fiftytwogames

One new game each week throughout 2015. Mostly analogue, sometimes broken. Subscribe to TinyLetter. Created by Adam Dixon: @adtidixon.

[fiftytwogames]

#49 to #52: Games for Endings & Beginnings

Respects

Go to a grave that hasn’t been visited for a while. Take flowers. 

Get to know the grave and the person in it. While you’re stood in front of it imagine what they were like as a person.

What were they like as a child, a teenager, an adult? How did their hair feel? Where did they ache and what caused it? What was the furthest place they went to? Who broke their heart?

If you want, talk to them. Tell them a little about your life.

If you want, research them,

Visit on the same day each year. As yourself new questions each time. What where they like at the age you are? Will you live longer than them?

Pages

A storytelling game.

Each player brings a book. One of the players is the Gamesmaster, their book is the setting book. The rest of the players play as characters, their book is a character book.

To decide on the setting each player chooses a word, phrase or paragraph from the setting book and glues it to a central piece of paper. This is the setting sheet.

To create characters each player scans their book for a name and glues it to a different piece of blank paper. This is their character sheet. They should also find three words or phrases that describe something about their character. These are their characters abilities. 

Each player with a character should pass their book to the left. Using the book they’ve just been handed they should find a word or phrase that describes their characters relationship to the character to the right. Hand the books back.

When you play you tell a story about your characters and the setting. Describe what your characters do, how they respond, what they say.

Add words to the setting map as they come up. Use names to add people and places. Draw maps.

The Gamesmaster describes the setting and the conflicts the characters face. The players control their characters and their response to it.

Play until there is a moment of uncertainty - until you’re not sure how a characters action will turn out. If that character has a relevant ability they can tick it off in order to decide how things go for them. They narrate the outcome.

If they don’t, or don’t want to tick it off, then the Gamesmaster flicks to a random page of the setting book or that characters book and use the first word of phrase they see that feels relevant to generate an outcome.

Resolutions

In a group write three resolutions each on separate pieces of paper. Mix them up and deal each player three random resolutions. Check back once a month. If a player is keeping up with a resolution they score a point (for each resolution). At the end of the year tally up points, the winner doesn’t have to play again next year.

Projects

Make the decision to do something for the next year, such as taking a photograph everyday, going somewhere new every month or making a game each week. It should be something that challenges you, that you believe will make a difference to your life somehow. You win for trying it & if you learn something about yourself along the way.

If you stick to it & make it through, well done.

[fiftytwogames]

#48 A Game from Childhood

One of my favourite games is one I made up with a friend as a kid. We’d both just learnt how to play Warhammer 40,000. I guess the thing that really stuck with us was the idea of using dice to decide things. It seemed pretty incredible back then.

We ended up making our own game using Lego. We pretty much made it up as we went along, but once rules were in place they stayed that way. Here’s a stab at how you might play it (from rough memories).

LEGO Civilisation

Play with a whole load of LEGO and some dice.

Each player starts with one large base tile (take your pick), a couple of handfuls of bricks and 5 LEGO characters (name them).

Build some rough structures from the bricks you’ve got - some shelter for your figures is probably a good idea.

Place the rest of the bricks somewhere in the middle (or spread out on different tiles), this is your quarry.

Play in very rough turns. When you want to take an action with a character, declare it.

Discuss with the other player how this might be achieved and the die roll you’ll need to achieve it.

Roll the die. If you succeed, what you wanted comes to pass. If you fail, explain how.

Actions could be anything - mining, falling in love, making new characters, researching something, having a fight etc.

Roleplay. What are your characters like as people? What relationships do they have? What happens when they fall out?

Interact. What relationship do the different player’s civilisations have? What relationships do the characters of the different civilisations have? What happens when they act on them?

Create rules. Write them down. Make new systems, big and small. Is there a day and night cycle? Do characters die? Does building take time?

[fiftytwogames]

#47 Penny Cricket

A game of cricket that you can play on a dining table.

Take a set of coins of different shapes and sizes. Flip one to determine who is batting and who is fielding. 

The batter gets one 50p coin, this is their batsman.

The fielder gets several 2p coins (depending on the size of the table) and lays them out around it. They should keep one as their bowler.

Set up three 1p coins behind the batsman, all stacked upon one another, as a wicket.

Use a 5p coin as a ball.

The fielding player has to flick their bowler into the ball, pushing it towards the batsman. The batting player has to push their batsman to hit the ball.

