PatGames

Equipment: none
Players: any

RULES
My Adventure is a storytelling game that is perfect for car trips, or telling stories around a campfire, or even just for two people relaxing on a porch swing. You get to make stuff up — anything! And then the other players get to make guesses as to why in the world you made up the stuff you did.

To begin, decide which player will be the first to go on an “Adventure.” That person is the Seasoned Adventurer and will be the one to make up the first story. Everyone else will be Junior Adventurers.

The Seasoned Adventurer gets to take a moment to decide what the “rules” of his adventure are. Perhaps he decides that the only rule of his adventure is that whatever happens, he will only encounter animals that start with the letter “B”. And so he might start off by saying the following:

“I just got back from an adventure! On My Adventure I saw a baboon playing a trumpet in a tree.”

The Junior Adventurers then get to follow in turn trying to go on the same sort of adventure that the Seasoned Adventurer went on. Player one might think that the rule is that an animal will play an instrument and he might, for example, say: “I went on a similar adventure! On My Adventure, I saw a giraffe playing a ukelele!”

In response, the Seasoned Adventurer would say: “That was a very nice adventure, but it was not quite the same as My Adventure.”

Now, it becomes the next Junior Adventurer’s turn. She might guess that the rule is that something must happen in a tree and say “I went on a similar adventure! On My Adventure, I saw a monkey jumping from tree to tree.”

The Seasoned Adventurer again tells the Junior Adventurer that their adventure is close, but not quite the same.

Once all Junior Adventurers have had one guess each, the Seasoned Adventurer must give another, DIFFERENT example of his adventure, using the same rule he did the first time. For example, he might this time say “I just went on another adventure. On My Adventure, I joined some beavers and made a dam in a river.”

This time, the Junior Adventurers have another clue. There are no instruments and no trees. Hopefully, the other players will guess it this time, but if they do not, the Seasoned Adventurer can make the example even easier by saying “I just went on another adventure. On My Adventure, I met a bear.”

Once one of the Junior Adventurers has figured out the rule, he should give an example that follows the rule but not say the rule out loud. He might say “I went on a similar adventure! On My Adventure, I rode a brontosaurus.” The Seasoned Adventurer would respond by saying something like “Yes! That is a very good adventure!”

Now, the other players get to continue trying to go on a similar adventure. If some of the players have trouble giving examples of similar adventures that follow the rule, the players who HAVE guessed it already can give further examples that blatantly give away the answer. That is quite okay to do! After all, the point is to eventually have everyone figure out the rule. Hopefully the Seasoned Adventurer will not have to spell the rule out to everyone, but if he does need to do so, try to start the next round with a simpler rule.

Continue playing the game by taking turns being the Seasoned Adventurer. Or, optionally, you can have the player who figures out the rule first be the Seasoned Adventurer for the next round.

Here are a few examples of “Easy” rules:
- All of the things encountered in the adventure can fly (birds, airplanes, bees…)
- All of the people/animals in the adventure make a noise or a sound.
- On the adventure, the storyteller always “smells” something.
- The last word of the adventure always rhymes with “house”.

And here are some examples of “Hard” rules:
- The adventure is exactly 4 words long (“On My Adventure, I traveled a long road” or “On My Adventure, I sailed across the ocean”
- The adventure is in alphabetical order (“On My Adventure, I ate bananas containing diamond earrings” or “On My Adventure, I asked Bing Crosby ‘Does everyone find god?”

VARIATIONS
- If two people find that they are getting good at the game, they might try going on simultaneous adventures. In this version, player one goes on HIS own adventure, and then player two goes on HER own adventure. Then, each player tries to go on the OTHER person’s adventure.
- If you have a particularly tough rule, you might consider giving two very different adventures that BOTH follow the same rule. That way, the guessers have a wider range of clues to go on for their initial guesses and it won’t be so nerve wracking to get going down the right path.