Unplug Play

FOOL YOUR FRIENDS INTO THINKING YOUR ITEM WAS ON ONE OF THEIR LISTS.

Each player comes up with five categories that will lead to many possible answers (see pages 1–9 for ideas) and places them in a hat or facedown on a table mixed in with all of the others.

For each selected category in this game, one player chooses a total of three items from all of the other players’ lists that he or she feels most people would think that nobody actually said. That player must also come up with one item that most people would believe was on one of the player’s lists. All the other players must try to determine which item was added by the player leading the round.

Play begins with every player randomly selecting one category each from the hat. Player 1 announces his category first. All players then write down three items related to that category that they believe other players will write as well. Players write these items on two pieces of paper: (1) a small piece that they will hand to Player 1 (Make them legible so Player 1 has no trouble reading any of them!) and (2) a separate sheet to keep track of their responses. On this second sheet, players should write Player 1 (or the player who chose the category) at the top. Also on the extra sheet of paper, under the list of three items, write Nobody and leave a blank space next to it to be filled in later.

Player 1 keeps all of the lists of items for his category together in a pile and puts the pile aside. Nobody should be able to see the lists—Player 1 must keep them hidden.

Player 2 then announces the category she picked. Everyone must then make a list of three popular items for Player 2’s category and hand them over to Player 2. Again, write the three popular items you chose for Player 2 next to her name and category on your separate page with the items you chose for Player 1, and again place the word Nobody right under that list with a space next to it.

Repeat this process for every player in the game until everyone hands their lists to the final player. Now everyone looks at the lists they were provided from the other players, and each player must now make a very important decision at the same time!

Each player looks at all of the lists for his or her category. He or she then selects three items from the combined lists from all of the other players and ADDS ONE MORE ITEM that wasn’t on anyone else’s list. Once all players have finished this task, Player 1 goes first.

Player 1 reads his list of four in a random order, and the other players must guess which one is the one from Player 1—the one nobody had! Players write down their guesses next to the word Nobody under the lists made for Player 1’s category.

Once each player writes his or her guess under Player 1’s column, everyone puts down their pen (no changing responses once pens are down) and tells Player 1 what item they chose as the one nobody had. Player 1 then reveals who was correct and hands out points.

Player 2 then reveals her list of four items for her category, and everyone makes their guesses as to which item Player 2 added . . . and so on until all guesses for each category are made.

Player 1 receives 4 points for every player who doesn’t pick the item he added. Every player who guessed the item nobody had (the item Player 1 added) correctly will multiply the number of players who got it right by 3, and that is each player’s point total. Finally, players LOSE 5 POINTS for every player who chooses one of THEIR ITEMS as the one nobody had on their lists!

So, for example, with seven total players, let’s say Player 1 fools four people. Player 1 receives 16 points (4 X 4). This means two of the other players guessed correctly. Those two players earn 6 points each (2 X 3).

In addition, if two of the four players Player 1 fooled guessed an item from Player 6 as the item nobody had, Player 6 loses 10 points. If one player guessed an item from Player 4 was the one nobody had, Player 4 loses 5 points.

TIP: When you announce your category and everyone is making their list of three items, YOU should make your own list of as many items as you can think of in the category. This way, you will hopefully have some good choices of popular items to place on your list that nobody had. It also makes the process quicker when you are later deciding on your list of four.

IMPORTANT: You don’t want anyone to guess YOUR item as the one NOBODY HAD! So when making your lists in each category, you will probably want to put the most obvious choices each time so the player making the decision doesn’t include any of your items on his or her list of four. You don’t want the player who selected the category to score a lot of points on his or her turn, and you certainly don’t want to lose points by having an item other players think wasn’t on anyone’s list.

Let’s say Player 1 picks the category Famous horror films. Everyone except Player 1 writes down three famous horror films and hands them to Player 1 without letting anyone else see them. These three famous horror films should be the most popular each player can think of! Now, a lot of horror films are listed. Films such as Psycho, Halloween, The Exorcist, A Nightmare on Elm Street, etc., come up. However, nobody puts The Shining! So Player 1 decides to make The Shining the one he adds—the one nobody had! He figures people in the game would feel at least one person wrote down The Shining. Player 1 also sees movies such as Alien, Scream, and The Blair Witch Project, and only one person had each of those. Since only one person had each and he feels those movies are not as mainstream as the other entries, he decides to mix those three in with The Shining for his final list of four.

He reads his list in any order, and everyone makes their guesses. Points are distributed as mentioned above, and Player 2 announces her list of four that she selected for her category.