It’s game night. Between 7 and 17 friends are gathered in my basement. We all want to play a game together, but don’t have anything great for that number – at least not on hand. We’re stuck!
The above scenario has happened to me a shocking amount of times. Sure, we could split up and play smaller games – but we don’t want to! We could buy something for that number, but no one has done so yet. And so, over the last few years, we’ve developed a simple game that has slowly come to be known as Deduction Name Game.
Deduction Name Game is a party game aimed at guessing the secret names of other players. To start, each player will write down a secret name. Players should try to write a name not easily connected with themselves, as the goal is to deduce the names each player has secretly written. All written names will be placed into a bowl, and read out loud once. The starting player tries to guess the name of another player. If they are right, they get that player as their teammate! If they are wrong, that player becomes the guesser, and the game continues.
I am not sure exactly where this game came from (my wife Anna, probably), but we’ve played it so many times, I wanted to codify the rules. And so I have.
You can check out Deduction Name Game for free here, which includes Secret Name slips of paper!
I’ve enjoyed this game quite a bit as the years have passed and we’ve tweaked the few rules that exist. I wanted to make sure others, who might have a similar problem as mine (too many people for one game) have a fun and engaging solution – Deduction Name Game!
Paper Dice Games 