ARTICULATE!

Maybe one of the most mainstream games to appear on this list, in a sort of ‘you can get it in the supermarkets at Christmas’ way. While one day we’ll see more hobbyist games in Tesco, for now, Articulate! is the one for us. While word games can sometimes be a challenge for those of us who are performance adverse, Articulate! is more about how you think than what you know. Two teams take turns describing a word to their collaborators without saying that word, giving away how many letters it is, or other too easy clues. You do this as quickly as you can, as many times as you can before the timer runs out. There are a few tricky rules about landing exactly on the goal, which no one has ever read as far as we can tell. The main thrill of the game is the absolutely stupid things that you end up blurting out in an attempt to get your teammates to understand and guess the word you’re circling. Equally, you’ll end up with some very strange descriptors because your brain has simply run out of orthogonally arranged verbal signposts to get to you to where you want to be. You may find yourself saying “Horse,” followed by “Big Horse,” and then, to ensure that people really get it, “Amazing Horse!” – to which your teammates will obviously know the answer is… “Stallion.” If party games are all about learning how each one of us ticks, and who your friends really are, then Articulate! is one of the best ways to go from grasping at straws, to a Freudian slip, to the room falling about laughing. Sometimes it’s the simple things.