Games and Puzzles for One or More

It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
Sherlock Holmes

TNT

This game is for 2 players. If you can keep score in your head, you don’t need anything to play; otherwise you might want a piece of paper and something to write with. You win by outscoring your opponent, and you get points by asking for them, but there are a few restrictions.

• On each turn, each player asks for either 1 or 2 points.
• If both players ask for 1 point, both get a point.
• If both players ask for 2 points, neither gets any points.
• If one player asks for 2 points and the opponent asks for 1 point, the player asking for 2 gets 2 points; the opponent gets nothing.

To ask for points, each player makes a fist, and both players tap their fists 3 times together on a real or imaginary table. On the 3rd tap, each player extends either 1 or 2 fingers.

Challenge the computer

If you have more than 2 players, divide them into teams and either play for a fixed length of time or a fixed number of turns. Even with just 2 players, you can use different strategies to try for a higher score than previous games.

Simulated Psychic

Who has the power?

This game is for 3 or more players but works best with a larger group. There are numerous variants, all requiring "psychic sender" and "psychic receiver" collaborators who know the secret. The other players must try to figure out the system and if successful, become "senders" or "receivers" themselves. One simple variation doesn’t require any props. The "sender" says "Anyone who has the power, please leave the room". All "receivers" leave so they can’t see what happens next. The "sender" then points to someone still in the room. When the "receiver" returns, they point to the designated person. The "sender" and "receiver" can develop their own secret system, but one simple procedure uses the "first to speak" principle. After the "sender" says "Anyone who has the power..." the next person to speak is designated by the "sender". Since several people usually speak between the time the "receiver" leaves and returns, it isn’t so easy to figure out. If nobody speaks by the time the "receiver" is ready to leave, the "sender" or "receiver" may speak and therefore be designated.

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Nine Magazines

With a "magic wand" and 9 magazines or other rectangular objects about the same size, the "receiver" leaves and someone in the group points to one of the magazines. The "receiver" returns and the "sender" taps the magazines randomly with the "magic wand". As the "sender" taps the designated magazine, the "receiver" says, "stop". The magazines are arranged in 3 columns of 3 rows each. The "sender" and "receiver" imagine that the cover of each magazine is divided into 9 regions, each region corresponding to one of the 9 magazines. The "sender" taps on the region corresponding to the designated magazine.

If the upper right magazine is designated, the "sender" taps in the upper right corner of each magazine.

Match Game

5 people with different jobs live in houses of different colors. No one drives the same make vehicle, does the same workout or drinks the same beverage. Check off the 15 clues below as you use them.

Send More Money

Replace the letters with digits to make a valid sum. Each letter represents a different digit.

Money Matrix

Arrange 5 pennies, 5 nickels, 5 dimes, 5 quarters and 5 half-dollars to make the row and column sums correct. Rows and columns are automatically marked with a check when the sum is correct, even if individual values are out of place. There may be more than one solution.

"New Game" creates a new game.
"Reset" restarts the current game.

Shape Shuffle

Click on any colored shape to remove that tile from the board and create an empty space. Clicking on any tile next to the empty space slides that tile into the empty space. Continue to create the arrangement of your choice. Finally, click on the removed tile to replace it and complete the arrangement.

"Shuffle" randomly shuffles all the tiles.