The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: Matt Ottinger on March 19, 2014, 03:49:31 PM
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First some background. I'm going to be hosting a Broadway trivia event at my community theater on March 29th.
http://www.riverwalktheatre.com
They think we're playing an original game, but what I've done is adapted the children's game show Runaround from the early seventies. For those who don't know, the game featured multiple choice questions, and players physically moved and stood on one of three platforms representing their answer.
In that game, one wrong answer and you were out for the round. I want to play it so that everybody gets one mistake forgiven. I thought the easiest way to do that would be to give everybody what essentially amounted to an "insurance marker" at the start of the round, which a player would have to relinquish when he or she makes a mistake. That could be something as simple as a poker chip, and that's exactly what I'll use unless one of you geniuses can think of something more interesting (especially something larger) which is just as easy to get in reasonably large quantity (50 or 60) at a fairly small cost.
I am open to suggestions.
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What about foam trucker caps, or something like that? I'm pretty sure you can buy blank hats like that in bulk at a craft store. That way, it'd be a pretty sweet little souvenir after the show is over.
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Maybe a ticket stub, since presumably they bought a ticket to get in?
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Paper/plastic plates in different colors.
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Cheap plastic medals on cheap ribbons that you can order bulk or get at a dollar store.
You can make a big to-do about dropping your medal in the protection box to earn another life in the game.
ETA: Pack of 72 of them at Amazon for less than 9 bucks.
http://www.amazon.com/Winner-award-medals-bulk-wholesale/dp/B006W1115E/ref=pd_sim_sbs_hg_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=10T0JW9HDD6P4YR28C2A
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That could be something as simple as a poker chip, and that's exactly what I'll use unless one of you geniuses can think of something more interesting (especially something larger) which is just as easy to get in reasonably large quantity (50 or 60) at a fairly small cost.
Neither of these are larger, but if you want a couple of things that could serve some usefulness after the fact, I'll propose some of those shiny rock-like things you might see in aquarium or gold foil-wrapped chocolate coins. Something that is larger would be some of those 'jumbo playing cards' (I think they're about 6"x6") and I believe you can get them at the dollar store for about $2.
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For the Game Show Gauntlet, we use plastic diamond gems (specifically, these: http://www.amazon.com/Clear-Carat-Acrylic-Diamonds-Super/dp/B0045457XM/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1395267281&sr=8-15&keywords=plastic+gems). They're not gigantic, but they're recognizable from a relative distance. Here's the size to scale: http://instagram.com/p/lJBjSgAlqc/
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Since it's for theater (theatre?) folk, I suggest the comedy/tragedy masks made out of inexpensive material. (I'd have them held, not worn.)
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Since it's for theater (theatre?) folk, I suggest the comedy/tragedy masks made out of inexpensive material. (I'd have them held, not worn.)
In a similar vein, you can probably make miniature canes out of black construction paper and masking tape. Then, if you want to give an extra mulligan before the final round, you can give hats (http://www.orientaltrading.com/mini-black-top-hats-a2-70_3822.fltr?Ntt=mini%20top%20hat)
/If you're blue and you don't know where to go to why don't you go where Matt O sits?
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http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pendant-of-Life-Legends-of-The-Hidden-Temple-Temple-Guard-Prop-New-/230893156479
Perhaps a bit pricey for pieces of cardboard, maybe you could negotiate a bulk discount ;D
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How new could they be?
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How new could they be?
They're not vintage, they actually are "new" cardboard replicas. The size is right for me, but not the price or the look. I'm really trying to figure out how to make the diamonds work, that's my leading contender so far.
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They're not vintage, they actually are "new" cardboard replicas. The size is right for me, but not the price or the look. I'm really trying to figure out how to make the diamonds work, that's my leading contender so far.
What kind of help are you looking for? I would think that they'd work this way: you had them out to everyone on stage; have an assistant go to each section and either take their Gem of Guessing Poorly or have them sit down, or hand out a poker chip point.
I will say that I like to use the various colors of acrylic gems as money in whatever games I'm working on, or to replace paper money in some games I already own; they add a touch of interest to the proceedings and people don't complain that they're not real.
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Gem of Guessing Poorly
Winner.
And yes, that's it exactly. Everybody would start with whatever trinket we provide, doled out by my lovely hostess. (And oh my, she is, but that's another issue.) On the first miss, you give it up. On the second miss, you sit down. And when I say "figure out how to make them work" all I mean is what Corey already alluded to. They're terrific, but I wish they were bigger.
There's actually a second round ("Act Two") that's played differently, but still involves coming up with a right answer or sitting down. Anybody who survives with their gem intact will be allowed to use it in Act Two.
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Would there be any reason why you wouldn't want the players to put the poker chip in their pockets? I'm wondering if it would be too easy to lose, misplace, or get mixed with other stuff in pockets.
A tennis ball springs to mind, but I don't know how cheap they'd be. It doesn't have to be a useable tennis ball.
