Art of Game

Christmas Light Game Like most major sports, the Christmas Light Game is seasonal, with preseason starting the week before Thanksgiving and post-season play winding down right around New Year’s. Teams are chosen based on who is sitting in what seat, divided along the right and left-hand sides of the car. If someone is seated in the middle seat, he or she may fill in for the driver as it can be difficult to spot Christmas lights while staying in one’s lane and under the speed limit. The competition continues until the end of the car arrives at its final destination, with Team Left and Team Right counting the total number of lit decorations on their respective sides out loud over the course of the trip. A particular set of lights cannot be counted more than once or for more than one team, even if the car gets lost and has to turn around. Christmas trees and menorahs clearly visible through a home’s window may also count towards the grand total. Helpful hint: (more…)

20 Questions As a strong analytical mind may have deduced, when playing 20 Questions, participants get 20 questions to figure out who or what another player has in mind. All questions must be clearly answerable with either a “Yes” or a “No.” If a questioner correctly guesses the mystery person, place or thing, he or she will choose a new secret subject for the next round. If after 20 questions, the item in question remains a mystery, the answerer wins that round and gets to choose a new topic. Helpful hint: Hardly anyone would recognize the name “Jim Varney,” or guess “Ernest” off his or her head, yet everyone has heard of Ernest Goes to Camp (among Ernest’s many title roles) making it a completely legitimate choice. (more…)

Before that last blinking tick on your iPod battery meter fades to black and you find yourself in a stretch of no man’s land worthy of a The Hills Have Eyes credit, it’s time to realize that music may not always be there to save you when boredom strikes. Back in the good old days, or maybe just the old days depending on your perspective, people actually conversed back and forth in an effort to pass to the time on long car trips. Granted, technology and the advent of online social media has more or less made the need for actual human interaction obsolete, if you’re looking for a change of pace during the middle of a multistate road trip, here are a few classic multiplayer car games to give your ears some much needed reprieve from the headphones.The Animal Game While it might sound a bit wild to be contained in 4 doors, The Animal Game is simple, reserved and can be enjoyed by anyone who has ever been to the zoo, read National Geographic and/or made it past the first cut in an elementary school spelling bee. The game begins when the driver names an animal of his or her choice, for example, “Rabbit.” The next player then announces an animal beginning with the last letter of the one before it, i.e. “Tiger.” From there you could go from “Roach” to “Horse” to “Elephant” to “Three-toed Sloth.” Unicorns and other fictional animals result in a disqualification. Whenever a player cannot think of another animal in an appropriate amount of time, he or she is eliminated, until the one winner remains. Helpful hint: In case you find yourself on the business end of the word “Ox,” here is a list of non-fiction animals that start with the letter ‘X’: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_some_animals_that_begin_with_the_letter_X