What is Emoji Story Battle?

Emoji Story Battle splits the room into teams of 3–5, hands each one a random set of 5–10 emoji, and gives them 5–10 minutes to weave every single emoji into one short story. Teams present — aloud, in the chat, or on a shared screen — and the room votes for its favorite; the team with the most votes across the round wins the battle.

It works because nobody chose their own material: the team is stuck negotiating what a stray umbrella or dinosaur emoji is doing in the plot, and that negotiation is where the actual personalities show up. Presenting the story out loud, then defending it through a vote, turns a random constraint into the whole icebreaker.

It's built for a room, or a call, that can support at least two teams and a way to share each team's story with everyone else — a projector or shared screen in person, a chat window or screen share on a call. Skip it for a one-on-one meeting or a call with no chat and no way to share a screen: voting needs the whole room watching or reading at the same time.

The rules

Split into teams of 3–5, and hand each one a random set of 5–10 emoji.
Teams get 5–10 minutes to build one short story that uses every emoji in their set, in any order.
Teams present their story to the whole room — aloud, in the chat, or on a shared screen.
The room votes for the most creative, funny, or interesting story from each round.
The team with the most votes after every team has presented wins the battle.
Voting runs by a show of hands, chat reactions, or a poll — whatever the room's already using.

Before you start

Group size: 6–20 participants, in teams of 3–5. Scales in twos — more participants just means more teams competing for the win, not bigger teams.
Materials: an emoji generator, or printed emoji slips. Use an online emoji generator for virtual rounds, or print emoji on slips of paper (or use a phone app) for in-person play.
Appoint a facilitator. One person introduces the game, forms teams, assigns each team's emoji set, keeps time, and runs the vote — for both in-person and virtual rounds.
Test your setup before round one. Confirm the chat or screen-share works on a call, or that the projector and shared screen are ready in person, before teams start building.

How to run it

Divide into teams 1–2 min
Split the room into teams of 3–5 — manually, or with breakout rooms on a call.
Assign each team's emoji set 2–3 min
Generate 5–10 random emoji per team with an online tool, or hand out printed slips — in person, teams can draw from a hat instead.
Teams build their story 5–10 min
Every team weaves all of their assigned emoji, in any order, into one short story.
Teams present 1–2 min each
Each team shares its story out loud, in the chat, or on the shared screen.
Vote and score 2–3 min
The room votes for the most creative, funny, or interesting story each round — by show of hands, chat reaction, or poll — and the team with the most votes overall wins.

← 5–10 minutes to build it. the weirdest set wins.

Facilitator tips

Describe the emoji out loudFor low-vision players, read each set's emoji descriptions aloud, or check that a screen reader announces them correctly before the round starts.

Pull from a culturally diverse setMix emoji from a range of cultures and backgrounds into the generator or slips, so every team sees itself represented in the options.

Offer language supportTranslate emoji descriptions for non-native English speakers, or let them lean on emoji that are already familiar from their own culture.

Plan for access needsKeep emoji large enough to select easily, or offer voice input as an alternative, for anyone with a motor impairment.

Keep the floor openSay before round one that every team's story gets the same respect — it heads off anyone talking over a quieter team's reveal.

Variations

Remote calls

Run every round over video: an emoji generator populates each breakout room's set, teams paste their story into the chat or unmute to present, and the room votes by reaction or poll.

Themed rounds

Restrict each set to one theme — space adventure, ancient history, office life — for a harder, funnier round tied to your group's context.

Custom emoji sets

Swap in a specialized emoji set to push the challenge further, or to match a specific topic the room's already talking about.

Why it works

The story forces a negotiationEvery emoji has to make it into the plot, so teams argue out what a stray umbrella or dinosaur is doing in the story — that argument is where the actual personalities show up.

Voting makes the room the audienceEvery team's story gets ranked by the whole room, so quiet listeners get pulled into paying attention the same way the presenting team is.

No two rounds play the sameEvery team's emoji set is random, so nobody can lean on a story that already worked — each round forces a fresh interpretation.

HELLO, MY NAME ISJon

"I like this one because an emoji doesn't come with instructions — the team has to agree on what it means before the story can move forward, and that negotiation is where the real listening happens. It travels well too: the same round works over a video call or around a table."

Jon Zajac · Founder & Chief Icebreaker

Reflection questions

For teams and classrooms that want the debrief — these turn the vote into an actual conversation about how the room reads the same symbol differently.

What was your favorite emoji story from another team, and why did it stand out to you?Gets people naming what actually landed, not just being polite about every team's effort.
How did your team approach the task of creating a cohesive story from random emojis?Surfaces how the team split the work — divide and conquer, or write it as one voice.
Did any of the emojis in your set have multiple interpretations or uses within your story? If so, how did this affect your team's narrative?Points at how differently the same symbol reads to different people, which is the whole game in miniature.
How did participating in the Emoji Story Battle influence your understanding or appreciation of emojis as a form of communication?A direct check on whether the round changed how people think about emoji as more than shorthand.
If you could create a custom emoji set for a future Emoji Story Battle, what theme or topics would you choose, and why?Turns the room into curators for a minute — a good source for the next round's sets.