picture of a soldier and a dog leaving a room, drawn with three
strokes of the pencil. Another (3) is a sailor, drawn with two
squares, two circles, and two triangles. Another (5), Henry VIII,
drawn with a square and nine straight lines. Another (6), invented for
this book, an Esquimaux waiting to harpoon a seal, drawn with eleven
circles and a straight line. The remaining figures are a cheerful pig
and a despondent pig (4), and a cat (2), drawn with the utmost
possible simplicity.
[Illustration: DRAWING TRICKS]
Composite Animals
In this game the first player writes the name of an animal at the top
of the paper and folds it over. The next writes another, and so on
until you have four, or even five. You then unfold the papers and
draw animals containing some feature of each of those named.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
Invented Animals
A variation of this game is for the players to draw and describe a new
creature. On one occasion when this game was played every one went for
names to the commoner advertisements. The best animal produced was the
Hairy Coco, the description of which stated, among other things, that
it was fourteen feet long and had fourteen long feet.
A good guessing contest is to supply every person with a slip of paper
on which is written the name of an animal. He draws a picture of it
and these pictures are all exhibited signed with the artist's name.
The person who guesses correctly the subjects of the greatest number
of them wins.
Heads, Bodies, and Tails
For this game sheets of paper are handed round and each player draws
at the top of his sheet a head. It does not matter in the least
whether it is a human being's or a fish's head, a quadruped's, a
bird's, or an insect's. The paper is then turned down, two little
marks are made to show where the neck and body should join, and the
paper is passed on for the body to be supplied. Here again it does not
matter what kind of body is chosen. The paper is then folded again,
marks are made to show where the legs (or tail) ought to begin, and
the paper is passed on again. After the legs are drawn the picture is
finished.
Pictures to Order
Each player sits, pencil in hand, before a blank sheet of paper, his
object being to make a picture containing things chosen by the company
in turn. The first player then names the thing that he wants in the
picture. Perhaps it is a tree. He therefore says, "Draw a tree," when
all the players, himself included, draw a tree. Perhaps the next says,
"Draw a boy climbing the tree"; the next, "Draw a balloon caught in
the top branches"; the next, "Draw two little girls looking up at the
balloon"; and so on, until the picture is full enough. The chief
interest of this game resides in the difficulty of finding a place for
everything that has to be put in the picture. A comparison of the
drawings afterward is usually amusing.
Hieroglyphics, or Picture-Writing
As a change from ordinary letter-writing, "Hieroglyphics" are amusing
and interesting to make. The best explanation is an example, such as
is given on pages 52 and 53, the subject being two verses from a
favorite nursery song.
Pictures and Titles
Each player draws on the upper half of the paper an historical scene,
whether from history proper or from family history, and appends the
title, writing it along the bottom of the paper and folding it over.
The drawings are then passed on and each player writes above the
artist's fold (or on another sheet of paper) what he thinks they are
meant to represent, and folds the paper over what he has written. In
the accompanying example the title at the bottom of the paper is what
the draughtsman himself wrote; the others are the other players'
guesses.
[Illustration:
Various Descriptions by the Players
The Abbot of Christchurch, near Bournemouth, surveys the
scaffolding of the abbey.
The end of the Paris Exhibition.
An old man coming back to the home of his childhood, looks
across the river, where a duck is swimming, to the
dilapidated cathedral and town which represent the stately
piles he remembered.
The building of the Ark.
The Artist's Description
The Last Man surveying the ruins of the Crystal Palace.]
WRITING GAMES
Many of the games under this heading look harder than they really are.
But the mere suggestion of a writing game is often enough to frighten
away timid players who mistrust their powers of composition--although
the result can be as funny when these powers are small as when they
are considerable. The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle
to the strong.
