Exercise Your Mind With a Great Board Game for Writers!
July 23, 2009 Labels: brainstorming, fun and games, miscellaneous, writing life 1 comments
My time on the weekends is dedicated to hubby and the kids, so my writing takes a back seat then. We enjoy fishing, camping, nature walks and croquet, but when we're having fun inside, we also gather around the dining room table to play board games. One of our favorite board games is Balderdash, and although I don't work on the weekends, I exercise my mind when we play Balderdash.
When we first bought the game and quickly learned how to play, I thought to myself, "This is an excellent game for writers!" Truly, it is. It's a game writers can enjoy with their family or even take along with them to a writer's meeting. The game can be hilarious at times, but it also allows a writer to show off their talent, and if your mind's really creative -- and I know it is -- you could become the undefeated player of Balderdash. Well, undefeated with your family, because if you play this exciting game with a group of writers, then you can bet you'll have some tough competition. Either way, I'm 99% sure you'll fall in love with Balderdash!
What makes Balderdash a great choice for writers? Without trying to go into too much detail, I'll explain a bit about how you play.
First, it's better to play with a minimum of four people. Once you have your group of players, the fun begins!
Someone rolls the dice, and the number will determine which category on the card is read. The cards have five categories: Weird Words - What is the definition of this word?; Peculiar People - Who is this Person?; Incredible Initials - What does this stand for?; Marvelous Movies - What is the movie about?; and finally, Laughable Laws - What is the law?. (One side of the card has the question, which the person who rolled the dice will read to the group, and the answer is on the other side.)
After the question is read, the group must write down what they believe the actual answer is, and then they hand their slip of paper to the person who read the question. Once that person collects everyone's answers, he or she will read all the answers aloud without revealing who wrote it (including the correct answer). Then you go around the group and each person says which answer they believe is the true answer, and believe it or not, the actual answer is a fact. Let me give you an example of a question with the correct answer:
Category: Laughable Laws
Question: "In the country of Andorra, upon discovering a corpse, the sheriff must...
Correct answer: Ask "Are you dead?" three times.
The object of the game is to try to fool as many people as you can. In other words, you want them to think you're answer is the correct answer, so you can move your game piece forward more spaces on the game board. The person who makes it to the finish line first wins.
Okay, I just can't resist. I'm going to use another one of the questions from the Marvelous Movies category, but this time, I'm not going to reveal the correct answer until next week. Instead, I'm going to let you play along, so leave a comment with your best answer to the question. Then when I reveal the true answer here next week, I'll include your response and even link to your writing-related website, blog, product or service (if you enter one).
Ready? Here's the movie: Mr. Peek-A-Boo.
Now, leave a comment and let me know what you think the movie is about. Remember, in the actual game, you'd be trying to fool the other players into thinking yours is the actual answer, so let the brainstorming session begin.
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