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Guessing game · A great activity for everyone

Follow the Leader

One player secretly sets the moves, and the whole circle copies along without giving them away, while the guesser in the middle tries to catch them red-handed. It works because the real trick isn't the arm-swinging — it's a room full of people quietly keeping a straight face.

15–30 min8–16 peopleEasyNo materialsIn-person onlyClassroom ✓
By Jon Zajac · Founder & Chief Icebreaker · Last updated February 19, 2024

What is Follow the Leader?

Follow the Leader puts one player at the center of a circle, trying to catch a secret leader in the act. Everyone starts by swinging their arms up and down together; the leader — chosen while the guesser was out of the room — quietly shifts to a new movement whenever they want, and the rest of the circle mimics it without looking their way.

It works because the group's job is harder than it sounds: mimicking every move while avoiding eye contact with the person setting them means faking nonchalance under direct observation. The guesser gets 3 guesses, turning constantly to scan the circle for the one person everyone else seems to be one beat behind.

It's built for a room that can stand in an open circle and move — a classroom, a family room, a team offsite with floor space. It doesn't translate to a video call, and if the group can't stand and move together, try a seated pick from the full directory instead.

The rules

  1. Circle up, facing in — indoors or out.
  2. One player steps out for a minute; the rest pick a leader.
  3. The guesser returns to the center; everyone starts swinging their arms up and down.
  4. The leader adds new movements at will, and the circle mimics without missing a beat.
  5. Nobody holds eye contact with the leader — that's the one rule that keeps it hard.
  6. The guesser gets 3 guesses; guess right and the leader becomes the next guesser.

Before you start

  • Group size: 8–16 players. Enough people that the leader isn't obvious by elimination, few enough that everyone still fits in one circle.
  • A large open space, in or out. Room for the whole group to stand in a circle with the guesser moving freely in the center — clear of furniture and other obstructions.
  • Zero materials, one quick huddle. The only setup is picking a leader while the guesser is out of the room — no props, no prep sheet.
  • Works from age 8 up. The deduction, and the self-control it takes to fake nonchalance, both need a bit of maturity — younger kids tend to stare at the leader.

How to run it

  1. Pick a guesser and send them out 1 min

    One player leaves the room for a minute — they'll stand in the center once the round starts.

  2. The group chooses a leader 30 sec

    While the guesser's away, everyone agrees on who'll set the movements for that round.

  3. Guesser returns to the center 30 sec

    They stand in the middle of the circle as everyone starts swinging their arms up and down — the default, no-tell movement.

  4. The leader shifts the movement 1–2 min

    Claps, sways, dance moves — anything works. The circle mimics each change immediately, without looking at the leader.

  5. The guesser makes their case 1 min

    Turning to scan the circle, the guesser gets 3 guesses. A correct one hands them the leader's spot for the next round.

← avoiding eye contact is the whole game.

Facilitator tips

Mix easy moves with harder onesBlend simple gestures — a wave, a nod — with bigger ones like a jump or a dance move, so every ability level in the circle can keep up.
Add a verbal cueSing a line or recite a phrase alongside the movement. It gives players who can't easily mimic motion another way to stay in the round.
Say the goal out loud before you startTell the group it's about staying in on the secret together, not winning — it keeps a guesser's miss feeling low-stakes instead of exposing.
Skip movements tied to one cultureAvoid songs, phrases, or gestures that won't land the same way for everyone standing in the circle.

Why it works

Reading people becomes the whole gameThe guesser has to catch nonverbal tells while the rest of the circle actively hides them — a few minutes of forced people-watching disguised as chaos.
No prop can give the leader awayThe leader improvises with claps, sways, and made-up moves, and the whole room keeps a straight face on purpose — that shared cover is a small trust exercise nobody notices happening.
Everyone's already moving before the game startsArms are swinging from the first second, so the energy shift into a room happens without anyone announcing it.
HELLO, MY NAME ISJon

"This one needs zero setup, and it turns a whole circle into a room full of secret-keepers. I like watching the guesser's face the second they finally lock onto the right person — that's the whole payoff."

Jon Zajac · Founder & Chief Icebreaker

Reflection questions

For classrooms and teams that want the debrief — five questions that turn the guessing into a conversation about how people actually watch each other.

  1. What was your experience being the guesser in the center of the circle?Puts words to the pressure of watching everyone while everyone's watching you.
  2. How did you choose which movements to make as the leader? Did you try to make them obvious or subtle?Surfaces strategy — the leader's choices are the whole game in miniature.
  3. What was it like for you to mimic the leader's movements while trying not to give away their identity?Names the balancing act of following instructions while protecting someone else's cover.
  4. Did you notice any patterns or similarities in the way different people moved as the leader?A nudge toward reading group dynamics, not just individual moves.
  5. How might this game be adapted for different settings or age groups?Gets participants thinking like facilitators, not just players.

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Jon Zajac

Founder & Chief Icebreaker

I started IcebreakerSpot because I believe strong connections are the foundation of successful teams. This site exists to make it easy to find and share the icebreakers and team-building activities that build trust, spark collaboration, and help groups do great things together.

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