Simple Acrostics
There are "Simple Acrostics" and "Double Acrostics." The simple ones
are very simple. When the players are all ready a word is chosen by
one of them, either from thought or by looking at a book and taking
the first promising one that occurs. Perhaps it is "govern." Each
player then puts the letters forming "govern" in a line down the
paper, and the object of the game is to find, in a given time, words
beginning with each of those letters. Thus, at the end of time, one
player might have--
G ravy
O range
V iolet
E sther
R obin
N umbskull
The players then describe their words in turn, one letter going the
round before the next is reached, and from these descriptions the
words have to be guessed, either by any player who likes or by the
players in turn. The player whose paper we have quoted might describe
his words like this: G---- "Something that makes hot beef nice"; O---- "A
fruit"; V---- "A flower"; E---- "A girl's name"; R---- "A bird"; and
N---- "A name for a silly person." If any one else has the same word
neither of you can score it, and it is therefore important to seek for
the most unlikely words.
Another way of playing "Simple Acrostics" is to insist on each word
being the same length. Thus "govern" might be filled in by one player
thus:--
G rave
O ddly
V erse
E arth
R ebel
N inth
Double Acrostics
In "Double Acrostics" the game is played in precisely the same way,
except that the letters of the word, after having been arranged in a
line down the paper, are then arranged again in a line up the paper,
so that the first letter is opposite the last, and the last opposite
the first. Thus:--
G N
O R
V E
E V
R O
N G
The players have then to fill in words beginning and ending with the
letters as thus arranged. One paper might come out thus:--
G rai N
O rde R
V ersatil E
E ... V
R apall O
N othin G
This word is rather a hard one on account of the E and V. As a rule,
words of only three letters are not allowed in "Acrostics," nor are
plurals. That is to say, if the word has to end in "S," one must not
simply add "S" to an ordinary word, such as "grooms" for G----S, but
find a word ending naturally in "S," such as "Genesis."
It is not necessary to invert the same word in order to get letters
for the ends of the words. Two words of equal length can be chosen and
arranged side by side. Thus (but this is almost too difficult an
example):--
D K
I I
C P
K L
E I
N N
S G
"Acrostics" may be made more difficult and interesting by giving them
a distinct character. Thus, it may be decided that all the words that
are filled in must be geographical, or literary, or relating to
flowers.
Fives
"Fives" is a game which is a test also of one's store of information.
A letter is chosen, say T, and for a given time, ten minutes perhaps,
the players write down as many names of animals beginning with T as
they can think of. The first player then reads his list, marking those
words that no one else has and crossing off all that are also on other
players' papers. Then the names of vegetables (including flowers,
trees, and fruit) are taken; then minerals; then persons; and then
places. The player who has most marks wins the game.
A variety of this game is to take a long word, say "extraordinary,"
and within a given time to see how many smaller words can be made
from it, such as tax, tin, tea, tear, tare, tray, din, dray, dairy,
road, rat, raid, and so on.
Lists
"Lists" is a variety of "Fives." Paper is provided, and each player in
turn calls out something which the whole company write down. Thus,
suppose there are five players and you decide to go round three times:
the first may say a river; the second, a doctor; the third, a
complaint; the fourth, a play; the fifth, a State in the Union; the
first again, a musical instrument; the second again, a poet; and so
on, until the fifteen things are all written down. Each paper will
then have the same list of fifteen things upon it. One of the company
then opens a book at random, and chooses, say, the first letter of the
third word in the first line. Perhaps it is T. For a given time each
player has to supply his list with answers beginning with T. At the
call of time one of the papers may present this appearance:--
A river Tees
A doctor. Mr. Treves
A complaint Tic Doloreux
A play Timon of Athens
A state in the Union Tennessee
A musical instrument Trombone
A poet Tennyson
A flower Trefoil
A mineral Tin
A lake Tanganyika
A tree Tulip
A country Turkey
An author Trollope
An artist Tadema
A preacher Talmage
Each player in turn reads his list aloud, strikes off those words that
others also have, and puts a mark against the rest. The specimen list
here given is too simple to be called a good one. Players should
reject the first thing that comes into their thoughts, in favor of
something less natural.
Buried Names
The first thing for the players to do is to decide what kind of name
they will bury. The best way is to call out something in turn. Thus,
if there are four players they may decide to bury the name of an
author, a girl, a town, and a river. Each player writes these down and
a fixed time is given for burial, which consists in writing a sentence
that shall contain the name somewhere spelled rightly but spread over
two words, or three if possible. At the end of the time the sentences
are read aloud in turn, while the others guess. Of course, the whole
game may be given up to burying only one kind of name, but variety is
perhaps better. Examples are given:--
An author: I like to keep the y_ew in g_ood order.
