Signs is a pretty easy game that requires teamwork and keen observation. It may not be the most appealing game for others, but people who enjoy it tend to play this game a lot.
This game is perfect for a group of ten to twenty persons. Unlike other games, this only requires the players to sit down and do a lot of starings. The main goal of this game is to guess who has the “invisible ball.” As simple as it sounds, this game requires a lot of observation skills and patience. Also, stealth is needed for the ball passers to be successful in this game.
Gameplay
Have all the players gather around and form a circle.
Each player needs to create a unique hand sign and show it to the group. All of the players must try to memorize most, if not all, of the hand signs.
Everybody should be familiar with each other’s hand signs, so we can proceed with choosing the person who will be in the middle. The person in the middle is required to close his or her eyes before the actual game begins. While doing this, the rest of the players will select the person who will start holding the “invisible ball.”
Once done, the passing of the ball may now begin. The first person, which the group selected to hold the ball, may pass it to other players. For a player to pass, he or she needs to do the hand sign of the person who will receive the ball. For example, if player A is going to give the ball to player B, he or she needs to do player B’s hand sign. After doing so, player B should do his or her sign as well, implying that the ball is received.
The ball will remain to the person attempting to make the pass, as long as the receiver does not do the counter hand sign. Every time you are passing the ball, make sure that the receiver is looking at you to avoid confusion and have the ball stuck.
So, it is vital in the game to stay focus and always look at other players in the eyes. This way, you will be aware that another player is going to pass you the ball.
The person in the middle will now continually look at other players and try to guess who has the ball. To do this, he or she needs to stay focus and observe the movements of other players. If the person in the middle suspects a player to having the ball, he or she can call them out. If the guess is right, the player wins, and the game will restart from the beginning, choosing a different person in the middle. However, if the assumption is incorrect, it will reduce the number of chances the player can make a guess, which is usually three to five guesses.
In a case that the ball will be misplaced or apparent confusion is present in the game, there would be an option to restart the game from the beginning.
Popular Variant:
Newspaper –
This game is like the Signs, although it’s not as quiet as Signs. This game is the perfect activity for getting-to-know each other. Similar to Signs, there is one person in the middle, while other players are sitting on a circle. However, in this game, the main goal of the middle person is to whack other players using a newspaper. Instead of using an invisible ball and hand signs, the players on the circle will call out each other’s name. Whoever is the last person called should call out the next person. Failing to do so, the middle person would have the opportunity to whack him or her using a newspaper.