What is Best of the Best?

Best of the Best hands each player a category — best vacation spot, favorite food, top movie — and asks for their personal best, plus the reason behind it, shared round-robin style.

It works because the reason is the actual icebreaker: anyone can name a favorite, but explaining why turns a simple pick into a story the room remembers.

It's built for a group that's ready to trade a few minutes of personal sharing for a room full of small, memorable stories. For a group that's pressed for time or reluctant to speak in front of everyone, keep the categories light and lean on the subgroup tip above instead.

The rules

Each player gets a category card — best vacation spot, favorite food, top movie — or writes their own.
Everyone thinks of their personal "best" for that category before anyone shares.
Round-robin sharing, starting with the person to your left.
Each player names their category, then their pick, then a brief reason or fun fact behind it.
Cap each share at 1–2 minutes so the round keeps moving.
After the last share, open the floor for shared interests and reflections.

Before you start

Group size: 5–25 participants. Chairs in a circle or semi-circle so every player can see and hear the room — that's what makes the round-robin work.
Make the cards ahead of time. Pre-write category prompts — best vacation spot, favorite food, top movie — or bring blank cards so participants can write their own.
Bring pens and a timer. Writing tools for the cards, plus a stopwatch to keep each share inside its time limit.

How to run it

Explain the rules 5 min
Introduce the game as a chance to learn fun facts about the room. Cover the rules in one pass: pick or write a category, decide a personal best, then share it with a reason when called on.
Hand out cards, give thinking time 5–10 min
Distribute cards and pens. Give players a few minutes to settle on a best that's genuinely theirs — personally significant beats technically impressive.
Share in round robin 15–20 min
Going clockwise from your left, each player names their category, then their pick, then the reason or fun fact behind it. Keep shares to 1–2 minutes and let a few follow-up questions in before moving on.
Open the floor 5–10 min
Once everyone's shared, invite reflections, comments, and any shared interests the round surfaced. This is where the real conversation happens.
Wrap up 2–3 min
Close by naming a few memorable shares or common threads you noticed. The original doesn't give this step a duration — keep it short and let the room's energy set the pace.

← the reason is the whole game.

Facilitator tips

Tailor the categories to the roomPick prompts your group will actually have opinions about, and stay mindful of cultural differences when you do — a category that lands for one room can fall flat for another.

Let people bring their own cardBlank cards next to the pre-made ones let participants write a category that's genuinely theirs, which raises how invested they are in their own turn.

Invite the quiet ones inIf someone's coasting through the round without engaging, invite them in directly and acknowledge what they share — don't let them slip past.

Split into subgroups when time is shortSmaller groups let more people share their best of the best inside the same time limit.

Variations

Remote calls

Run it over video: virtual hand raises or a queue in the chat sets the order, and players can share their best of the best by unmuting or dropping it in text.

Blank cards

Skip the pre-made prompts entirely and have everyone write their own category — more personal investment, less predictable rounds.

Why it works

The reason is the icebreakerNaming a favorite is easy. Explaining why — the vacation story, the food memory — is where the actual personality shows up, and the rules make everyone give a reason, not just a pick.

Round-robin means everyone gets a turnNobody has to compete for the floor — the format moves from your left until everyone's shared, so quiet players get the same turn as anyone else.

The floor discussion turns picks into common groundOpening the floor after the round surfaces real shared interests between participants, giving the group something concrete to keep talking about.

HELLO, MY NAME ISJon

"This is the one I reach for when I want people to talk about themselves without realizing it's happening. The category can be almost anything, so everyone finds an angle that's genuinely theirs — and the round-robin format means nobody has to fight for the floor to get a turn."

Jon Zajac · Founder & Chief Icebreaker

Reflection questions

For classrooms and teams that want the debrief — a few of these turn the round into an actual conversation, not just a lineup of answers.

What category did you pick for your best of the best, and why?Gets people naming what they actually value, not just what they'd say in an introduction.
Did anyone's share surprise you?A quick check on how much the group was actually listening.
What commonalities did you notice across everyone's picks?Surfaces the shared interests the round-robin was quietly building toward.
How did sharing yours change how you feel about this group?Names the emotional payoff out loud — worth asking even when the answer is simple.
Any category you wish had been on the cards?Feedback that makes the next round better — and shows you're listening too.