Hands Up — Everybody answers at once. The points are for knowing how it would land.

Two options, no right answer. Everybody answers in private and says how many will be with them, then all the hands go up. 3 to 12 people, about 10 minutes.

Everybody presses at the same moment, so there is no turn order and nobody waits for anybody. A question takes about a minute and the whole thing is ten of them, which is a break rather than an afternoon, and you know that before you start.

It is two buttons and a number. Nobody has to write anything, spell anything, perform on camera or be funny to order — the quietest person on the call can win it without saying a word, and the reveal does the talking for everyone.

What it is about is the people on the call rather than the world, so the room learns something about itself every question. The rounds anybody remembers afterwards are the ones where one person went the other way and had said, before they knew, that they would be the only one.

A round

The questionTake a sideSay how manyHands up

On the sheet

+3Anybody who called their side's count exactly — your number was the number

+5The only hand on a side, who called it — you said it would be just you

+1Anybody out by one — nearly is a read too

+3The only hand on a side, out by one — one off, and on your own

+2The only hand on a side — the number missed, but nobody came with you

Also on

Games for a team of six Games for eight people at once Games that fit in fifteen minutes Guessing games for a team

How to play Hands Up