BlindFish Games

Th is year I am sharing 24 mini games over advent, where the rules can be explained on the back of a single business card. Today's game is called "Coin Toss".  Day 24 "Coin Toss" Players:  2-10 players Equipment:  Coins (chocolate recommended)  Concise rules:  Place this card face up in the centre of the table, make sure everyone has an equal number of coins. Everyone takes turns tossing a coin towards the business card. The first player to land a coin touching the words "Merry Christmas" wins all coins previously thrown.  Notes: I loved marbles growing up and I always saw people on TV or in books  playing marbles  but I never really played a competitive games with them. I like collecting and I liked marble runs. As an adult I have been curious about the history of marble games and have learnt a wide variety of ways to play with them. There is so much creativity with how to game with them.  Why am I talking about marbles? because this is...

Th is year I am sharing 24 mini games over advent, where the rules can be explained on the back of a single business card. Today's game is called "Elf's shopping list". I made this card thinking of joyful chaos with people running around a space. Day 22 "Elf's shopping list" Players:  2-20 players Equipment: Stuff at hand Concise rules:  You're the judge for a scavenger hunt, split players into teams and give them the first item to find. When they return it, tell them the next item on the list.  Yes players can interpret items creatively.  Items: 1) 5 gold rings 2) Green ornament  3) Connected mittens 4) Something frozen  5) Nativity scene 6) Cookie 7) Bells  8) Holly leaf 9) Glitter 10) Red Robin  Notes: Scavenger hunt's are nothing new and this is a mainly a Christmas based list to use. In a youth club I love end of term nights where the young people are in the mood for a game. I have played many parlor games in youth clubs but a good scavenger...

Th is year I am sharing 24 mini games over advent, where the rules can be explained on the back of a single business card. Today's game is called "60 Seconds".  Day 22 "60 Seconds" Players:  3-8 players Equipment:  Timer Concise rules:  Players must speak on a given topic for 60 seconds without hesitation, repetition, or deviation. Challenges are made by other players, and a point is scored for a correct challenges along with the challenger taking over the topic. Players score a point if they are speaking when the timer ends and a bonus point if they speak for the full 60 seconds without a successful challenge. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins. Notes: I find this game a great challenge and I don't think I have ever successfully spoke for the full minute on any topic. Personally I can avoid the hesitation often, it's the repetition that I usually fail on. If you have never played this game you can hear a famous radio game show v...

Th is year I am sharing 24 mini games over advent, where the rules can be explained on the back of a single business card. Today's game is called "Marshmallow Snowmen". Today is a another marshmallow based family focused game. Day 21 "Marshmallow Snowmen"  Players:  2-12 players Equipment:  Dice & a big bag of marshmallows Concise rules:  1 player rolls a dice to set the target number. Then, simultaneously,  all players attempt to build the  rolled number of marshmallow  snowmen by stacking 3  marshmallows on top of each  other. First player to build the  correct number of  snowmen wins. Notes: Again we have a short little family focused game. Designed to be played and enjoyed by families especially with little hands. Of course this kind of marshmallow based sculpture can be extended with adding cocktail sticks, sweets and anything else you can find. At that point this snowman race can become more an art competition. ...

Th is year I am sharing 24 mini games over advent, where the rules can be explained on the back of a single business card. Today's game is called "Station yard". Today is a new way to use the components of one of the most popular board games from the last 20 years.  Day 20 "Station yard" Players:  2-6 players Equipment:  Ticket to Ride and a hat Concise rules:  Shuffle blue, green, red, yellow, and black train cards into a deck, deal 5 cards face up. Mix all plastic trains into the hat. From the hat draw 4 random sets of 5 plastic trains.  On each turn a player can either pick up two train cards or buy one of the 4 laid out train sets using collected cards. Replenish cards and train sets. Players score points  based on collecting plastic trains of the same colour, combining them from multiple sets. Scoring follows  Ticket to Ride normal rule (3 trains = 4 points etc).  The first player to score 30 points wins. Notes: I made up this game after read...

