5 Games to Put Your Brain to Work

It's time to get creative!

One of the things I've learned doing improv theatre is that you need to think fast, always on your feet. When you have a split second of reaction to make the games funny for the audience,you can't afford to get stuck in your head, trying to think of something cool to say. Nope, you gotta be ready to go.
To get our wheels spinning when we're training, we play a few games to get our creativity on.
Nothing fancy, most of them are surprisingly simple. But they are very effective, I've noticed this in myself. After a year of doing these training games, I've learned to think on my feet. And you can too!

1. The Alphabet Game

This is a fun little game you can play anywhere – in the car, at the store, etc – without any props. It's usually a two-player game, but it can be done with more people, in a pinch. The first person begins a sentence with the letter A. The next person has to reply to that, but his reply has to start with B. And so on, you have to have a whole conversation (a LOGICAL conversation, don't just say things because they start with the right letter!) in alphabetical order.

TIP: Keep it simple! You'd be surprised how many seemingly odd words we use daily.

2. The Question Dialogue

Again, a game where you have to have a logical dialogue (usually played in 2) but using ONLY questions. In training, we usually do these with a given situation, such as 'at the butcher'.
Example:
'Could I have some meat, please?'
'What kind?'
'What kinds do you have?'
'Don't you see them in the window?'
'What's that red one there?'

You get the idea.
However, you don't have to choose a place or situation, you can do it walking down the street with someone. Again, the thing is to keep it simple, don't try to think up any fancy questions. Things like 'really?' or 'me?' are allowed because they're questions you ask every day. It's supposed to be a regular chat.

3. Rhyme Time

There are a couple of ways of playing this.
One is to just say a word and the next person has to say another one that rhymes with yours. This game can have an unlimited number of players, it's usually best done in a group, but also works fine in two.
'fine' 'wine' 'dine' 'dime' 'rhyme' 'time'

Another fun little rhyme game is to rhyme your sentences with someone else's. Ideally, your conversation should also make sense, not just be a collection of random rhymes.

4. Mind Melt

This game must be played in a group. Everyone stands in a circle and thinks of words. Two people put up their hands, count to three together, then they say the words they've thought of, at the same time. Then, the other people in the circle try to think of a word that connects the first two. Again, two people put up their hands and say the words they thought of to connect the first ones. This is done until two players say the same word at the same time.
It's a great game to bring a team closer.

5. One Word Story

This is a great listening game. Must be played in a group. Each person using one word, you must tell a story together. You settle on a title, like 'John the Bald' and then you begin.
For example:
Person 1: There
Person 2: was
Person 3: a
Person 4: prince
Person 5: called
Person 6: John.

It seems easy, but again, it's surprisingly hard, because once you've chosen a title, everyone will make up their own story in their head and when it's their turn, they'll try to steer the story towards the one in their mind. But the trick is not to stick to the story in your head, rather collaborate with the others, listening to what they say, to build a story together.

BONUS GAME: Imaginary words

This is a very fun game (often hard for adults, though, because we are very afraid of making fools of ourselves). Again, this is to be done in a group. Everyone stands in a circle. And someone makes up a word, and defines it.
Like, "The damblestap is a Mexican dish."
Then someone else contradicts the first speaker, by giving a different definition for the made-up word. "No, the damblestap is a type of wood, from which people make tables.'
The first word is defined a few more types, then it's time to bring in a new word. Say the fifth speaker said something like 'No, the damblestap is a musical instrument that sounds like a pig.'
Then, someone makes up a new word, 'No, the musical instrument that sounds like a pig is called fliperump.'
And so on.

These are both great for your creativity and excellent team-builders. Feel free to try them out at work or with friends. They're excellent for children, as well.
Children are goldmines of imagination, they are more spontaneous, they allow themselves to play, often coming up with incredible ideas.
The fun is guaranteed.