First word

What it is: A fun, easy, and often revealing talking game.

Best for: Smaller groups, maybe 3 to 6 people.

What you need: Nothing! But a word list might be helpful.

How to play: This game is really simple, and you could make up more complicated rules if you wanted to. But basically someone says a word, any word, and another player has to respond immediately with the very first word that pops into his or her head (no thinking allowed). So a sample game between Mack and Jane might go like this:

MACK: Apples.

JANE: Caramel.

MACK: Christmas.

JANE: Lights.

M: Spider.

J: Eww.

M: Groundhog.

J: Bill Murray.

M: Slow.

J: Snail.

It’s supposed to be very fast, with only a fraction of a second between Mack’s prompt and Jane’s response. It’s best if Mack responds quickly, too; that gets Jane in the habit of responding quickly. The fun of the game comes in learning possibly interesting things about your friends or family (“Crush.” “Andrew–I mean,…uh…” “What?!”), or in laughing at the interesting, creative, or (il)logical associations our minds come up with. Your game might be interrupted with questions, explanations, or laughter, and that’s all part of the fun. 🙂

To help in thinking up quick prompts, feel free to use my online word generator.