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5 games to play through the mail

Dawn Mayo,

Liven up your letters and cards by inserting a fun activity you can play with friends. The idea of trying to play a game through the mail seems like it’d be difficult, but it’s a fun way to engage with a friend in a mini competition. What kind of games can you play through the mail, though? Here are a few ideas to get your started on play-by-post games:

1. Scavenger hunt
Come up with an item or location you want your friend to find. This is a fun way for you and your pen pal to get a little adventurous. Take a picture of each accomplished item to send to your friend or post on Instagram. You can list items that are fairly broad or look up activities around your friend’s location to give more specific demands. For instance, some fun broad options might include:

  • Shake hands with a statue.
  • Inspect cool graffiti.
  • Find a unique thrift store item.
  • Take a picture with your favorite waiter/waitress.

Get creative with your requests to make the game more fun. However, make sure you’re not asking your friend to go outside his or her comfort zone. For instance, if you know someone is shy, you might want to avoid asking the person to do activities that involve asking strangers for their picture.

2. Riddles
Inserting a little riddle into your letter will give your friend something to think about for the next couple of days. Make sure you write the puzzle on a separate piece of personalized stationery so your pen pal can place the question on a pinboard or on the fridge. If the person can’t figure out the solution to the riddle, send a clue. If he or she still doesn’t know, then go ahead and send the answer. This game is a great way to encourage thinking outside the box and start conversations.

3. Hangman
This is an easy game that anyone will know how to play. Draw a little picture of a hangman’s noose on a piece of paper to pass back and forth with your friend. However, make sure you write the solution to the puzzle down in a safe place so you don’t forget the final message. To make opening the paper more exciting each time, add a little decoration or character around the edges of the game. At the end of the puzzle, you’ll have a unique piece of art to remind you or your friend and the good time you had playing the game.

4. Scrabble
A little more intense than hangman, but you can play Scrabble just as easily. Draw out a scrabble board on a sheet of paper with squares big enough to fit the letters. This game works best if you’re willing to keep a scrabble board and pieces out for reference. You can play the game with your pen pal by sending them a slip of paper containing the letters they can use along with the sketch of the board. Have the person write the word they want to play on the paper board, and cross off the letters they used. When you receive the letter containing the game, remove those pieces from the person’s stand and give them new ones, marking them down on a slip of paper. Then, play your own word and note it on the mobile board. Keep repeating these steps until the game is over.

5. Chess
You might be surprised to know that The United States Chess Federation actually has a page on their website dedicated to explaining the rules of correspondence chess. You can either play a person one-on-one or do a tournament. However, if you just want to play with a friend, what you’ll need is a chess board to mark each person’s turn and an agreement on how you’ll be relaying moves. Usually, chess players use algebraic notations, but you don’t have to do this.

After you’ve determined this information and who will be white or black, start sending moves. Continue this way until the game has ended. A game like this doesn’t take up much space to note a new piece position, so consider simply sending a postcard if you don’t feel like writing a whole message.

Tweak these games to make them your own and personalize them for you and your friends. Try coming up with your own game ideas as well. You might be surprised by what you play through the mail.

12 Fun Games to Play With Pen and Paper

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Looking for games to play with pen and paper? We all find ourselves in times where it’s important to keep the kids quiet and we only have a few resources to do so. Well, these options are the perfect choices to entertain, bring on the laughs, and stimulate the mind.

Consider these waiting games, quick boredom busters, or just plain old fun activities to do during upcoming get-togethers with family and friends. And what do you need to get started? Just a pen and paper!

How do you entertain yourself with a pen and paper?

There are so many different games you can play with only a pen and paper. From strategy games to silly time passers, most times you really just need a napkin to get started! Don’t overthink it! All these iPads and computers have confused us into thinking we need so much more to have fun.

But we don’t. We just need a sense of humor and some time on our hands to pass.

What games can you play with a pen and paper?