If the batsman hits the ball beyond the closest fielder then they score a run. If it goes off of a table they score 4, if it goes way off the table they score 6 (set this when you start the game).

The batter is out if the ball hits a fielder after they’ve hit it, if the wicket is knocked over, or if they touch the ball while flicking the batsman (LBW).

Take it in turns to bat and field until both players have had an equal amount of batsman turns. The person with the most runs wins.

[fiftytwogames]

#46 Worldbuilding

Go on a walk, alone or with friends. As you’re walking find places of habitation, where people live or have lived. Pick out a place.

Think (and talk) about who has lived there. What were their names? Were they related? What are they like? Who cries into their pillow each night, and who hears and ignores it?

Once you’ve discussed or thought about one place (you can do this while walking) you should look for your next. Repeat the process, except this time you should build at least one link between the two places. Perhaps someone lived in both houses, gave another a lift on a bus, or saved someones life.

Continue playing until your legs are tired.

[fiftytwogames]

#45 The Twelfth Man

Go to a sporting event, preferably a football match, with a friend. Before you get there decide on something that you want to convince the surrounding fans of. You should both have different aims (though not necessarily opposing). You might decide to convince people how good or bad a player or manager is, how certain tactics are right or wrong, how bad the team is going to do etc.

Try to convince people around you of your point of view. You are not allowed to directly communicate with them. Sigh, moan, cheer, utter sentences and argue with your friend. Win if you feel the crowd around you have been brought to your point of view.

[fiftytwogames]

#44 Christmas Games

Wrapping Paper

Gather up your let over wrapping paper. One person opens up Wikipedia and clicks to find a random page. The player randomises until they get something they believe at least one other player will know.

They should leave the room. They use the wrapping paper to make a representation of the wikipedia topic. They might make a prop, costume, mask etc. They cannot use any words or literal images.

Snooze

Take bets with someone on who else you think is going to fall asleep first. You win if you guess correctly. Dirty methods are encouraged (except nobody else may know that you’re playing). Find ways to make your person fall asleep (feed them food, put them in a warm room, find them a blanket), keep the other persons bet awake (entertain them, put them in loud rooms, throw things at them).

Walk

Play as a dog. Admire your clean, washed-on-Christmas-Eve fur. Go for a walk. Roll in the smelliest thing that you can find. Win if you get a second wash.

[fiftytwogames]

#43 Welcome to the Wilderness

A bluffing game about survival. A real life version of Welcome to the Dungeon.

Play with friends. Lay out survival gear for one person, with enough to survive on for a few weeks.

Shuffle a deck of cards.

Take turns. On your turn either

Draw a card

Pass

If you draw a card you have two options; add it to the adventure pile or remove a piece of equipment.

If you add it to the adventure pile the player that goes into the wilderness will have to add that many days onto their adventure (a five would add five days, a Queen twelve).

If you use it to remove a piece of equipment leave it face down in front of you and place a piece of equipment (your choice) on it.

The last player to have not passed has to go into the wilderness with the gear that’s left, surviving for a number of days equal to the cards in the adventure pile.

If they survive they score a point. If you score two points you win.

Please don’t ever play this game.

[fiftytwogames]

#42 Mushy Peas

Play over dinner with a group of friends.

Each person should bring a piece of food with them, preferably something like a side dish or a sauce. You might bring a can of mushy peas, marmite, hummus or some mango chutney.

You shouldn’t know what the main is before you select your item of food. One person should select something for the host (don’t make this deliberately vile). 

Once the main is announced each person shares their item of food. As a group choose which item you think is the worst or strangest match for the main. One player will be served the main with the food item alongside (or mixed in).

When setting the table the host should put something (such as a sticker) on one of the spaces, like under one of the place mats. Whoever ends up in the designated seat has to eat the concoction. The host should take a seat last.

They win if they manage to eat the meal. They should try and persuade people through the meal about the food’s merits. Be effusive, get people to try it and don’t throw up.

The person who has to eat the meal doesn’t have to do any chores and can have first dips on desert portion.

[fiftytwogames]

#41 Wordslangers

Play with a group of people from different places. Tear up some paper. Each player writes a word on each - it should be a piece of slang, place name or name of a local legend. They should be words that you think no-one else will know from a place you grew up.

Mix them all together. Take it in turns to draw out a word and try to communicate it to the rest of the group using only gestures (no speaking). If anyone guesses a word they win the game. If no-one guesses in 30 seconds the next person acts out a new word.

You will probably not know what the word you draw means, that’s okay. If no-one guesses a word you all lose. Players may not guess their own words.

