h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm struggling already with rule one:

"The person with the name nearest to Michael goes first. So, for example, If a game was proposed between David, Liam, Tania and Sarah, Liam would go first."

In what way is 'Liam' nearest to 'Michael'? 'Alphabetically' looks right but is there some more subtle rule like the fact they share three letters: L, I & M?

Nice game otherwise.

F

A1118134 is the original. Please have a look as I think it is clearer than the edited version which seems to have taken much of the humour out of it.

The game was invented by Michael to play. His rule was that the person with the name closest to Michael went first. In other words he always got to go first. You might change this rule to whoever has the name nearest to (insert name of child you are babysitting, cousin you are placating, nephew you are sharing a long coach journey with) goes first.

I'm afraid that's down to me, as it wasn't clear to me whether or not it was a subtle way of saying Michael always wins, or whether there is a genuine rule about selecting players according to alphabetical order.

Do you think there's a clearer way to explain this than in either existing version?

I think so. I've got to go now but I'll rewrite something soon.

Cheers.

Have to say, I think it's a lovely game

Jimster, I think a clearer explanation is needed - I was really confused by both the first and last rules. I did hunt out the original and was still a bit confused, and read through the PR thread which didn't seem to contain any actual PR.

I can get an understanding of the intention of the game (it does sound like a fun game) but as this is in the edited guide I think it could be a little tighter.


k

I think this should do it.

If you stick closer to the original text and add "The youngest person playing is called The Michael. The Michael always goes first."

And at the end "The game ends when The Michael declares him or herself the winner - or when the page is full up."

That is better

Thanks. I hope some of the confusion can be removed. It is meant to be a light hearted piece!

I've actually made it even simpler. I think the problem I had when reading it is that I wasn't sure of the subtleties of Michael's winning being important (ie, this is a great game to reward children who are young enough not to realise that the game is weighted in their favour). I've added a line at the beginning to hint at this, but made the first player simply 'Michael'.

Hope this works for you

That's fine Jimster. Now I'm happy!

Thanks again, and apologies once again for the befuddlement.