Zombie Name Game
Zombie Name Game is a name-learning exercise in which one player shuffles toward another zombie-style, and the targeted player must call out someone else's name before being reached. The named person becomes the new target. The exercise combines name memorization with physical urgency and creates a high-energy learning environment.
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Related Exercises
Name Game
Name Game is a warm-up exercise in which players learn and reinforce each other's names through a structured pattern of call-and-response, rhythmic chanting, or physical gestures. Each player's name is paired with a movement, an alliterative adjective, or a rhythmic pattern that makes the name memorable and the learning process active. The exercise is a staple opening activity for new groups and builds the ensemble familiarity that supports strong scene work. Knowing every player's name and having a physical memory associated with it creates the foundation for personal connection within the group.
Name Volley
Name Volley is a name-learning exercise in which two or more participants pass each other's names back and forth in rapid succession, maintaining a rhythm similar to a volleyball rally. The exercise develops quick name recall, sustained eye contact, and the physical and vocal commitment that comes from treating someone's name as an object in motion.
Name Spring
Name Spring is an introduction exercise in which players toss a ball or other object around a circle while calling out the recipient's name before each throw. The pace increases over time, requiring sharper focus and quicker name recall. The exercise builds group familiarity and trains attentive listening under pressure.
Introducing Association
Introducing Association is a name-learning exercise that combines self-introduction with word association. Each player introduces themselves by name and adds a word, image, or gesture that they associate with their name. Subsequent players repeat all previous names and associations before adding their own. The exercise simultaneously learns names and warms up the associative thinking required for improvisation, building memory through the concrete links that association provides.
Name and Motion
Name and Motion is a name-learning exercise in which each participant says their name while simultaneously performing a physical gesture or movement of their choosing. The group then mirrors both the name and the motion back in unison. The pairing of verbal and physical information creates multiple memory anchors, making name retention significantly more reliable than verbal-only introductions.
Alphabet Soup
Alphabet Soup is a verbal exercise in which players contribute to a group story or conversation while each player's contribution must contain a word beginning with the next letter of the alphabet. The game builds verbal flexibility and listening within a shared narrative frame.
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Zombie Name Game. Retrieved September 28, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/exercises/zombie-name-game
The Improv Archive. "Zombie Name Game." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/exercises/zombie-name-game.
The Improv Archive. "Zombie Name Game." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/exercises/zombie-name-game. Accessed September 28, 2026.
The Improv Archive is a systemically maintained repository. The archive itself acts as the corporate author.