Design Notes

1. Yes, that’s an awful name.

2. I’m going to be posting a new game each day up until New Years. That means that I’ll reach the full 52 by the end of the year. 12 games, 12 days - let’s go.

[fiftytwogames]

#40 Small Plans for Harder Days

I made this game as a tool for myself, but I thought I'd share it in case it's useful for someone else. It's a game you can play with yourself, a tool for when you need to get through a shitty time.

Buy a deck of playing cards & some stickers. 

On each card write something - a prompt that might help you when you're struggling. It might be an activity like 'Call a friend' or 'Go for a walk'; a line you like from a book such as 'I like the unpath best'; a word such as 'thrawn' or 'mountain'; or anything else you can think of.

Write on each of the cards until they all have something written on that is meaningful to you.

Carry the cards around with you. Whenever you need to, draw one of them. You might pick randomly, choose, or draw until you find a card that feels right. Use the card to suggest an activity you might do & do it.

Don't put too much pressure on the activity to make you feel better - sometimes it will, sometimes it wont. At the very least it might keep you busy for an hour or two.

Some thoughts on writing the cards:

Vary between vague and specific. 'Cake' might give a lot more scope to you, than 'bake a cake' - but maybe baking is something that really puts you in a good place.

Some cards should just be about giving yourself permission to do the things you want to do when you're feeling shitty. Write down things like 'Eat icecream', 'crawl into bed' or 'tweet my misery'. Give yourself permission to not feel guilty.

Cards with words and phrases on might give you something to reflect on for a little while or might be about inspiring you to make a thing based on it.

After you've used a card get rid of it, tear it up or just shuffle it back in. Your choice.

If a card isn't working for you, destroy it.

[fiftytwogames]

#37 Sanctity, #38 Dixitboom & #39 Mysteriwolf

Photograph by veronique robin

Sanctity

Play on a foggy morning when the sun isn't yet up, but the skies have begun to lighten. Go to a decommissioned church with a friend. During the journey there decide on roles. One player is a walker - out alone before dawn. The other player is an abandoned spirit - a creature of the church and the earth around it. The walker sits down in the church, the spirit stands behind - out of sight. The walker can only speak of what they can see, feel, touch, taste or hear - unless they're asking a question. The spirit can only communicate in response to questions (verbally or non-verbally). Be: Uncanny& tragic& describe how it feels. The game ends when the walker decides to abandon the spirit or when the sun has risen.

Dixitboom

Play a game of Two Rooms and a Boom. Instead of handing out normal role cards use Dixit cards. Between you decide two cards to be president and bomber. Deal out roles and begin play normally. Each player has to decide on their role in the game and their allegiance based on the card that they were dealt. They might decide that they're aligned with the president because both cards have hats on them and decide that they can convert other players to their team as their card appears to have a magic amulet on it. Before the end of the first round each player must write down what their card does. Players should try to make rules that are interesting in the context of the game, not just about helping themselves win. If you want keep written down rules between games. If you want don't use a president or a bomber. Just deal out cards and let players decide on win conditions. ​

Mysteriwolf

Needs: a set of

Mysterium

or some homemade cards for Mysterium.

Play with eight people. Create and hand out secret role cards. There are three roles in the game - ghost, murderer and detective. At the start of the game there is one ghost and one murderer, the rest are detectives. The ghost reveals themselves as the ghost - everyone else keeps their role hidden.

The murderer has killed the ghost. The detectives are trying to work out who the murderer is before they are all also killed. The ghost is trying to help them solve the murder by visiting them in their sleep and giving them clues in the form of dreams. The ghost cannot communicate in any way.

Secretly, so nobody knows who the murderer is, they decide the weapon they killed the ghost with and where.

Play as Mysterium, except the players only get one set of clues between them and are all working to solve the same murderer. The players must solve the clues in the following order: murderer, room and then weapon.

At the end of each night the murderer kills off one more victim. They secretly choose who this player is (after the murderer has been worked out they can state this publicly).

A murdered detective becomes a ghost and works with them to create clues. The ghosts cannot communicate in any way within sight or earshot of the detectives.

The detectives and ghosts win if they work out who the murderer is and manage to pin the evidence on them (through working out the location and weapon). The murderer wins if they manage to kill all other players before they solve the mystery.

[fiftytwogames]

#36 Haunting

Games for friends are always my favourite to make. Here's one I scrawled on to the back of a lanyard while sat hungover, waiting for a meal, on Halloween.

