The Blinking Game

The Blinking Game by Kathleen Shannon and Daniel Solis.


Here's a new game that my friend Kathleen taught me a while back. Because I couldn't help myself, I hacked it a bit to add some points and a simple endgame mechanic. See the video above for a demonstration. The rules are below!

Getting Started
You and your opponent face each other. A third player will sit aside to be the timekeeper. You and your opponent will take turns being chased and being the chaser. The game begins with you and your opponent keeping your eyes closed. To begin, the timekeeper repeats the phrase "Blinking Game" over and over again at a steady, consistent rhythm. Yes, it is unnerving.

How to Play
You and your opponent will open your eyes at random intervals. When you open your eyes, you must keep them open long enough for the timekeeper to say "Blinking Game" once.

When you are being chased, the object of the game is to open your eyes as many times as you can before being caught. Each time you open your eyes without being caught, you earn one point. It's easiest to keep track of your points with your fingers.

If the chaser's eyes are open at the same time yours are, you are caught. After you're caught, switch roles with your opponent so that you are now the chaser and she is being chased.

Victory
Whoever reaches five points without being caught wins the game.

Comments

  1. Jens AlfkeAugust 22, 2011 at 11:54 PM

    But … if I'm the chaser, it's to my advantage to keep my eyes open all the time, or at least most of the time. What's keeping me from doing that?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Daniel SolisAugust 23, 2011 at 12:04 AM

    Clarification: You must keep your eyes open long enough for the timekeeper to say "Blinking Game" and close your eyes thereafter. The timekeeper keeps everyone on the same rhythm.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ezra BradfordAugust 23, 2011 at 12:50 AM

    What stops the chaser from opening their eyes again right away, preventing the chased from having any safe moment to open their eyes?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Daniel SolisAugust 23, 2011 at 6:58 AM

    The way Kathleen and I were playing, we kept our eyes closed long enough for Jeremy to say "Blinking Game" at least once. So once they're closed, they have to stay closed.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Daniel SolisAugust 23, 2011 at 7:06 AM

    Oh! And I was considering an additional hack in which the chaser lost one point every time he opens his eyes. If he reached zero, the chased won. (Plus the standard victory condition of reaching five points.)

    ReplyDelete
  6. KenkinsAugust 23, 2011 at 2:44 PM

    I see what they're saying. As the chaser: (Blinking game) Open (Blinking game) Close (Blinking game) Open (Blinking game) Close. Repeat.

    This way you have your eyes open 50% of the time, sometimes mixing it up by keeping your eyes closed for two counts.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

5 Graphic Design and Typography Tips for your Card Game

Image
Chris Farrell of Illuminating Games just wrote a thorough critique of card games setting their body text to be so small that they cannot be read at arm's length, let alone across the table. Here's an excerpt, but the whole thing is worth a read for any would-be card game designers out there. (Myself included.) Break out your copy of the base set of Dominion, and look at the Chapel. This has a text box roughly 3.5cm by 4.5cm. It's got a single line of text. That line of text is 1 (one) millimeter high. 1mm! For me, it's only clearly readable at half an arm's length even in the bright light of day. (...) Compare this to a more sane game like Glory to Rome, where the font size is 2-3 times as large (text is 2mm high, keywords 3mm and usually highlighted). I can generally read Glory to Rome cards across the table, and can certainly see the important keywords. To heap insult upon injury, not only does Glory to Rome have far more legible text than Dominion it also has...
Read more

Low-High Dice Game

Image
A dice game inspired by the stock market (and playing lots of Martian Dice). Roll a bunch of dice and choose which sets to keep. Choose your strategy wisely! Stuff You Need Two-to-Six PLAYERS A PENCIL and PAPER to keep score Thirteen standard six-sided DICE How to Play The shortest player takes the first turn. On your turn, first roll all thirteen dice. Several dice will have matching results. These are called SETS. (A single die result is a set, too.) You must choose a set to keep. For example, your first roll results are 111124445555 . The sets are four 1 s, one 2 , three 4 s, and four 5 s. After keeping a set of dice, lock them up in a row. This is called the GOOD TRACK. For example,  you could keep the set of four 1 s, one 2 , three 4 s, or four 5 s . You decide to keep the four 1 s and line them up in your good track. After keeping a set, you may end your turn or re-roll the remaining unlocked dice. When you re-roll, immediately set aside any results tha...
Read more

One Thing to Avoid in Game Design

Image
When game designer Paul Peterson was interviewed for the upcoming Titans Series of games from Calliope Games, there was one segment at 1:55 that really caught my attention (emphasis mine): "A couple years ago I was teaching people how to play Guillotine and I hadn't played in a while. The first thing I did was say, 'The first thing you gonna do when you open your game is you look through this deck and you take this card.' I pulled out the Callous Guards card and threw it over my shoulder. Everybody laughed. I said, ' That's the biggest mistake I ever made as a game designer in my life.'" Oof. Those are strong words. What's the big deal? For context, the game Guillotine is all about collecting the heads of French nobles during the revolution. There is only one guillotine, with a line of nobles waiting for their grim fate. On your turn, you play action cards to change the order of the line, then take the Noble card from the front of the ...
Read more