The Chicken Game System is a framework that I and my game-design cohorts have used to generate a number of amusing games. Like the surrealist games of the early 1900's, Chicken Games use random juxtapositions of concepts to stimulate creativity. However, most of the old surrealist games used random juxtapositions to generate the final product—a poem, a picture, or a story. Chicken Games use random juxtapositions to generate prompts, to which players craft responses. Furthermore, Chicken Games are more structured than their surrealist counterparts, and can be played competitively. But the ultimate focus is always on laughter and fun.
The following pages describe the abstract framework around which all Chicken Games are built.
The following pages describe the rules to many of the particular Chicken Games that we've played. I've tried to credit the respective designers, as near as I can figure them out. Some of these pages contain galleries of material that we've generated while playing the games.
Why Did The Chicken...? was the first fully fleshed-out Chicken Game, and Play Again Games has published a commercial version of it. Check out my Why Did The Chicken...? pages for more information.
Mike Petty is one of the co-designers of The Chicken Game System. The following links lead to pages about the Chicken Games he's designed.