A girl: The boy was cru_el, laz_y and obstinate.
A town: Clothes that are _new have n_o need of brushing.
A river: To see spoil_t ham es_pecially annoys me.
It is permissible to bury the name in the middle of one longer word,
but it is better to spread it over two or three. Perhaps the best
example of a buried English town is this: "The Queen of She_ba sings
to ke_ep her spirits up." This is good, because the sentence is
natural, because of the unusual number of words that are made use of
in the burial, and because in reading it aloud the sound of the buried
town is not suggested.
Letters and Telegrams
In this game you begin with the Letter. The first thing to write is
the address and "My dear ----," choosing whomever you like, but
usually, as in "Consequences," either a public person or some one
known, if possible, to every one present. The paper is then folded
over and passed on. The next thing to write is the letter itself,
which should be limited to two minutes or some short period, and
should be the kind of letter that requires a reply. The paper is
folded and passed on again, and the subscription, "Believe me yours
sincerely," or whatever adverb you choose, and the signature are then
added. (These may be divided into two separate writings if you like.)
The signature should be that of another public person, or friend,
relation or acquaintance of the family. The paper is then passed on
once more, and a reply to the letter, in the form of a telegram, is
written. That is to say, you must say as much as you can in ten words.
Example:--
THE LETTER
_The first player writes_:--My dear Buffalo Bill.
_The second player writes_:--Can you give me any information about
suitable songs for our village choir?
_The third player writes_:--Believe me yours slavishly.
_The fourth player writes_:--Kitchener of Khartoum.
THE REPLY TELEGRAM
_The fifth player writes_:--Be with you to-morrow. Have sheets
aired. Am bringing everything.
Telegrams
There is also the game of "Telegrams." In this the first thing to
write is the name of the person sending the telegram. The paper is
then passed on, and the name of the person to whom it is sent is
written. The papers are then passed on again and opened, and the
players in turn each say a letter of the alphabet, chosen at random,
until there are ten. As these are spoken, each player writes them on
the paper before him, leaving a space after it; so that when the ten
are all written down his paper may look like this:--
From the DUKE OF YORK
To BARNUM AND BAILEY.
H ... A ... P ... N ...
W ... E ... K ... S ... F ...
T ...
A period of five minutes or more is then allowed in which to complete
the telegram, the message having to be ten words long, and each word
to begin, in the same order, with these letters. The players should,
as far as possible, make the telegrams reasonable, if not possible.
Thus, the form given above might, when finished, read like this:--
From the DUKE OF YORK
To BARNUM AND BAILEY.
Have Awning Prepared Next
Wednesday Evening Kindly Send Five
Tickets
In calling out the ten letters which are to be used in the telegram,
it is well to avoid the unusual consonants and to have a vowel here
and there.
An amusing variety is for all the players to compose telegrams on the
same subject; the subject being given beforehand. Thus it might be
decided that all the telegrams should be sent from President Roosevelt
to Alice in Wonderland asking for her views on the tariff. Then having
completed these messages, the answers may also be prepared, using the
same letters. But, of course, as in all games, family matters work out
more amusingly than public ones.
Initials
Paper is handed round, and each player thinks of some public person,
or friend or acquaintance of the company, and writes in full his or
her Christian name (or names) and surname. Then, for, say, five
minutes, a character sketch of the person chosen has to be composed,
each word of which begins with the initial letter of each of the
person's names, repeated in their right order until the supply of
thought gives out or time is up. Thus, suppose the person chosen is
Frank Richard Stockton, the story writer. The character sketch might
run:--
F ancifully R ecounts S trange F reakish R omantic S tories.
F inds R isibility S urely. F requently R aises S miles.
An occasional "and" and "of" may be dropped in if necessary. Where one
of the names begins with a vowel (such as William _E_wart Gladstone)
the character sketch can be made to run more easily.
It is sometimes more amusing to give every one the same names to work
on; and in some houses the players are not allowed to choose names for
themselves, but must pass the paper on. The characters of towns and
nations may be written in the same way, using all the letters of the
word as the initials.
