Ink and Paper: Instant Party

November 5, 2006 11:52 AM

Boredom begone! There exist a preponderance of games which (mostly) require nothing but pen and paper, ranging from the relatively mild Fictionary and Word Association, to the more artistic Exquisite Corpse and Eat Poop You Cat (seen previously as an online game), and finally the downright nutty Dvorak and 1000 blank white cards. My favorite, by far: the elusive other foot.
posted by duffell (24 comments total)

We play Eat Poop You Cat as "The Ku Klux Klan Went on a Disappointing Fishing Trip". The name was chosen as our favourite confusion during the first night we played.

I also recommend Anarchist Pictionary, which is like the commercial one except as follows. You get a roll of wallpaper and do it on the back. One person is the drawer. They draw until someone gets it. They're then the drawer. No points, no commercial cost, no silly egg timer, no board. Just the best bits. Drawing and guessing. The Six Name Game is another good one. I'll post about it if anyone's interested.

Overall, these games look wonderful, and I'll be playing them as soon as I can get a group together for them. Thanks for the post!
posted by imperium at 12:05 PM on November 5, 2006 [1 favorite]

The folks over at metachat have run a number of Exquisite Corpses in the last couple of years.
posted by cortex at 12:30 PM on November 5, 2006

Damn, I wish I knew more people in this city interesting enough to play Other Foot with. That sounds awesome.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 12:48 PM on November 5, 2006

We played Eat Poop You Cat last night for the first time. We had 10 people playing - we didn't stop until sometime past 3 this morning. Incredibly addictive and fun game...
posted by soplerfo at 12:48 PM on November 5, 2006

A preponderance? Over what do they preponderate?
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 1:04 PM on November 5, 2006

I frequently carry a pile of blank paper with me in hopes of playing EPYC. Oh, and here in Minneapolis among people I know, it's called Moneyduck or Eyeball Box.

Soplerfo, I find that EPYC works better with an odd number of people, so that you start with a phrase and end with a phrase. Do you find that it works just as well ending with a picture?
posted by jiawen at 1:31 PM on November 5, 2006

I've been a fan of 1k Blank White Cards for ages, but it's impossible to find anyone to play with. Any time I explain how the game is played people look at me like I'm foaming at the mouth.
posted by lekvar at 1:34 PM on November 5, 2006

Ex Libris is a terrific game which you don't even need to buy: a stack of old paperbacks will do, and is thus perfect for rainy weekends at a cabin, or somesuch.
posted by Rumple at 1:52 PM on November 5, 2006

yeah, we had one person drop out at some point during the evening - I agree, ending with a phrase is probably more fun, but with 10 iterations, it didn't really matter - there were so many funny interpretations.
posted by soplerfo at 2:12 PM on November 5, 2006

This one is the best of the cat poops, IMHO. Too funny!! Thanks for sharing.
posted by icanbreathe at 2:22 PM on November 5, 2006

So what is the "fun" in Eat Poop You Cat? Isn't only one person doing anything at a time, and even that's in secret?
posted by smackfu at 2:44 PM on November 5, 2006

smackfu, it's at the end when you pass them round and see how the concept has mutated through words and drawings, like chinese whispers. Same with Exquisite Corpse. Honestly, the anticipation builds!
posted by imperium at 3:27 PM on November 5, 2006

the writing/drawing was fun, but the best part was definitely the reviewing. in our game, we had each person 'present' the completed drawings/translations to the group - nobody could ever keep a straight face - sounds kind of stupid on paper, I guess, but really it's probably the most fun I've had playing any type of party game.
posted by soplerfo at 3:31 PM on November 5, 2006

Yeah, we actually had a notebook for each player - so each person just drew or wrote, then passed the book to their left, so everyone was 'playing' at the same time.
posted by soplerfo at 4:19 PM on November 5, 2006

Another good pen-and-paper game to play is 'celebrity'. You need a decent sized group to play, but it's easy and fun(ny).

Each player writes 3 (or so) celebrities down on separate pieces of paper, then you make 2 teams and put all the pieces of paper in a box. The teams trade 60 second turns, during which a team member draws celebrity names out of the box and the other team members try to guess the celebrity.

In the first round, the person drawing names can say anything other than the name itself and can gesticulate in whatever manner is deemed helpful.

The round continues until all names have been guessed, the number that each team got is tallied, and the box is refilled with the same names.

The second round is the same, except that the person drawing names can only say three words. Things like 'uh' and 'um' count toward the total, and the names themselves are off-limits. Tally scores and refill box as before.

The third round is the same format again, but no words are allowed at all, i.e., it's charades.

By the second or third round, there are usually some very strange words and gestures associate with some of the names. It's also tricky to pick 'good' names - if they're too obscure, no one will get it (including your team), but if they're too obvious, there's no challenge.
posted by noahpoah at 4:45 PM on November 5, 2006

Thanks for the link to the Sentence Game. It's not like I had anything else to do today, anyway.
posted by jacquilynne at 5:16 PM on November 5, 2006

We play Eat Poop You Cat while waiting for the ferry in Seattle. It's great because all you need is something to write on (and with).

Our favorite was: "In a house of many pants, a man will call for his shirt."
posted by GaelFC at 6:47 PM on November 5, 2006

very cool. i love parlour games, but hadn't heard of a couple of these. particularly looking forward to playing the other foot; i imagine it gets better the more you drink...
posted by mosessis at 7:50 PM on November 5, 2006

We play a great pen and paper game in which we take classic jokes such as "What do you get when you cross X and Y?", and pull X and Y from a box of Apples to Apples cards. Everyone has a certain amount of time to write out the best punchlines possible, and the person who reads the joke judges the winner. Like most of these games, it's great if you play with like-minded folks, but a total flop with the wrong crowd.
posted by Zaximus at 11:03 PM on November 5, 2006

My company is holding an Eat Poop You Cat! fundraiser party (with much-needed wine!) soon...
posted by premiumpolar at 12:09 AM on November 6, 2006

noahpoah, that's the one we call The Six Name Game. Great, ain't it?
posted by imperium at 3:15 AM on November 6, 2006

Great post. We've just moved to a new area and I think hosting an Ink & Paper party will help us get to know some of our new neighbors pretty quickly. Thanks!
posted by JParker at 5:36 AM on November 6, 2006

If you like racing games, play the archetypal Racetrack (Rules) rather than shelling out for something like Formula Dé or Speed Circuit.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 12:18 PM on November 6, 2006

Late to the party, but... I am a huge fan of all kinds of games; traditional "parlor" games as well as brand games like Taboo, Balderdash, etc. And when I host Game Night™, we usually start off with a Lateral Thinking Puzzle (AKA Situation Puzzle) or a round of "One Up, One Down" (if there are newcomers). Duffell's links bring to mind Nomic, which I have yet to try. But I definitely want to try out Eat Poop (some of those drawings had me cracking up!), and 1000 Blank Cards. Great post!

P.S. Several links were unavailable to me. Damn Internet Police!
P.P.S. lekvar/ATBH - I'm in the process of trying to find people who will be into games like this. I think we're few and far between.

posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 1:34 PM on November 6, 2006