Hobbies And Interests
Getting Acquainted
There can be awkward moments when a party is comprised of a lot of people who don't know one another. Sure, they can talk about their jobs, their children or their hobbies, but the best way to break the ice might be a board game. Some get-to-know-you games are:
Apples to Apples: Everyone gets a set of cards, on each of which is written a person, place or thing (e.g., Paul Newman or the Grand Canyon or Vanilla Ice Cream). Then one player (this alternates, depending on the winner of the previous round) picks an "adjective" card and reads it aloud. The word on the card can be pretty much any adjective you can imagine, from "strange" to "captivating." Then the other players choose one card from their hand that they think best fits that adjective. It can be taken seriously ("the Grand Canyon" could work for "captivating") or irreverently ("Vanilla Ice Cream" for "strange"). The judge goes through all the cards and chooses the winner, who then becomes the next judge. Players move around the board as they garner wins.
Funny Business: In this game, you take control by coming up with the best name for a new business venture. It's a simple, quick, often funny game that gives people a hint of your personality, sense of humor and what kind of boss you would be. For instance, if you merged a banana stand with a butcher shop, what would you call it? Peel and meat? The boss is the player who comes up with the favorite name.
Sort It Out: This is another fast-paced game where players work together to put things in the right order. It gives everyone a chance to get to know each other without being too complicated. For instance, if given the words Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Earth and Venus, can your team work together and come up with a list that places them in the correct order from closest to farthest from the sun?
We've Met Before
If you've got some people together who know at least something about each other (perhaps they met at your "getting acquainted" party), then you can try some games that are just as much fun and maybe a little more revealing. These include ...
Cranium: This is an enormously popular game that is challenging without being personal. Players form teams and compete in a variety of contests. Teams draw from four different sets of playing cards and try to complete various challenges, thus moving their pieces around a board. They might have to sing, act, sculpt shapes from clay, draw pictures (sometimes without looking), answer trivia questions, figure out word games or logic puzzles, or do a charade. The results are often hilarious and give people a great time together. But there is much more interaction than with the simpler games listed above, so it's a great way to get to know someone even better.
Balderdash: This is a simple game with often very funny results. All each player has to do is write down his definition of a given word, then hope the other players will believe his is the right one. Of course, most of the time, no one knows the answer (the words are never common), so the trick is in writing down something believable...or funny enough to garner votes. This is a great game for people who only kind of know each other, because if you know someone too well, he might not be able to fool you; if you don't know him at all, the challenge can be a little too much.
Origin of Expressions: This is another creative game that calls on players to go a little further in their deception. You're given a common expression, such as "count my lucky stars," and must come up with how this particular expression came about. In this case, you might say it came about because sailors made their passages based on the way stars were aligned, or you might stretch things by saying it was coined by a movie lover who believed seeing movies with certain actors brought him good fortune. The truth is not important. All that matters is that you get other players to believe you.
We're All Friends Here
If everyone at the party knows everyone else (and knows them pretty well), you can stretch your board game offerings with a few that can be called anything from revealing to nothing short of prying.
Loaded Questions: This game pretty much demands that you have a good idea about everyone else who's playing. Everyone is asked the same question, which is always something fairly revealing, and must write an answer (an honest one). The answers are collected, then read aloud. The idea is to guess the answer each person gave. The hardest part of this game might be not to laugh or drop your jaw in shock when you find out who gave what answer.
Do Tell: This is a modern version of Truth or Tell, in which the questions can get quite personal and the dares can be anything from really silly (singing a silly song) to something completely unexpected (kiss the player sitting next to you).
The Dirt Game: Although you'll have to answer some trivia questions along the way, the main focus of this game is to answer a variety of questions, from the only fairly to the personal to those that will leave almost anyone blushing. This game not only has some rather shocking questions, it can provoke some very surprising answers. For instance, you might be asked whether you've ever dropped your toothbrush in the toilet, then used it again, or you might be expected to name an unusual place where you and your mate have been intimate. It's the kind of game that can truly only be enjoyed by friends very comfortable with each other.