Th is year I am sharing 24 mini games over advent, where the rules can be explained on the back of a single business card. Today's game is called "Categories". Lovely little word game that keeps people thinking.  Day 19 "Categories" Players:  2-8 players Equipment:  Pens, Paper and Timer Concise rules:  Everyone copies down 10 categories (examples below but you can make your own). Generate a random letter by having a player sing the alphabet in their head, say stop to pick the letter. Everyone then has 3 minutes to list answers that fit the categories and start with the random letter. Score no points if your answer is the same as another players and 2 points if your answer is an alliteration.  Example categories: Animal, City, Vehicle, Celebrity, Drink,  First name, Book, Colour, Clothing, Toy Notes: Playing the commercial version of this game as a child was one of my first introductions to party games. It was only as an adult I learnt that the game was muc...

Th is year I am sharing 24 mini games over advent, where the rules can be explained on the back of a single business card. Today's game is called "Who's most likely to...". This is a perfect discussion starting game with friends or people you want to get to know better.  Day 18 "Who's most likely to..." Players:  4-12 players Equipment:  -none- Concise rules:  You ask a "Who's most likely to..." question, and on the count of 3 everyone points at who they think fits the description. The player with the most suggestions wins the round and comes up with the next question.  Example questions “Who’s most likely to...”:         ...retire to a Mediterranean island.         ...be on the front page of a newspaper         ...accidentally set their kitchen on fire Notes: It can't be described as an ice breaker or a get to know you game. It requires the players to have some ideas about each othe...

Th is year I am sharing 24 mini games over advent, where the rules can be explained on the back of a single business card. Today's game is called "Cruel Santa". This game takes a fair bit of prep, you will be stealing presents from each other and you don't want to use real presents but have a stack of small presents to use.  Day 17 "Cruel Santa" Players:  3-8 players Equipment:  Dice and pile of small presents Concise rules:  Pile the presents in the centre. Players  take turns rolling a dice. If they  roll a 6 they can pick a present  from the centre and unwrap it. Or  steal an unwrapped present from  another players winnings. When  the last present from the centre  is unwrapped, everyone gets 1  last role of the dice.  Notes: This is all about chasing the fun presents. The presents you bring will set the tone of the game. I have found the most fun comes when the presents are a mix of things people genuinely want and abso...

Th is year I am sharing 24 mini games over advent, where the rules can be explained on the back of a single business card. Today's game is called "Boxes". I played this loads as a kid and am always surprised to meet people who don't know it.  Day 16 "Boxes" Players:  2 players Equipment:  Pens and dotted paper Concise rules:  Take turns drawing a single line between two adjacent dots. When a line completes a box initial it and add an another line. The players who completes the most boxes wins. Notes: Paper and pen games are arguably older then the pens we now play them with. Many have ancient roots with things like 9 Men Morris and naughts and crosses having been played in ancient cultures. Boxes is relatively modern compared to these. A bullet dotted journal is a quick way to play this, but I have played many more games on grids that we drew to play. If you have not played it you will soon find the joy when you cause a cascade of boxes being made.  The jpg ...

Th is year I am sharing 24 mini games over advent, where the rules can be explained on the back of a single business card. Today's game is called "Christmas Ghost". This game is played in secret! You win by passing it on.  Day 15 "Christmas Ghost" Players:  4-12 players Equipment:  -none- Concise rules:  You must try and pass on this Christmas Ghost to another person. You must put this card somewhere where another person will see it. You could slip it into a pocket, pass it with a napkin etc. Notes: A couple of years ago I really curious about the line "There'll be scary ghost stories" in the Song by Andy Williams "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year". For years I had heard it and had not understood the reference. That lead me down a research hole to read all about the long (but now largely forgotten) tradition of telling ghost stories around Christmas, especially on Christmas Eve, the night before a holy day. This card is barely...

Th is year I am sharing 24 mini games over advent, where the rules can be explained on the back of a single business card. Today's game is called "Phone charades". This game can be played across any distance and can be played asynchronously.  Day 14 "Phone charades" Players:  4-12 players Equipment:  1 phone per player Concise rules:  Without speaking think of a book, film, song or TV show. In a group chat with everyone playing,  send a sequence of emojis to represent the thing.  Other players try to guess what the clues represent. The first player to guess correctly wins the round and becomes the clue giver. Notes: I know some people hate it when everyone is sitting in the same place but is on their phone. This game is based upon not fighting this tendency but finding a way to leverage the phone into a game where people use their phone to play. You don't need any special app or anything, just a shared group message. Of course you don't have to play in s...

