Herd Mentality – A game

Equipment

Pen and paper or whiteboards, a plastic cow (or some other token)

How it works

Split the group up into at least 3 groups, ideally an odd number. It can be done as individuals, it’s just not as much fun.

1. The leader calls out a question that has a simple one word answer (see examples below)
2. Each group writes down their answer.
3. Everyone then shows they answers, and gets awarded points as follows:
   • If every group gave a different answer nobody scores any points
   • Every group which gave an answer given by the majority of groups gets one point
   • If one group gave an answer which no other group gave, they get the cow
   • The cow stays where it is until another group ‘wins’ it.
4. At the end of the game, the groups with the most points win – except that the group which has the cow cannot win

Probably 10 or so rounds is enough, but play it by ear.

More details

Example scoring with 5 groups (A – E) for the question “Name a capital City”:

The best questions have a pool of likely answers much smaller than the number of groups, but not so small that everyone will say the same thing. It’s best if some psychology is also in play, so that people are trying to work out what they think the other groups will say! It’s also fun to have divisive/opinionated questions about things which don’t ultimately matter (like favourite pizza toppings).

Example questions:

• Name the biggest thing you can think of
• Name the smallest thing you can think of
• Who is the cleverest person in the room?
• Who in this room is the most likely to get lost?
• Name a colour often found on flags
• Name a topping for pizza
• Who was the first person to arrive this evening?
• Which is the best fizzy drink?
• Which is the suit in a deck of cards?
• Name a book in the New Testament

It doesn’t matter if the answers are right or wrong – all that matters is how many other groups said the same thing.