Group Therapy: Because no one has more issues than your closest friends
Players will ask bizarre questions and try and guess how others will answer
This game is great for a medium-sized group of people who know each other fairly well. You don’t have to be the closest friends, but if everyone has an inkling of each other’s personalities, this game is perfect. The best part about this game is that there are extra no materials needed!
Ready to talk things through? Let’s find out…
Players: 4-15
HOW TO PLAY
The group randomly chooses a person to be “It”. Then, another person poses a question to It. This can be as silly or as serious as the person wants it to be, but the answer MUST be the name of someone in the group.
Ex.
Simon is “It”
Leigh asks “Simon, if you were trapped in the mountains and had to resort to cannibalism, whom in the group would you eat first?”
Simon decides who that would be, but doesn’t tell the group. Once they have their answer, the other members take turns guessing who they think Simon chose and why.
Ex.
Skyler says “I think Simon would choose Hailey because they’re a great chef, so
they would probably taste the best”
Grace inputs “Simon would definitely choose Jake because they were
roommates and Jake knows all of Simon’s secrets, and Jake might spill
them all if Simon died trapped in the mountains
Once everyone has had the chance to take their guess, It would reveal their answer and why they chose them.
WINNING
For each round, the winner is anyone who correctly anticipated the member that It chose. Then, another round with a new It begins.
A FEW POSSIBLE QUESTIONS
Here is a list of possible questions (from boring to obscene) to get you started!
Group Therapy Question Starters
Author’s Note
I was planning on writing about a different game called Nomic in which the rules of the game change during each player’s turn, and then I found this game and thought it was pretty neat! I feel like this game is the most applicable, especially in college, since it can be played anywhere with your group of friends, and at anytime! I think my friends would come up with some absolutely wacky questions and explanations, so I’m excited to try it with them!
Analysis
Group Therapy isn’t really competitive, but there are certain aspects that make it unique and special that make you want to try it out!
Creativity: This is mostly a game of imagination and coming up with random scenarios so I think it has a heavier creative side. Also, trying to fit your friend group into ridiculous situation can be pretty funny but difficult, so you will definitely have to think outside of the box for this one.
Luck: You can very much “win” for the wrong reason! So while luck isn’t a huge factor that adds to overall experience, you still have a chance of being partially right with your guess.
Strategy: If you are the kind of person that is obsessed with winning (boo) then when you’re It, you can try and pick the person that you think NO ONE will guess; but this may be for nothing since some people may still guess that person from some unthought of connection on your behalf.
Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful day!
Credits
I cannot stress enough the importance of Leigh Anderson’s fantastic book The Games Bible for inspiring these blog posts. Her book has hundreds of amazing ideas, from icebreakers, family games, and weekend getaways. This blog would not be possible without all the hard work she put into writing the book so my source for ideas and research are from her book.
Sources
- Anderson, Leigh. The Games Bible. Workman Publishing Company, 2010.
- Anderson, Leigh. “The Games BIBLE: The Ultimate Gamebook… Book by Leigh Anderson.” ThriftBooks, www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-games-bible-the-ultimate-gamebook-for-grown-ups-307-games-to-put-the-fun-back-in-parties_leigh-anderson/571781/#edition=5740103&idiq=12407424.
- https://boardroyale.com/
- Group Therapy Question Starters.pdf
Image Sources
I’ve read through a few of your posts here, and I think more people ought to try out these kinds of games when they “hang out” (I certainly would like to). Perhaps part of the reason many college students drink themselves into oblivion every weekend is because they have nothing else to do when they spend time with friends (although this is definitely an oversimplification). These games offer stimulation and an opportunity to get to know your friends better, or make new friends. This one in particular, however, does seem to require that the people playing know each other reasonably well.