Parlour Games
These games are intended as an opportunity for young people to flirt and be a bit more forward in conversation and action. Behaviour that wouldn't normally be permitted is somewhat allowed, often with an air of misbehaving behind the backs of your guardians - although older characters may join in as well and enjoy the temptation of leading younger characters astray.
Please note: Many of these games involve forfeits or physical interaction. Please be aware of the comfort levels of other players and adjust the intensity of your roleplay accordingly. A kiss could be a kiss in the air above the hand, on the hand, the cheek or the lips - if you are not sure what the other player would like, choose the least intense level possible or drop briefly OC and ask.
If a player asks you to adjust a forfeit because they are OC not comfortable doing it, please do so.
An IC reminder sheet of these games will be available at the ball and an NPC will be available at the start of the ball to encourage people to join in these games with an appropriate attitude.
Example Forfeits
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A kiss: to kiss the four corners of the room (people may stand to block them), to kiss the person you love best without anyone else knowing it (you kiss a large number of people to preserve their identity) , kiss someone "rabbit fashion" (each take a piece of cotton in the mouth and nibble towards each other until their mouths nearly touch), kiss someone "Spanish fashion" (you are assigned a "duenna" who does your kissing for you and then wipes your mouth with a wet handkerchief),
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Their company: For a dance, to the gaming table, to dine, or (for the daring) in marriage!
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An amusing task: recite a poem, tell a joke or sing a short song
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An embarrassing task to be done before the assembly e.g. asking someone of high rank to fetch you a drink or saying loudly to someone known to be polite "Fie, sir, how dare you to say such words to a respectable gentleperson"
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The answer to a personal question: "Who would you most like to dance with?", "Have you read The Marquise of O, The Libertine or Zofloya [all romantic/sexually suggestive novels, involving loss of chastity and out of wedlock pregnancies]"
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A silly task: to impersonate someone else, to mime out an animal doing a task, to answer all questions for the next few minutes with animal noises, to play a Grecian statue and allow themselves to be placed into several silly poses, to say a dozen flattering things about a specific person without using the letter "L"
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A cruel task: to forbid them to dance with their chosen partner for the next dance (which would be impolite), to steal their partner for the next dance, to forbid them to speak to a specific family for the next 10 minutes, a compromising note written to another
Forfeits may be done immediately, or all those accumulating them may write their names on a card to be saved until the end of a game.
Short Answers
The players are seated in a circle.
The first player starts by asking their right-hand neighbour any question. The neighbour replies with a single syllable word and then asks a new question to their right-hand neighbour, who also answers with a single syllable word. Play continues until the whole circle has answered a question.
Answers and questions cannot be repeated. Repeating an answer or a question means the offending character must undertake a forfeit chosen by their left-hand neighbour.
Answers may not be longer than one syllable. For each additional syllable, their left-hand neighbour may claim a forfeit.
The Aviary
Requires paper and a pen
Choose one person to be the birdkeeper - they will need the pen and paper.
The birdkeeper announces "Who shall be the birds in my aviary?"
All who wish to play select a bird and whispers their choice to the birdkeeper. If the bird is already in the aviary or too uncommon, as the player to choose another.
The birdkeeper announces "My aviary is complete; to whom shall you give your heart?".
Each player then announces a bird, and the birdkeeper notes the choices. Any who make a choice not on the list are immediately given a forfeit by the birdkeeper.
The birdkeeper announces "To whom shall you tell your secret?".
Each player then announces a bird, and the birdkeeper notes the choices. Any who make a choice not on the list are immediately given a forfeit by the birdkeeper.
The birdkeeper announces "From whom will you pluck a feather?".
Each player then announces a bird, and the birdkeeper notes the choices. Any who make a choice not on the list are immediately given a forfeit by the birdkeeper.
Once all the players have chosen, the birdkeeper reveals the identities of the birds one by one.
Those who have promised their heart to the bird, must kneel before them and beg for their favour.
Those who promised a secret to the bird must whisper it in their ear.
Those who plucked a feather from the bird can demand a forfeit from the revealed bird.