Th is year I am sharing 24 mini games over advent, where the rules can be explained on the back of a single business card. Today's game is called "Roll and grab". This game is a push your luck game. If you play it safe you will probably do ok. But, you wont win by playing it safe.  Day 13 "Roll and grab" Players:  2-12 players Equipment:  Dice and a pile of sweets Concise rules:  Pick a number between 1-5. roll a dice. If the number you roll is higher grab from the pot the number of sweets equal to your initial guess (not the number on the dice). If you roll equal or under your guess you get nothing. However, if you roll a 6, you can choose to take 3 sweets from another players pile, instead of your guess from the central pot. Play passes to the left. Repeat until the sweet pot is empty. Notes: The base of this game is a simple push your luck decision. How many sweets do you think you can get. There isn't much strategy to this, just your gut and statistics. ...

Th is year I am sharing 24 mini games over advent, where the rules can be explained on the back of a single business card. Today's game is called "Odd or Even". This is one of those games that sounds so simple it isn't really a game especially if you talk about your decisions as a group. I mean, none of your friends would lie, right?  Day 12 "Odd or Even" Players:  2-20 players Equipment:  -none- Concise rules:  Like rock, paper, scissors, on the count of 3 everyone reveals either 1 or 2 fingers, odd or even. Add up the total number of fingers of everyone playing. If the total is odd everyone who voted even is out and vice versa. Repeat until you have a winner. Notes: This was designed as a very simple little group game to get people distrusting each other. If you think about the options and count up who is playing. If everyone agrees to do the same thing, you can work out the total and ensure everyone wins. I mean unless you want to be the only winner. Then...

Th is year I am sharing 24 mini games over advent, where the rules can be explained on the back of a single business card. Today's game is called "Cereal box game" and it great for playing when older children and competitive adults.  Day 11 "Cereal box game" Players:  2-20 players Equipment:  Empty Cereal Box Concise rules:  Players take turns picking up an empty cereal box from the floor using only their mouth. Only their feet can be touching the floor. If they succeed, they progress to the next round. Between rounds cut down the height of the box, last player who can pick up the box wins.  Notes: We used to play this game at family parties and youth club. It is a physical game where players of any age can compete. It doesn't rely on strength but instead is all about balance and flexibility. A cereal box is a perfect height, many (but not all) players will be able to get it when it is at full height but it will quickly get increasingly difficult. One thing ...

Th is year I am sharing 24 mini games over advent, where the rules can be explained on the back of a single business card. Today's game is called "Sorry I'm late but..." and it great for playing when sitting round a table or on the sofa's when digesting.  Day 10 "Sorry I'm late but..." Players:  2-12 players Equipment:  -none- Concise rules:  Think of a film, now say to the group "Sorry I'm  late, but..." and then badly/opaquely/weirdly  describe the plot of the film. Other players try  and guess the film. The players who correctly  guesses the film then gives their own excuse.  For example: ... I was getting rid of an unwanted bit of jewellery (Lord of the Rings) or ...I was stealing my sister's chance to be on a national TV competition (Hunger Games) Notes: This is a twist on an old parlor game that aims to get people thinking and talking about the films they have enjoyed. It can be a relaxed way to get to know people when the con...

Th is year I am sharing 24 mini games over advent, where the rules can be explained on the back of a single business card. Today's game is called "D6 countdown" and it great for playing with children.  I love little games, that take moments to explain and can be played in 2-15 minutes. So, I set myself a challenge to collect and create as many  business card games  as possible. Today's is stolen from Countdown on channel 4. Day 9 "D6 countdown"  Players:  1- 8 players Equipment:   Dice, Pens,  Paper and Timer Concise rules:  Roll the dice 8 times to generate letters. Players have 30 seconds to make the longest word with these letters.  Notes: The word game in countdown is great fun but honestly, it's not my strongest round. I know in theory competitors have more freedom over what letters they choose and the balance between vowels and consonants especially. But 90% of the time the letters chosen are very formulaic. So, turning it into a t...

