Ages: 10 and up.  Recommend # of people: 6-15.  Messiness factor: No Sweat.  Materials Required: None.  Recommended Setting: Indoors.

Instructions:  Hodgy Podgy (also known as Hodgey Podgey and the Hodgy Podgy Word Game) is a simple yet very fun rhythm game.  A group of people stand in a circle, with everyone facing the center.  Choose a person who will start the round.  He or she starts to clap a relatively slow rhythm (slap both legs on the first beat, then clap hands on second beat, thumbs-up on left hand for third beat, and thumbs-up on right hand on fourth beat, and repeat the four beat cycle).  Everyone in the circle matches the rhythm set by the leader.  To start each round, the leader says (while clapping to the rhythm, one beat per word), “Hodgy podgy, hodgy podgy, hodgy podgy, hodgy podgy!”

The leader starts a sentence by saying any word on the one beat (for example, he or she could say the word “Big” as he or she slaps their legs on beat one).  The next person in the circle must continue the story by adding the next word in the sentence by the first beat of the next rhythm cycle (for example, the 2nd person could say “dogs,” so the sentence is now “Big dogs..”).  The third person in the circle must continue the story by adding the 3rd word in the sentence at the right time (for example, the person could say the word “eat,” making the current sentence “Big dogs eat..”).  The next person in line must continue the sentence.  Each word must make logical and grammatical sense when added to the sentence.  If a person wants to end the sentence, he or she says a punctuation word, such as “period” or “exclamation point” or “question mark.”  At this point, the next person in the circle starts the new sentence.

An example of a sample round of play would look like this (assuming there are 6 players in the circle):

• Player 1 (while clapping a 4 beat rhythm): “Hodgy podgy, hodgy podgy, hodgy podgy, hodgy podgy!”
• Player 1 starts sentence on beat one: “Big..”
• Player 2 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle: “..dogs..”
• Player 3 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle: “..eat..”
• Player 4 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle:
• “..yummy..”
• Player 5 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle: “..food..”
• Player 6 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle: “..when..”
• Player 1 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle: “..they..”
• Player 2 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle: “..are..”
• Player 3 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle: “..hungry..”
• Player 4 ends sentence on beat one of next cycle by saying: “..PERIOD..”
• Player 5 starts new sentence on beat one of next cycle: “They..”
• Player 6 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle: “..are..”
• Player 1 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle: “..very..”
• Player 2 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle: “..smelly..”
• Player 3 ends sentence on beat one of next cycle by saying: “..EXCLAMATION POINT..”
• Player 4 starts new sentence on beat one of next cycle by saying: “Bob..”

And the game continues, as players create silly stories together, word by word.

When a player makes a mistake (is unable to continue the sentence in time, or says something logically or gramatically correct) the round ends and he becomes the person who starts the next round.  This game offers lots of entertainment and is a little educational too!

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Ages: 8 and up. Recommended # of people: 8-25. Messiness factor: No Sweat. Materials Required: None. Recommended Setting: Indoors.

Screaming Viking

How to Play

Screaming Viking is an entertaining game in which people act out silly motions and make noises.  To begin, have everyone sit in a circle with one person in the middle. The goal of the game is not be in the middle at the end of the game. The person in the middle points at a person seated in the circle and then screams, “Screaming Viking! (or one of the other formations described below). One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten!” While the person is counting, the person who was selected and the people directly to the left and right must form a “Screaming Viking” formation, described below.

If any of the three people (the person selected and the people to the left and right of that person) do not correctly respond in time (before the count to 10 is up) then whoever messes up must go into the middle. The appropriate response can be one of the following:

1. Screaming Viking: each person to the left and right of the selected person must make a rowing motion outwardly to the sides, while the person in the middle must place his or her fingers to the sides of his/her head with index finger pointed upwards, like horns. All three people must scream loudly.

2. Smurfs: the 3 of them interlock arms and sing the smurf song, “La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la.”