Pretend to be a ghost; feel the restless ethereality, the hollow ache of mortal wounds, the blurs of forgotten friends. When you are ready sell where you are living, when people move in - stay, and haunt them. Score a point for each family you get to move out - lose if you are discovered.

[fiftytwogames]

#35: 9:34pm Lincoln to Cleethorpes

The clocks have just gone back and it's so much darker in the evenings. You are on the last train home, in an East Midlands train carriage that feels like it belongs in the 80s. A heater blowing up the side of your leg makes it uncomfortable to be wearing a coat, but your breath in front of your eyes tells you it's too cold to take it off.

There are only a few of you in this carriage. The two other people sit together at a table at the other end; you presume in silence though the music from your headphones would smother their words anyway. You've mainly been staring out of the window, black flecked with far-off lights.

This is a game for two people, two passengers whose lives overlap briefly.

Set up four chairs in a row. They should be in pairs with a gap between them (like on a train).

One of the players sits on one of the window seats. If you have some headphones put them in and listen to music.

This player is a student travelling back home, to the village of Habrough, for reading week.

The lights get more frequent now - and bigger and fuller and brighter. They turn into streetlights, headlights and windows.

The train is slowing as it comes into a station. 'Market Rasen', you see spelt out on a sign - nearly home.

It's a pretty station, but there's something foreboding about it in the gloom. The old station house has too many places for shadows to form and the metal sculptures on the walls look like phantoms frozen in place.

One person gets on - slowly. They sit in the chair across from you, a hunched form that smells of cough sweets.

The second player enters the train and begins to take a seat across from the first. They are elderly and travelling to see family, going from Market Rasen to Cleethorpes (about forty-five minutes).

Set a timer for 26 minutes, this is how long it will take to reach Habrough. You'll have one stop between then - Barnetby (after 17 minutes, if you also want to track that).

This game is about having a conversation (or, if you like, not). Players are free to guide it where they want.

Some ways to start the conversation might be:

"Do you need help with your bag?"

"Is this the Cleethorpes train?"

"Would you like a lozenge?"

After the time runs out the student gets off the train.The two passengers will never meet again.

[fiftytwogames]

#34 A Quiet Drive

This is an acting game for two people, play in a car (real or pretend). One person plays as the driver. They have just something wrong, out of character and hurtful in the eyes of their passenger, and they know it. You are giving a lift to the other player. Pick a destination and drive there. The other player is angry at the driver. They decide why. Start in silence and drive. The passenger has no intention of forgiving the driver right now. They just want to get to where they are going, building bridges can come later. They're happy to sit in silence and brood. The driver wants to apologise, to make things right again before they get to where they're going. If the silence is broken before the journey ends they're going to have to do it. Driver: What are you prepared to risk to fix this now? How will you feel if you end this journey on bad terms? How can you avoid just making things worse? How does this silence feel? Passenger: What would you lose if you forgive them? How can you make them suffer? Why does what they did hurt you so much? How does this silence feel? End the game when you reach the destination (such as a train station, someones house) or, if pretending to be in a car, after a set amount of time roughly equivalent to a real journey.

Design Notes

This game was inspired by the story of a journey - a journey that everyone has had at some point - an argument over something trivial leads to someone going further than they should. A journey together afterwards, forced into the same space in uncomfortable silence for ten minutes, twenty minutes or an hour. Each person locked in their minds, silence that drowns out whatever you want to say so that you have to repeat everything a second time, a fear of making every fucking thing worse. This is a game where you can replay those experiences safely - where you can fume and worry and fret, and at the end of it all hug and laugh and talk about an argument that never really existed.

[fiftytwogames]

52g: #33 Produce

Take a sheet of paper & a pen Write on it everything you have made this week or month or year Make a note of everything you've produced be it work or hobby or project or art or substance or craft or gift Look at it for a moment & then destroy it (however you like) --- Stand up walk to a different place a place that feels comfortable Sit there & think Remember times when you have been kind or made someone laugh or cheered someone up or took a stand or given, selflessly or wandered, aimlessly Remember when someone has saved you, without knowing has hugged you, because you needed it has nursed your brow or walked you home or smiled or loved or reassured You win if you smile or laugh or cry (or otherwise feel) Keep winning for as long as you can You are not your productivity no matter what others say x

[fiftytwogames]

#32 Satellite

About

Satellite is a party craft game. Player's split into two teams and compete to build, and launch, spaceships. The game is played over five rounds. In each round there will be a different challenge for the teams to compete. The teams will secure funds, buy parts and then try to build the best possible craft to meet the challenge.

