New Games for staying in, week 2

New Games you can play in lockdown

While most of us are in some version of lockdown, or at least practicing distancing, there are still quite a few New Games we can play, with a little adjusting. To play these games, we are assuming that you are doing them with the people you are living with, though as the rules of contact change, you will be allowed to have closer contact with others.

After you’ve tried these games, vote for your favorites at the bottom of this page, then we can have a best-of and pick a winner!

We start off with some games for as few as 2 people, though in most cases there can be more.

Two Person Soccer/Football

(2 – 50+, high activity)
Partners have a ball, and two bases at least 10 feet apart, or as far apart as is possible in your situation. Essentially, it’s a football/soccer game in miniature. Each person tries to score a goal by kicking the ball into or rolling over their base. The one who gets the most goals wins, but who’s keeping score? Not me!

Trust Walk

(2 – 30+ players, low activity)
Players form pairs. One person is blindfolded or keeps their eyes closed while being carefully lead around by their partner. The person leading looks out for objects that could hurt the blinded person when bringing them to different places, having them touch or smell various objects to notice different textures. linked person tries to simply experience the objects and textures as they are without naming them.

In The Manner of the Adverb

(2 – 50 players, moderately active)
One (or several) player(s) go out of earshot while the person (or group) chooses an adverb, (a word describing a verb, like “He ran dizzily.”). The guesser(s) return and give the group a verb that they must do in the manner of the adverb that the group has chosen. Based on what they see, the guesser(s) tries to guess the adverb. If wrong, guessers give another verb and try again. Normally this is done with a group, but can be done with as few as two people. Distancing is not a problem in any case, since players do not have to be close to do this game.

This is on my Best of New Games download/DVD, click to purchase.

Face Pass

(2 – 25 players, low activity)
Players are in a close circle. The leader starts by making a funny or unusual face and passes it to a person next to her, who must copy it. Both then turn to show everyone the faces. The second person makes a new face to pass to a third person, next to her. Everyone gets a turn.

With 2 people, just take turns, one makes a face and the other copies it.

This is on my Best of New Games download/DVD, click to purchase.

Here are some games that require a few more people. Some can be done with fewer than 5, but 5 or more is better.

Everybody’s It

(5 – 50+ players, high activity)
In this chase game, everybody is “it” and can tag everyone else. Once you are tagged, however, you freeze your feet until the end of the game (which comes quickly). If someone runs too near a frozen person, the frozen person can unfreeze an arm to reach out and freeze the runner, then go back to being frozen.

A variation of this is “Hospital Tag”, where when you are tagged, you must hold that spot with a hand both the first and second times tagged. The third time tagged, you are frozen, but again you can tag people who come too close.

This is on my Best of New Games download/DVD, click to purchase.

All Aboard

(5 – 10 players per group, low activity)
Place some 8 1/2 X 11 inch (or A4) pieces of paper randomly in the center of the room. Choose fewer pieces of paper than there are people (eg, 5 pieces for 8 people). Challenge everyone to stand on the pieces of paper. Once they have been successful, remove one piece. Keep removing pieces after each success. See how few pieces of paper on which the entire group can stand.

You can do this game with as little as 2 people: start with larger things to stand on, then pick smaller and smaller ones.

Blob

(5 to 50+ players, active)
Play in a large area with boundaries. One player starts as the “blob.” When she tags someone, that person joins hands with her and they try to catch others together. When there are at least four, they can split into two blobs. This repeats until everyone is caught.

If playing indoors in a somewhat confined space, you may need to experiment to find what makes this work. For instance, you may need the people in the blob link arms to give other players a chance, or instead of running, everyone walks. Or perhaps you can put barriers up to give non-blobs a chance.

This is on my Best New Games download/DVD, click to purchase.

If you enjoyed these, why not buy a comprehensive guide book or download video lessons.

Vote for the games you liked best here .. drag them around until your favorite is at the top, then scroll for [OK] and [done]. If you join in we’ll do this every week for a while and then do a best-of and find a winner!

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