[Noisebridge-discuss] What's a non-trivial equipmentless game?

[Sean W. Mahan]

Werewolf / Mafia / Assassin is a good one.  Four or more players.  See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mafia_(party_game)

Also, "linking" games, e.g. the movie game.  One player says a movie or actor, and then the next player has to come up with either an actor in the movie, or another movie that actor was in.  Sometimes saying a director is an option, too.  My movie knowledge is terrible, but when people really know their stuff this can be pretty fun.  Even number of players has the "one person only gets to say [movies | actors]" problem.

A ridiculous party game: paper bag (yes, equipment, but it's only a corner store beer away).  Put a paper bag on the ground.  Each player takes a turn picking it up in their mouth, without using their hands to touch either the bag or the ground.  After each round, tear off an inch or so of the bag – by the later rounds it takes some serious balance!  Yes, this is hardly intelligent, and yes, it's disgusting.

Reverse Madlibs can be fun, and requires more group effort than normal madlibs (a good thing).  Basically, one person makes a list of interesting, evocative words (or short phrases).  The group decides on a theme / tone / setting (this could also happen before the word list), and then the word lister announces the parts of speech of her words, one or two at a time.  Sometimes this means being really specific, e.g. "a verb that takes a plural direct object".  The group builds a sentence around that part of speech, and the list maker writes it down.  All sentences get read at once at end.  It's fun without picking a theme / tone, too, but IMHO the results are more satisfying (and still plenty Dada) when you pick a frame to work within.

Speaking of Dada, Exquisite Corpse!  A piece or writing or drawing worked on collaboratively in series, where no participant gets to see anything but a couple short lines (drawn) or a word or two (written) by the previous player.

Good discussion idea!

-Sean

On Jan 13, 2010, at 10:53 PM, Ever Falling wrote:

> actually now that i think about it i'm sure you can find /something/ on SF0 that you can do without equipment even if it's not specifically a game.
> 
> On Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 10:51 PM, Ever Falling <everfalling at gmail.com> wrote:
> people watching. create elaborate and detailed stories about people you see on the street. bonus 'points' for integrating more than one personal story together even if they're not interacting.
> 
> 2010/1/13 Ben Kovitz <bkovitz at indiana.edu>
> This is a bit like charades but IMO way more fun.
> 
> 
> "Adverb"
> 
> One person, the Guesser, leaves the room. The others choose an adverb.
> The Guesser returns, thinks of an activity, names one or more others,
> and says, "Do X in the manner of the word." The others act out the
> activity in the manner if the adverb, and the Guesser takes a guess at
> the adverb. If wrong, the Guesser suggests another activity, and so on
> until the Guesser guesses right. One guess per scene. When the Guesser
> gets it right, pick someone else to be the Guesser for the next round.
> (It's a noncompetitive game.)
> 
> For example, one time I played this, the adverb was "flamboyantly".
> The Guesser picked me and one other person and said, "Change a tire in
> the manner of the word."
> 
> One time, I was the Guesser, and the others decided to give me a hard
> word: "multiculturally." Yes, even words that abstract can be acted
> out and guessed.
> 
> A tip: Make no effort to be funny. There will be much laughter no
> matter what you do, but it's best to act out each activity in the most
> direct and serious way you can.
> 
> Also, use no props, even if good ones are handy. Just mime everything
> (except chairs). This keeps it a game of intellect and imagination.
> 
>  http://greenlightwiki.com/improv/adverb
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> 
> On Jan 14, 2010, at 12:54 AM, Sai Emrys <noisebridge at saizai.com> wrote:
> 
> > Other than
> > a) 20 questions and equivalent "guess what I'm thinking" games, and
> > b) free association
> >
> > … what are non-trivial equipmentless games suitable for 2+ person play
> > by intelligent people?
> >
> > - Sai
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