Th is year I am sharing 24 mini games over advent, where the rules can be explained on the back of a single business card. Today's game is called "Marshmallow mountain" and it great for playing with children.  I love little games, that take moments to explain and can be played in 2-15 minutes. So, I set myself a challenge to collect and create as many  business card games  as possible. Day 8 "Marshmallow mountain"  Players:  2-12 players Equipment:  Small plate & a big bag of marshmallows Concise rules:  Take turns placing a marshmallow on the plate, slowly building a mountainous pile. If a player causes any marshmallows to fall off the plate they are out. Continue until you have a winner. Notes: You want a small plate for this or it takes too long. A saucer is brilliant. If you want to make it harder you can even flip the saucer over or use the bottom of a mug. This game is in the great tradition of Jenga, buckaroo and so many other dexterity game...

T his year I am sharing 24 mini games over advent, where the rules can be explained on the back of a single business card. Today's game is called "Paper atlas".  I love little games, that take moments to explain and can be played in 2-15 minutes. So, I set myself a challenge to collect and create as many  business card games  as possible. Day 7 "Paper atlas"  Players:  4-12 players Equipment:  1 napkin per player Concise rules:  Think of a country, now fold and rip your napkin to represent the country, this could be the outline of the borders or symbolic. Hold it up, the first player to  correctly guess the country becomes  the napkin crafter. Repeat the action  with a new country, no country can  be repeated, continue until one  player has had 3 napkin countries  correctly guessed. Notes: Sitting around a dinner table (in a home or restaurant) can be the best time of Christmas but sometimes I find myself with people I don...

This year I am sharing 24 mini games over advent, where the rules can be explained on the back of a single business card. Today's game is called "Coin hunt".  I love little games, that take moments to explain and can be played in 2-15 minutes. So, I set myself a challenge to collect and create as many  business card games  as possible. Day 6 "Coin hunt" Players:  3-12 players Equipment:  -none- Concise rules:  While the other players have their eyes closed or leave the room. Hide this card somewhere in the room with the coin illustration visible (without the need for players to move anything). Players then compete to try and spot the coin. Notes: This is a great game to play with children and when they get into it, they can end up playing it for ages. I first learnt this game as "hunt the thimble" and played it as a kid. But in recent years I have found it a great game to bring into youth clubs. Loads of teenagers have never played it and depending on ...

This year I am sharing 24 mini games over advent, where the rules can be explained on the back of a single business card. Today's game is called "Scrabble chess".  I love little games, that take moments to explain and thinking of new games to play with objects people often already have. So, I set myself a challenge to collect and create as many  business card games  as possible. Day 5 "Scrabble chess" Players:  2 players Equipment:  Scrabble tiles and a chess board Concise rules:  Place all tiles face up next to the chess board. Take turns picking and placing 1 tile anywhere on the board. If you make a word, 4 letters long or longer, you score the points from the scrabble tiles. Remove the tiles you made a word with. Continue until all tiles have been used. Most points win.  Notes: Hacking game components together into new games is nothing new. People have been doing this for years. Home rules for games is common. This hack of a game keep the core mech...

This year I am sharing 24 mini games, where the rules can be explained on the back of a single business card. For the 24 days of advent I will be sharing one a day on my blog. Today's game is called "Burning Secrets".  I love little games, that take moments to explain and fill between 2-15 minutes. So, I set myself a challenge to collect and create as many as possible. I have had them printed on business cards with a festive Gold emboss and I am slipping them into all my Christmas cards this year.  Day 4 "Burning Secrets" Players:  2-6 players Equipment:  Fire and things to burn (cards, kindling etc)  Concise rules:  Wait until the fire has burnt down  to hot coals with few flames.  Everyone writes a secret on their  burnable item. Simultaneously  toss the items into the hot coals.  Watch your item. The player  whose item is the last to burst  into flames must tell their secret. Notes: Having a log burner is so cosy at thi...