Five Clues

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Identify peers from little-known personal facts to practice active listening and build team familiarity.

Use it when: Use during kickoffs, onboarding sessions, or team gatherings when people need a low-pressure way to learn new facts about one another.

Skip it when: Skip when participants are total strangers who share zero common context and cannot reasonably guess, or when time permits only a rapid two-minute check-in.

Group arrangement: 2 to 4 small teams of 3 to 6 people

Timing: UWT suggested allocation for up to 12 cards drawn, fitting a 15-minute icebreaker slot.

Materials and tools

• One 3x5 index card per person
• One pen or pencil per person
• One collection basket or opaque envelope
• One flipchart or whiteboard with marker for scorekeeping

Before participants arrive

1. Place an index card and pen at each seat.
2. Draw a simple two-to-four column score table on the whiteboard.

Say this to open

Take an index card and write five facts or clues about yourself. Order them from hardest to easiest. Keep them quiet. Write your name clearly at the very bottom. For example, clue one might be 'I have lived in four countries,' while clue five might be 'I sit next to Sarah in marketing.' I will collect the cards, shuffle them, and read clues aloud. Teams will compete to guess who wrote each card using as few clues as possible.

How to run it

1. Write personal clues 4 minutes

   Distribute cards and pens. Participants write five numbered clues about themselves, ordered from hardest to easiest, and sign their name at the bottom. Anyone who prefers not to share personal history may write five facts about their public work role, hobbies, or general preferences. The facilitator collects all cards face down into the collection basket and shuffles them.

2. Form guessing teams 2 minutes

   Divide the room into 2 to 4 teams of 3 to 6 people. Explain the scoring: clue 1 guess earns 5 points, clue 2 earns 4, clue 3 earns 3, clue 4 earns 2, and clue 5 earns 1 point. An incorrect guess forfeits that team's turn for that clue. The card author must remain silent until their identity is guessed or revealed.

3. Run clue guessing rounds 6 minutes

   Draw a card. Read clue 1 aloud. Allow 10 seconds for teams to confer quietly and signal a guess. If correct, award 5 points and move to the next card. If incorrect or no guess, read clue 2 (4 points), and continue down to clue 5. If unpicked after clue 5, reveal the author's name with zero points awarded. Run 8 to 12 cards as time allows within the 6-minute window.

4. Tally scores and debrief 3 minutes

   Total the points on the board. Ask the debrief questions to the full room. Take 2 or 3 quick volunteer responses before moving to the main agenda.

Debrief questions

• Which clue surprised you the most, and why?
• What strategy helped your team guess correctly with fewer clues?
• What is one new thing you learned today about someone you already worked with?

Finished output: A completed game with revealed peer facts and a tallied scoreboard.

Remote

Use a private direct message or digital form (such as Google Forms or Slido) where each participant submits their five clues and name before or during step 1. Divide people into breakout rooms or assign team buzzers using chat reactions (such as typing 'GUESS' in chat). The host reads clues aloud one at a time and calls on the first team to react.

Hybrid

Remote and in-person participants submit their five clues into a single shared digital form or direct message to the facilitator. Form teams that pair remote and room members using a shared chat channel, or pit an all-remote squad against in-person squads. The facilitator reads clues over the central microphone and monitors the room and virtual chat hands equally.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may choose any category of facts, including light favorites, work skills, or pet traits, without disclosing sensitive personal life history.
• Participants may opt out of having their card read aloud by writing 'PASS' across the top; their card is set aside without announcement.
• Facilitator reads clues aloud and displays text on screen or whiteboard for visual and auditory access.

If the session gets stuck

The author gives away their card through body language or laughing.

Remind everyone to hold a poker face. If someone accidentally confesses, award the standard remaining points to the opposing team and draw the next card.

Clues are too obscure, resulting in no guesses across multiple rounds.

Remind the room that clue 4 and 5 should be noticeable or observable facts so teams can score.

Terms used here

• Hardest to easiest: Organizing statements from rare or obscure details down to obvious daily habits or visible roles.