In days of yore, when diversions were cheap and most would not land you in jail, the bro's at the venerable Kappa Sigma house who didn't have dates would sit around, alter the mood with the consumable of choice and play the Dissociation Game.
Basically, it consisted of somebody starting by naming a thing (it's most easily done with nouns - read on). The next person would name a thing which had absolutely nothing to do with the first thing, and so forth.
E.g.:
#1: "Phone booth" #2: "Linoleum" #3: "Race Car"
The rules were loose - if a connection could be found, it was simply shouted out, and if it was too obscure then the objector would be banished, flogged, forced to drink/not drink, etc. If valid, then the last commentator would suffer whatever the nights' punishment might be.
Connections as elementary as "It exists," or "They both contain vowels," were not acknowledged as they would considerably shorten the game. But if somebody said "Football" and the next commentator said "Bacon" then the "Pig" commonality could be used as an objection.
Much like Camembert or bungee jumping, this is much more enjoyable after having been tried once or twice. Really.-- corquando, Apr 14 2004 This isn't the way to halfbaked nirvana.
That being said; welcome to the Halfbakery.-- dpsyplc, Apr 14 2004 See? You're playing already.
The number of steps is irrelevant - it's their strength that counts and the maintenance of connectivity throughout. Zanzibar's chain is a good example.
The challenge is to not make the obvious connection: If somebody said "Albatross", then one would naturally conjure images of birds, the ocean, poop covered rocks, eggs, feet or an encumberment.
So a possible next step might be: Hubcap. The fun is in the objection and dissection of the objection by the players.
There is a time limit, though; usually about 3-5 seconds per turn. Objections go until settled. They can last a minute or 4 easily.
BTW, dypsyplc, thanks. I'll learn as I go.-- corquando, Apr 15 2004 No. The game actually is to name another word that has nothing to do with the first word to the extent that nobody can fabricate a connection of arbitrarily acceptable complexity between the two words. If one can, the ensuing lively debate and repartee is another dimension of play.-- corquando, Apr 15 2004 So in other words, 'Good idea...... this posting.'-- RayfordSteele, Apr 15 2004 The loser should have to do a line of ketamine instead.-- Monkfish, Apr 15 2004 random, halfbakery