Human knot

A human knot is a common icebreaker and team building game in which a group learns to work together in close physical proximity. Players stand in a circle and each reaches across to hold hands with two different people who are not standing next to them, forming a tangle of arms; the goal is to disentangle the resulting knot, stepping over or under linked arms as needed, without anyone letting go of the hands they are holding. Not every arrangement can be fully undone, since the puzzle is a real disentanglement problem related to knot theory, and a group can end up as one circle, as several smaller circles, or occasionally as a knot that cannot be resolved. The game is generally recommended for older children and adults, works best with about ten players though it can run with as few as five or with much larger groups, needs no equipment, and is used mainly to build teamwork, problem solving, and communication skills.