Do You Love Your Neighbours?

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Energize a seated group through rapid movement and visible shared traits.

Use it when: Use when energy is flagging and the room has enough open floor space for safe, quick movement.

Skip it when: Skip when participants have mobility limitations that make rapid seat scrambles unsafe or in crowded rooms with tripping hazards.

Group arrangement: Circle of chairs with one participant standing in the center

Timing: Playmeo recommends 10 to 15 minutes; budgeted here for 15 minutes including setup and debrief.

Materials and tools

• Sturdy chairs without wheels, one per participant (one kept aside during play, then brought in for debrief)

Before participants arrive

1. Count participants. Set out one chair fewer than the total number of people in an inward-facing circle.
2. Keep one spare chair near the wall for the final seated debrief.
3. Clear all bags, cables, and obstacles from the circle center and walkways.

Say this to open

We are going to play a movement game called Do You Love Your Neighbours. I will start in the center as the Asker. Everyone else takes a chair. I will approach someone and ask, 'Do you love your neighbours?' Your answer dictates who has to swap seats while I try to claim one. Let us review the responses.

How to run it

1. Explain responses and safety 3 minutes

   Explain the two replies. If Responder says 'No', their immediate left and right neighbours must switch seats with each other. If Responder says 'Yes', they add a trait: 'Yes, but I love everyone who [trait]'. Everyone matching that description, including the Responder, must leave their seat and find a vacated one. The Asker tries to steal any open seat. Emphasize safety: no body checks, sliding, or pulling chairs.

2. Demonstrate practice round 2 minutes

   Facilitator stands in center as first Asker. Approach a volunteer Responder. Ask: 'Do you love your neighbours?' Have them answer 'No' so the two neighbours swap seats while you take one. Stand up again, ask another volunteer, and have them demonstrate a 'Yes' answer with a simple trait like 'everyone wearing blue'.

3. Run continuous rounds 7 minutes

   The player left standing becomes the new Asker. They approach any seated Responder and ask the question. Continue rounds at full pace. Intervene immediately if someone runs recklessly or calls an embarrassing personal trait.

4. Return chair and debrief 3 minutes

   Bring the extra chair into the circle so everyone sits down. Ask the debrief questions to settle energy before returning to the main session agenda. Hear three brief responses from the group.

Debrief questions

• What common habits or traits surprised you during the scrambles?
• How did the group look out for each other's safety while moving quickly?

Finished output: Physical reset completed with common personal traits identified across the group.

Remote

This game depends on physical seat scrambles and cannot run online in its original form. Related alternative: Have You Ever. All participants turn cameras on. The caller announces: 'Turn your camera off if you have never [action].' The caller picks the next caller from remaining active video tiles before everyone turns cameras back on.

Hybrid

Do not mix remote and in-person participants in this physical chair game. Run the in-person circle in the room while remote participants run the video-toggle alternative in a breakout room.

Access and participation choices

• Participants who prefer not to run can serve as Asker coaches or call out safety pauses from a stationary seat.
• Anyone may choose broad, public traits like clothing colors or morning routines to avoid personal disclosure.

If the session gets stuck

Two people reach the same empty seat at the same instant.

Whoever makes contact first keeps it. If simultaneous, both players stand, do a quick single-round rock-paper-scissors, and winner sits while loser becomes Asker.

An Asker calls a sensitive or exclusionary category.

Pause briefly and remind everyone to stick to everyday observable traits such as clothing, favorite foods, or daily commute habits.

Terms used here

• Asker: The person standing in the middle of the circle without a chair who poses the question.
• Responder: The seated player selected by the Asker to answer the question.