Whack-a-mole on video platform

Quick Description

Inspired by the arcade game Whack-a-mole. Have everyone put their screen in Gallery (or Grid) View. One player is the ‘whacker’ and everyone else is a mole. Moles appear on screen in a pose or doing a repetitive action. When the ‘whacker’ imitates the specific pose or action the ‘mole’ is whacked and disappears from screen.

How to Play

This is a game to be played on a video platform that has a grid view. Have everyone put their display in “grid view”.

Choose one person to be the Whacker. Everyone else is a Mole.

Invite everyone to stand up and to practice moving off-screen. This is not turning off the screen, it’s moving to the side so they no longer appear on screen.

Explain that the moles randomly appear on screen and assume a pose or do a simple repeatable action

The Whacker’s job is to imitate the mole. Once a mole has been imitated by the Whacker, the mole disappears from view.

Continue for a while then change the ‘whacker’.

Notes

• It might be fun to play upbeat music in the background.

• There is a lot to play with in this game.

• At it’s core, this game is about paying attention to the screen and responding to what you see. For the moles it’s about playing with the dynamic of the whacker – just like most games.

• The childhood game of tag is not played by running away so that the person who is “it” will never tag you…the game is about getting as close as possible to the person who is “it”.

• Unlike the Arcade game, I don’t play it to keep score. This is not a zero sum game.

• After a while switch the whacker. “Who else wants to try being the whacker?”

• The first time I played this, the moles were entirely too polite – which was an interesting thing to talk about.

• This game focuses on the improv skills to stay present (mindfulness) instead of planning ahead. To see what is there, right in front of you and to play with it.

• Could you resist providing too many rules and see what happens?

Variations

Have fun with your own variations. Turning on and off the camera. Having the moles make a noise when whacked. Enjoy.

Origin

I learned Whack-a-mole from Lisa Rowland at BATS Improv who said she learned it from Roy Janik of The Hideout Theater in Austin. And Roy learned it from Jennifer Jordon. Jennifer told me she dreamed it up while having a “lie-down”. Lovely.

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How to use this activity

I shared this activity with a group of 30 consultant/trainers and asked them to identify how to use this activity in a training session. Here is what they said:

• Great way to loosen people up and have fun
• Generate energy coming back from a longer break
• Fun closing activity
• Mitigating nerves
• Upping perception of what is going on with others
• team building
• follow instinct
• Connect with each other in a non-verbal way

Please add you ideas in the comments. Thank you.

Additional Notes

This question came to me an improviser:

Hi William, In the whack-a-mole game, do several moles appear on screen at the same time, or is it one at a time? After they are whacked and disappear, do they stay off screen until the next round? thanks!

There is my answer:

There are many different ways to play Whack-a-mole.  
The way I first learned how to play it was with one whacker and everyone else moles.  The moles do overlap because it’s more fun that way.  More of a game of how many moles can you whack. 
Just like in the arcade game – the moles can reappear as often as they like. 
And of course you can adjust with the different elements in the game to achieve your objective. 
Each game has a principle it’s designed to address. 
For me this game is about seeing each other…paying attention to each other.  Sometimes in improv (and meetings) we don’t really see each other fully.  It’s also about failing with a good attitude (a playful attitude)…you can also use this game as a fun physical stretch.  Here are few other things you could stress with Whack-a-mole: taking chances…vulnerability…breaking the rules…playing with the idea of ‘getting it right’ …
What do you think? 
Is this answer helpful?
I may add this to the post because if you have this question then others probably have the question too.