We found 12 different games that you can play without plugging in or going online:

  1. Dots and Boxes
  2. Freehand drawing
  3. Tic Tac Toe
  4. Dictionary
  5. Mash
  6. Fortune Teller
  7. Paper Telephone
  8. Hangman
  9. Bulls and Cows
  10. Consequences
  11. Pangrams
  12. Word Ladders

No matter what situation you’re in, there’s a pen and paper game for every instance!

Dots and Boxes

I grew up playing this game! Start by drawing a grid of dots on a sheet of paper. You can select whatever grid size you’d want. A grid of six-by-six is suitable for younger children. Advanced players may want to use the entire sheet of paper.

Two or more players alternate with different colored pens or pencils and draw lines in the middle of dots. The object of the game is to create boxes while preventing their opponent from doing the same thing. You make a box by lining up four of your lines in a row.

When a player completes a block, he/she marks their initials in the center of the box. After connecting all the dots, the participant having the highest completed block wins the game.

Freehand drawing

The game allows you to express your creativity as you please. All you need is a pen and paper and you can start putting down your ideas as they enter your mind. Freehand drawing is actually quite therapeutic and I encourage my children to draw as often as possible. Looking for more drawing ideas?

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Tic Tac Toe

The simple tic-tac-toe game is a two-player game using Xs and Os. The game begins with nine squares created by three rows and three columns.

A player starts by putting an X in a field. The next player writes an O in another space. The game carries on until three Xs or Os are in a row, or all space is filled.

It is not guaranteed that someone will win each round. More often than not you will find that a TIE will occur.

Related: 10 Quiet Games For Kids To Play That They Will Love

Pictionary

Like to draw? Looking to express yourself. Pictionary is a really fun game to play with friends and you really only need a pen and paper to do it.

First, cut up a few pieces of paper and write out some random words – things you want to draw. Make sure you list out a few dozen ideas to keep things fair.

Then, break out into teams and grab from the pile and get to work! When it’s your turn, pick a mystery word from the pile and start drawing without using any sounds or body motions. You only have 60 seconds to get as many drawings completed as possible. Every word guessed correctly gets your team a point!

Related: 12 Easy Card Games For Your Next Family Game Night

Mash

The game’s goal is to see into the future and represents all of my elementary school years.

You start out by writing M.A.S.H., to the top of your paper. These letters signify mansion, apartment, shack and house. Now, it’s time to create some categories and have some fun. Imagine the life you want to have. Anything goes!

Here are some categories you can consider:

  • Spouse Name
  • Profession
  • Car Type
  • Number of Kids
  • City I Will Live In
  • Dog I Will Own

You catch the drift. Write at least 4 answers under every category. But here is the catch. One answer has to be BAD. REALLY BAD. Like the worst of the worst!

Then, when you are done filling out your potential future, beginning from the M.A.S.H. at the top, the fortuneteller counts all entry and eliminates every fifth choice. This continues until only one option remains in every category.

When one item is left in every category – THAT is your future. When I tell you that we did this every single day of my life, believe me.

Related: 15 Fun Team Building Games For Kids That Important Teach Life Skills

Fortune Teller

Often called a cootie catcher, this Fortune Teller game is another absolute classic! My daughter still plays it TO THIS DAY. Simply fold the paper as shown in the video above and read the fortune of all your family and friends.

Make sure you include positive and negative options. The fortunes are only limited to the imagination of the creator.

Related: 10 Games To Play With Friends When Bored And Losing Your Mind

Paper Telephone

For Paper Telephone, you will need three or more people, each starting with a sheet of paper. Each player draws a picture at the upper part of the page, and pass it along to the next player. 

With this paper, everyone pens a sentence under the picture then folds over the top of the sheet so that only the caption is visible. 

The paper moves to the next player who then draws a picture to match the sentence—every player folds the sheet again so that only the image is visible and passes it on.  

This continues until there isn’t any more room and the players can open up the paper and be entertained! Does the last image or message MATCH the original intent? I love this!!

Consequences

Similar to Paper Telephone, Consequences is a group story telling game. The goal of this game is to complete a template story using your own characters, narratives, and plots. Everyone writes it together!