What you need

You'll need a moderator. The moderator is responsible for setting up the game, timing rounds, judging challenges and making sure everyone sticks to the rules. You'll need a load of craft things of different quality - things like paper, cardboard, newspaper, felt, plastic cups and, of course, tin foil. You'll also need things like glue and scissors and pens. Make this up based on what people have. You will also need access to an open space for the challenges each round, and some specific parts for the challenges. These include:

Two toy people and two toy animals to represent astronauts

A tub with water

A long piece of string

A plate

Starting the game

At the start of the game the players are randomly assigned to the two teams by the moderator. The following roles are also randomly handed out to people in each team:

Captain

Buyer

Spy

Everyone else is an engineer.

Rounds

On each round there is a challenge. The winner of each challenge scores points as follow: round one 1 point, round two 1 point, round three 1 point, round four 2 points and round five 3 points. The team with the most points at the end of all rounds is the winner. Each round the teams build a spaceship to best meet the challenge. The teams may reuse parts of previous spaceships if they wish.

Round One, Blast Off! The teams compete to 'launch' their spaceship the furthest. This may only be done using an underarm throw. The team that throws their spaceship the furthest scores 1 point.

Round Two, Exposure Each team is given a toy animal. The teams compete to build the most airtight spaceship. This is done by submerging it in water. If the animal comes out dry after two minutes then the team earns one point.

Round Three, There and Back Again As in round one the teams are looking to launch their spaceship the furthest. There are three differences; the spaceship must carry the toy person (astronaut) who must not be exposed to the outside air at any part of the flight; the spaceship can be launched using any method (i.e slingshot); the spaceship must make it back to the launch point, the team may only use underarm throws to get it back however if they have jettisonable parts they may earn up to two additional throws. The team that goes furthest and makes it back scores a point.

Round Four, Orbit The teams create a spaceship that is designed to be attached to a piece of string and spun round vigorously for two minutes. The piece of string may not be tied around the ship but must be attached to a custom-made hook. The ship must carry an astronaut who doesn't become exposed to the outside air. Spaceships that do this successfully earn two points.

Round Five, Moon The teams must launch a spaceship with an astronaut and attempt to land them on the moon (the dinner plate). The team may attempt this multiple times, however replacement astronauts must be bought after each failed attempt. The team to land on the moon first scores three points.

Building

Before the challenge is attempted the teams have ten minutes to try and construct their ship (the moderator keeps track of this). If a team finishes early then they may call time, the other team gets one more minute to try finish their ship. The team that called time goes first. The teams may construct their ship using any of the craft materials available - however they all have a price. The teams buyer is responsible for using the teams funding to buy these pieces of equipment. Teams may reuse parts of old spaceships as long as they stayed intact during the previous challenge.

Funding

At the start of each round their is a funding phase. The buyer and captain from each team meet with the moderator, they are given funds according to the round:

Round One 10f

Round Two 15f

Round Three 20f

Round Four 25f

Round Five 30f

The teams can also gain additional funds according to the following:

Successful mission last round (regardless of winning) 5f

Winner of last round 5f

Being on 0 points after round 3 15f

Answering a science question asked by the moderator (one a round) 5f

Showing patriotism 5f

The buyer may also earn money for the team by selling parts to the other team or by completing a quick, repeatable activity set by the moderator during the build phase (i.e. winning a game of Threes or Solitaire and earning 1f each time).

Buying

During the build phase of each round the buyer buys tools and parts either from the other team or the market. The prices of the items that can be bought are set by the moderator before the game. Prices should be scaled to reflect how valuable the moderator feels each item is in constructing spaceships for the challenges; things like newspaper might be 1f a sheet, whilst cardboard might be 4f. This means that teams have access to worse materials and tools early in the game, but can start to invest in quality materials. The moderator is encouraged to make sure that the market changes over time, and should encourage scarcity of some materials so that teams can block each others purchases. The moderator may also introduce 'overheads' into the game - making the teams pay rent for different spaces in the building, nicer chairs, tools or even light. Replacement astronauts cost 5f to train.

Espionage

Each team has a spy. The spy keeps hold of the teams espionage cards and chooses one to play during each turn. The cards are:

Turncoat Choose a player on the other team, they are now a member of your team. If they have a special role the captain of the previous team delegates that to a different member of their team

Blueprints Pause the timer, everyone must cease what they're doing. Take the opponents ship for one minute to examine it, feel free to draw it.

