Andrew Papanikitas is Deputy Editor of the BJGP and a GP in Oxford. He is on X: @gentlemedic
Today the team at BJGPLife and I hope that most of our readers are having some well-earned rest and recreation. We also salute those at work, both in the UK and all global compass points where Christmas is neither a religious or commercial holiday. Social and family (hopefully these are the same) gatherings have a tendency to happen at this time of year. Games are a common tradition, and party games even more so. Party games can be excellent conversational ice-breakers, whether you have just met the other partygoers or have known them all your life.
A game that tests multiple skills: How to play ‘The saucepan game’
As an icebreaker on a GP vocational training (VTS) scheme retreat, a colleague of mine taught our VTS group a game that I have redeployed countless times since. This game likely has many names, but I know it has the saucepan game.
For example, if somebody wrote Doctor Who, the reader might say, ‘I travel through time and space in a blue box like craft,’ but not mention the words TARDIS or Gallifrey.
Everyone participating writes three names onto a small piece of paper – sticky notepad pages work well. Fold the paper and place it into a saucepan or bowl or other bucket-like implement (you can do more than three if there are fewer people or less if there are more people). The group divides into two teams (you need 6 or more people ideally). For each round ‘play’ alternates between the teams. One person from each team has a minute to attempt to get their own team to guess the name on as many pieces of paper as possible in three fun ways. Oh, and I should say that the names on the piece of paper should be household names from public life or from fiction. This could make it tricky if you have famous people or fictional characters at your party. A method of counting sixty seconds is required (a watch or stopwatch).
In round one, the person reading the pieces of paper should describe themselves as though they the person named on the paper without referring to any places or names. For example, if somebody wrote Doctor Who, the reader might say, ‘I travel through time and space in a blue box like craft,’ but not mention the words TARDIS or Gallifrey.
In round two the person reading a piece of paper has to silently act as though they are that person. This involves mime rather than charades. No sound should be omitted from the actor.
In round three the person reading, should only use one word, and nothing else the words cannot be a person or place name, so for the Doctor Who, example, the words time or traveller, but not both would be legitimate. Single proper nouns would also be against the rules. ‘TARDIS’ would be treated as such in this instance even though it technically is not a place name or a specific person.
Single proper nouns would also be against the rules. ‘TARDIS’ would be treated as such in this instance even though it technically is not a place name or a specific person.
The way in which each round takes place is that the reader keeps taking a new piece of paper out during the minute as they are correctly guessed by their own team. If their own team cannot guess then they remain stuck on that piece of paper until time elapses and the saucepan passes to the other team The saucepan passes back and forth between the teams until all the piece of paper have been read, which is the end of the road. The winner of each round is the team that have guessed the most bits of paper correctly. The winning team is the one that wins the most rounds.
Other traditional party games.
’20 questions’ allows the group to take it in turns to ask up to 20 questions of the person who has assumed the identity of a household name that is real or imagined. The winner is the person who successfully guesses in 20 questions or fewer.
The folding paper game involves one person drawing a head, folding the paper, so the others cannot see, and then the next person draws the body and falls the paper so the others cannot see and then the next person draws the legs and then fold the paper again with the final person writing a name for the person.
Some goofier suggestions?
These are ideas that have been suggested to me, they sometimes work but usually don’t. If an adult or child has just started to learn an instrument and there is one in the house get them to try and play a well-known theme and take it in turns to guess what this is. If there’s a robust instrument like a toy xylophone -let anyone have a go? Another game made popular on the Radio Four show I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue, is to sing one song to the tune of another. Another is to use the jokes in Christmas crackers – rather than reading the joke and revealing the punchline, read the punchline and get members of the group to suggest, humorous stems for the joke.
Your suggestions?
If you have party game that you can explain on 1/2 to a page of A4, do post this in a reply to this article via the comments. You may save someone’s New Years Eve Party.
And when the party games are over and the armchair or sofa beckons…
Some Christmas ‘Cracker’ reading:
- https://bjgplife.com/its-a-wonderful-gp-life-part-1/
- https://bjgplife.com/a-bjgp-christmas-carol-part-one/
- https://bjgplife.com/storytime-as-a-vehicle-for-reflective-practice-part-2-the-christmas-commercial/
- https://bjgplife.com/the-rcgp-saves-the-world-in-time-for-christmas-again/
- https://bjgplife.com/five§-woke-ish-stocking-fillers/
Some Christmas ‘Cracker’ listening:
- https://bjgplife.com/the-bjgp-christmas-stocking-filler-podcast/
- https://bjgplife.com/a-christmas-reflection/
Seasons Greeting from BJGP Life!
Featured photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
