72 This or That Pairs for a Room That Has Just Met

Fun this or that questions are the fastest icebreaker on the planet: one choice, no wrong answer, and a room full of strangers sorted into two camps before anyone has had to say their name. These 72 pairs run in six escalating rounds, from completely harmless to genuinely revealing, and every pair is balanced so the room actually splits. No microphone needed, no awkward silence. Just pick a side of the room and go.

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How to Play

Designate two sides of the room, left and right, or two walls, and label each side before the first round starts. Read a pair aloud, give people three seconds, and everyone walks to their side simultaneously. No talking during the walk. Once the room has split, a quick show of hands counts each side, then everyone returns to the middle for the next pair. Run all twelve pairs in a round before moving to the next round. The game needs no equipment beyond the printed cards, but if you want to cut and hand them out, print on cardstock and punch a hole in the corner for a binder ring so the facilitator never loses the order.

Round One: Completely Harmless

Start here: these twelve pairs are so low-stakes that even the most reluctant person in the room will move. The only goal is to get bodies off the chairs and into the habit of choosing fast.

1. Morning person or night owl
2. Dogs or cats
3. Summer or winter
4. Mountains or beach
5. Books or films
6. City or countryside
7. Tea or coffee
8. Music or silence while you work
9. Early flight or late flight
10. Texting or calling
11. Window seat or aisle seat
12. Planner or spontaneous

Round Two: Food and Drink

Food opinions surface faster than any personality quiz, and a room that was quiet thirty seconds ago will suddenly have strong feelings about pizza toppings. These this or that questions keep the energy up and the answers instant.

1. Sweet or savoury
2. Pizza or pasta
3. Fries or onion rings
4. Ketchup or mayo
5. Home-cooked or takeaway
6. Breakfast or dinner as your main meal
7. Sparkling water or still water
8. Cake or pie
9. Spicy or mild
10. Tacos or burritos
11. Eat in or eat out
12. Fruit or vegetables as your go-to snack

Round Three: Weekend and Holidays

Weekend habits and holiday preferences reveal personality without asking anything too personal, and the splits here tend to be genuinely surprising. This round often generates the most cross-room noise, which is exactly the point.

1. Lie-in or early start on a Saturday
2. Package holiday or plan-it-yourself trip
3. Staycation or go abroad
4. Road trip or fly direct
5. Hot country or cold country
6. Camping or hotel
7. Solo travel or group travel
8. Sightseeing all day or one thing and relax
9. New destination every year or return to a favourite
10. City break or nature escape
11. All-inclusive or local restaurants only
12. Sunbed by the pool or always exploring

Round Four: Small Preferences

The small choices people make without thinking tell you more than the big life questions ever could. Print these on the second sheet of the Round Four deck and watch the room argue about shower temperature with complete sincerity. These would you rather questions pair well with this round if you want to extend it.

1. Hot shower or cold shower
2. Socks in bed or no socks ever
3. Make the bed every morning or never bother
4. Notifications on or notifications off
5. Paper books or e-reader
6. Noise-cancelling headphones or open ears
7. Rewatch a comfort show or always something new
8. Arrive ten minutes early or exactly on time
9. Dark room to sleep or some light
10. Handwrite notes or type everything
11. Save the best bite for last or eat it first
12. Fold laundry immediately or live out of the pile

Round Five: Getting Slightly More Honest

By this point the room is warm enough to answer something with a little more edge. Nothing here is personal or invasive, but the pairs are the kind where people pause for half a second before walking. That half-second pause is what makes this round land.

1. Ask for directions or wander until you figure it out
2. Speak your mind immediately or think it over for a week
3. Be the one who plans or the one who shows up
4. Cancel plans or be cancelled on
5. Tell a hard truth or a kind lie
6. Too much on your plate or not enough to do
7. Give feedback or avoid the conversation
8. Overpack or underpack and buy what you need
9. Be wrong in public or say nothing when you know the answer
10. Finish something mediocre or leave it unfinished
11. Take credit for good work or let someone else have it
12. Ask for help early or figure it out alone

Round Six: The Last Round

The final twelve push just far enough that people have to actually think, without crossing into anything uncomfortable. End here: the room is connected, the conversation is already starting, and the game has done its job. For a bigger night, the house party games list has plenty of ways to keep the momentum going after this.

1. Know your future or be surprised by it
2. Change one decision from the past or keep everything as it happened
3. Be remembered for being kind or for being brilliant
4. More money and less time or more time and less money
5. Comfort over style or style over comfort, always
6. One deep friendship or a wide circle of people you like
7. Do the thing that scares you or stay in the lane that works
8. Say yes to everything for a month or no to everything for a month
9. Live somewhere new every year or put down roots in one place
10. Work you love that pays less or work you tolerate that pays well
11. Be the first to try something new or wait until the reviews are in
12. Quiet life or a life people write about

How to Keep It Moving and When to Stop

The single rule that kills icebreakers is letting one pair run for three minutes while two people debate. Set a visible timer on your phone for fifteen seconds between the walk and the next read. If the room wants to comment, let them have one beat of noise and then move on. Your job is facilitator, not moderator.

Skip any pair that produces a flat split of zero versus everyone: the goal is a room that genuinely divides, and a pair that sends everyone to one wall is just a fact, not a game. You can swap it for any other pair from the same round.

Stop before energy dips. Six rounds of twelve is the full version, but four rounds of twelve is a better choice for a group under twenty people or a time slot under thirty minutes. Rounds One through Four work as a standalone set for a completely mixed, low-familiarity room. Rounds Five and Six reward a room that has already loosened up, so use your read of the room before you press on.

The cards make this easier to hand off to a co-facilitator or a confident volunteer. Print both sheets per round on cardstock, cut along the lines, and keep each round banded together so nothing shuffles out of order. One laminator pass makes them reusable and worth saving for the next event.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many players do you need for this game?

It works from around eight people upward. Fewer than eight and the room split loses its visual drama. It is at its best with fifteen to sixty people, but there is no upper limit as long as the space fits them.

Do players have to explain their choice?

No, and that is the point. The mechanic is walk, not talk. If conversation breaks out naturally after a pair, let it run for a few seconds, then call the room back to the middle. Explanation is optional and never required.

How long does the full game take?

Six rounds of twelve pairs runs about twenty-five to thirty-five minutes with a lively group. If you need a ten-minute version, run Rounds One and Two only.

Can you print and reuse the cards?

Print on cardstock, laminate, and they last indefinitely. Keep each round banded or boxed separately so the order is preserved for next time.

Is this suitable for all ages?

Rounds One through Four are suitable for any age from around ten upward. Rounds Five and Six work best for teens and adults who are comfortable with a little self-reflection.

What if a pair sends almost everyone to the same side?

Skip it or swap it for another pair from the same round. A room that all walks one way is not a game, it is a fact. The goal is a genuine split.