Equipment
Enough chairs for every player, arranged in a wide horseshoe (more like a circle with a gap). Good for around 10 (but fewer or more are also ok)
Aim
The first chair to the right of the gap is the “first” chair. The last chair going round clockwise is the “last” chair. The aim of the game is to get yourself to the “first” chair when the game stops.
How to play
Starting from the top chair, the chairs are assigned names:
- Matthew
- Mark
- Luke
- John
- One
- Two
- …
- Eight (or whichever number you get to on the bottom chair)
Play starts with “Matthew”, who must say the name of their chair twice, while slapping their legs, then the name of someone else’s chair twice while clapping. The person in the named chair must then immediately say their chair twice (while slapping) and another person’s chair (while clapping), and so on.
For example:
- 1st Chair: “Matthew Matthew One One”
- 5th Chair: “One One Luke Luke”
- 3rd Chair: “Luke Luke John John”
- 4th Chair: “John John …”
And so on.
The only constraint is that you can’t pass it straight back (so “one one two two” then “two two one one” isn’t allowed).
If at any point a person hesitates, or says the wrong name/chair, the round stops, that person moves to the bottom chair, and everyone else shuffles up to fill the space. Every person that moved gets a new ‘name’ as they are in a new chair. A new round then starts with (the potentially new) “Matthew”
So if “Matthew” made a mistake, they would move to chair “eight” (or whichever is last), and everyone shuffles to their right – so the person who was “eight” is now “seven”, “seven” becomes “six”, right up to “Mark” becoming “Matthew”.
Play for several rounds (5 or 10 minutes) – winner is the “Matthew” at the end of the game.
Variations
There are lots of variations on this – for example “Food Chain”.
In this variation, each chair is given the name of an animal, from large to small, where each has a distinctive noise and action. Play passes by performing your animal noise and action (“Oook oook” + bang chest) followed by another animal’s (“Squeak squeak” + wrinkle nose). That animal then does their noise and action, followed by someone else’s, and so on.
As before, if someone makes a mistake, they go to the bottom of the food chain (“buzz buzz” flap wings) and everyone else shuffles up, changing their animal to match their new chair.
A typical food chain might be:
- Elephant
- Lion
- Baboon
- Hyena
- Cow
- Sheep
- Dog
- Cat
- Mouse
- Butterfly
- Fly
But you can add random ‘animals’ like an alien, or whatever.
There are almost limitless variations, and I guess it could be a educational game for any hierarchical or ordered ontology, if you were so minded.
It’s good to have something to say and an action (even if it’s just clapping)