How to Play the Game Predicaments

So often games are only appropriate for certain age groups. “Predicaments” is a perfect entertainment for large family gatherings–-or for any group where a wide variety of ages are represented. For a successful game, you’ll need at least a dozen participants. A few minutes of preparation time is all it takes to be ready for this laugh-filled entertainment.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

How to Play the Game Predicaments

1. Before the party, write each of the following on a blank card. (Note: these are just suggestions; feel free to make up your own “predicaments,” particularly if you can come up with ones appropriate to your group.)--What would you do if your cat fell into a pot of soup?--What would you do if you dropped the birthday cake ten minutes before the party?--What would you do if you fell asleep and snored during your boss’s presentation?--What would you do if you drove into a ditch on a dark lonely road?--What would you do if you left your homework on the school bus?
2. Start the game by dividing the players into two groups, the Predicaments and the Solutions. Seat each group in rows, with chairs next to each other, on opposite sides of the room.
3. Explain the rules (as follow) with a caution that no one is allowed to repeat anything—or any part of anything—he or she says.
4. The first player on the Predicaments side (Tom, let’s say) picks up a card and whispers what it says to the next player and then passes the card over to the Solutions team. Then Tom whispers what the card said to the next player, who whispers it to the player next to him, and so on.
5. Meanwhile, the first player on the Solutions side (Alice, let’s say) picks up the card, but instead of whispering what it says on the card, whispers a possible solution to the next player who whispers it to the next person in the row and so on.
6. Next, the last person on the Solutions side (Fred, let’s say) has a chance to earn points for his team in 2 ways.1.) Fred says aloud, “Our solution is that . . .” and then states the solution—which may have become something quite different as it made its way down the row as players may have misheard and then misspoke. If it turns out to be a valid solution for the predicament, his team will earn a point.2.) Fred now has a chance to guess what the predicament was. The last player on the Predicament team says the predicament aloud. If Fred has guessed the predicament correctly, he wins two points for his team.3.) In the case that the last person on the Predicament team did not correctly state the predicament correctly, the Solution team earns a point.
7. For the next round, the first person in each row moves down one chair, the last person takes the first seat, and the game continues.
8. The first team to earn ten points is the winner.