party games pt. 1

Having a few peeps over this evening & if we head down the game route, thinking this might be a good one: the name game, via inchmark. (Ha! A break from Cathphrase, which I basically have memorized & Progressive, which Brad cheats at!)

It's great for groups of about 6 to 12 adults, and requires nothing more than paper and pens. Cut some paper up into little strips (you'll need a decent amount). Each person grabs a handful of paper strips and a pen and writes one name on each. Names can include celebrities, historical figures, people you all happen to know, fictional characters, etc. It's best to try and think of names that are well known but a little obscure. Remember that both teams will be using the names, so if you make it TOO obscure you'll be hurting when you pull that name yourself.

All the names are folded in half once and put in a large bowl (the folding is important since you don't want people to see other names). Divide your people into two teams, alternating turns between the teams. Each person takes a turn. Reach into the bowl and pull out a name, then try and get your team to guess who it is. There aren't a lot of rules about what you can and can't do. Obviously you can't say the person's name, and you can't do any "rhymes with" tricks.. but you can list movies they've been in, or sing the theme song for their show, or name the books they wrote.

For example, if you pulled out Wes Anderson, you'd say "He's the director who's really skinny and he did Royal Tenenbaums and Rushmore.. and they always star Bill Murray and the Wilson brothers!" Your team tries to guess as quickly as they can. The turns are timed (1 to 2 minutes) and you win by scoring the most points for your team. If you get stuck on a name, you can throw it back in the bowl and choose another, but you lose a point. The team with the most points at the end of the bowl wins.