You do this by taking turns writing out bits and pieces of the story. Take turns reading what was written before you and then creatively adding to the plotline.

This is a great game to play with pen and paper because it stimulates the mind and gets those creative juices flowing!

Hangman

Hangman is a guessing game that requires a minimum of two players. One player considers a word or sentence while the other players try to figure out that phrase by hinting some letter within a certain number of guesses.

Word Bulls & Cows

Each player creates a secret sequence of four numbers. The player’s alternately predicts the number using “Bulls” to signify the correct number of digits in the right place and “Cows” to represent correct numbers in the wrong place for each number guessed.

The game’s objective is to figure out the secret order using the least amount of rounds. It’s better to watch a game in action. Check out this video for full instructions.

Pangrams

The game is actually harder than you think. A pangram is a sentence using every letter of the alphabet at least once. Two players have to choose a TOPIC and then try to come up with a sentence before one another.

The sentence has to be grammatically correct, make sense, and FIT WITHIN the theme. For example, if your topic is about pirates, you can’t weave in anything about spaceships. That wouldn’t work historically.

This is a game of WIT and I can guarantee it will become a family favorite. Whip this idea out during long car rides to help pass the time.

Word Ladders

Also called Doublets – Word Ladders requires two players.

The players select a word having the same number of letters. Both players attempt to form a word ladder in the middle of the two words. The winner is the player that has the shortest ladder.

Basically, you are creating a series of words where only one letter changes with each step. Watch the tutorial for more instruction.

There are plenty of options to do with friends when you don’t have WIFI and you only have some paper and a few pencils or pens. With just a little creativity and some time, you will be laughing in no time!

Which of these paper and pen games did you like the best?

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15 Games You Can Play With Friends

It's fun to play exciting VR games or immersive single-player PC games, but sometimes you might want to play with something simpler. Games can be too time consuming and demanding, so why not look for fun games to play with your friends via text?

In this article, we'll take a look at some of the most fun text games you can play via SMS. All you need is a smartphone and it doesn't even have to be fancy. So get creative and have fun! nine0003

1. I'm a spy

A favorite game of all generations, often played on family trips, can be played via text messages. Find an object of interest and ask your friends to guess what your eyes are on. Warn them by describing where you are and the first letter of the property you have chosen. You can limit how often your friends can guess or give them more hints after each wrong answer.

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2. I have never been

Never Have I Ever is another familiar game that is usually played face to face but it works well when played via text messages or chat apps like Whatsapp. Just send a text message "I've never done this" and add a statement about something you've never done before. Keep in mind that you want to make the game fun, so think of something dirty, flirtatious, secret, or silly. nine0003

Never Have I Ever is mostly played as a drinking game, which is hard to do with text, but think of other fun ways to punish your friends that give a positive response. For example, ask to send the dumbest photo to a group chat or post a shameful story on social media.

3. Trivia Questions

Trivia Questions is a great party game in which you select a category from which you will ask your friends text questions. Spice up the game with a scoring system and reward your friends with simple gifts like buying a drink for the winner. You can ask questions about movies, music, the game world, or anything you have in common with your friends. nine0003

4. Abbreviations

In this simple game you send your friends a text message with a sentence abbreviation and they have to guess the full sentence. You can use sentences to describe what you are currently doing or thinking about. For example, if you send "IBANI" to your friends, they should understand that you are saying "I'm buying a new iPhone".

This game is just as interesting as your friend's art and you can expect to get even some rude answers. Help your friends by sending more emails every time they can't guess your acronym. nine0003

5. Kiss, marry, kill

Name three people, whether they are celebrities or someone you know or even movie characters, and ask your friends who they will kiss, marry and kill. Spice up the game by naming someone you know your friend is in love with or someone they don't like. Keep in mind that this is all meant to be a joke. The ultimate goal is to have fun, not offend anyone.

