What it is: A silly, creative talking activity for anywhere from two to many players. Similar to the tell a story game, but with more direction.
Best for: Group of 3 to 8ish.
What you need: Nothing!
How to play: Have all your players sit in a circle, or establish a clear playing order. Then proceed to tell a story, with each person saying one sentence at a time. Here’s the catch: each sentence must start with either “fortunately” or “unfortunately,” always alternating. So here’s how a sample game might go. The first player, Rachel, starts out the story by saying a simple statement of fact, like
One day I got a new puppy.
(The story can be in first person, but it doesn’t have to be.) The next player, Brad, would then add a sentence onto the story, but he has to start the sentence with “unfortunately,” like
Unfortunately, he ran away.
Then it’s Katie’s turn, but she has to start a sentence with “fortunately:”
Fortunately, he came back the next day with a 100 dollar bill.
The next player would say an “unfortunately” sentence, like “Unfortunately, the 100 dollar bill was a counterfeit and the cops nabbed me for it when I tried to use it to buy a pet canary.” As you can imagine, the game usually gets pretty silly pretty fast. And the stories tend to drag on without any clear ending, so just break it up when you want to start a new one. It’s a lot of fun, though, and good for car rides or killing time. Write your stories down or just tell them out loud; either way, have fun!
Variations: As said, this game is pretty similar to tell a story.
Example: If you want an example game, maybe you could watch the TV show I Shouldn’t Be Alive; sometimes I think those episodes tend to play out like a version of this game. (The man was starving in the jungle…fortunately, he found some berries…unfortunately, they were poisionous. But fortunately, he hunted a rabbit to eat…but unfortunately, he had no fire to cook it…) 😉
Okay, for real, here’s a sample game from me and my husband. Oh, which reminds me of something else: if you’re playing with only two people (or any even number), it means the same people will always be saying “unfortunately” or “fortunately” sentences. Which could be boring or could be fun. But you could just switch it up halfway through if you want. For now, you can guess who had the “fortunately” sentences in this example, me or my husband:
One day a man was flying on an airplane. Unfortunately, the airplane was out of peanuts. Fortunately, the man was allergic to peanuts and so he was happy about that. Unfortunately, the man was also allergic to chocolate chip cookies, and the airplane wasn’t out of those. Fortunately, the man was the pilot, and so he wasn’t offered any of the cookies. Unfortunately, the pilot was so distracted by the conversation about the cookies he was allergic to that he didn’t see the huge thundercloud. Fortunately, the plane’s autopilot took control and did a barrel roll around the thundercloud. Unfortunately…
Well, you get the idea. 🙂
One day, a man discovered a dinosaur bone in his backyard…
(Join in everybody!)
Haha, awesome!
Unfortunately, he didn’t know what type of dinosaur bone it was.
Next is….
Fortunately there was a dinosaur bone shop nearby.
Unfortunately, it was closed.
Haha. Fortunately, the man remembered that the library was open and checked out the book “Identifying Dinosaur Bones for Dummies.”
Unfortunately, the book was already taken by someone else and it may or may not come back.
Fun, fun, fun…Fortunately, the library had Internet and he was able to google it!
Unfortunately, the website was down
I have linked to this game in my article Frugal Road Trip With Kids – Be Positive http://www.morewithlessmom.com/index.php/2013/05/30/frugal-road-trip-with-kids-be-positive/
Fortunately, he had his phone and could get a dinosaur bone app for just $9.95.
Unfortunately, as he was reaching in the ground to pull out the bone and identify it, he somehow triggered a wormhole that transported him back to the Cretaceous period.
Fortunately, he’d always wanted to travel through time and space.
Unfortunately, he found himself in a pit of quick sand.
fortunately he had air jordans on so he just sprung out of the quick sand
Unfortunately, the shoes came off his feet as he jumped
Fortunately, he always carried an extra pair.
Unfortunately, a dog came to him and chewwwed his shoes
Fortunately, the ground was soft, so he went barefoot.
Unfortunately, the dog chased after him
fortunately, he saw a helicopter and called for them to rescue him
Unfortunately, they didn’t see him
Fortunately he met another person
Unfortunately he died the next day
Fortunately he found a time machine
Unfortunately it was broken
Fortunately he knows how to fix it
Unfortunetly, the plane crashed in a storm.
Hahahaha wow, I just read over all those comments together, that was one great story. I hadn’t expected it when I posted this, but this is actually my most frequently commented post!
Let’s start another game, shall we? One tip: to keep the story fun and moving, have your sentence include an action verb (like jump, break, fall, spill, dig, etc etc) rather than verbs like “there was” or “she knew.” Also no undoing the last statement in your own!
So here we go:
One day Goldilocks was out in the woods for a walk with her friend Little Red Riding Hood, going to visit Little Red’s grandmother. Fortunately, the sun was shining and the weather was nice so they could clearly see the path.
…anyone else? 😉
Unfortunately, it suddenly started to rain and Goldilocks didn’t have a hood.
Fortunately she found a path through the woods with trees that would keep her covered from the rain and take her to her grandma’s home.
Unfortunately, as they started down the path, a wolf leapt out of the bushes.
Fortunately, Goldilock’s friends (the bears) were also in the bushes having some porridge so they chased the wolf away.
Unfortunately, when Goldilocks and Little Red Riding Hood eventually arrived at grandma’s house, they knocked on the door and the wolf answered!
Fortunately the wolf wasn’t actually the wolf, it was the grandmother who took a potion and which made her hairy
Unfortunately, the hairy potion had the side effect of turning Grandma into a werewolf every full moon, so they all set out to look for a cure.
Fortunately, they found a razor nearby and were successful in shaving grandma back to “human” status.
Unfortunately, upon their travel, the moon came out and Grandma turned back into a werewolf!
Fortunately, Goldilocks’ three bear friends has the tooth of the wolf that they once chased. the tooth will help grandma prevent its werewolf form.
Unfortunately, The bears got hungry, and remembered the time when Goldilocks ate all their Food…, and although they liked goldilocks just enough to not eat her , they had no obligation to her friend, Little Red Riding Hood, and her grandma.. So they got out their knives and forks.
Fortunately, Goldilocks called for help, then “a white wizard” who is a friend of Goldilocks entered the scene like a lightening and used his magics to create food for the bears and all were saved from the danger.
unfortunately the wicked witch who was watching all this from a bush got out and put a hex on goldilocks that she would forget everything about her family and friends for one whole year.
Fortunately, Little Red had kept a very detailed scrapbook of Goldilocks’ life, and they sat down to go through it together.
Unfortunately, as they sat down there was a knock at the door and three little pigs came running in shouting about a wolf that was after them.
Fortunately, They managed to open the door in time for them to get in
Unfortunately, in their efforts to get the door open, the door crashed to the ground
Fortunately, they were able to blow the door backup
Unfortunately, by the time the door was set back it was too late and hungry, unfriendly wolf managed to get in to house.
Fortunately, Little Red’s grandmother had just finished making the most scrumptious Sunday roast and when the wolf got one sniff of the feast, he no longer was interested in eating the pigs.
Unfortunately, after eating the Sunday roast, the wolf was still hungry and decided to eat the pigs
Fortunately he gagged as one was too fat and therefore inedible and the little pigs all managed to run away and hide in the woods
Unfortunately, the wolf was now angry and ran after the pigs through the woods he knew very well.
Fortunately the pigs found some huts
Unfortunately, the huts were made outta hay and the wolf blew them down.
Fortunately, the huts were located in front of a stone mountain, and the hay ricocheted and went straight into the wolf’s throat choking him to death.