3. Chia Pet: the three of them must act as a growing chia pet with hands lifting upwards. The 3 of them must shoud, “Ch-ch-ch-chia…”

4. Jello: the person in the center wobbles like jello, while each person to the side holds their arms out, forming a bowl. You can make up other appropriate responses — the sillier the better! The more enthusiastic and wacky you are, the more entertaining the game.

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Ages: 10 and up. Recommended # of People: 5-6. Messiness Factor: No Sweat. Materials Required: None. Recommended Setting: Indoors.

Telephone Charades

How to Play

The Telephone Charades Game (also sometimes called ”Charades Down the Line”) is an icebreaker/stationary game that is a hilarious blend of the classic “telephone down the line” and “charades” game.  This group game is fairly simple to play. Select five to six participants and ask them to leave the room. The audience chooses an action that is specific, silly, and obscure to act out (e.g. “a nerd’s romantic first date”, “washing an elephant”, “going skydiving”, etc.). Once the clue has been decided, bring in all the participants and instruct them to face the right side. The moderator reveals the clue to the first person, who taps the second person on the shoulder and acts out the topic using charades rules (no talking allowed, no noises). The second person then taps the third person and acts out his or her understanding of what was acted out. This continues until it reaches the last person in line, who must guess what the action is. This game is funny because the action mutates and changes based upon each person’s interpretation of what is going on, often leading to confusion and silly motions.

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Ages: 14 and up. Recommended number of people: A groups of 8 to 12. Messiness factor: No sweat. Materials required: A deck of cards to determine who plays which role. Recommended setting: Indoors.

Mafia Game

This stationary game (originally invented by psychology student Dimitry Davidoff in Russia, 1986) is a popular group game involving strategy and bluffing. It is good for discussing topics such as lying, deception, trust, good versus evil, etc. or just for a fun time. There are five roles one can play: one narrator, two members of the mafia, two members of the police (or one the group is not large), one doctor, the remaining people are townspeople.

Setup

The narrator needs to prepare the right number of playing cards to set up the game. He or she takes out two aces (which represent mafia), two kings (which represent police), one queen (which represents the doctor), and several number cards (one for each of the remaining roles to be played). Therefore, if there are 12 people playing, there would be two aces, two kings, one queen, and seven number (non-face) cards, adding up to 12 cards. The narrator shuffles these cards and each person randomly selects a card, without revealing his or her identity. The person assumes the role for the round.Roles

• Ace card: Anyone who gets an Ace card is a Mafia member. Their goal is to keep secret that they are Mafia and blend in with the Townspeople. For them to win the game, they want to eliminate the townspeople one by one each round but not to get eliminated (voted off) during the day.
• King card: Anyone who gets a King card is a member of the Police. These members try to figure out who is guilty of being a Mafia and who is innocent. Thus, their goal is to help the townspeople vote correctly in who to eliminate during the day (the good people, not the bad!). They generally want to keep their identity secret so that the Mafia cannot eliminate them early.
• Queen card: The doctor role. This optional (but recommended) role serves one purpose – to try to protect people during the night. He or she can also be selfish and choose to protect himself during the night.
• All other cards (number cards): Townspeople. Their goal is to figure out who is a member of the secret Mafia, and to eliminate them from the town during the day.

How to Play

Arrange the players in a circle, with the narrator outside the circle and walking around it. Each “day” of the game, the narrator takes the entire town through the following commands in this order:

1. Nighttime

• It is nighttime, so everyone please go to sleep.” (Everyone puts their head down and closes their eyes)
• “Mafia, please wake up.” (Only the mafia quietly opens their eyes. The ones that are still “alive” quietly and unanimously choose a person to eliminate by pointing to someone in the group. The narrator takes note of the person chosen.
• “Mafia, please go to sleep.” (The mafia closes eyes and places their heads down again.)
• “Police, please wake up.” (The member(s) of the police that are still alive open their eyes and quietly points to one person who they suspect is a member of the Mafia.
• The narrator quietly nods or shakes his or her head to indicate whether that person is indeed Mafia.
• “Police, please go to sleep.” (The member(s) of the police close their eyes and place their heads down.)
• “Doctor, please wake up and choose someone you’d like to protect.” (The doctor, if still alive, wakes up and silently points to someone they would like to protect for that day.)
• “Doctor, please go to sleep.” (The doctor closes his or her eyes and puts his/her head down.)
• “It’s morning. Everyone please wake up.” (Everyone opens their eyes and raises their head.)