Riddles
A more difficult game is "Riddles." At the top of the paper is written
anything that you can think of: "A soldier," "A new dress," "A fit of
the blues," "A railway accident"--anything that suggests itself. The
paper is passed on and anything else is written, no matter what. It is
passed on again and opened. Suppose that the two things written on it
are, first, "A school-teacher," and second, "A pair of skates." The
duty of the player is to treat them as a riddle, and, asking the
question either as "Why is a school-teacher like a pair of skates?" or
"What is the difference between a school-teacher and a pair of
skates?" (whichever way one prefers), to supply a reasonable answer.
This game, it will be seen, is suited particularly to clever people.
Rhymed Replies
This is a game that needs a certain amount of readiness and some skill
with words. Each of the party writes at the top of a piece of paper a
question of any kind whatever, such as "How old was Caesar when he
died?" or "What is your favorite color?" The paper is folded over and
passed on, and the next player writes a word--any word--such as
"electricity," "potato," "courageously," "milk." The papers are then
passed on once more and opened, and the task of each player is to
write a rhyme in which the question on his paper is answered and the
word on his paper is introduced.
Missing Information
Every one is supplied with a piece of paper and pencils and tries to
write down correct answers to questions about everyday things which
we none of us know. A suggestive list is given but any one can add to
it indefinitely.
1. How big do you think a postage-stamp is, in inches--a five
dollar bill?
2. Draw a picture of a clock's face with the hands pointing
to five minutes of twelve.
3. How tall do you think a man's silk hat is, a derby?
4. Draw the design in panels of the door to the room you are
in. (Of course without looking at it.)
5. How many holes are there in a high laced shoe--your own?
6. How many toes has a cat, a dog?
7. How many legs has a fly?
8. How does a cow lie down? A horse?
9. About how many petals has a common daisy? A wild rose? A
sun flower?
10. How high from the ground is a street-car?--a railway car?
The person who can answer most correctly the greatest number of
questions is the winner.
Consequences
"Consequences" is always a favorite game when a party has reached its
frivolous mood. The method of playing is this: Sheets of paper and
pencils are handed round, and every one writes at the head (1) an
adjective suitable to be applied to a man, such as "Handsome." This
word is then folded over so that it cannot be read, and each paper is
passed on to the next person. The name of a man (2) is then written,
either some one you know, or a public person, such as the president or
Mr. Carnegie. This in turn is folded over and the papers are passed
on. The word "met" is understood to be inserted at this point. That is
to say, the completed story will tell how Handsome Mr. Carnegie met
some one. The next thing (3) is to put down an adjective suitable to
apply to the woman whom he met, such as "Buxom," and then (4) the
woman's name, again either some one you know, or a public person,--the
papers being folded and passed on after every writing. The remaining
items are these:--(5) The place where they met--say, on the pier. (6)
What he said to her--say, "I hope your neuralgia is better." (7) What
she said to him--say, "There's nothing like rain for the crops." (8)
What the consequence was--say, "They were married." (9) What the world
said--"All's well that ends well."
It must be remembered that unless there are very few players, when it
is less fun, you do not get the chance of writing more than once, or
at most twice, on the same sheet of paper, so that it is of no use to
have a reasonable series of remarks in your mind. The specimen given
above is an average one. In print nothing could be much less funny,
but when the company has the spirit of "Consequences," even so tame a
story as this might keep the room merry. The game is always full of
the unexpected, and the people who meet each other are almost sure to
be laughing-stocks. The results are often better if all the papers are
handed to one player to read.
Consequences Extended
The form of "Consequences" above given is the ordinary one and the
simplest. But in certain families the game has been altered and
improved by other clauses. We give the fullest form of "Consequences"
with which we are acquainted. As it stands it is rather too long; but
players may like to add to the fun of the ordinary game by adopting a
few of these additions:--
Adjective for a man.
The man.
What he was wearing.
What he was doing.
(Met)
Adjective for a woman.
The woman.
What she was wearing.
What she was doing.
The person he would much rather have met.
Where they met.
What he thought.
What he said.
