The Superlative Game is a simple icebreaker that asks players to line up in ascending order for various different categories (e.g. height, birthday month, etc.). It’s very easy to learn and play, and it doesn’t require a lot of time.
This game can be classified as a get-to-know-you style icebreaker. The recommended group size is medium, large, or extra large groups. Players will be divided into multiple teams of at least five people. This game can be played both indoors or outdoors. There are no special materials required to play. It works great with all ages.
Setup for the Superlative Game
The facilitator of the Superlative game needs to prepare a list of categories. These categories can be surface-level categories such as height (in ascending order), birthday month (in ascending order, from January to December), shoe size, number of siblings (least to most), etc. or you can also make deeper categories, depending on your goals.
Playing the Superlative Game
Split the group into at least three teams. The ideal team size is at least five players per team, but preferably no more than nine. Explain the rules and consider using one of the variations below (such as the no talking rule).
Read the first category aloud, such as “Line up by increasing order of height. Go!” Each team scrambles to get in the proper order. When a team thinks they are done, they must all sit down and raise their hands. At this point, the facilitator checks the team and verifies that they are in the proper order. If they made a mistake, they get awarded zero points that round and the facilitator checks the next group that sat down. The first team to correctly get in order and sits down gets awarded a point.
The facilitator then reads off the next category, and this process repeats until the game is over (no more categories).
Variations
There are many variations to this game that are worth considering. These include:
1. No talking allowed. All players must rely on body language and hand gestures to get in the proper order.
2. Head and feet only. You can only use your head and feet to signal where to go. No talking or use of arms/hands to communicate.
