Chopsticks is a fun game that you can play with friends with only your hands! There are many variations of Chopsticks, but this is how my friends and I play. This post will teach you how to play, and suggest a few variations for the game. How to Play Suggested # of Players: 2+ 1) Everyone starts off with both their pointer fingers. The goal is to eliminate your opponent before they eliminate you. You are eliminated once both of your hands are out. 2) Each turn, a player may either...
Or
Variations Free for all
Turn order example:
Starting positions example for one team:
Strategy
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Ever since its release in 2016 from a Kickstarter, Secret Hitler has been a very popular game, especially for fans of deception-based board games like Mafia, Werewolf, or The Resistance. Secret Hitler takes you back to the Reichstag in Germany, 1933, right before Hitler comes to power, but you don't need to know any history for this game except that it is a battle between the Liberals and Fascists over power. The Fascists are the informed minority while the Liberals the uninformed majority. This post, I will briefly explain how to play the game and how I printed out their printable version online with a few additions of mine. All rights go to their respectful owners, I do not own this game. How to play Suggested # of people: 5 - 10 1) Everyone is assigned a role
2) Rounds
Here are a couple of strategy tips
Do It Yourself at home 1) First, go to their website here to print out the templates or scroll to the bottom of this post for the PDF. 2) Follow page instructions and cut out each part. There should be ...
Suggestions As you can see, I made a few additions to the original Print and Play version. Please reference the images above for the descriptions below.
Very Helpful Links Great Youtube tutorial for Secret Hitler: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbGXIDYdtas Game play example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6CuIO4y4Vs Playing Secret Hitler online for free: https://secrethitler.io/observe Official Rules: http://secrethitler.com/assets/Secret_Hitler_Rules.pdf Print and Play, and Rules
The bottle flipping craze of 2016-17 where individuals try to flick a bottle into the air and have it land successfully upright was a fun past time for many. The bottle flip challenge requires plenty of skill, and many have tried to master this special toss. While Bowling with friends, I put two and two together and combined the Bottle Flip Challenge with Bowling. I'm proud to bring you Bottle Flip Bowling! Enjoy. How to PlaySuggested # of Players: 2-4 1) Find a plastic water bottle with some water left and a flat surface. A 1/3 filled bottle of water is recommended for beginners. 2) Scoring: Each bowling frame, you try to successfully land a bottle flip. There are 10 frames in bowling, with a bonus shot in the last frame if you get a Strike ("X") or Spare ("/").
3 Frame Game Example 3) Write the results of your frame onto a piece of paper. I included a suggested template at the end of this blog post that you can draw yourself or print. 4) Play! The player with the highest score wins. It is very easy to set up, so play time is usually around 5-10 minutes between 2 players. Speed Game A quicker version can be played with 3 or 5 frames. Game play is the same as normal Bottle Flip Bowling, but the last frame is like the 10th frame. Very Helpful LinksHow to do scoring in Bowling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rb_Bhvh8k4 Scoring calculator for Bowling: http://www.bowlinggenius.com/ How to do Bottle Flips (Presented by Dude Perfect): https://youtu.be/P8V_bx0L4RY?t=1m45s Bowling Score Sheet Template
Image Credit Just like my Deal or No Deal post, I found a way to do the same for Wheel of Fortune. This TV game show is a classic and I hope for this post to delight fans of the show. How to PlaySuggested # of Players: 2-6 1) Get a pencil, paper, and standard deck of cards. Feel free to substitute any of these materials if you can't find them. 2) Assign one person to be the host of the round and have everyone else be the contestants. The roles will rotate counterclockwise every round. 3) The host thinks of a phrase and tells the contestants the category, much like the rules of Hangman. On the paper, the host will underline a place for each letter of their phrase and separate words of their phrase with a space. For Example: Host thinks - "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" Host says - "The category is common sayings." Host writes - "_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ " 4) Shuffle the cards and assign point values to the card values. The 13 point system works the best where Ace is 1 point and King is 13 points. If you have jokers, they will act as the Bankrupt tile. Display the cards face down on the table in front of the contestants. This will be the "Wheel." 5) Play follows the Wheel of Fortune rules.
