A List of Games, Invented by YOU!
We’ve been canvassing reader submissions for summer games that YOU have made up. Minimalist fun where you don’t need fancy gizmos or Wi-Fi bandwidth? Count us in.
In a recent edition of Wondercade, we asked, you responded: here are a bunch of games to play this summer that require minimal materials. Some involve grabbing random household items, others are a twist on party games that require nothing but a pencil, paper and wit, while others plop you in a comfy air-conditioned car. Bonus: none of them involve sitting in front of a handheld electronic device. And ain’t that what summertime fun is about?
It’s called Benedict Cumberbatch.
It starts with asking Siri or Alexa, “Hey, Siri, when is Benedict Cumberbatch’s birthday?”
She replies, “Benedict Cumberbatch’s birthday is July 19th, 1976.”
Then the next person says, “Hey, Siri, when is Benedictator Cucumber’s birthday?” (For example.)
She replies, “Benedict Cumberbatch’s birthday is July 19th, 1976.”
Then the next person might try, “Hey, Siri, when is Beandoodle-ict Cumberband’s birthday?”
And hope for the correct reply. The winner is whoever can get the furthest from the correct name and still get the correct reply.
—Emily Jillette (friend of Wondercade!), Las Vegas
Happy Summer! I have two games for you.
We had just moved into a new-to-us house with two young children and were cash poor. We wanted to host a welcome party, but the yard had just been scrapped of its “xeriscaping” (aka cactus and weeds), leaving a Mars-inspired landscape. Here are two games we came up with that summer for bored young kids in an unplayable dirt backyard!
Obstacle Course Croquet
Materials: Croquet mallet and ball (or whatever you have lying around that’s similar: a small ball, like a tennis ball or baseball, and something to whack it with!) for each player. Found objects (buckets, dryer vent hose, garden hose, rolled towels, baking sheets, bricks, flowerpots, rope, anything will do). Plus, optionally, squirt guns!
Object: Complete the course with the least number of strokes.
1. Assemble the found objects in the yard. Spend time setting up the obstacle course “holes,” like a miniature golf course: you could use a baking sheet for a ramp, a garden hose to create a ball path, a dryer vent as a tunnel, a dog bowl as a water hazard…let your imaginations run wild. Everyone gets to pitch in. Half the fun is trying out your creations.
2. Position a makeshift wicket and an optional squirt gun at each “hole” for the finish line. The first player to make it through the wicket on each hole picks up the squirt gun and goes to town chasing the other players around the course! Perfect for summer.
Penny Snack Tour
Materials: Car or other vehicle (plus someone who can drive it), passengers, a coin, a cup and a bunch of snacks (see below).
Object: Play continues until all the snacks are gone.
1. Grab a set of favorite snacks from the pantry. Anything with two variations will do: peanuts and pistachios, carrots and celery, Lucky Charms and Cap’n Crunch, etc.
2. Give each player the same number of Snack Pairs. The more Snack Pairs per person, the longer the game.
3. Grab a penny and place it into the cup.
4. Jump in the car with no destination in mind!
5. At the first stop sign or red light, the youngest player goes first by shaking the penny cup to flip the coin. The player to the left verifies whether the penny is heads up or tails up.
- Heads = Driver turns left and the player who flipped eats Snack #1
- Tails = Driver turns right and the player who flipped eats Snack #2
6. Drive until you reach a stop sign or a red light, where the next player flips the penny and eats one of their corresponding snacks.
7. Continue until you stumble upon a place you’d like to explore…and then get out of the car and do so! (Or continue until all players have run out of snacks!)
Bonus round: When you get back home, stay seated and turn on the radio. Each person does their best seated jam-dance. The person voted best dancer chooses the next activity.
Cheers!
—Danlyn I., Denver
Okay, so I can’t claim to have “invented” this one (and I know it’s had a capitalist-friendly mass-produced version called Telestrations around for awhile), but we call it Eat Poop You Cat — and my family plays it at just about every get-together. It’s good for all ages, but being able to spell helps…sorta.
To play, everyone gets one sheet of paper and something to draw/write with. To start, at the very top of the sheet of paper, everyone writes one phrase or sentence — just whatever pops into their sweet little brain. After a few moments, we all pass our sheet of paper to the person to the right of us.
