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Guessing game · A great activity for everyone

Hot and Cold

One or two players step out of the room while the rest of the group agrees on a mystery action, then come back to guess it — steered only by cheers when they're close and boos when they're not. It works because the entire room becomes the guide: no words, no gestures, just a volume that gets more specific the closer they get.

15–30 min6–50 peopleEasyNo materialsIn-person onlyClassroom ✓
By Jon Zajac · Founder & Chief Icebreaker · Last updated February 19, 2024

What is Hot and Cold?

Hot and Cold sends one or two players out of the room while the rest of the group agrees on a mystery action — something they'll have to work out and perform once they're back. There's no talking and no gesturing allowed: the room's only tool is volume, cheering when the chosen players get close and booing when they drift, until someone lands the action.

It works because guessing by ear turns a big room into one instrument. Everyone's watching the same one or two people, reading the same rising and falling noise — there's no talking, so nobody can hide behind a comment or a joke. The cheering and booing is the whole group's attention, made audible.

It needs a real room and a group that can hear itself over the noise, so skip it for a video call — Hot and Cold doesn't translate to a screen. And it's pitched at ages 12 and up; for a younger group, save it for the older kids in the room or swap in a gentler guessing game.

The rules

  1. Gather the whole group in one room with space to move around.
  2. Send 1 or 2 "chosen players" out of the room for each round.
  3. While they're out, the rest of the group agrees on one mystery action.
  4. Chosen players come back and try to figure out — and perform — that action.
  5. The room steers them with volume alone: cheers when they're close, boos when they're not. No words, no gestures.
  6. The round ends once every chosen player lands the action — there's normally no winner, just a rotation to the next round.

Before you start

  • Group size: 6–50 players. Works for a small circle or a packed room — just make sure everyone can see the chosen players clearly once they're back.
  • A room with space to gather. Clear away anything in reach that shouldn't end up part of the mystery action — the original's one real safety note.
  • A shortlist of mystery actions. Prepare a few safe, appropriate options ahead of time so the group has something ready to pick from when a round starts.
  • Ages 12 and up. That's the floor this one's built for — plan a gentler version for younger kids.

How to run it

  1. Bring everyone into one room 1–2 min

    Gather the group somewhere everyone can see the chosen players clearly once they're back.

  2. Pick the chosen players 1 min

    Ask for 1 or 2 volunteers, or choose them yourself, then send them out of the room.

  3. Choose the mystery action 1–2 min

    With the chosen players gone, guide the rest of the group to agree on one action for them to perform.

  4. Bring them back and start guessing 30 sec

    Invite the chosen players back in and let them start working out — and performing — the action.

  5. Cheer them hot, boo them cold 2–3 min

    The room steers them by volume alone: cheer when they're close, boo when they drift. No words, no gestures.

  6. Rotate to the next round 1 min

    Once every chosen player lands the action, pick the next round's players and go again — enthusiasm is as good a reason as any.

← no words, just volume — and somehow that's plenty.

Facilitator tips

Draw actions from more than one cultureLean on a range of references, not just the ones the loudest half of the room already knows, so everyone has an equal shot at guessing right.
Say the no-talking rule out loud, every roundRemind the group that cheers and boos are the only feedback allowed — no words, no gestures — so nobody accidentally coaches with a nod.
Check the action against every body in the roomSwap out anything that assumes full mobility before it's picked, not after a chosen player is already stuck trying it.
Give quiet cues a visual backupIf anyone has trouble hearing the room clearly, pair the cheers and boos with a visible signal so the game doesn't run on sound alone.

Variations

Team competition

Split into teams and race — whichever team's chosen player lands the action first wins the round.

Timed round

Time each chosen player and crown whoever finishes fastest, instead of leaving it score-free.

Why it works

Reads without wordsThe whole game runs on cheers and boos alone — chosen players have to translate a room's volume into a next move, and the group has to translate its own reaction into feedback loud enough to hear.
A shared spectacle, not a solo turnThere's normally no winner — the round ends once every chosen player lands the action, and the whole room's been cheering the same person toward the same goal the whole time.
An energy reset, not just an openerIts high-energy format makes it a solid pick for waking a room back up mid-meeting or mid-event, not only for breaking the ice at the start of one.
HELLO, MY NAME ISJon

"It's the one I reach for when I need something loud and low-effort — no materials, next to no setup, and it works whether the room's got 6 people or 50. The cheering and booing does all the actual work; nobody has to perform, they just have to listen."

Jon Zajac · Founder & Chief Icebreaker

Reflection questions

A few of these turn the cheer-and-boo round into an actual debrief.

  1. What did you enjoy most about playing Hot and Cold?Tells you what actually landed — useful intel for planning the next round.
  2. How did it feel when the group was cheering or booing for you?Gets people thinking about how their moment in the spotlight landed with everyone else.
  3. Did you come up with any strategies to figure out the mystery action? If so, what were they?Surfaces the thinking behind the guesswork — everyone solved it a little differently.
  4. How did you feel when you successfully performed the mystery action?A quick check on the payoff — most people remember landing it.
  5. What did you learn about yourself or others during the game?The broadest question of the five — good for closing out a longer debrief.

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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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