Another example game. Image Credit 6) Scoring for the host. The host will get the number of letters in their phrase added to their score. If their phrase was, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," the host will get 29 points for 29 letters. 7) The game ends when everyone has been the host if you are playing in a group larger than 4. Otherwise, 3-4 rounds is suggested. The winner is the person with the most points! StrategyWhile it may seem advantageous for the host to make the longest word possible, it also means more points for the contestants if they can correctly guess the letters in the phrase. Image Credit Alright, this week's post is going back to card games! I included this game because of how easily it can be set up anywhere. Spoons can get very competitive, I speak from experience, but it also adds fun and excitement to any meet up. Just remember not to flip any tables (that's another story). Below is the way we play Spoons where everyone gets only one life. The original version gives everyone 6 lives by spelling out S P O O N S. Once they spelled it, they are eliminated. How to PlaySuggested # of Players: 2-10 Set Up 1) Everyone gathers around a table or in a circle. 2) Get one less spoon than the total number of people playing and a deck of cards. For example, if you have 5 people, you would use 4 spoons. Place the spoons in the middle where everyone can reach them. 3) Deal out 4 cards to everyone and leave the rest of the deck next to a designated starting player. Each Round
The goal is to get 4 of a kind of any card. Once someone has 4 of a kind, they and everyone can allowed to grab a spoon. Similar to musical chairs*, you move on to the next round if you have a spoon. Otherwise, you are eliminated. If anyone grabs a spoon before someone gets a 4 of a kind, they are eliminated. The game ends when there is one person left. Image Credit to Wikimedia Commons *Musical Chairs - a party game in which players compete for a decreasing number of chairs, the losers in successive rounds being those unable to find a chair to sit on when the accompanying music is abruptly stopped. (Google Search)
Note: Spoons makes a great tournament game Image credit to Newcomers Club This is part 3 of 3 of the party games series. Let me know if you like this posting style. While Pictionary has an actual card game version, it can also be played very easily at home with just pencil and paper. Pictionary Suggested # of Players: 2+ 1) Find a list of words to choose from or designate someone to choose the words. The Heads-Up game app works well if you need a list. 2) One person starts off as the drawer and tries to draw a given word/phrase for the audience to guess. If an audience member guesses correctly, they get to draw the next word. This continues indefinitely. Pictionary can also be played as a team game as well. Divide your group into teams and have each team play for a set amount of time (i.e. 1 minute). The team that can get the most words correct wins! Another Variation Telephone Pictionary - If you know how to play the game Telephone*, this game is similar but with Pictionary.
Here is a video example from the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon playing normal Pictionary with Lena Dunham and J.K. Simmons. Image credit to Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon *Telephone is a game where players sit around a circle. The first person in the circle whispers a message to the ear of the next person in the line, and so on, until the last player is reached, who announces the message to the entire group. (Wikipedia)
Image credit to Chicken Charades This is part 2 of 3 of the party games series. Charades Suggested # of Players: 3+ 1) Select someone who is going to start first. They have to think of a noun or verb and try to act it out for the audience. The audience then tries to guess what the person originally thought of. It is best to choose a category beforehand.
2) Once someone guesses right, they go next. This can continue indefinitely. It can also be a team game by assigning players into teams and having a designated judge who provides the words. Each team will get 1 minute to get as many correct as possible. Different Ways to Play! Not only the original and team versions, Charades can be also be played in other ways! Telephone Charades - If you know how to play the game Telephone*, this game is similar but with Charades.
Word Charades - This version is where instead of acting out a word, you try to describe it with only words. You cannot say the word/phrase itself or spell out the word/phrase. This one creates quite the discussion! Say It Backwards Charades - Taking "Word Charades" to another level, "Say It Backwards Charades" has the person on stage try to sound a word/phrase backwards. The audience then tries to guess what the original word/phrase was. This makes a great silly game for all ages! Here is a video to clarify the rules of normal Charades. Image credit to WikiHow on how to play Charades *Telephone is a game where players sit around a circle. The first person in the circle whispers a message to the ear of the next person in the line, and so on, until the last player is reached, who announces the message to the entire group. (Wikipedia)
Image credit to Marines Sometimes we find ourselves bored at parties or social gatherings. Other times we just want to find a good icebreaker to get to know everyone better. What if you didn't bring anything? What if no one brought games? I'm going to be showcasing 3 party games/team building games in the next 3 posts that I've played during staff training sessions. All you need to play are friends! Human Knot Suggested # of People: 3 - 8 1) Everyone stands around in a circle 2) Everyone then reaches out their left hand and grabs someone else's hand, typically across from them. Do this for the right hand as well.
