Games of the National Puzzlers’ League

One player chooses an entry in Merriam-Webster’s Eleventh Collegiate Dictionary (referred to as 11C by the Krewe) and announces words that can be found in the entry’s definitions. Players try to guess the entry. See also Wiki-Seeky.

An anti-match game is a quiz in which each question has multiple correct answers. Quiz questions typically involve categories, e.g., “Name a noble gas” or “Name the capital city of one of the following nations: Azerbaijan, Brazil, Chad, Denmark, Ethiopia, Fiji.” A game may have a single moderator who compiles all questions for the quiz, or may use a “potluck” system in which each player presents and moderates one question. The idea is to come up with a correct answer that few other people have chosen.

A player scores 1 point for each correct answer, plus 1 additional point for every other person in the group who came up with the same answer. An incorrect answer receives a penalty score, the highest correct answer (i.e., the score for the answer that the most people gave) score plus 1. The player completing the quiz with the lowest score is the winner.  For comparison, see Sheep.

(based on a TV game show)

Two players are shown an answer they must help a third player guess. The two clue-givers alternate giving single words to form a clue to the answer in question form. When the question is complete, the clue-givers prompt the guesser to guess. 

• Chain Reaction can be played by two players. The two form a clue question alternating single words, but only one player is shown the answer. The other player must add words to the clue question intuitively and ultimately guess the answer.
• In Saboteur Chain Reaction, the game is played similarly to the standard three-person version, but one of the two clue-givers is a saboteur trying to prevent the answer from being guessed. The saboteur adds unhelpful words to the clue question while the other clue-giver tries to keep the clue on track.  

A player silently acts out words and phrases for others to guess. In the NPL, Charades is usually played noncompetitively, with all participants eligible to submit answers to a stockpile, and all players except the author and performer eligible to guess the answer. NPL members tend to submit difficult and obscure answers and enjoy variations on the classic parlor game, such as: 

• Screened Charades (developed at a convention where several standing screens were left in the ballroom):One teammate stands behind a screen and can only stick out their hands and/or feet to clue the answer. Online, this can be played with the clue giver ducking below their camera.
• Foreign Market: Answers are items to be purchased in a store where the proprietor and customer do not share the same language, thus performances may not include hints such as number of words or syllables, “sounds like,” etc.
• Mirror Charades: This variation uses teams of performers. One teammate, standing behind all other players, reads and performs the answer. The other teammate watches the first and mimics the performance to the best of their ability (without knowing the answer). 

(introduced by Murdoch)

In each round, a bigram is chosen. Each player thinks of a two-word name or phrase starting with the chosen bigram letters (e.g., for the bigram CM, players might pick “chocolate milk,” “Claude Monet,” “carbon monoxide,” etc.). Each player also thinks of a one-word clue for the chosen phrase. Players announce their clues, and all players have a set amount of time to guess the phrase for each clue. When time is up, the answers for each clue are evaluated. If everyone guesses right, all players except the clue-giver score 1 point. If everyone guesses wrong, all players except the clue-giver score 1 point. If some but not all players guess right, the players who guess right and the clue-giver each score points equal to the number of players who did not guess right.

(introduced by Bluff)

In this game, a player is assigned an answer and tries to create a clue that will lead at least one but fewer than half of the other players to the correct answer. The game has many scoring variants and side-bet options. A basic set of gameplay and scoring rules is described below.

The players form a circle. Each player comes up with several answers and distributes them to other players in the circle. The players take turns acting as the “clue-giver.” The clue-giver chooses one of the answers assigned to them and announces the answer’s “author.” The clue-giver then presents a clue to the remaining players. The clue can be almost anything, but should not employ private knowledge (“It’s the restaurant where another player and I ate last week”) or “playing the percentages” (“It’s one of the planets in the solar system”). The other players except the author have 30 seconds to choose guesses. Players then reveal guesses aloud. If there are no correct guesses, the clue-giver must present an additional clue for the same answer. If there are too many correct guesses, the clue giver must choose another assigned answer and present a new clue; in other words, the clue-giver must keep going until they succeed. If there are a successful number of correct guesses, the clue-giver announces the correct answer and the role of clue-giver passes to the next player.

