It was as I was playing a game with my family the other evening however that I realised how infrequently we as adults tend to play together - playtime often being filled with individual pursuits or technology-based ones such as movies or television which, even if undertaken in company are still really quite individual. But the more I reflect on it, the more I realise how important, useful and downright enjoyable a playtime filled with games can be. Often the province of family or group holidays, games give even the most disparate group of people something to do together, something to bond over, something to laugh about.
So, in order to foster an increased spirit of shared and uproariously funny playtimes in the world, I thought I'd start sharing a few of my favourite group games. This first one is only a recent addition to my collection - and, though it sounds dull when described (I believe I scoffed openly when first told how the game worked), suspend your disbelief - I did, and found it a lot of fun.
Hats
You will need:
- Players. You will be playing in teams of two, so even numbers are best, although anyone left over will come in very handy as score-keeper: scoring tends to become a little erratic if done by the players!
- Three slips of paper for each player, plus spare paper for the score-keeper.
- Pens all round.
- A one-minute timer. Can be a mobile phone, hourglass or anything else that will get the job done.
- Two hats, bowls or similar.
How to play:
- Divide into teams of two.
- Each player is given three slips of paper, on each of which they write a person (eg: Barack Obama, Joan Sutherland), place (Sydney, Hawaii) or icon (McDonald's Golden Arches, the Eiffel Tower). All of the slips are folded and placed in one of the hats.
Round One
- Pick one team to begin (use any old method you like). Of the first team, one person will be the "reader" and one the "guesser" for this first "go", although these roles will alternate with each "go" the team has.
- The reader picks a slip of paper from the hat and, using as many words as they like as long as none of them are the ones written on the slip, gives their guesser clues to what is written on the slip. When the guesser correctly guesses what is written on the slip, the slip is re-folded and placed in the second hat, and the reader takes another from the first hat.
- This continues until the team's minute is up, when it is the next team's go to repeat this process.
- When the last slip from the first hat has been correctly guessed, the timer is stopped and round two begins.
- (If you get around all the teams and all the slips from the first hat haven't yet been guessed, that's OK - just keep going around until you've done them all.)
- Teams win a point for each correctly guessed slip.
Round Two
- The team that was playing at the end of round one has however much time was left on the clock when the last slip was correctly guessed to begin round two.
- In round two, a similar process is followed, this time taking the slips from the second hat and returning them to the first; the only real difference is that instead of using as many words as they like to help the guesser correctly guess the word or phrase on the slip, the reader may only use one.
- Continue as for round one until the last slip has been guessed.
Round Three
- As for round two, but this time the reader may not use any words or sounds as clues to the word or phrase on their slip; instead they have to use charades.
- This continues until the last slip has been correctly guessed.
The winner is the team with the highest number of correctly-guessed slips (although to be honest, by the end of the game you'll probably be weak with laughter and won't much care for such tawdry things as winners and losers!). :)