A Game for the Road

It’s all fun and games until someone can’t think of anymore trivia. That makes no sense yet. Moving on.

My husband worked with the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival Tour this fall. On their road trips they played a game that Josh and I will probably continue to play on our road trips for years to come. This game is especially fun between two cars on walkie talkies (or phones if you’ve already joined the 21^st century), but can also be played with a single car full of people. I like to call it:

20 Questions Trivia Stump (…which makes it sound like it’s got a wooden leg. Moving on.)

Team A thinks of a person for Team B to guess. Before B can ask a question about the mystery person, B must come up with a trivia question to stump A. If B can stump A with a trivia question, B gets to ask a yes-or-no question about the mystery person. For example:

Team A: I’m thinking of a person.

Team B: What was Doris Day’s first movie?

Team A: Calamity Jane.

Team B: Wrong. Romance on the High Seas. Is your person a man?

Team A: Yes.

Team B: What do James Garner, Cary Grant, and Jimmy Stewart have in common?

Team A: They were all from Arizona.

Team B: Wrong. They were all in movies with Doris Day. Is your person fictional?

Team A: No.

And so on. After 20 questions of trying to figure out the mystery person, Team B should be able to guess who the mystery person is. If not, Team A has won. Yada yada. You get the picture. Rules include:

1. Mystery person must be a generally “known” person. Don’t pick your Aunt Clara Bixby whom no one else has met.
2. All trivia questions must have known answers. Don’t ask, “What was the first movie that Doris Day and Rock Hudson did together?” if you don’t know what it was. (It was Pillow Talk. Please tell me you knew that. I’m sure you knew that. Moving on.)

It’s all fun and games until someone can’t think of anymore trivia. See? I knew that sentence would work somewhere in this post. I hope this made-up game entertains you – or at least inspired you to make up your own game for the road. Enjoy.

some dogs are bored by this game. most dogs are bored by this game.