Stephen Waits
United States
San Diego
California
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We hosted a party, which we called "Grill 'n Games", this past weekend. Attendees were primarily non-gamers. On my invitation, I warned guests that they'd be playing a party-long metagame, and at what time it would officially begin.
As guests arrived, we asked them to choose a wristband and wear it. We'd purchased rubber-band style wristbands, which are rather common these days, at a local Party Store. We explained that we'd tell them what the wristband was for at a later time.
Once we had a critical mass, I explained the rules to everyone. For those of you that don't own A Gamut of Games, the game works like this:
* The word "No" is outlawed. That does not include other words like "know" or "nuh-uh". Just "No".
* If you say the word "No" to someone, you are busted and you must give all of your wristbands to whomever you said "No" to.
* We, the hosts, acted as judges in case of any dispustes.
* At a later time, I'd designate a deadline, afterwhich a prize would be awarded to the person wearing the most wristbands.
Within minutes of starting the game, wristbands were moving all over the place. Within an hour we had a few people who were obvious targets. It was interesting to observe just how popular those wristband-wearers were.
A really nice benefit is that as late guests arrive and receive fresh wristbands, they are instantly popular and welcomed into the party. Unfortunately, they're also at a bit of a disadvantage since they aren't quite in the frame of mind as the other guests. But it was nice to have them instantly welcomed by everyone - because of the game.
Once one person had a vast majority of wristbands, I set a time limit. He suffered through and ended up winning the prize, a copy of LotR:Confrontation.
This game really got people socializing. We'd invited a few groups of people to this party -- some coworkers, some friends -- who didn't previously know each other. This helped that situation out tremendously.
If I can come up with one negative for the game, it's that the socialization it generated was rather superficial. In other words, people weren't really talking to each other, they were just trying to trick each other.
Still, it did spur on lots of socialization, and was an overall huge success. The rules are incredibly simple, and the mechanic is fun in a party scene. I think that playing this game while playing other games, and drinking beer, probably made it even more fun.
In fact, I'd say that this game worked so well, that I'm at a loss for how I could possibly top it at our next party!
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Jeffrey McBeth
United States
Rochester
New York
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The time we did it, we had a great time. We did change two things though. Since most people were punctual, we infused a new set (we used eggs) halfway through the night, so people were playing again. We also had all negotiation games planned that night
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Stephen Waits
United States
San Diego
California
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Good idea Jeffrey, about seeding in more once you're down to a few people. How did eggs work out? Sounds messy?
For those curious, the wristbands we used were very similar to these:
http://store.holyland-mall.com/2do2siruwras.html
--Steve
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Jeffrey McBeth
United States
Rochester
New York
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Sorry, when I said "Eggs", I meant "Plasitc Eggs". With treats inside that you couldn't eat until the game was over
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