6. Emoji Translation

Emoji Translation is one of the best texting games that can be played via SMS or group chats. Send your friends a text message made up entirely of emoticons. Their task is to interpret your message and send a response. There are so many emojis available and the only limit to play is your imagination. Expect some funny responses and pick a winner based on who came closest to the proposal you came up with. nine0003

7. Would You Rather

"Would You Rather" is very popular on Reddit and it's the perfect long distance game. Ask your friends funny "would you prefer x or y" questions and fill in the gaps with something funny. Here's an example: "Would you rather fight 100 ninjas with Chuck Norris by your side or fight Chuck Norris with 100 ninjas by your side?". Ask your friends to explain their choices and expect you to have fun reading their whimsical answers. nine0003

8. Story Time

Also known as Story Builder, this is a very creative game. As you probably guessed from the name of the game, you and your friends need to develop a story by taking turns writing one sentence at a time. The story can go on as long as you like. You can even build one over the course of days or weeks and see how far you can go.

Alternatively, you can go word by word instead of sentences, but this version of Fairy Time is much longer. Start with something as simple as "Once upon a time..." and your friends will immediately pick up the game. nine0003

9. Where am I?

Like I Spy, Where Am I is a game where you send text messages to your friends and ask them to locate you. You will need to describe your surroundings and what you see via SMS or chat, but keep it simple so as not to give away too much information. For example, if you're at McDonald's, just type "Food, car, clown" and let your friends guess where you are.

Truth or Dare

Everyone knows the game Truth or Dare and it can be equally fun to play via SMS or group chats. Ask your friends to choose truth or dare and wait for their answer. If they're telling the truth, which is the easy part, just ask them any question. But you'll have to be more creative if they choose "dare". Give them a fun, maybe a little embarrassing task, and ask for a photo or video to prove it was done.

11. Lyrics

To play this game, you and your friends must have at least similar musical tastes. Song Lyrics is a game where you have to write a line from a song and then ask your friend to guess what song it is from. After that, you can go back and forth by typing the next line in the song.

12. The Executioner

Traditionally, Hangman is played with a pen and paper, and it is hard to imagine the game without a hanging small figurine. But if you think about it, the executioner usually has six guesses before the whole figure is drawn. nine0003

Limit the number of times your friend tries to find the correct answer and you won't need pen and paper. Send an SMS to your friend with the underscores where the letters should be, and when they respond with a note in the word you came up with, send the underscores again with the correct letter in the right place.

13. Unpopular opinion

Not all people are the same, and each person has his own opinion on a particular topic. But some ideas are popular, that is, they are shared by most people. The Unpopular Opinion game will allow you to voice different feelings, for example about a movie that everyone seems to like. nine0003

Send a text message to your friends, loved ones or family: "Unpopular opinion: The Marvel franchise sucks" and wait for their response. Many people take popular and unpopular opinions personally, so be careful not to offend anyone. In general, they should respond to your post with an unpopular opinion after a strong debate.

14. Riddles

Riddles is a universal game that can be played on any platform. It's perfect for text messages and group chats and is especially fun when you're playing with your partner or friends. Send them your favorite riddle or take inspiration from Subreddits. When your opponent gives the correct answer, it is your turn to answer it. nine0003

15. What if?

"What if?" this is the perfect game for those who have a rich imagination and who like to dream. Put yourself and your friends, spouse or children in an imaginary situation and ask them what they would do in this scenario. Their answers may surprise you and you may learn something new about your loved ones. After they answer, they can either ask you the same question or ask you a new one.

What are the most fun text based games you have ever played? Let us know in the comments below! nine0003

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12 interesting games for two by correspondence :: Infoniak

15 Sep, 2022 08:00 20964 Helpful tips

18+

Collections

Don't know what to play with your boyfriend or girlfriend?

If you are in a long distance relationship, or you are bored with just chatting online, you can try any of the sms games for couples. nine0003

We have compiled a list of the most interesting and fun games that will help you get to know each other better and have fun, even if you are far away from each other.

What's more, these games can spice up ordinary text conversations.

