Fishbowl

Three games, one bowl

Fishbowl is what happens when three party games share one bowl. Everyone writes a few words or phrases on slips of paper (inside jokes encouraged, this matters later) and drops them in. Teams take turns pulling slips and getting their side to guess, against a timer.

The trick: it's the same slips all three rounds. By round two, everyone has heard every word. By round three, you're acting out "quiet quitting" in complete silence and somehow everyone knows. The game manufactures its own inside jokes in real time, which is why no two groups ever play the same game of Fishbowl.

It costs nothing, scales from a dinner party to a family reunion, and works over video with a shared doc standing in for the bowl. If your group has never played it, cancel your other plans.

Slips, teams, sixty seconds

1. Everyone writes 3 slips. A word or phrase per slip. Names, movies, inside jokes, "the economy." Fold them, into the bowl.
2. Split into two teams and sit alternating, so you're next to opponents. On a video call, just call the teams.
3. 60 seconds a turn. Pull a slip, make your team guess it, pull the next. Every guessed slip is a point.
4. When the bowl's empty, the round ends. Refill it with the same slips and switch rules. Most points after round three wins.

Describe it, one word, act it out

Round one, describe it. Say anything except the word itself. Taboo, basically. Feels easy. This is a trap.

Round two, one word only. Your entire vocabulary is now a single word. Choose wisely, point aggressively.

Round three, act it out. No words at all. Charades with the same slips. This is where friendships go to die.