Stairs
| No. of Players: | 2+ |
| Type of Game: | written |
| What you need: | pen and paper |
Goal
To build up a series of words of ever-increasing length.
How to play
The gamemaster chooses a letter of the alphabet and all players then have a certain amount of time (say, 5 minutes) to make a list of words beginning with that letter. However, they do this in a certain way: they first start with the shortest word they can think of, then add a word beneath it that is one letter longer, then a third which is one letter longer than the second, and so on. The player who has built up a list with the most 'steps' – and without skipping any – becomes the gamemaster for the next round. An overall champion can be crowned after a number of rounds have been played.
Example
Audrey chooses the letter T. But at the end of five minutes, Betty wins the round with her taller staircase:
TO
TEA
TOLD
TYPED
TURKEY
TAKEOUT
TWEEZERS
TOADSTOOL
THOUGHTFUL
TEMPERAMENT
TELEGRAPHERS
TABLESPOONFUL
TELECONFERENCE
TROUBLESHOOTERS
Did you know?
The steps which run alonside the Niesen mountain railway in the Swiss Alps form the longest staircase in the world. The total number of steps in this staircase is an incredible 11,674. By comparison, that's over 7 times as many steps as in the Empire State Building!
For safety reasons, the Swiss staicase is only open to the public for a single day. And that day is for the world's longest single-staircase race, which is about 2 miles in length. The current men's record is 1 hour 2 minutes, and the women's record 1 hour and 9 minutes.
Think you can beat these times? Well, before you breakout your stairmaster to begin training, keep in mind that because of its formidable 55% (at times 68%) gradient, you'll be climbing 5,475 vertical feet. So forging a new record might be out of reach. But if you make it, you'll at least be awarded with a spectacular view.
Or you could always just take the half-hour train ride...
