Noise in the Shape of Writing

Originally published at PatGames @ PopePat.com. You can comment here or there.

Equipment: none
Players: any

RULES

In the grand tradition of “20 Questions”, PatGames brings you another guessing game – one that combines the thrill of fast-action question-and-answer with the smug pretension of recollecting all the pecker-heads of the day that you’ve had to deal with.

Simply appoint someone in the group to go first. Their job is to pick a yutz, a schlemiel, a whopping doofus that he and all of the other players have had to deal with that week (by the way, this is a great game to play amongst co-workers at happy hour on Fridays). Then the other players – the guessers – each get to ask one question, in turn, in hopes of divining who the mystery yutz is. Guessers get to make up their own questions, but they all need to take the form of “What kind of[blank] would you be.” The guessee must then answer the question as if he were the mystery yutz.

For example, if the guessee was pretending to be the yutz that works in accounting who always invites themselves along for beers after work and never pays for drinks and hits on his female co-workers until happy hour is over before moving on to scam drinks off the cougars and trophy wives at the bar, then the question and answer might go like this:

Q: “What kind of car would you be?”
A: “I’d be crappy little second-hand Toyota because it gets the best gas mileage – trust me, I have computed it to three decimal places.”

Q: “What kind of comic book villain would you be?”
A: “I’d be Ninja Water Cooler Man, because somehow, I seem to always know what bar you guys are heading to after work even though you try to change it every week.”

Q: “What kind of Welsh Cheese would you be?”
A: “Why, I’d be Chyr-Ilygyrhyv-Thylli Stilton… hey baby, has anyone ever told you that your arm flab is almost imperceptible in that hot tiger print spandex unitard?”
And after each question, the guesser gets to make one guess as to who they think the yutz is. If they get it wrong, the next guesser gets their turn. If they get it right, then someone else gets to take a turn being the guessee.

VARIATIONS
Play this game with a theme.
- All yutzes have to be from upper management.
- All yutzes have to be people who are regulars at the bar you are in.
- All questions have to be asked in an Irish Brogue.

Also, if the group does not agree that the mystery person is in fact a complete yutz, you have to buy the group a round a drinks, you putz!
Oh, wait, that’s a different game.

Originally published at PatGames @ PopePat.com. You can comment here or there.

Equipment: none
Players: any

RULES
My Adventure is a storytelling game that is perfect for car trips, or telling stories around a campfire, or even just for two people relaxing on a porch swing. You get to make stuff up — anything! And then the other players get to make guesses as to why in the world you made up the stuff you did.

To begin, decide which player will be the first to go on an “Adventure.” That person is the Seasoned Adventurer and will be the one to make up the first story. Everyone else will be Junior Adventurers.

The Seasoned Adventurer gets to take a moment to decide what the “rules” of his adventure are. Perhaps he decides that the only rule of his adventure is that whatever happens, he will only encounter animals that start with the letter “B”. And so he might start off by saying the following:

“I just got back from an adventure! On My Adventure I saw a baboon playing a trumpet in a tree.”

The Junior Adventurers then get to follow in turn trying to go on the same sort of adventure that the Seasoned Adventurer went on. Player one might think that the rule is that an animal will play an instrument and he might, for example, say: “I went on a similar adventure! On My Adventure, I saw a giraffe playing a ukelele!”

In response, the Seasoned Adventurer would say: “That was a very nice adventure, but it was not quite the same as My Adventure.”

Now, it becomes the next Junior Adventurer’s turn. She might guess that the rule is that something must happen in a tree and say “I went on a similar adventure! On My Adventure, I saw a monkey jumping from tree to tree.”

The Seasoned Adventurer again tells the Junior Adventurer that their adventure is close, but not quite the same.

Once all Junior Adventurers have had one guess each, the Seasoned Adventurer must give another, DIFFERENT example of his adventure, using the same rule he did the first time. For example, he might this time say “I just went on another adventure. On My Adventure, I joined some beavers and made a dam in a river.”

This time, the Junior Adventurers have another clue. There are no instruments and no trees. Hopefully, the other players will guess it this time, but if they do not, the Seasoned Adventurer can make the example even easier by saying “I just went on another adventure. On My Adventure, I met a bear.”

Once one of the Junior Adventurers has figured out the rule, he should give an example that follows the rule but not say the rule out loud. He might say “I went on a similar adventure! On My Adventure, I rode a brontosaurus.” The Seasoned Adventurer would respond by saying something like “Yes! That is a very good adventure!”

