie.
• The game continues with this chain reaction of name-calling and zombie transformations.
• Play until a time limit is reached (10 minutes max), or there is only one human left.
• After the game, hold a short debrief to reflect on the experience.

Timing

Explaining the Exercise: 5 minutes

Activity: 10 minutes

Group Feedback: 10 minutes

Discussion

• What helped you remember names under pressure?
• Did you find yourself thinking ahead or listening carefully for who was still in the game?
• How did the presence of more zombies in the circle affect your strategy?