What if?

What if? is a low-fidelity game that any group of any size can play anywhere. All you need is paper/pen, and a sense of humour. There are no points, no competition. We all win when we all laugh.

Here's how you play:

Setup

• Everyone gets a slip of paper (tear up an 8½ x 11 into 4 - 8 or so slips). Oh, everyone gets a pen too.
• Everyone secretly writes a question on the top part of the paper. There is only one rule: the question must start with "What if...". Leave room below the question for someone else to write an answer. Fold the slip to hide your question.
• Gather all the slips. Shake'em up. Hand'em out. Everyone should get someone else's question. If you get your own, trade with someone.
• Now everyone answers that question. No rules. Be creative (only if you want to). Be funny, serious, absurd, whatever.
• Gather all the slips again. Shake'em up. Hand'em out. Everyone should get a slip they neither asked nor answered.

Now the real fun begins.

• One person reads the question on the paper in their hand. Not the answer.
• The person beside her reads her answer.
• Everyone is surprised how well* the 'wrong' answer works with the question.
• After the laughter dies down, whoever read the answer now reads their question.
• Lather, rinse, repeat until everyone has read their slip.
• then do the whole thing over and over again.

Okay: this bunch of words makes this sound boring. I've never seen this fail to surprise and delight, esp. after the second round when the mechanic is obvious.