Bear, Fish, Mosquito
Bear, Fish, Mosquito is a full-body variation of rock-paper-scissors in which two teams face each other and simultaneously perform one of three creatures. Bear eats fish, fish eats mosquito, and mosquito bites bear. The losing team runs to avoid being tagged by the winners. The game combines quick decision-making with physical energy.
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Related Exercises
Alien Tiger Cow
Alien Tiger Cow is a full-body version of rock-paper-scissors played in a circle. On a count, each player strikes one of three poses: alien (fingers on head), tiger (claws bared), or cow (udders mimed). Players who choose the minority pose are eliminated. The exercise is a fast physical warm-up that generates laughter and group energy.
Rock Paper Scissors
Rock Paper Scissors is a warm-up exercise that uses the familiar hand game as a platform for building ensemble energy, celebrating failure, and practicing commitment. In improv contexts, the game is typically played with escalating stakes, exaggerated reactions, and progressive variations that transform a simple competition into a group bonding experience.
Evolution
Evolution is a high-energy physical warm-up game in which players begin as a simple organism and progress through stages of evolution by winning rounds of rock-paper-scissors against other players at the same evolutionary level. Players physically embody each stage (amoeba, chicken, monkey, human), creating a chaotic, noisy environment in which everyone is playing simultaneously. The game is self-organizing, requires no improv experience, and works well with large groups as an icebreaker. Evolution builds physical commitment, willingness to look foolish, and the social bonding that comes from shared silliness.
Virus
Virus is a physical ensemble exercise in which one player begins with a specific behavior, sound, or movement that spreads to others through proximity or contact, eventually infecting the whole group. The exercise demonstrates how energy and impulse propagate through an ensemble and trains players to notice and respond to the influence of their partners.
The Lineage
Explore the schools and structures that influenced or evolved from Bear, Fish, Mosquito.
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How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Bear, Fish, Mosquito. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/exercises/bear-fish-mosquito
The Improv Archive. "Bear, Fish, Mosquito." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/exercises/bear-fish-mosquito.
The Improv Archive. "Bear, Fish, Mosquito." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/exercises/bear-fish-mosquito. Accessed November 5, 2026.
The Improv Archive is a systemically maintained repository. The archive itself acts as the corporate author.