We were invited round to dinner by some friends from church today and, after a lovely meal, the afternoon entertainment was The Hat Game. This is a wonderful parlour game that just needs a hat, some pieces of paper and some pens. Each player writes things on each piece of paper and places them, folded in two, into a hat. The group then splits into two teams who play against each other. In the first round, one of the players from the first team has 30 seconds pick out papers from the hat and describe them without using any of the written words. If the team mates guess it, that slip of paper is kept and another can be attempted until the 30 seconds has elapsed. Players alternate at the lead role as the hat passes from one team to the other.

The winner of the round is the team with the most slips of paper amassed and then they all go back into the hat for round two, where winning a slip of paper requires acting it out. Round three allows a single word to be given to suggest what is on the card – tricky although, by this time, you are starting to get quite familiar with the selection. For example, I said “Vader” and my team guessed “The Empire Strikes Back” since it was the only Star Wars film to have been on the cards. You can continue for further rounds with different ways to give clues as long as energy and imagination persist.

We played the same game a couple of weeks ago but with slightly different rules but that’s fine. No box, no purchase required and oodles of fun!