Games You Don't Think About #8: getting the audience to join in

Toys
Your voice.
An audience.
(recommended: Words of persuasion)
(optional: other musical instruments)

Scoring:
The volume of the audience during the chorus (or repeated sections).

Restrictions/Rules:
none I can think of

Time to play:
2-12 minutes (basically, slightly more than the length of the song)

Tips/clarifications:
tip1 - if the audience sings a section that you DO NOT (maybe echoing a portion or maybe a chorus that you shut up for)
tip2 - it can help to quickly reinforce the idea of crowd participation before your song. Some people aren't sure if it's OK.

Good points
Pleasure of pleasing others.
Different audiences make for different play experiences.
Audience can give surprising responses, necessiating quick thinking.

Negatives
How well this goes can depend heavily upon audience. A room full of musicians is nearly always more eager to join in.

Games You Don't Think About #7: Licking a knife

Toys
A sharp knife, covered in some tasty residue (e.g. tomoatoey bits).
Your tongue.

Winning Condition:
The blade appears clean and your tongue is not cut.

Restrictions/Rules:
Only your tongue

Time to play:
20 seconds

Tips/clarifications:
I recommend licking at a slight angle, to avoid accidents.

Good points
A feeling of slight rebellion.
Tasty goodness!
A slight feeling of danger.

Negatives
Chance of injury.
Soon becomes easy.

Games You Don't Think About #6: balancing a bottle

Toys
Your hand
a bottle (I recommend a plastic one, personally playing with the type used for tonic water though any long cylindrical object may work OK)

Scoring:
Your score is the length of the game. Longer times are better.

Restrictions/Rules:
Before the game begins, place the neck of the bottle on the palm of a chosen hand, so the bottle is standing vertically.

Once the game begins, nothing may touch the bottle apart from the palm of that hand and the hand may only touch the rim of the neck.

The game begins when the bottle touches something else or is no longer in contact with the hand (usually due to falling over).

Time to play:
2 seconds-4 minutes

Good points
Constant immediate feedback - both visually and through touch.
Very 'juicy' - a tiny input (hand movement) has a massive effect on the game state.
Rapid/constant changes in game state. Results in constant excitement.

Negatives
Several successive short-lived games can be demoralising.
Game lacks any progression - game state never progresses beyond where it may have started.

Games You Don't Think About #5: Pondering symmetrical numbers on a digital clock

Toys
- Knowledge of a digital clock face with a seven segment display (an actual clockface of this sort can be used as a reference, but is not required)
- pictures in your imagination.
Winning Condition:
- decide how many possible time configurations exist on a 24-hour digital clock (with a 7-segment display) that possess symmetry.
Restrictions/Rules:
- none
Time to play:
- 1-5 minutes
Tips/clarifications:
- consider both reflection symmetry and rotational symmetry
- 1
Good points
- requires visualisation to complete - a moderately unusual thing
- multiple routes to completion. With multiple numbers possessing symmetry but various rules (governing time) dictating what numerals may appear where, it's up to players to consider and apply these rules as they see fit to their mental model.
- no confirmation of success. Means answers must be double-checked and requires some confidence in the answer.
Negatives
- like all genuine puzzles, it can only be played once
- no confirmation of success. Can result in uncertainty and a general uneasiness.

Games You Don't Think About #4: reach a top-speed on a bike

Toys
- a bicycle
- some sort of working speedometer (can be bought for £5) that shows the top speed and has been reset at the start of the game
- legs
- terrain
Winning Condition:
- your score is your maximum speed reached
Restrictions/Rules:
- you may not attach an engine to the bicycle - speed reached should be thanks to legpower and terrain.
Time to play:
- a game can range from a minute to a few days
Good points
- exhilaration from sensation of speed and wind in your face
- method of improvement is obvious (pedal faster/get bigger muscles)
- variance, in the form of changing terrain and wind conditions
- immediate feedback of score (the speed being near-instantly relayed)
- constant feedback of all other important factors (we can see the terrain changing or oncoming dangers; feel the wind or our muscles tiring)
Negatives
- possibility of death or injury, depending on location and lack of care taken

Games You Don't Think About #3: Balancing a ball whilst upside down.

Toys
- a large ball. The one I used had a diameter of around 1m
- your feet
Winning Condition:
- If your legs are fully outstretched, you win.
- for a 'bigger win', raise your feet higher
Restrictions/Rules:
- The ball must rest above the soles of your feet, touching nothing but the soles of your feet.
- Get no outside human help with the balancing.
- The soles of your feet may NOT be facing each other. (i.e. do not just 'trap the ball' between your feet.)
Time to play:
- about 1-2 minutes per game
Tips/clarifications:
- To begin, your back shoulderblades would be on the floor, with your legs bent in the air, soles facing upwards. Before the game begins, you may place the ball on the soles of your feet with your hands. Now try to straighten your legs whilst balancing the ball.
- Avoid doing this near easily-breakable things.
Good points
- very 'juicy'. A slight change in foot angle will make all the difference in whether the ball falls off or not, as well as what direction.
- Variance. Since the juiciness feeds into the win objective, it makes for varied games - even after winning once, future success is not assured.
- New skills to learn. I don't personally often balance things above the soles of my feet, so doing so meant I had to master a new set of skills, 'reading the sensations' to keep my feet angled correctly.
Negatives
- Potential of breakages. (Though this hasn't happened with me yet.)
- Unsuitable for the old or infirm?
- A large ball isn't a ubiquitous item.

Games You Don't Think About #2: organising eggs

This game is most often played immediately after taking some eggs out of a carton to cook.

Toys
- a non-full egg carton
Winning Condition:
- If the positioning of the eggs is exactly symmetrical along the vertical axis AND the top half contains more eggs than the bottom, you win.
Restrictions/Rules:
- none
Time to play:
1-5 seconds-ish
Good points
- results in an aesthetically pleasing win condition.
Negatives
- when the winning condition is possible, deducing it is so simple as to not really be a puzzle.
- Very few iterations of the game exist and each game will play very similarly. Due to this repetition and lack of variation, it can become work rather than a game.
- Impossible to win with an odd number of eggs in a 12-egg carton, meaning that cooking another egg is necessary to win.

Games You Don't Think About #1: licking your plate clean

Toys
- a plate, covered with the residue of recently eaten foodstuff. The residue of a pudding with sauce (e.g. sticky toffee pudding) works well, as can the residue of a good Chinese take away.
- you also need a tongue.

Winning Condition:
- When no residue is visible, you win.

Restrictions/Rules:
- In order to remove residue from the plate, you may only use your tongue.

Why I enjoy it:
- Perhaps it's thanks to me breaking social conventions? More likely, it's because I enjoy the taste of food and having it linger over a longer period makes for more satisfaction and tasty enjoyment. The tactile quality of the tongue-workout probably also has something to do with it.