A clue-giver loses 1 point for each clue given. An author scores 1 point for being chosen. A player scores 1 point for choosing a correct answer. The game is over when every player completes the role of clue-giver.

(introduced by Aesop)

In each round, a bigram is chosen. Each player has 90 seconds to compile a list of common two-word phrases starting with the chosen bigram letters (e.g., for the bigram CG, players might pick “coast guard,” “Che Guevara,” “coffee grinder,” etc.). Players read their lists aloud and check for matches with other players. A phrase matching another player’s scores 1 point, while unmatched phrases score 0.

A moderator compiles a group of “rules” for words, such as: “Word must contain a four-letter sequence of consecutive consonants,” “Word must form another word when spelled backward,” and “Word must be a type of tree.” The moderator also chooses a letter of the alphabet as a starting letter. The moderator announces the starting letter and then reads the rules one at a time. After a rule is read, each player must choose a dictionary entry as an answer. The answer must obey the rule and follow the starting letter (for the first rule) or their previously chosen answer alphabetically. After the last rule, the player who progressed the shortest distance from the starting letter wins.

(introduced by T McAy)

Exquisite Fruit is a non-competitive game in which players write trivia questions “Exquisite Corpse” style. Players form a circle. Each player comes up with a trivia answer,r and these answers are passed around a circle. Players try to construct questions that lead to the answers. A player receiving an answer adds one or more words to a question, conceals one or more words added by the previous player, and passes the answer to the next player. When a question is complete, the player reveals the full question and reads it to the next player, who had no part in constructing the question or answer. This player tries to respond with the correct answer.

The in-person version of the game is played using sheets of paper marked off in rows and columns. The traditional answer sheet layout is:

1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8

9 10

11 12

13 14

————-

[Answer]

The first player writes the answer at the bottom of the sheet. 

The next player writes three words in spaces 1, 2, and 3, and then folds the sheet backward so words 1 and 2 are concealed. 

The next player writes words 4 and 5 and conceals words 3 and 4. 

The next player writes words 6 and 7 and conceals words 5 and 6.

The next player writes words 8 and 9 and conceals words 7 and 8.

The next player writes words 10 and 11 and conceals words 9 and 10.

The next player writes words 12 and 13 and conceals words 11 and 12.

The next player writes word 14 and then unfolds the sheet. 

The full question is then read to the next player. 

Online games can be played on the NPL Slack channel with a bot designed by Hale that automates the sheet-passing process.

(a.k.a. Celebrities, Pass the Chicken) 

The players form two teams. Each player submits an agreed-upon number of answers into a “fish bowl.” Each player in turn, alternating between teams, has a set amount of time (usually 45 seconds) to draw answers from the bowl and successfully clue these answers to their teammates. Clue-givers may use any description or charade, other than reading part of the answer. When the bowl is exhausted, all answers are returned to the bowl and a second round is played using only single-word clues. When the bowl is exhausted again, all answers are returned and a third round is played using only charade clues.

(introduced by Rubrick)

One player thinks of an object and the other players name objects as guesses. After each guess, the first player reveals which of all the guesses made up to that point is closest to the correct object. Guessing continues until the object is discovered. A game might go as follows:

“Is it a house?” “No.”

“Is it a table?” “No, but it’s more like a table than a house.”

“Is it a car?” “No, it’s more like a table.”

“Is it a human being?” “No, but it’s more like a human being than a table.”

“Is it a cat?” “No, but it’s more like a cat than a human being.”

“Is it a dog?” “Yes.”

In Spanish Omelet, a variation introduced by Murdoch, the first player describes what each wrong guess has in common with the correct object. 

“Is it a house?” “No, but like a house,e it is something a person might buy.”

“Is it a table?” “No, but like a table, it has legs.”

“Is it a cat?” “No, but like a ca,t it is a popular household pet.”

“Is it a dog?” “Yes.”

In Breakfast Combo, the first player gives a French Toast response when a guess is the closest guess so far, and a Spanish Omelet response for all other guesses.

(a.k.a. One Word; based on a commercial game)

Just One is a cooperative game. In each round, one player is the guesser and the rest are clue-givers. The clue-givers are shown an answer word and each independently comes up with a one-word clue for the answer. Any duplicated clues are eliminated. The guesser sees the surviving clues and tries to guess the answer.