Sabotage Pause the timer, everyone must cease what they're doing. Tell the moderator a thing that you want to do to the opponent's spaceship. Take they spaceship and do that secretly (you may only do what you told the moderator). You may not completely destroy their spaceship - it must be something subtle.

Theft Steal up to three things from the opposing team. They may not stop you. You can't steal anything attached to the spaceship.

Counter-espionage (x2) Block the opposing team from performing their card this turn.

Spies are allowed to generally be a nuisance and spend time among the opposing team at any time. They are not allowed to sabotage, steal, disrupt etc. unless a card lets them.

Winning

The team with the most points at the end of five rounds wins the game (and the space race!). Well done! 

[fiftytwogames]

#31 The Interstellar Sports Fan’s Compendium

No matter where you go in the universe - from Roggolic VI to Darfaffle Senta Lox - if there is intelligent life there is sport. Time and time again fledgling species believe that their ability to create and play games makes them unique in the universe (the arrogance!) but once they make first contact the idea tends to be quickly disproved.

This compendium is an attempt to describe the rules of every sport played within The Arlgency, as well as some from the murky space beyond the borders. It is the perfect companion to any sports loving space traveller, aiming to give a brief overview of rules and terminology of interstellar sports. Never again be caught out when a Gobulon challenges you to a quick round of Clenf.

Football

Football. Wherever there are creatures with feet you can guarantee there is a game called football. One of the most interesting variants is the game played by the snail like creatures of Schlii, which is a rather more gentle paced game than most variants (though a little more brutal).

Football (Schlii rules) is played on a circular pitch. A line intersects through the middle to denote sides.

A giant ball starts in the middle of the pitch.

The aim of the game is to get the ball to exit the boundaries of play on your side of the pitch. Doing so scores a point.

As the Schlii only have a single foot they do not kick the ball, they instead clamber up it. The ball is moved using the player's weight.

There are two kinds of players. Stickers tend to be heavier and cling to the sides of the ball in an effort to make it move their teams way. Pullers have the task of removing the opposing teams stickers from the ball.

The game ends when a team has 11 points.

Other species have been known to play the game by wearing sticky suits or velcro.

Klobthopper

Players of sports often attribute their success to the baying of the crowds - talking about how they spurred them on, drove them to achieve feats they never knew themselves capable of. In Klobthopper the crowd have a quite literal effect on the result of the game, with it not ending until the last fan has left. 

Klobthopper takes place on a pitch marked out with an 'x' and a large 'U'.

The game is played in rounds with each team alternating between being attackers and defenders. All players wear bells, the bells make different noises depending on team.

The attacking team secretly chooses a 'thopper'. The attacking team start within the 'U'.

The defending team, bar the 'spotter', play blindfolded and line up on the 'U'. The spotter starts (and must stay) on the 'x'.

When play starts the thopper must attempt to make it to the spotter without being klobbed by the defenders. A player is klobbed by being brought down the to ground.

The rest of the attacking players defend the thopper, by blocking off defenders or by acting as a decoy. The spotter directs the defending players. A defender cannot be klobbed.

If the spotter is thopped then the attacking team score one point.

The game ends when all of the fans have left. Any fan caught sleeping, fainting or otherwise becomming incapacitated is removed from the stadium. 

Venn

The six-armed Dkrchwiz's of Ovillega have an unrivaled passion for mathematics. Even their sports are based on maths. Here we present Venn, which is one of the simplest to understand for your average intelligence species, but more complex sports that require players to solve complex mathematics in split seconds also exist.

The Venn pitch is laid out like a Venn diagram with two overlapping circles.

There are two teams, each with two players. A player from each team starts in each circle.

A ball starts in the 'Overlap'.

In order to enter the Overlap a player must hold hands with his teammate. The number of hands that the player's must hold is based on the minute of the game. Dkrchwiz's are six-armed creatures so the required number of hands is between one and six, the count resetting every six minutes.

When players enter the Venn they may then retrieve the ball.

The ball is then thrown between the two players, a successful throw is worth a point.

If the ball lands on the ground then the round ends and a new round begins.

If the other team intercepts the ball then they take over in scoring points.

Only one player from each team can be in each circle (barring the overlap), though players may swap their circle by both entering the overlap and entering the other side.

If players enter the overlap holding the wrong number of hands the round ends and the opposing team scores ten points.

Players are allowed to interfere with, block and pull opposing teams arms and hands.