GoldenRivet
01-25-18, 05:40 PM
Many people who plan social events have ice breaker games. several that come to mind are:
"Wink Murder" - this game involves alcohol so each person needs a beverage. set out a deck of standard playing cards, and draw as many cards as their are people at the table (ie 9 people = 9 cards). all of the cards should be number cards (such as 8 of hearts) except for two of the cards which should be a king and a Joker. shuffle the cards and deal them face down. do not reveal your card to anyone. If you received the King, you are the detective, if you receive the Joker you are the murderer. As your group of friends, acquaintances and strangers are sitting around the table, engage in idle conversation, it is the killer's job to wink at any other member seated at the table as covertly as possible. When you see the killer wink, calmly declare "There has been a murder". It is now the detective's job to determine who the killer is, he does this by overturning his card and revealing himself to the group to be the detective. simply decide who you think the killer is and declare them so. if you guess wrong you have to take a drink (or shot), but when you guess correctly, the killer must confess to being the killer and take a drink (or shot). in more severe forms of the game, the killer must chug his entire drink when discovered. re-shuffle the cards, and deal again.
another we often play is "headbands" - there are a lot of versions of this one. Simply write an object or character on a card and dont reveal it to anyone. it must then be placed on the hatband of the person seated to your right so as to not reveal it to them. the objective is to determine who/what the card on your hatband has written on it by asking simple yes or no questions. "Can you eat me?" "am i a machine?" "am i a famous actor?" each person has a time limit to ask questions before play moves to the next person. first to determine what their card has on it wins.
these are all pretty simple games which are fun to play, but there are also a number of activities, team building exercises and discussion based exercises.
I will soon host a group of friends with varying backgrounds and from various walks of life, and i was trying to come up with an activity more so than a game. something intellectual, but not ridiculously so.
The setting will be guys, probably having a few beers or cocktails, with cigars so i am trying to keep the activity "social" and conversationally driven.
what my wife and i came up with is something we call "The Gentlemen's Forum" and its companion "The Ladies Forum."
The purpose of the exercise is to exchange ideas, thoughts, theories, expertise and even spirited debate. The rules are simple. First, the eldest member of the group is the forum moderator. though he can defer and appoint any other member of the group as the moderator.
The moderator draws a card, passes it around to the other members and sets it out on the table in view. Each card contains a topic which can be discussed by the group in turn starting with the moderator. The topics range from fun, to risque, to political, to ethical in nature.
Discussion can go on for a great length of time, or may be ended once each gentleman or lady has said his/her piece. The moderator may then return the card to the rear of the stack and draw another thereby repeating the process or end the activity.
As this will be an activity which we are going to experiment with to see how it plays out, i want to have a good number of cards at first to prevent repetition - i was thinking about maybe 50 or 100 cards.
So far the cards have fun things like:
"One of the greatest moments in cinematic history is..."
"Something I did as a kid that kids today will never do/understand is…"
"Describe a terrible experience you had in your life that ultimately made you a better person."
or risque/ethical things like:
"Should women who make rape accusations which result in prosecution be punished if their accusations are proven false? If so, how?"
"Marijuana should be legal, and should be as easily purchased as beer or liquor."
or potentially deep or entertaining topics:
"One of the most sensational news events when I was a kid was… (tell about that day/event)."
given that the group has a diverse age range from 20 to 70 years old im thinking that it would be interesting to hear how some of these topics are approached, supported or counterpointed by each person.
trouble is... coming up with 50-100 questions/topics/statements for discussion
so thats what I've come to you guys for. :Kaleun_Wink:
post something you think would go great on a "The Gentelemen's Forum" or "The Lady's Forum" card and I'll very likely include it.
any takers?
"Wink Murder" - this game involves alcohol so each person needs a beverage. set out a deck of standard playing cards, and draw as many cards as their are people at the table (ie 9 people = 9 cards). all of the cards should be number cards (such as 8 of hearts) except for two of the cards which should be a king and a Joker. shuffle the cards and deal them face down. do not reveal your card to anyone. If you received the King, you are the detective, if you receive the Joker you are the murderer. As your group of friends, acquaintances and strangers are sitting around the table, engage in idle conversation, it is the killer's job to wink at any other member seated at the table as covertly as possible. When you see the killer wink, calmly declare "There has been a murder". It is now the detective's job to determine who the killer is, he does this by overturning his card and revealing himself to the group to be the detective. simply decide who you think the killer is and declare them so. if you guess wrong you have to take a drink (or shot), but when you guess correctly, the killer must confess to being the killer and take a drink (or shot). in more severe forms of the game, the killer must chug his entire drink when discovered. re-shuffle the cards, and deal again.
another we often play is "headbands" - there are a lot of versions of this one. Simply write an object or character on a card and dont reveal it to anyone. it must then be placed on the hatband of the person seated to your right so as to not reveal it to them. the objective is to determine who/what the card on your hatband has written on it by asking simple yes or no questions. "Can you eat me?" "am i a machine?" "am i a famous actor?" each person has a time limit to ask questions before play moves to the next person. first to determine what their card has on it wins.
these are all pretty simple games which are fun to play, but there are also a number of activities, team building exercises and discussion based exercises.
I will soon host a group of friends with varying backgrounds and from various walks of life, and i was trying to come up with an activity more so than a game. something intellectual, but not ridiculously so.
The setting will be guys, probably having a few beers or cocktails, with cigars so i am trying to keep the activity "social" and conversationally driven.
what my wife and i came up with is something we call "The Gentlemen's Forum" and its companion "The Ladies Forum."
The purpose of the exercise is to exchange ideas, thoughts, theories, expertise and even spirited debate. The rules are simple. First, the eldest member of the group is the forum moderator. though he can defer and appoint any other member of the group as the moderator.
The moderator draws a card, passes it around to the other members and sets it out on the table in view. Each card contains a topic which can be discussed by the group in turn starting with the moderator. The topics range from fun, to risque, to political, to ethical in nature.
Discussion can go on for a great length of time, or may be ended once each gentleman or lady has said his/her piece. The moderator may then return the card to the rear of the stack and draw another thereby repeating the process or end the activity.
As this will be an activity which we are going to experiment with to see how it plays out, i want to have a good number of cards at first to prevent repetition - i was thinking about maybe 50 or 100 cards.
So far the cards have fun things like:
"One of the greatest moments in cinematic history is..."
"Something I did as a kid that kids today will never do/understand is…"
"Describe a terrible experience you had in your life that ultimately made you a better person."
or risque/ethical things like:
"Should women who make rape accusations which result in prosecution be punished if their accusations are proven false? If so, how?"
"Marijuana should be legal, and should be as easily purchased as beer or liquor."
or potentially deep or entertaining topics:
"One of the most sensational news events when I was a kid was… (tell about that day/event)."
given that the group has a diverse age range from 20 to 70 years old im thinking that it would be interesting to hear how some of these topics are approached, supported or counterpointed by each person.
trouble is... coming up with 50-100 questions/topics/statements for discussion
so thats what I've come to you guys for. :Kaleun_Wink:
post something you think would go great on a "The Gentelemen's Forum" or "The Lady's Forum" card and I'll very likely include it.
any takers?