(a.k.a. Werewolf)

Each player in the group is assigned a secret role that is aligned with either the townspeople or the Mafia. Townspeople outnumber the Mafia, so players assigned Mafia roles generally pretend to be townspeople. Each round of the game features a daytime phase and a nighttime phase. In the daytime, the players discuss their suspicions and then hold an open vote to eliminate one player. In the nighttime,e the Mafia players hold a secret vote to eliminate one player. The game continues until all Mafia are eliminated (the townspeople win) or all townspeople are eliminated (the Mafia wins).

Mafia is one of a family of social deduction games and has many variations and gameplay options, many played beyond the NPL.

(introduced by Rubrick)

Two players each think of a word and say them out loud simultaneously, using “one, two, three” to synchronize. If both say the same word, the game ends. If not, the players think of new words that “connect” the words from the previous round and say the new words using the same “one, two, three” method. Players continue until both say the same word.

In the One, Two, Many variant (named by Codex), the game begins normally, but spectating players may replace the current players in subsequent rounds.

(based on a TV game show)

A player helps others guess a category by listing items that belong to the category. The game mimics the “Winner’s Circle” round of the TV game show. Pyramid is usually played noncompetitively, with all participants eligible to submit categories to a stockpile and all players except the author eligible to guess. NPL members often submit difficult and silly categories; “Parts of an elephant whose heart has been replaced by a broom,” submitted by Lunch Boy, is a memorable example.

One player chooses an entry in an unabridged dictionary and announces it to the other players. The other players try to guess the entry that appears next alphabetically. Random House Unabridged, 2nd Edition (RH2) is a popular dictionary for the game because proper names are intermixed with uncapitalized entries in the main body.

(introduced by Lunch)

The players form a circle. Two players begin as competitors, with a third as the judge. The competitors count out three (as if playing Rock, Paper, Scissors) and pose themselves as various objects. The competitors announce what objects they represent, and the judge decides which is more powerful (the winner) and explains their decision. The judge and the winner become competitors in the next round, with the next player in the circle becoming the judge.

Say Goodnight, Gracie is a non-competitive game often started impromptu in the middle of a normal conversation. One player mentions a word or name and another player replies with a definition or description of a similar sounding word or name. A third player replies with a definition or description of a word or name that sounds like the second word, and the game continues in that fashion, as in:

“I can’t remember what her name was … I’m thinking Mandy.”

“Oh, no, that’s not what you’re thinking. You’re thinking of an animal from Florida that people want to save.” (thinking “manatee”)

“No, no, don’t be absurd. What you’re actually thinking of is the end of the famous exclamation, ‘Oh, the…’” (thinking “humanity”)

The only rule is that the words in the chain can never actually be said. The game ends when people get sick of it, or when it’s time to do something else, or when by consensus, a perfect ending word/phrase has been reached. Or some combination of the above.

In each round, one player suggests a topic. All players create a list of five answers (words or phrases) associated with that topic. Players then share their answers. A player who chooses an answer shared by one or more other players scores points equal to the number of players who chose that answer.  For comparison, see Anti-Match Game.

(introduced by Vebrile)

Each player writes a phrase, title, or quotation at the top of a piece of paper and writes their name at the bottom. Papers are passed clockwise. Each player attempts to represent the initial phrase with a small illustration drawn beneath the phase. Players then fold the papers back so the pictures are hidden and pass the papers clockwise. Passing continues with players alternately drawing pictures and writing phrases for a set number of passes. Players take turns describing the progressions of drawings and captions on their papers.

(a.k.a. Longwave, based on a commercial game)

In each round, one player is secretly assigned a random number from 1 to 100. A “spectrum” is announced in which the two extremes represent 1 and 100 (e.g., “1 is cold, 100 is hot”). The player names something that would correspond to the assigned random number on the spectrum. The other players try to guess the number.

(a.k.a. Wikipedia-Seek, Seekipedia)

A player chooses an entry in Wikipedia and lists hyperlinks (highlighted words linking to other articles) that can be found in the entry’s article. Players try to guess the entry. See also 11 Seek