Barbara Hammond, More Games People Play

Barb Hammond

In case you want to give yourselves a boost of endorphins, try some of these: Blots, Magnetize, Taboo, and Telestrations. None of them require any brain strain and are good for all ages. To be specific, here are some descriptions of each game to get you interested. I’m sorry they are wordy; the Editor made me do it.

Blots is based on trying to interpret ink blots and guessing how the owner of the card identified it from three clues. That’s what the numbered cards are in the photo below. A number relates to one of the clues. Points for matching the owner of the blot. This is where the aforementioned arguing happens. Human nature dictates that most people will insist that they are more “right” than the others. This has nothing to do with playing the game – it’s just good- natured disagreement and sometimes a few insults might fly. All in good fun, doncha know!

The game Magnetize will result in a lot of agonized hollering. The game pieces are little smooth, synthetic stones that are magnetic. Everyone gets a handful. A circle is made on the table by tying the ends of a string that comes in the box. The goal is to get rid of all of one’s stones. In turn, the players place a stone inside the circle. If a stone is placed too close to the opposite pole of another stone and they will stick together. If that happens, the player must pick up both stones – and any others that jump into the cluster. As the game progresses, the circle fills up and the placement must be very delicate. If playing with children, watch your language when you accidently drop your stone and it grabs four more (I speak from experience). It’s also a fun science lesson for children. If playing with young kids, make the circle bigger to avoid tearful frustration.

Taboo is based on the old game of Charades, but with spoken clues rather than actions. The group is divided into two teams. The object is for one team to guess a secret word on the holder’s card. The card holder must describe the word without using any of the several “taboo” words also printed on their card. Of course, the taboo words are the most obvious ones a person would think to use. The other team tries to guess the word from the clues. The excited teammates may inevitably shout out their ideas in a melee of suggestions. Again, arguments and opinions may fly after the one-minute timer is finished. Fisticuffs are not allowed.

For people who are afraid to play Pictionary because they say they can’t draw, who cares?! They can play Telestrations and jolly well like it. After all, it’s just a friendly game, right? This game is like the childhood game, “Telephone,” but works with illustrations instead of whispered phrases. Do you see what they did there with the name of the game? Anyway, each player receives a small book with several glossy cardboard pages. Sharpie markers are used to draw on the pages. All players draw a card – each one has a different secret word. They then draw a picture of that word and pass the book to the next player (everyone is drawing and passing simultaneously). The next person looks at the drawing and writes what they think it is on the next page – pass it on – the next person looks at the word and draws a picture, etc. The hilarity bursts out when the books are filled and the progression from first words to last are revealed. Did the word guesses match the original secret word?  Were the drawings consistent? Beware of laughing yourselves silly over the crazy interpretations! Ignore the people who whine that they can’t draw! They’ll get over themselves after the first round because no one else will draw any better.