Have you ever played the Metaphor Game? This is a game that can be as enjoyable as Charades, Dictionary, or Pictionary – my other three favorite dinner, classroom, or party games.
The Metaphor Game is played like this: One person thinks of someone who everyone in the room knows fairly well. Circling in order (so that everyone – even the shy ones – gets a turn), each person asks a metaphor question. Some classic examples:
“If this person were a tree, which tree would it be?”
“If this person were a car, what kind of car would it be?”
“If this person were a building, what would it look like?”
You might be surprised how imaginative some of the questions are, and how precise the answer can be in describing the person. The guessing begins after the players have begun piecing a possible person together and when they have that ‘aha!’ moment.
We play it that once someone has made a guess at the person, they’re not allowed to guess again – this prevents too much random ‘guessing.’ But we do allow them to go on coming up with metaphor questions. You can vary the rules to suit your group.
Some intriguing metaphor questions I’ve heard include:
“What kind of hat?”
“What sort of dessert?”
“What direction: north, south, east, or west?” (I had the person describe which each of those directions evoked – the reply was fascinating.)
“What season?”
“What kind of weather?”
“What type of stone or crystal?”
You can ask anything that evokes a picture of a person. You can also have fun by using celebrities or politicians as the people being described. That works well if you’re in a group where not everyone knows each other very well.
The person who guesses the correct answer gets to choose someone next. Again, you can vary this rule, as I do, so that everyone gets a chance to think about metaphors to describe their person and respond thoughtfully to the questions being asked.
Have fun!