1. Think for yourself

This is a mischievous and flirtatious text game that lets you know if you and your partner are on the same wavelength.

How to play nine0003

Write your partner an incomplete sentence and ask him/her to fill in the blanks!

For example: " You miss me when ___ " or " I've been thinking about you since ___ ".

2. Emoji

This game is a fun way to express what you want to say.

How to play

Step 1: Create a series of emoticons to express what you want to say. nine0003

Step 2: Send it to your partner so they can guess what you want to say.

3. "I never..."


In this text game, phrase the question to your partner like this: " I've never … ", adding something provocative, like " I've never kissed a girl/boyfriend ".

Read also: 200 interesting and spicy questions for the game "I never"

If the partner is a girl, and she really never kissed a girl, for example, then everything is fine, and the game continues, but if the other way around, you need to give her a penalty task.

4. "Search" or "I Spy"

This fun and flirty texting game lets your imagination run wild. Before you start, remember that you can ask about things in your room and not online or anywhere else. nine0003

How to play

You can think of something that can be seen where you are (for example, in your room).

Step 1: Look around your room and select an item.

Step 2: Write to your partner: " I'm looking for ... " (finish the sentence by describing the object, such as a teddy bear). You get " I'm looking for something soft ".

Step 3: Your partner can tell you it's a pillow. nine0003

Step 4: If the answer is wrong, you can help him guess by giving hints.

This conversation can be flirtatious and allow you to learn more about your relationship. However, make sure you set some rules ahead of time, such as that you can't guess things in closets, but only things that you can see without touching anything with your hands and feet.

5. Kiss, marry or kill

The rules of this game are quite simple. You just need to provide your partner with three people you know and have him/her say who he/she would kiss, marry (marry) and kill. nine0003

6. Truth or Dare

Few people do not know the rules of this game, but we still remind you.

Read also: 200+ Tricky Truth or Dare Questions

How to play

Step 1: Ask your partner to choose "truth" or "dare".

Step 2: If they choose the truth, ask him/her to truthfully answer the question you specifically made up. nine0003

Step 3: If your partner chooses to challenge, give a fun challenge and don't forget to ask for photo or video proof of completing it.

7. Would you prefer / prefer


This is a fun and engaging text game for couples, allowing you to immerse yourself even more in your partner's worldview. It is suitable for those who have recently started dating, as it allows you to learn about the preferences and character of your partner. Playing this game is pretty easy - you just need to ask a few questions. nine0003

Read also: 50 great questions for the game "What would you choose?"

Ask each other the most daring or strange questions, for example: " Would you rather / would you rather not brush your teeth for a month or the Internet? ".

8. What if...

In this game, you ask your partner any question, a hypothetical situation. You can get creative by asking quirky and eccentric questions, such as: nine0003

" What if you were left on the island for a week? "

9. Making stories

If you love making up stories and developing plots, this game is for you. This fun texting game will take your imagination to the next level.

To get started, come up with the beginning of the story and write the first line to your partner. For example: " Once upon a time in the forest there was a beautiful girl ".

Ask your partner to add one phrase to the story. So the game can go on for a very long time, and the scenario will be extremely unpredictable.

10. Guess the song or movie from the text

This text messaging game requires knowledge of songs.

All you have to do is send your partner any random movie dialogue or song snippet and ask them to complete it or at least guess the movie or artist. nine0003

11. Complete the phrase

Another fun and flirtatious game where one partner sends an unfinished proposal and the other has to complete it.

To start this game, formulate an unfinished sentence and ask your partner to complete it.

For example: " I just got back from work, opened my closet and _ ", or " I just went into my room and found _ ". nine0003

Then change places.

12. Where am I?

This is a fun texting game that will keep you busy for hours.

How to play

Step 1: Describe the surroundings of the place where you are or have been. Make sure the place is familiar to both of you.

Step 2: Your partner must guess the location within 2 minutes.

The best part about this game is that you don't have to be physically present at the location you describe to your partner. You can talk about places you've both been together or popular places of interest.

Learn more