Hand Games 21
- Author: Don Eskridge
- Amazon Affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3Sje6N2
From the author:
“21 New Hand Games for Everyone!
If you like hand games but are tired of Rock Paper Scissors, these games are for you!
Here are 21 new hand games to play with your pals. Flip to any page, read the rules and you’re ready to go. Featuring fresh takes on classics as well as totally new designs, these games are a cinch to learn, play and teach, and they work great just about anywhere. Let’s play some hand games!
What is a hand game?
I bet you’ve played a hand game. At least Rock Paper Scissors, right? Players throw hand signs in the air, cancel each other out and the last player remaining wins. Easy! So, there’s one.
Maybe you tried Thumb Wrestling: rivals lock hands and their thumbs go sumo on each other. Or a variety of cute but challenging rhythm & clapping activities? All valid, all hand games!
Have you played any others? Perhaps tried out variants or even made your own games, looking for a fresh experience? Did you ever wonder if there’s more, and you just missed it somehow?
I wondered, and with some research found that there are indeed more hand games. …But not enough! And not many that evoke the design ideas we see in today’s board and video games.
So, I made new games! Completely new hand games for you, me and everyone. 21 games that require just your hands and maybe your voice. Simply read the rules and you’re ready to play anywhere – you’ve got the equipment on hand.
Inspired by the world of play, you’ll see games based on classics as well as totally new ideas, from simple guessing to social deduction. They are also easy to learn and play: all games play ages 8 and up and take just 5 to 15 minutes.
Here is among the oldest and newest, most portable form of play possible. Learn, play, share, and check out the final pages for tips on making your own games. This is just the start. I hope you enjoy these 21 hand games.”
My thoughts of the book
If the name of the author sounds familiar – it’s because you’ve likely played one of his boardgames in the past… Don Eskridge is an author and game designer, best known for being the creator of The Resistance and Avalon series of social deduction card games. Hailing from Oklahoma in the United States, Don has lived in Chicago, Dresden Germany, and most recently on the island of Jeju in South Korea. He remains active in the design community and is regularly working on new games.
In 2020 during the pandemic lockdown, Don had the idea to create new hand games for families to play, even when there were no games on hand. Thus Hand Games 21 was born.
Hand Games 21 is a slim 56 page book that essentially presents each of its 21 games on a double page spread. Though we’re normally fairly kind to book bindings in this house, while we played through the games, we just smashed the book flat to keep it from shutting and read the rules to each other. All of the games are short – we haven’t come across one that went more than ten minutes, and they are super simple to teach/learn. The book says they are good for ages 8+. but for many of them, you could certainly go younger…
All of the games here can be played just with your hands, though a number of them require you to keep track of score (points, money, whatever) using memory – and we substituted pen/paper or counters for this – as our memory just isn’t that good!
There are six different classes of games: Earn Your Way, Outlast Rivals, Work the Logic, Bluff and Deduce, Move your Body, Work Together. The back of the book has a nice index that categorizes the games by type. There is even a little section on how to design your own game!
We’ve tried about half of the games so far, and they have all had their moments. Sure, I’d still rather be playing Dominion than a hand game, but when you’re passing time at an airport gate waiting for the pilots to arrive, this is a much better choice! The games are pretty simple, and once you’ve played a few times, you’ll likely have memorized the rules.
I’d recommend this for anyone who is about to take their kids on a long road trip. Teach them the games as you go, and hopefully you’ll have hours of self contained entertainment in their hands…
- Amazon Affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3Sje6N2
Until your next appointment
The Gaming Doctor
