Titles!!!
Ken, Matt and I were assigned the task of creating a game using words we cut out from various magazines and newspapers.
What we came up with, after various incantations, was a game called Titles!!!
Basically, it boils down to putting down a word card and naming a Movie, Book, or Television show using that word.
So if a card reads: Black, the user can say "Black Hawk Down".
Our first iteration of the game, involved two players and a moderator. The moderator would put down TWO word cards and the players would take 10-seconds turn using the words to make a title. Bonus points were awarded if the user could use both the words simulataneously.
The problem that arose was that often a volley between the two players could not get started. For example, Dark and Orthodox were both played. The first player named "Dark Side of the Moon" as their choice. The second player could not come up with a title with Orthodox in it. And so this problem kept arising throughout the game forcing it to a stop.
We then tried a second iteration whereby we played six cards and the players would volley by quickly naming a Title from the cards. This game worked well with each team quickly grabbing a card and naming a title. Whenever a team doubted the authenticity of their opponent's answer, a "challenge" decry would be uttered. Naturally, trash talking ensued. Although we didn't have time to test this situation out, we imagine using the Internent Movie Database and Wikipedia as resources would aid in quickly dissolving the "challenge" move.
Tracy mused that this could be an interesting digital project whereby the word cards are fed by a database. The Titles could therefore be validated and over time updated via sites like the IMD. Movie titles, for example, that are new now could be worth more points in the future as time passes and they leave the immediate cultural collective memory.
All in all, although shaky, the game was fun. However, it hella needs tweaking especially in finding out what words are the most common in movie, book and television titles.