Now you have a human knot! 3) The goal of the game is to untangle the knot. The group must work together and communicate effectively to figure out how to untie itself. Challenge Mode If the original game was too easy for your team, try these challenges below! Try doing the Human Knot:
Image credit to U.S. Army Check out this video to clarify any of the rules for The Human Knot
XOXO, What better game than to do Ultimate Tic Tac Toe on Valentine's Day! Hope you are enjoying this year's valentine with someone special. Everyone here probably knows how to play the original Tic Tac Toe game, but as a reminder, the goal of the game is to get three in a row to win. Cat's game after cat's game, Tic Tac Toe can get boring and repetitive. Ultimate Tic Tac Toe takes Tic Tac Toe to a whole other level. It involves much more strategy and thinking ahead which is why I love this game. I have included this game on the blog because of its portability and easy setup. All you need is a pencil and paper. How to Play Suggested # of Players: 2 1) First, draw the Ultimate Tic Tac Toe Board. The board is 9 tic tac toe "hashtags" within a larger tic tac toe "hashtag." Let's call the smaller Tic Tac Toe games their own sections. 2) Most of the rules from Tic Tac Toe are the same. X starts first anywhere. Once you get 3 in a row in a section, you win that section. Win 3 sections in a row on the bigger Tic Tac Toe board, you win the game. 3) Now the twist: Your opponent decides which section you go to to make your next move and vise versa. Let me explain. Wherever your opponent plays in a section, you go to the section relative to the board. For example, if they pick the top right corner of a section, you would make your next move in the top right section of the board. 4) Additional Rules
Happy Valentine's and happy playing!
Deal or no deal? This was the famous phrase that made the TV show so captivating. Deal or No Deal was well known for those who lived in the 2000s, and oddly made its way into arcades as well. Whether you watched to see if the contestant won a million, lost it all at the end, or some ... other reason, you knew the anticipation felt moments before each case was opened. Imagine if you could spice up your game nights with this classic, right now. Grab a standard deck of cards, because I will be showing you the original game I came up with during my free time, inspired by Deal or No Deal. How to Play Suggested # of Players: 2-6 (Players can pair up into teams) 1) Take out one of each card, Ace through King, from the deck. They could be from any suit, but I've decided to use Spades in my example. 2) Assign a contestant for the round. All other players are bankers. If you like the TV show Shark Tank, this adds a similar feel, with multiple investors and the contestant getting a chance to pick the best offer. Credit to notthelatimes 3) Shuffle the deck, and have the contestant pick a card, keeping it face down! This card is going to be the contestant's card (case). Then arrange the other cards in a 3x4 face down display in front of the contestant. 4) Like Deal or No Deal, the contestant takes turns revealing cards from the board while the banker(s) makes offers. Here is an Example Game
Continue reading for scoring and how to make offers below. Note: Once scoring is completed, the role of contestant is rotated clock-wise. 4) Points, Offers, and Scoring. This game runs on a 1 to 13 point system.
*Unlike Deal or No Deal, if the contestant rejects all offers and all cards on the board have been revealed, the player will only get to add half their card's value to their score, rounded down (For balancing game play). 6) Play! With all players, agree on the number of points to win. For time estimates, playing to 15 points usually takes my friends and I about 10-20 minutes depending on how many people play. 7) Strategy. Here are some helpful tips that I've put together after testing this game.
Now the choice is up to you: Deal ... or No Deal? Here is a video from the TV show "Deal or No Deal" to give you more of a gist for this game. Please DO comment any balancing issues or suggestions for this game. Thanks for reading! |
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Hi, I'm Michael and I write about a variety of board/card games that you can easily pick up and play. Archives
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