Hobbies And Interests
Black Magic
To play black magic, you need two players who know the secret, one to be the asker and one to be the mind reader. The mind reader leaves the room, and the rest of the group chooses an object to be "it." It must be something visible to the group. The mind reader then comes back, and the asker points to various objects while asking, "Is this it?" The secret involves a black object: after the asker has pointed to any black object, the next object he points to is "it."
Brain Magic
Brain Magic also requires two players who know how to play, an asker and a mind reader. The asker assembles five objects and places them on the floor or a table in front of her in a row. The mind reader then leaves the room, and the group chooses one of the objects to be "it." The asker then calls for the mind reader to come back to the room, and the mind reader can immediately tell the group which object they chose. The clue is in the way the asker calls the mind reader back. The mind reader knows that each of the five objects in the row represents a letter of the word "brain," as if the asker were writing "brain" using the objects from left to right. When the asker calls the mind reader to return to the group, she begins her sentence with the letter corresponding to the object chosen. For example, if the object chosen is the farthest on the left (the letter "B") she might say, "Better come back now."
Yes or No
Yes or No is another game that requires two players who both know the secret, a mind reader and an asker. The mind reader leaves the room, and the group decides on a question that can be answered with yes or no. The group also agrees on what the correct answer is. The mind reader then returns to the room and places his hands on the temples of the asker. The asker clenches his jaw to give the mind reader the answer: one clench means yes and two mean no. The mind reader can feel the clenches although the rest of the group cannot see it.
Stick Numbers
Stick Numbers is a game in which all the players can learn to "read the mind" of the asker. The asker must gather a few small objects, such as sticks, tableware or pencils. The asker begins by telling the group, "I am going to indicate a number between one and ten by what I do." She then arranges the objects on a table or the floor. She should place them carefully so it looks like the way she is arranging them is important. She then asks the group what number she is indicating. The number, however, has nothing to do with the way she arranges the objects; she indicates it by the number of fingers she places on the table or the floor near the objects when she is finished arranging them. As different members of the group figure out the secret, they can take turns being the asker until everyone sees how it works.