Start-up wants to break the ice

With the invention of "Icebreaker - The Game", three students at the University of Bayreuth want to make it easier for fellow students to get to know each other in the pandemic.

By Daniel Stroh · 04.02.2022

Daniel Stroh, 23

Master of Business Administration Marketing & Services Student trainee in Marketing & Innovation

Benjamin Gottlieb, 24

Master of Sport, Business & Law Student trainee in the area of risk management

Catrin Porwik, 23

Master of Business Administration, Human Resource Management & Intrapreneurship Student research assistant at the HRM & Intrapreneurship research group

The idea

The coronavirus pandemic has made it difficult to get to know fellow students. With this game, the team therefore wanted to create an opportunity to get to know other students better, in a casual way. "Icebreaker - The Game" is an innovative, interactive 6-in-1 social game based on playing cards, which literally acts as an icebreaker when people get together. The game combines five analogue games as well as a digital element and is designed for groups of three to ten people.

The main factors that make the product successful are as follows:

1) varied game content for young and old

2) the card game fits in any pocket

3) at only 10€, much cheaper than comparable game collections

4) connection to the analogue and digital world

The game was developed within a very short space of time. And meanwhile, production and marketing have also got off to a fast start.

Some of the individual games are classics such as "pantomime" or a variation of "I'm packing my suitcase", which always refers to a theme. But there are also new, fun games that help people get to know each other. "One to ten", for example, is designed to help you assess your fellow participants by placing them on a scale in relation to a question.

Icebreaker - The Game is an interactive 6-in-1 card game, and is very compelling in comparison to other games due to its game variety, convenience, and the combination of analogue and digital game worlds.

Catrin Porwik

5-Euro-Business:

In the 5-Euro Business Competition, students act as entrepreneurs for the duration of one semester parallel to their studies. They develop a business idea in a team and are taught the necessary specialist knowledge in accompanying seminars in the areas of marketing, project management and law. The conclusion and highlight of the project is the final event, at which the founding teams present their company to an expert jury with representatives from business and academia.

The 5-Euro-Business is a project of the Bildungswerk der Bayerischen Wirtschaft e. V. The regional organiser is the University of Bayreuth.