Now, the other players get to continue trying to go on a similar adventure. If some of the players have trouble giving examples of similar adventures that follow the rule, the players who HAVE guessed it already can give further examples that blatantly give away the answer. That is quite okay to do! After all, the point is to eventually have everyone figure out the rule. Hopefully the Seasoned Adventurer will not have to spell the rule out to everyone, but if he does need to do so, try to start the next round with a simpler rule.

Continue playing the game by taking turns being the Seasoned Adventurer. Or, optionally, you can have the player who figures out the rule first be the Seasoned Adventurer for the next round.

Here are a few examples of “Easy” rules:
- All of the things encountered in the adventure can fly (birds, airplanes, bees…)
- All of the people/animals in the adventure make a noise or a sound.
- On the adventure, the storyteller always “smells” something.
- The last word of the adventure always rhymes with “house”.

And here are some examples of “Hard” rules:
- The adventure is exactly 4 words long (“On My Adventure, I traveled a long road” or “On My Adventure, I sailed across the ocean”
- The adventure is in alphabetical order (“On My Adventure, I ate bananas containing diamond earrings” or “On My Adventure, I asked Bing Crosby ‘Does everyone find god?”

VARIATIONS
- If two people find that they are getting good at the game, they might try going on simultaneous adventures. In this version, player one goes on HIS own adventure, and then player two goes on HER own adventure. Then, each player tries to go on the OTHER person’s adventure.
- If you have a particularly tough rule, you might consider giving two very different adventures that BOTH follow the same rule. That way, the guessers have a wider range of clues to go on for their initial guesses and it won’t be so nerve wracking to get going down the right path.

Originally published at PatGames @ PopePat.com. You can comment here or there.

©2008 Pat Mannion

Keywords: simple, travel_game, family_game, guessing_game
Equipment: none
Players: any

RULES
If you’ve ever found yourself sitting in a waiting room or hotel/restaurant lobby across from a painting and wondered what kind of game one could play while killing the time… you may wonder no longer.

Mural is a game that my daughter and I created while eating at The Omelette Parlor in Costa Mesa. There is a huge mural in the back room, full of farmside imagery. The way the game is played is basically the same way it was originally invented. We were looking at the mural — waiting for the meal — and she said, “I see something starting with the letter A.”

I don’t recall now what the something was, but once I finally guessed what it was (let’s say it was an Aardvark) I said, “I see something starting with the letter B.” She made a few wrong guesses, so I added something along the lines of, “It’s two feet to the left and one foot down.” Having narrowed down the region of the mural where it was, she was able to guess it in a couple tries. Then she said “three feet to the right,” for example.

At that point, we really didn’t need to say “starting with the letter C” because it was a given. Plus it kept us on our toes trying to keep the alphabet straight. Eventually, you reach the end of the alphabet and whoever has made fewer guesses in order to get their fair portion of the letters correct is the winner (if you need a winner).

Alternate scoring options include allowing only 3 guesses before it’s the guessee’s turn to go again. Keep track of who got to give more clues and that person is the winner.

Mural can be played with regular size paintings by using inches instead of feet. In fact, if you choose to use feet and inches at the same time, the game takes on the additional challenge (ie. “opportunity to argue”) of having to both agree on what a foot and an inch are, given that you are both sitting at a decent distance from the work of art. In this manner, Mural can be a great game for practicing your relative distance and estimation skills.

For added excitement, Mural can be played in a 3-D sense when you find yourself looking out across a landscape or garden.

Originally published at PatGames @ PopePat.com. You can comment here or there.

©2007 Pat Mannion

Equipment: none
Players: 2-3

RULES
This one came about while my daughter and I were recreating Homestar Runner songs on the way home from school one day. It is based on the Whose Line Is It Anyway improv game called “Standing Sitting Bending.”

( Singing, Humming, Drumming )

Originally published at PatGames @ PopePat.com. You can comment here or there.

Equipment: 1 freeway full of cars
Players: 2

RULES
Here’s another one for you commuters – as well as all of you who take a lot of family trips. Also, it’s the first GuestGame here at PatGames. It was designed by my father-in-law, Robert Nason.

( Bank It! )

Originally published at PatGames @ PopePat.com. You can comment here or there.

Equipment: none
Players: any

RULES
If you are one of those commuters who can’t help but look at every license plate that passes you on the freeway, then this game is for you.

( Number Race )

Originally published at PatGames @ PopePat.com. You can comment here or there.

Equipment: none
Players: 1

RULES
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker.

( Driver Profiling )

Originally published at PatGames @ PopePat.com. You can comment here or there.