2. Daytime Update

• The narrator announces the person who was eliminated, unless the doctor correctly selected the person who was targeted by the Mafia for the night. The person who was eliminated MUST quietly leave the circle. This person may not speak to anyone for the remainder of the entire game, but he or she may now keep his/her eyes open to watch everything.

3. Daytime Discussion/Voting

• The townspeople (along with the Mafia and Police who may pretend to be townspeople) then nominate and vote on people who they suspect is a Mafia. Each person nominated may make a defense and plead their case. The person receiving a majority vote (50% or above) is eliminated. After someone is voted off, the day is over. The day may also end without any eliminations if the entire group decides to do so. The day ends, and the pattern starts again (Nighttime, Daytime Update, Daytime Discussion/Voting).

How to Win

The police or townspeople win if they successfully eliminate all mafia members. The mafia win if they successfully eliminate all the townspeople. This group game involves lots of strategy, knowing how and when to reveal your identity, who to trust, etc.

Variations

A variation for younger kids is known as Predator. Instead of mafia, there are “predators,” and instead of police there are “hunters.” Usually three separate predators (lion, wolf, bear) are chosen and they are instructed to pick up their heads separately and kill someone (they sometimes kill each other). Also, rather than using cards, simply just tap them while their heads are down (”If I tap you now, you are the bear.”) It makes it easier for the kids to keep it a secret. (Thanks Sara!)

Many other variations exist for the game of Mafia. If you know some more good ones, please leave a comment and tell us!

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Ages: All. Recommended # of Players: A small group of 2 to 5 people. Messiness factor: No mess, no stress! Materials required: None. Recommended Setting: Indoor settings such as cars, classrooms, and just about anywhere else.

Twenty Questions

The objective of Twenty Questions is quite simple: guess the person, place or thing in 20 questions or less! This game is a stationary game, and also a good car game (meaning it’s a game that’s useful for long car rides). Little or no movement is required. It takes about 5 minutes per round to play.

How to Play 20 Questions

There are no preparations or special materials required to play. This game works best with a small groups of about 2 to 5 players.

Select one person to begin Twenty Questions. This person is designated as “it.” For each round, this person must choose any person, place, or thing. The person can be living (e.g. a current athlete or classmate), deceased (e.g. a famous person in history), or fictitious (e.g. cartoon or movie character). The place can be anywhere in the world, including creative places. The thing can be an inanimate object, an animal, a food, etc. Basically anything can be chosen, but try to make the selected item something that can be reasonably guessed. It’s no fun to play a guessing game that is impossible to solve!

After the person has chosen a person, place, or thing, the guessing begins! The other players take turns and ask “yes” or “no” questions in an attempt to figure out what the chosen answer is. That is, the questions must be answered with simply “Yes” or “No.” After each guess, keep track of the number of guesses that are used until it reaches the limit of 20.

Once 20 questions are used up, players may not ask any more questions. If a player correctly guesses the object before then, they become “it” for the next game and choose the next person, place, or thing. Otherwise, the answer is revealed.

Variations for Twenty Questions

This game can be useful as an ESL game (a way for non-native speakers to learn English words). You can prepare flashcards with various categories (e.g. popular foods, American States, presidents, famous landmarks, animals, etc.) and have the students choose a category before playing each round.

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Ages: All ages. Recommended number of people: Any size group, including large groups. Messiness factor: No sweat. Materials required: Nothing. Recommended setting: Indoors.

Simon Says Game

Simon Says is a classic game that is traditionally played by kids and families, although it can also work with college students and adults as a lighthearted icebreaker.

How to Play Simon Says

One person plays the role of “Simon”, and he or she stands facing the crowd. Simon explains the rules: “I am Simon. I will give you instructions to do various actions, and you must imitate my actions. I will instruct you to do various things by saying ‘Simon says, do something’, where something is an action like touching your head, waving your hand, and so on. If you do something without me saying ‘Simon says’, then you are eliminated for that round.”

