---
title: "Dozens"
description: "Small groups play a category card duel where two players take turns naming valid items until someone hesitates, repeats an entry, or names an invalid item. The group observes and judges each turn, collecting cards across multiple rounds to review workshop content."
last_updated: "2026-09-07"
canonical: "https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/tgl-january-2007/"
---

# Dozens

Small groups play a category card duel where two players take turns naming valid items until someone hesitates, repeats an entry, or names an invalid item. The group observes and judges each turn, collecting cards across multiple rounds to review workshop content.

**Time:** 15 minutes. UWT suggested 15-minute pacing to allow setup, 8 to 10 rapid rounds, and brief consolidation.
**People:** 3 to 25. Parallel tables of 3 to 5 players

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Test and recall relevant topic examples under structured peer review without passive lecturing.
**Use it when:** Use during a mid-session or end-of-session review when participants need to retrieve learned concepts, vocabulary, or real-world examples quickly.
**Skip it when:** Skip when participants are brand new to the topic and have not yet built up enough vocabulary or facts to draw from.

## Materials and tools

- One deck of 12 topic category cards per table of 3 to 5 players
- One copy of the player rule sheet per table or visible on a shared screen
- Scratch paper and pen per table for tracking disputed items

## Before participants arrive

1. Print and cut one set of 12 category cards per small group.
2. Arrange seating into small clusters of 3 to 5 participants with table space in the middle.

## Say this to open

We are going to play a rapid retrieval game called Dozens. Each round, one player picks a category card and challenges another player. Both players alternate naming unique, correct items that fit that category. Everyone else at your table acts as judges. If a dueler pauses too long, repeats something already named, or names an off-category item, they lose the round and the other person takes the card. Let us review the rules and begin round one.

## How to run it

### 1. Explain rules and demonstrate (3 minutes)

Distribute a 12-card deck face down to each table. Demonstrate a 20-second sample turn with a volunteer: pick a sample category, show how alternate quick naming works, and explain the three losing conditions (hesitation past 5 seconds, duplicate item, or incorrect category match).

### 2. Play opening rounds (5 minutes)

Designate the starting player at each table (for example, the person with the nearest upcoming birthday). That person draws the top card, reads it aloud, chooses a contestant at their table, and names the first valid item. The contestant names a second valid item. Play alternates rapidly between them until the remaining table members call a fault. The winner keeps the card. Turn shifts clockwise.

### 3. Continue card challenges (5 minutes)

Groups continue through the remaining cards in their deck. Each new turn passes clockwise so every person takes turns initiating duels and competing. Tables stop when all 12 cards have been played or time is called.

### 4. Tally and debrief (2 minutes)

Players count their won cards to identify the table high scorer. Facilitate a short whole-room debrief taking contributions from 2 or 3 participants on categories that provoked debate or were difficult to complete.


## Debrief questions

- Which category ran dry the fastest, and why?
- What was a disputed answer at your table, and how did your group settle it?
- What is one concept or example you heard another player say that you want to remember?

**Finished output:** A set of completed card rounds reviewing 12 core concepts, with peer-adjudicated recall across small groups.

## Remote

Form breakout rooms of 3 to 5 people. Supply a shared slide deck or virtual board containing 12 covered category cards. The active player deletes the cover rectangle to reveal the category, calls out a competitor, and both duel over unmuted audio while tablemates use chat to flag duplicates or delays.

## Hybrid

Keep in-person participants grouped together with physical cards and remote participants in virtual breakout rooms using digital cards. Run instructions and timer collectively from the main room.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants may elect to serve as official table judge and timekeeper instead of taking head-to-head dueling turns.
- Players can consult personal notes or pass a turn if retrieval feels stressful.

## If the session gets stuck

**Table judges disagree on whether an item is valid or whether hesitation took too long.**

Remind groups that a five-second silent pause counts as hesitation, and judges take a quick majority vote on ambiguous items to keep play moving.

**One dominant player is picked as contestant repeatedly.**

Enforce a table guideline that each player must challenge a different peer before challenging the same person a second time.


## Terms used here

- Framegame: A game structure whose rules remain fixed while the subject matter or topical content can be replaced.
- Contestant: The specific table partner challenged by the active player to alternate naming items for the selected card.

## Participant material: How to Play Dozens Player Guide

RULES FOR DOZENS:

1. Setup: Place the 12 category cards face down in the center of the table.
2. Starting: The first player draws the top card, reads it aloud, and challenges one other player (the contestant).
3. Dueling: The first player names one valid item that fits the category. The contestant immediately names a different valid item. The two duelers alternate back and forth naming new items.
4. Judging: Everyone else at the table acts as judges. A dueler loses the round immediately if they:
   - Hesitate longer than roughly 5 seconds
   - Repeat an item already named during this round
   - Name an item that does not fit the category
5. Scoring: When one dueler makes an error, the opposing dueler wins and takes the card. The next player clockwise starts the next round.
6. Winner: The player with the most cards when the deck runs out wins.

## Participant material: Sample 12-Card Category Deck (Critical Thinking)

CARD 1: Common workplace assumptions that turn out false
CARD 2: Behaviors of effective critical thinkers
CARD 3: Examples of circular reasoning or logical fallacies
CARD 4: Warning signs of biased data or reports
CARD 5: Open-ended questions to test an assertion
CARD 6: Rules for productive group problem-solving
CARD 7: Common excuses for avoiding change
CARD 8: Ways to verify an unconfirmed rumor
CARD 9: Decisions that require peer review before action
CARD 10: Words that signal an opinion rather than a fact
CARD 11: Risks of deciding without enough input
CARD 12: Habits that prevent jumping to quick conclusions

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in the Thiagi GameLetter (January 2007), published by The Thiagi Group, featuring the framegame 'Dozens' designed by Sivasailam Thiagarajan.

Retained the exact core mechanic of 'Dozens' from the Thiagi GameLetter (January 2007): 3-5 players, 12 category cards, two-person alternating challenge, loss conditions (hesitation, repetition, category mismatch), and clockwise rotation. UWT added explicit round timing (15 minutes total), structured debrief questions, access options allowing a non-dueling judge role, remote board instructions, and a ready-to-print 12-card category set based on the critical thinking example in the text.

[thiagi.net](http://thiagi.net/archive/www/pfp/IE4H/january2007.html)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/tgl-january-2007/