Get the Cards Right

Type: Team

Equipment: Two sets of cards per team

Setup: Everyone should split into teams of between six and eight people. Each team should choose a ‘dealer’ and a ‘copycat’. Everyone else will be a messenger.

Extra Measures: A leader could lay out the cards at the start so the dealer doesn’t need to touch them. The dealer could still choose the order. The messengers should stay distanced in their lines – they’ll have to communicate creatively over the distance. The copycat could tell a leader how to lay cards out, so they don’t need to touch them. If you don’t want to clean playing cards after the game, people could draw cards instead – they just need to jot down a number and a suit. Pens or pencils are much easier to clean.

Description

The person leading the game should give the dealers and copycats a set of cards each. The dealers should stand at one end of the meeting place. The copycats should stand at the other end of the meeting place, in line with their team’s dealer. The messengers should make a line between their dealer and copycat. They should try to be fairly evenly spaced. The dealer should lay ten cards on the ground in any pattern or order.

The first messenger should go to the dealer. The dealer should describe the cards to them – they should include what the cards are, the order they’re in, and their layout. The dealer should make sure they’re quiet so no one else hears.

The first messenger should go to the second messenger and pass on as much of the description as they remember. The second messenger should pass as much information on to the third player. The messengers should continue passing the message along their line.

When the information reaches the copycat, they should lay out their cards to match the description. If they don’t have enough information for ten cards, they might like to guess where to put some.

Once the copycat’s locked in their answers, the team should gather around.

Each team should compare their two decks. The dealer could note down the order of the cards on a scrap piece of paper, take a photo, or even carefully carry the cards across the meeting place on a tray. Are the two layouts the same?

Everyone should gather together and reflect.

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