Now, each player has a sheet of paper in front of them with a random phrase or sentence. Directly below the sentence or phrase (spacing is essential), each player then tries to illustrate the sentence or phrase they’ve been given. No words allowed! (Drawing turns always take longer — so be patient.) Then, before passing their sheet to the right again, they carefully fold over the original sentence or phrase so that only their new illustration appears at the top of the sheet.
Now, each player has a sheet of paper with only a drawing. They must now decode the drawing back into words — trying to guess at what the drawing is supposed to be illustrating. Before passing the sheet to the right again, they carefully fold over the first illustration, leaving only their wordy interpretation showing.
The alternating drawing and writing turns continue until each player receives their original piece of paper (which can be a real challenge to determine). Everyone shares their sheet starting with their original phrase or sentence and MUCH HILARITY ENSUES.
—Jefferson M., Denver
This one is for very young people. Or the young at heart!
There are lots of little people who visit their grandparents at the house next door to us in the summertime. I have a veggie garden that grows wild — sometimes, I miss a cucumber growing until it’s very large and fat and yellowish green…too large to be tasty. But perfect for a game of Roll the Crazy Cuke! (The game works with almost any homegrown produce! Tomatoes, squash, apples, lemons, pumpkins, peppers….) The neighbors have a small ramp at their house, and we start at the top and roll the cucumber down the ramp. The kids love it, whether they are at the top giving it a push, or at the bottom trying to catch the wriggly cucumber. Much better than letting inedible produce go to waste!
xoxo,
—Connie W., A Fire Island Farmer
We first played this game with a group of friends when we were on holiday, and at the accommodation we found an old rotary dial phone.
So the game is: you pick up the phone and start a fictional conversation with someone and the others have to figure out who you’re talking to. Using reference points from that person’s life is how they figure it out — the less obvious the reference points are, the harder/better.
For example: “You were brought up by apes? That’s amazing.” You’re chatting with Tarzan (referencing his childhood).
And the conversation goes on until someone figures it out!
—Fru R., Budapest
When I was a kid, we played a game in which you only needed a rubber ball and any coin available. (Since we were poor, it was mostly a penny.)
The most popular rubber ball used at the time was called a “pinkie,” obviously because it was pink. It bounced really well; you could buy them anywhere. Today, you might use a tennis ball because everyone has one, or any ball with a good amount of bounce.
You put the coin, heads up, on the sidewalk. Then, each player steps back about 6 feet or so. The object was to hit the coin with the ball. Success got you one point; if you flipped the coin as a result, you got three points. The first player to reach 11 points won. A very simple game, but as kids we loved playing.
—Richard S., Delray Beach, Fla.
First, I must confess: this game was not invented by me, but by a friend of mine. Dameon Willich was one of the original Magic: The Gathering artists, a DC Comics artist and founder of the Seattle Knights jousting troupe. We played this game frequently, after shows and especially in the summer around a fire pit. Does it have a name? No. I shall call it “Venture Forth!” (The exclamation point is clearly important here, and he may hate me for this name.) Why I love it: it’s about storytelling, creativity and choices (good, bad and otherwise).
Players: Three minimum, better with 4-6, but can be as many as you like.
Requirements: A 6-sided die. Though it could be any “decision maker,” really, even a coin to flip.
The rules (not many!):
1. Choose a storyteller/game master, or “GM.” The remaining players must abide by their rules and decrees!
2. The remaining players each choose three things in this world that they can either see nearby in the room and/or have in their possession at the moment. They’ll bring these objects into the fictional world of the game. (For example, a teddy bear, cocktail stirrer, a bottle of rum…)
The GM sets up a scenario, similar to Dungeons & Dragons. They’ll explain how the players are transported into another land, what they see when they get there, and at least an inkling of what their objective is: escape this world, rescue a prince, prank a political rival, etc. The party must use only their wits and the three things they each brought into this adventure in order to unravel the mystery and meet their objective. The GM decides when a die needs to be cast for a success/failure check. (Rolling an even number may mean the group successfully crosses the moat in the first step to rescue the prince, for instance.) The GM decides what constitutes a success or failure, depending on the difficulty of the task and noting that a “6” is always a critical success.
It’s less about meeting the objective, and more about having fun and being creative!
—Lani B., Olympia, Wash.
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