In Guess What Happened!, each player tells the beginning of a personal anecdote, and then each other player tries to guess how things turned out. It’s a great way for a group of new acquaintances to break the ice.
What You Need
- Four or more players.
- A number of coins, stones, or chips for keeping score.
How To Play
At the beginning of each round, any player who thinks of a story to tell (and who hasn’t already been the storyteller) may be the next storyteller. Each player should be the storyteller once per game.
When you’re the storyteller, think of an anecdote from your own life—something that actually happened to you. Tell the group your anecdote, but just before you get to the climax, stop and say “guess what happened!”
Now, starting with the player to your left and moving clockwise around the table, each other player must guess aloud what he or she thinks actually happened. A guess may be elaborate and detailed, or it may be very simple and general.
After everyone has taken a guess, tell everyone what actually happened. Then, award a point to whichever player came the closest. (Even if everyone was off by a mile, you must still decide which answer was the closest.)
After that, you must decide which of the non-winning answers you liked the best, using any criteria you’d like. Award a point to that player.
When everyone has been the storyteller once, the game ends, and the player with the most points wins. If there’s a tie, the tying players share the win.
Acknowledgments
- Game Design—Kory Heath
- Playtesting—John Cooper, Gina Mai Denn, Chris Welsh, Jacob Davenport, Ingrid Tegnér, Dave Chalker, James Kyle, Stephen Glenn, Satish Pillalamarri, Elizabeth Palmer