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How about plastic rings (http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/browse/processRequest.do?requestURI=processProductsCatalog&categoryId=377320&sku=51/520&BP=10879&ms=search&source=google&cm_mmc=google-_-PLA-_-51/520-_-productads-plaid^62623513770-sku^51%2F520@ADL4OTC-adType^PLA-device^c-adid^16147143008&gclid=CMPBlMaCoL0CFc1cfgodTxYA4g&kwid=productads-plaid^62623513770-sku^51%2F520@ADL4OTC-adType^PLA-device^c-adid^16147143008), like ones you'd find in a Ring Toss game? Or something like a horseshoe?
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You know what'd be great? If the objects were things that get progressively hotter as the minutes go by.
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Christian's said something about hotter and it made me think of women.
Then I realized that made no sense, so then I thought of a potato. Tat wuld b funi. :-P
/I'll be in the corner
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A party store would have Mardi Gras beads, maybe with some sort of charm or talisman on them. Then they're visible and the players don't have to carry them. You might refer to them as "mulligans," as in golf. That sounds Irish to me, so maybe you can find beads in the clearance bin from St. Patrick's Day.
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The only semi-helpful thing I can think of is when you go to AC Moore or Michael's or a craft store like that, they have entire aisles of hard foam in different shapes and sizes. If they had rectangular shapes that were 5x7-ish, thinking of the size of the Wink High Rollers insurance markers, you could line them up on some newspaper and spray paint them gold or something. I don't know how expensive that would be but they would have a substantial feel.
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You could give everyone a couple marbles and when you've lost your marbles, you're out of the game.
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You could give everyone a couple marbles and when you've lost your marbles, you're out of the game.
It's a shame that can't be applied around here ;)
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If you can find them, Dollar Tree has large plastic penny party favors you could use- about three or so inches across- call it a Lucky Penny. They were 4-6 in a package IIRC, some copper-colored and some silver-colored for some reason.
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So how did the game go, Matt? What did you use as the Lifeline Talisman?
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I've decided to go with plastic Easter eggs. They're not as clever as nearly every other choice you guys came up with, but I could get the quantity I needed for a TOTAL of three dollars at the craft store, and they were of suitable size. Right now, I'm planning to call it the "Egg of Forgiveness". The game is this coming Saturday.
Design preview:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/t1.0-9/1978776_10202958031404661_1722936291_n.jpg
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Eggstra lives?
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Give him a standing ovumation.
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Will everyone get an egg as a souvenir, or just those who survived the game with one?
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Wonder if Eggland's Best would kick in a few bucks for promotional consideration?
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Now that the prop has been established, may we see a photograph of your hostess?
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Now that the prop has been established, may we see a photograph of your hostess?
She's got eggs;
She knows how to use them....
She's got eggs;
She knows how to use them.... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUDcTLaWJuo)
(OT: Is there any way to have a text link be to a Youtube video without the video embedding automatically?
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Now that the prop has been established, may we see a photograph of your hostess?
Her name is Suzy and she's a hostess.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K6KyNPxhk2M/UKZRZSJp4AI/AAAAAAAAAo8/Z4cBK03rHzw/s1600/suzy+q.jpg)
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Now that the prop has been established, may we see a photograph of your hostess?
The password is "Creepy".
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Now that the prop has been established, may we see a photograph of your hostess?
The password is "Creepy".
Unless he's invading the school playground, I don't see how. I'm not asking for nudes. Just a picture.
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Just a quick note to those who are curious. The game turned out to be a big hit last night. Turnout was not quite what we had hoped, but participation in the game exceeded anybody's expectations. Each round (we played three) started with sixty or so players, which we whittled down in the Runaround game ("Act One") to less than nine. Even granting each player the "Egg of Forgiveness", this usually took only four or five questions.
We needed nine to play the next round, so if we had fewer (which we usually did), players could come back on stage by being first and loudest to shout out correct answers in a themed quiz. For example, in "Hail to the Chief", I named an actor, and they had to tell me what American president that actor was known for playing on stage.
The nine players were divided into three teams for the next game ("Act Two"), which was a knockout game along the lines of The Rich List, where teams in turn had to come up with items in a category, such as naming any one of the thirty longest-running musicals in history.
The surviving team of three played the final question ("Curtain Call") against each other, with each one writing down the answer to a numerical question (What is the seating capacity of the George Gershwin Theatre, the largest theater on Broadway?) and the closest to the correct answer winning the game.
There are assorted pictures from a variety of sources. Nothing professional, just cell phone snaps here and there. I'll try to post a few later.
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My parents are constantly looking for things to do for the office Christmas party. We've had some real hits and some clunkers as well. I would love to do something like this but they weren't too keen on the idea of a pub quiz last time. I'm so blissfully happy that it went well and that people enjoyed it.
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My parents are constantly looking for things to do for the office Christmas party. We've had some real hits and some clunkers as well. I would love to do something like this but they weren't too keen on the idea of a pub quiz last time. I'm so blissfully happy that it went well and that people enjoyed it.
The comment that came up most often is that it was a great way to involve an awful lot of people with minimal pressure on them to perform. Also, we didn't make players run to the choices. There were octogenarians and even a nonagenarian playing. Everybody started on stage and just slid to their selections.