Buffy Gruffy
Requires 1 blindfold
All players sit in a circle. One is blindfolded and spins slowly in the centre while the others change places. Someone claps to start of the game.
The blindfolded player walks up to one of the seated people and sits on their lap (carefully!) and asks them three questions; the seated person may answer in any fashion they wish. The blindfolded player must then guess who they are. If correct, they win a forfeit and the seated player takes the blindfold. If wrong, they must move on to another.
If the blindfolded player gets three people incorrect, they yield the blindfold to the last person questioned without gaining a forfeit and must humbly beg the company's forgiveness for their ignorance.
Alternatively, the three questions can be replaced with animal noises, as in squeak piggy, squeak.
The Pauper's Duel
Requires two sheets of paper and two blindfolds.
Excellent for settling mild disputes in games.
Two players are blindfolded and given a "sword" (a rolled up piece of paper). The rest of the players form a circle around them. The two players lie down on the floor and ask each other questions - which the other must answer. They then attempt to hit each other based on the sounds.
The winner of the "duel" is the first to score three hits on the other player, as judged by the company watching.
Cross Questions and Crooked Answers
Players are seated in a circle.
The starting player asks their right-hand neighbour a question. Both the question and the response should be quite silly for example "What does the Duchess of York do with the Duke's candlesticks?" "Hide them from the cook, for fear of theft".
The player who answered then turns to their right-hand neighbour and asks a different question, for example, "What is the best use of a mirror?" "Admiring the Lord of Gloucester's reflection". This continues around the circle.
At the end of the game, each player must recite the question asked to them from their left and the answer they were given on their right. In the cases above it would be "My question was 'What does the Duchess of York do with the Duke's candlesticks?' and the answer is 'Admiring the Lord of Gloucester's reflection'". Any player who could not remember their question and answer must pay a forfeit to the company.​
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Marriages and Separations
This game can be used as a way of gauging potential partners attitude to marriage.
One person is appointed the Judge. They should be as biased and witty as possible.
The company forms into a circle walk slowly round until the judge indicates where the circle is to break. The circle then forms into two lines of equal length, starting with a pair where the circle broke. These are the couples.
Each couple, in turn, must take hands and approach the judge. Each then states their best and worst attributes and what they want in a marriage partner. The judge, guided by the reactions of the company, declares the pair either married or separates them.
Golden Pudding
Requires a bowl of flour, a knife and a coin or piece of cake.
Ask the staff to provide a bowl of flour and turn it out on a plate to form a stiff mound. Place the coin or cake on top.
Each player takes slices out of the flour until the coin or cake falls. Whoever made the last cut when it falls must then pick up the coin or cake using only their nose, chin and mouth. The prize is then theirs to keep.
"... till they find it and then take it out with their mouths of which
makes them strange figures all covered with flour
but the worst is that you must not laugh for fear of the flour
getting up your nose and mouth and choking you."
Letters of Jane Austen
Reverend Crawley's game
Requires at least seven players, preferably more.
All stand in a circle; closing eyes place your hands in the centre and grab the first other hands you touch. The company is now a knot, and you must untie it without letting go of the hands you are holding. The company must step over each other, crawl under people's arms, climb through gaps, and so on.
Impromptu Romance
The first player declares they will start a story, usually in the style of a gothic romance, with a loving couple, a villain and parental objections to overcome.
The first player will represent the first named character in the story. As soon as they name the second character, they point at another member of the company, who then continues the story and represents the new character.
The story continues and whenever a character is named, the player representing that character continues the story. Turns may last seconds or minutes, depending on the inventiveness of the players.
Patipata, Who Shall Kiss That?
A blindfold.
This game is itself often used as a forfeit.
A player is blindfolded and placed at the centre of the room. A member of the company selects an object or part of a part, and says "Patipata, who shall kiss that?"
The blindfolded player may name anyone in the room, and the named person must kiss where indicated. When the player says "I", must perform the kiss themselves and are then free to choose the next person to be blindfolded, or to end the game.