As I said in the Movie-A-Day thread, I have seen a few "games" on a few message boards that encourage conversation. I'm putting a few down here to get a feel of what people thing. Not that we'll do any of them, but just get an idea of what people thing. Many people don't even realize these kinds of things are out there.
Movie ABC's
If you like movies try this one out. Simply start with the letter “A,” and post the title of one of your favorite movies. The next player posts his/her favorite movie title beginning with a letter “B.” For instance, post the title “Apocalypse Now.” The next player could post the movie title “Battlefield Earth.” This is a great way to learn even more about your message boards friends.
Build a Story
The objective of this game is to simply create a story by each person adding three new words. Someone starts it off, for example, by posting three words such as "Not long ago." The next person adds three more words such as "three wise men." (Now the story is "Not long ago three wise men"). Then the next person posts three more words such as "went skinny dipping" (Now the story is "Not long ago three wise men went skinny dipping..."). Be sure to copy the entire story into your post when you add your three new words so that someone can easily read the complete story through each time. The story continues from there indefinitely. You can create multiple threads of different stories to have many going at one time.
In addition to those basic kinds, on a movie board I frequent they have a "Challenge" game and what they call "Sheep" games. I'll try to explain what they are (I've never actively participated in either of them).
1) Challenge Games - A monthly game with the following rules:
- The challenge runs from dusk on the last day of the previous month to dawn on the first day of the next month, i.e. May 31st dusk to July 1st dawn.
- This is usually genre based - so for example, the challenge will involve horror movies in a month. Some involve actually giving a goal (like 50 horror movies in a month)
- Choose a movie site (like IMDB) to determine what is considered horror.
- Use any means to watch (DVD, Blu, TV, Netflix, etc.)
- The following month will have a "results thread" posted, so you can use the main thread to keep track of what you have watched.
- And any other rules you can think of.
2) Sheep Games - Also monthly, and a little more complicated, but geared more towards trivia rather than viewing. This one might be too complicated to stick with. Whoever came up with it had a lot of time on their hands.
Here's all the usual info:
Intro for first time players
Sheep is a game that is part Family Feud, part trivia game. The object of the game is to outwit other players through a series of questions that are usually united in theme. There are two types of questions.
The first, Sheep, is one where you try to think like everyone else and match their answers. The more people you match, the better you do. Let's say we have a game of six players (A through F). A Sheep question might be something like "Name a great color." Sheep questions never have right or wrong answers. Let's say our five players answered like this:
Players A, C, and E said "Blue"
Players B and D said "Green"
Player F said "Chartreuse"
Scoring in Sheep games is like golf: the lower your score, the better. The "Blue" players get -3 points (and the best answer). The "Green" players get -2 points. Player F did not match anyone and gets 0 points.
The second type of question, Reverse Sheep, is the exact opposite. You want to avoid matching other players. A Reverse Sheep question might be something like "Name a state on the Atlantic Coast." Reverse Sheep questions always have right or wrong answers. Let's say our players answered like this:
Players D and E said "Delaware"
Players F and B said "Maine"
Player C said "Texas"
Player A said "South Carolina"
The "Delaware" players get +2 points (a penalty, since you want to have a low score). The "Maine" players also get +2 points. Player C's answer might be debated among the players to see if it is considered correct or not. Wrong answers always score above the most common answer. You're always better off going for something obvious than for something obviously wrong.
That's the gist of it. Each person running a game adds little rules here and there but those are the basics.
General Rules
The object of the game is to out-think everyone by picking answers to questions that are the most common (Sheep) or least common (Reverse Sheep), but still correct.
Example Sheep question: "Name a professional golfer." A good answer might be Tiger Woods and a bad answer might be Chichi Rodriguez.
Example Reverse Sheep question: "Name a play by Shakespeare." Romeo & Juliet might be a bad answer, but Two Gentlemen of Verona might be a good answer. (Unless everyone is trying to go as obscure as possible).
Scores are tallied according to the number of players answering that question. Sheep answers are tallied as negative. Reverse Sheep answers are tallied as positive. The lowest score wins.
There is no such thing as wrong answer for a Sheep question. Wrong answers in Reverse Sheep are scored two points above the most common answer.
You may not cheat by using Google, Wikipedia, etc. Use only what's in your head.
Please send in your answers to me via PM. Place one answer per line, without numbers, set info, or the question itself. Add {sd} to the end of the answer, not the beginning. Those who do not do this will be penalized 20 points right off the bat.
Note: Be creative with your answers, but don't be stupid.
Sheep questions are marked by an S:, Reverse Sheep questions are marked by an R:.
Game-Specific Rules
Unique Bonus: Reverse Sheep questions will generate additional bonus (negative) points according to the following:
1 Unique is awarded -15
2 Uniques are awarded -10 each
3 Uniques are awarded -6 each
4 Uniques are awarded -3 each
5+ Uniques are awarded -1 each
Slam Dunks {sd} Players have the power of multipliers in their hands. Each player is given five (5) Slam Dunks ({sd}s) which they use by adding {sd} to the end of their answer. Slam Dunks have different effects depending on the question you use them in:
In Sheep questions, the {sd} adds 1 to the Multiplier. You are allowed to use up to all 5 of your {sd}s on any given question.
In Reverse Sheep questions, you can use a single {sd} to turn the question into a sheep question for you. However, if your answer is wrong, it does nothing. I will answer any questions you have about Slam Dunks.
Anyone else think this could use a few revisions. How about we limit it to something we've seen and we add a quick little blurb about whether or not we enjoyed the movie? For example:
Oscar: Bad movie but pretty darned funny if you're in the right mood.
My wife loves this movie, I don't share her passion but really, it's not a bad little western. Rickman and Selleck are great but the premise behind bringing Selleck to Australia is so lame it just soured me on the whole affair. Rickman tells him he brought him there to kill the aborigines from a distance because they're like ghosts and you can't get up close and kill them. All well and good but for the rest of the movie you can't shake a stick without knocking a few hundred of them off a cliff.
Three days of the Condor. Redford in his prime, nice cold war era thriller. Once a year now we watch a ********* featuring this movie, Spy Game and Sneakers. Always a fun weekend as all three movies re-watch so well.
