"Fun Forum Game Ideas" Megan Smith, Yahoo Contributor Network Mar 25, 2011 "Share your voice on Yahoo websites."
"Most websites that are designed with social networking in mind have forums, message boards or discussion groups, where site members can gather to discuss a particular topic of common interest. Sometimes, a strong sense of community and friendship grows in these online forums, when members return day after day and begin to really get to know each other. One easy way to quickly build a sense of community in an Internet discussion group is to create fun forum games for the members to play. Besides being a great way to relax and have some fun, these games are perfect vehicles for coaxing group members into opening up and getting to know each other.
It takes some imagination to come up with new forum game ideas on a regular basis, so in the spirit of helpfulness, I've listed some popular game ideas that I've either seen, played or created myself. I've categorized them into four groups: Spam Games, Word Games, Person Above/Below Games and Miscellaneous Games that don't fit any particular category.
1) Internet Forum Spam Games
Spam Games are essentially easy but fun message board games that ask site members to post something completely meaningless, simply for the sake of participating by posting. Here are some examples:
• Who Can Post Last? - Members post as often as possible, in the effort to be the last person to have posted to a thread before it either gets forgotten, closed or deleted.
• Say Something Silly - Members post anything off the top of their heads, including nonsense.
• Count to One Million - Each poster posts numbers in sequence, up to 1,000,000.
2) Internet Forum Word Games
Word games take only a small amount of thought and are a tiny step above spam games. They can include the following:
• Alphabet Games - Members come up with a word or phrase beginning with each letter of the alphabet. The words/phrases have to belong to one topic, such as things found in the kitchen, sex, famous people, song titles, etc. Another variation of the same game is where each word has to begin with the last letter of the word that the previous person posted. A more complicated alphabet game is where you take a formulaic sentence with missing words, such as "Before _________ my _________, I always __________ the _________," and each player has to substitute words for the blanks that make sense in the sentence. The first player uses four words beginning with "A," the next player uses four beginning with "B," and so on through the alphabet.
• Rhyming Games - This one is simple. Each player posts a word or a whole phrase that rhymes with the one posted above him.
• Restricted Letter Games - This game can be quite tricky. Players cannot use a particular letter or group of letters when they post. Use your imagination to decide how to restrict the letters. Examples could be only using letters that aren't in your screen name, not allowing the letter "T," etc.
• Linked Words Game - Each player posts two words that go together, but he must use the second word that the last player posted and a new word that he thinks of himself. For example, "French bread," "bread pudding," "pudding cake."
• Acronym Game - Think of several random letters that the next person has to turn into an acronym. You can stipulate a theme, or not, as you choose. For example, using a theme of love, ADGH might be "A Darn Good Heart."
3) The Person Above Me / The Person Below Me Internet Forum Games
Message board games like these, which ask you to interact on a more personal level with the person posting above or below you, tend to create a more social atmosphere than most others. There are limitless things that you can ask/tell about the person below or above you.
• The Person Above Me - Tell the group something you admire about the person above you, what you imagine the person would be arrested for, what's in the person's pocket, rate the person's avatar or screen name, say whether you would kiss or shake hands with the person, say what the person was voted "most likely to" do, what you would say if you woke up in bed beside the person, etc.
• The Person Below Me - Try to guess what the person is doing as he posts, guess who will post next, ask a question for the next person to answer, guess what the person likes or hates, ask whether the next person would rather do "this" or "that," make up an embarrassing habit that the next person either confesses to doing or denies, etc.
4) Miscellaneous Games for Internet Forums
These are fun forum games that aren't really part of a broader theme that can be varied. It's harder to brainstorm variations of them, so they tend to be played as-is.
• Two Truths and a Lie Game - One player states three things about himself, two of which are true and one of which is a lie. The other players have to guess which is the lie. The player who guesses correctly first takes the next turn.
• Continue the Story Game - Each player comes up with the next line of a continuing story. Each line can only be a certain number of words in length.
Obviously, coming up with fun forum game ideas is limited only by your imagination and by whatever rules the moderator has established for the group. Use what I've compiled here as inspiration, and take each game idea in whatever direction seems fun." http://voices.yahoo.com/fun-forum-game-ideas-8014732.html
Please see Thread 153985 (Page 15). Appreciate your view, darvlay; also realize this forum needs care and feeding. -Bob