Simon (the game facilitator) then proceeds to say various commands (while demonstrating the action), sometimes beginning them with ‘Simon says’, and other times not.

These commands can include the following (be creative!):

• Pat your head
• Smile
• Wave hello
• Flex your biceps
• Touch your toes
• Turn around

Strategies for Simon

A good way to get many people eliminated at the very beginning of the game is to explain the rules, and then say: “Ready to play? Okay, everybody stand up.” Whenever many people stand to their feet, they will all be eliminated for that round, because Simon did not say “Simon says stand up to your feet.”

Another way is to give commands very quickly and to try to catch people off guard by not saying “Simon says” on occasion.

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Ages: All.  Recommended # of People: Groups or teams of 6-12 people.  Messiness Factor: Might break a small sweat. Materials Required: Sheets of paper, pens, a container to hold the paper.  Recommended Setting: Indoors.

Reaction Game

Form groups of six to twelve people.  If playing this game with a very large group as an icebreaker, you can also choose four or five volunteers and have them go to the front of the room.  The first step is to ask players to create some events.  Give each player small sheets of paper and pens.  Ask each player write some events.  Encourage creativity.  Some examples of events:

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Ages: 10 and up.  Recommended # of people: 5-10.  Messiness Factor: No Sweat.  Materials Required: A chair.  Recommended Setting: Indoors.

The Hot Seat

Instructions: Take a chair and identify it as “the hot seat.”  Set a timer for any length of time (e.g. something like 2 or 3 minutes should be plenty) and ask each person to take a turn on the hot seat.  Once they are seated, the timer begins and people may ask the seated person any question in rapid-fire succession.  The hot seat member is allowed to say “pass” for any too personal questions — try to avoid asking these, as it can ruin the fun. The players should be encouraged to ask good, meaningful questions that can allow the person to share significant and important things about himself or herself, such as:

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Ages: 10 and up.  Recommended # of People: 10-30.  Messiness Factor: No Sweat.  Materials Required: Paper, a couch or four chairs, pens.  Recommended Setting: Indoors

The Couch Game

How to Play

The Couch Game (also known by the name Kings and Queens) is a memory-based game that takes a moment to learn.  Form a circle with the couch (or four chairs) as part of the circle. Place two males and two females on the couch, and have the rest of the people fill in the circle, in alternating order (guy next to girl — no two guys next to each other, and no two girls next to each other). One chair must be left open. Have everyone fill out their name on a piece of paper. Place all the pieces of paper in a container. Go around the room and have someone pick out a piece of paper with someone’s name on it (they cannot have their own name). They must not let anyone know whose name they have. The person to the left of the empty chair begins by calling out someone’s name. The person who is holding a paper with that name must move from their seat to the empty seat. The object of the game is for the guys to get four guys on the couch while the girls try to get four girls on the couch. This game is a memory-based game which sometimes leads to humorous results due to its gender-based competitive nature.

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Ages: 6-12.  Recommended # of People: 20+. Messiness Factor: No Sweat. Materials Required: None.

Seven-Up (7Up)

How to Play

Seven-up (7Up) is a popular elementary school game that has the benefit of getting kids to be quiet.  In the game, seven students are chosen to be “It”, and so they stand at the front of the classroom. When the lights are out, the remaining students are instructed to close their eyes, put their heads down and make a fist with one hand, except for an upwards-pointing thumb. The seven standing students roam around the room, each touching one person’s thumb. The person that was touched then puts his or her thumb down, so that he or she isn’t picked twice.

When the seven students are done choosing, they return to the front of the room (”Heads up, seven up!”) and the lights go back on. All students open their eyes and raise their heads.  The seven students whose thumbs had been touched stand up and take turns trying to guess who their toucher was. If they guess correctly, they replace the toucher at the front of the room.  If a toucher managed to not get picked by the student he touched, the toucher stayed in the game for another round.

This game is especially well-suited for kids.

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