What she thought.
What she said.
What he gave her.
What she did with it.
Where they went.
What they did.
What the consequence was.
What the world said.
Example:--
The honorable Theodore Roosevelt, who was dressed in a Moire
antique bath-towel and was eating walnuts, met coy Aunt
Priscilla in a Khaki tea-gown playing with her Noah's Ark,
when he would much rather have met Madame Tussaud. They met
at South Hampton. What he thought was, "Here's this woman
again," but he merely said, "That's a very chic costume of
yours." What she thought was, "I wonder if he's seen Peter
Pan," but she only said, "That's wet paint you're leaning
against." He gave her a piercing glance, and she swallowed
it. So they went to prison together and learned to ride the
bicycle, and the consequence was they caught influenza, and
the world said, "It's an ill wind that blows nobody good."
Composite Stories
Another folding-over and passing-on game is "Composite Stories." Paper
is passed round, and for five minutes each player writes the opening
of a story with a title prefixed. The papers are passed on, and each
player reads through as much of the story as has been written and for
five minutes adds to it. And so on, until each player has written once
on each paper. The papers are then passed on once more, with the
result that each paper will be found to be lying before the player who
began it. The next and last five minutes are then spent by each person
in reading through the story and bringing it to an end, sometimes a
difficult enough task. If six persons are playing and allowances of
five minutes have been given, there will be at the end of thirty-five
minutes six complete stories to read aloud.
Another Story Game
A variety of the story game is for each player to write the name of a
well-known person or friend of the family on the top of the paper,
fold it over, and pass it on. This happens, say, five times, which
means that when the papers are opened the names of five persons will
be found on each. A story has then to be written introducing these
people.
Improbable Stories
Another story game is one in which each player attempts to tell the
most improbable or impossible story. In this case the papers are not
passed on, but a certain amount of time is given for the stories to be
written in.
The Newspaper
This is a rather elaborate but really very easy game to play. One
player, who acts as editor, takes as many sheets of paper as there are
players and writes at the head of each the title of a section of a
newspaper. Thus on one he will write, Paris Correspondence; on
another, English Correspondence; on another, Berlin Correspondence; on
a fourth, Political News; on a fifth, Our Fashion Page; on a sixth,
Reviews; on a seventh, Weather Report; and so on. Each player then,
for a given time, writes on the subject allotted to him, more or less
in the manner of the daily press, and at the end the result is read
aloud by the editor.
The plan is easily adapted to family or village life. The heading may
refer to domestic matters, such as Nursery Correspondence, Kitchen
Gossip, Fashions for Gentlemen (an account of father's new suit),
Garden News, Village Chatter, and so on. Or, instead of a newspaper,
a popular magazine may be contributed, with illustrations.
Predicaments
This is a good game for a company of ingenious people, and it will be
found that almost every one is ingenious when confronted with a
difficult situation and given time to think out a solution. Every one
is given paper and pencil (or this is not necessary since the
solutions may be oral). Then one player starts the game by suggesting
some predicament and asking the company "What would you do in such a
case?" Five minutes are given for reflection, and fifteen if the
answers are to be written. Then each in turn must say how he would
have extricated himself from the scrape.
A few suitable subjects are given here. If you found yourself in a
strange city, where you didn't know a soul, with no money and nothing
you could pawn, what would you do?
If you should wake up in the night and see a burglar just entering the
room, what would you do?
If you should look out of your school-room door and see smoke and fire
in the hall, what would you do?
If you should be in a foreign country, not able to speak the language
and wanted to order a room and breakfast, what would you do?
TABLE AND CARD GAMES
Card Games and Others
Card games proper, such as Bezique and Cribbage and Whist, do not come
into the scope of this book. Nor do games such as Chess, Draughts,
Halma and Backgammon. It is not that they are not good games, but
that, having to be bought, their rules do not need enumerating again.
The description of a few very old and favorite games with cards, and
one or two new ones, is, however, given, because they can be made at
home.
Letter Games
On page 178 will be found the simplest letter game. Letters can be
used for a round game by one player making a word, shuffling it, and
throwing it face upward into the middle of the table. The winner is
the player who first sees what it spells.