©2006 Pat Mannion
Equipment: 1 fortune cookie
Players: any

RULES
Last night we went to an asian buffet and yesterday afternoon my daughter and I watched The Empire Strikes Back (her first time). So today’s game combines both!

( Fortune Cookie Fixing )

Originally published at PatGames @ PopePat.com. You can comment here or there.

©2006 Pat Mannion
Equipment: 5 of anything
Players: 1 or more

RULES

You can think of this as a children’s learning game, but I find it challenging all on my own. And I already know the alphabet, so there!

Just grab five things. Really, the first five things you see that fit in the palm of your hand. They have to fit in your hand.

I find that five random things from inside my daughter’s desk drawer work great. First time I played, I happened to grab a doll dress, a little man figurine, a Pente stone, a doll purse and a tiny wig. Yeah, you can find some odd things in a kid’s desk…

Anyway, for the sake of an example game, let’s use the items in Figure 1. A pen, a die, a penny, a car, and a bracelet. Now, toss them onto the floor randomly and fan them out into the shape of a pentagram. Form the pentagram randomly when you play. We are only arranging them for the sake of this example.

Now, here is the simple but challenging dynamic that makes this into a game: try to trace a star shape using the five objects in order alphabetically. You remember how to draw a star, of course. The only difference here is that you can start with any corner and start drawing.

In Fgure 2, if you start with the bracelet, you will have to “draw” across to the die, then back toward the penny, then up and left to the car. OOPS! You were going in alphabetic order until then. Start over and choose another corner for the first object.

It helps – you will find – to start with an object close to the beginning of the alphabet. Perhaps this time, you start with the car, then go to the pen, then back over to the bracelet. Uh oh! Out of order again.

It isn’t easy. You can start at any object and try to trace a star in any direction. You can even trace a left-handed star (in this case, penny, dice, bracelet, pen, car). But it still isn’t in alphabetic order.

But, what if you call the car a “racecar” instead? Now let’s go back to the first order. From bracelet, you go to die. From die to penny. From penny to racecar. But now you have to go from racecar to pen! So close!

Think about it, though. A pen is just a writing implement. And “writing implement” starts with W. Voila! Bracelet, Die, Penny, Racecar, Writing Implement.

VARIATIONS

• Play “Pentabet” against an opponent or two. Whoever can discover a star-shaped, alphabetic route first is the winner. Of course the other players can always challenge your use of alternative words.

Originally published at PatGames @ PopePat.com. You can comment here or there.

©2006 Pat Mannion
Equipment: none
Players: 2 or more

RULES

I hesitate to call this one simple, because although it *is* quite simple, it is also far more devious, cut-throat and has more re-playability than pretty much and other “simple” game I am likely to ever invent.

Let’s dig right in: Letter Race can be played anywhere, but it is especially good in a car (though we have had several amazing games of it in the library and in my game collection room – you’ll see why in a minute).

To begin, someone yells “Letter Race!” Each player then quickly looks around at ANY printed word they see *outside* the car. It can be a billboard, a freeway sign, a building mural, or even graffiti. Look for the letter A. When you see a letter A (upper or lower case) yell it out.

Yell out “Red A on a blue background.” Or whatever the color of letter and color of background is. The color part is important because as soon as you let the other players know that you have found A, start looking for the next letter in the alphabet. But here’s the catch: you need to find a letter B that is the same color as the background of A. In the example above, it was on a blue background, so you would be searching for a blue letter A.

When you find B — for example, if it is the B on a “Mobil” gas station sign — you would immediately yell “Blue B on a white background,” and then start looking for a white C. Everyone is looking for their own letters, and several times during the game it is quite possible that the players will be several letters apart from each other, racing towards the end of the alphabet.

Continue playing in this fashion until someone reaches Z. The first one there is the winner.

CLARIFICATIONS

1) No two players can call out the same exact letter on the same building. However, if the building is “Ace Hardware,” then feel free to each take a different A.
2) All letters must be outside the car. They *can* be on other cars, however.
3) You get three “Passes.” If you cannot find a letter (or want to get ahead quicker), say “Pass” and move on to the next letter. You must keep the same color, however. In other words, if you are looking for a yellow Q and you pass, then you are now looking for a yellow R.

VARIATIONS

• Play “Letter Race” in a well-stocked library, a restaurant, or a bookstore.

• Play it backwards, from Z to A.

STRATEGY

• Think ahead as you play. If you are looking for the letter P, then you know Q is coming up next so you may not want to pick a P that is on a green background. Take it from me: green is a hard color to find letters written in. Especially on the freeway. Green backgrounds, yes. Green letters, no.