What Is This
| No. of Players: | 4+ |
| Type of Game: | spoken |
| What you need: | household objects |
Goal
To pass around an object with questions and answers.
How to play
Players sit in a circle. One player takes a household object, like a wooden spoon, and thinks about what to call it. He then passes it to the player to his right. As he does so, he says 'This is a lawn mower.' That second player must ask 'What is this?' and the first player repeats 'A lawn mower.' The second player passes the object to the player to his right and says 'This is a lawn mower.' Third player asks the second player 'What is this?' and the second player asks the first player the same question. The first player says 'A lawn mower' and the second player gives this answer to the third player. The object continues to be passed to players to the right, repeating the same pattern of questions and answers, until the object reaches halfway around the circle. At that point, the first player introduces another object, like a slipper, and hands this to the player to his left, saying 'This is a penguin (or rocket ship, etc.).' The same pattern of questions and answers is repeated for this object as it travels around the circle in the opposite direction of the first object. The enjoyment of this game relies on the fact that things will eventually get confusing, usually when the two objects pass each other. The first person to make a mistake loses. This effectively resets the game and another player is selected to introduce new objects with new names.
This word game is similar to Who Are You.
