Tis the time of year for sitting around and enjoying one another’s company, but sometimes, conversation gets old. Here’s a little game to liven things up a bit!
This game is best described as Pictionary meets Telephone. No materials needed besides some fun friends/family (4+ people), some letter sized blank paper, and a writing utensil for each person.
Sit in a circle. Each person writes a sentence on the top of the page. It can be silly or serious. Try to write small (but legibly!) so that there’s a lot more room on the page. No peaking though!
When everyone is set, pass the sheet of paper to the person to your left. This person will illustrate, with drawing and no words, the sentence you wrote to the best of their ability. Again, try to keep it small but clear to continue to leave room on the page. They will then fold over your text so that all that is seen on the page is the illustration. Everyone again passes the sheet of paper in their possession to their left.
Now, everyone will write a caption describing the picture that is passed to them. They then fold over the picture and pass it along to the next person, who will illustrate. And so on… you get it.
The game is over when you want it to be over, but I usually suggest going about 8-10 passes, which usually fills up the front and back of one paper. After you’d like the round to be over, the papers are unfolded and hilarity ensues as the complete transcripts are shared with everyone.
I played this last year with family and it was really fun. There’s an online version, too, with a silly name and weird interface but overall maintenance of the idea here. However, as I generally feel about games, this is infinitely more fun when shared with people that you know and enjoy laughing with.
Enjoy! And do let me know if you come up with a good name for the game, because I would like one.
Jen Bokoff 