Wizards, Pixies and Trolls (also known in some regions as 'Wizards, Orcs and Elves' or 'Wizards, Goblins and Pixies') is a party game similar to the traditional 'Paper, Rock, Scissors' game, but on a larger scale. For this, you will need a large room or play area, and enough people to be sorted into two roughly equal teams.

Instead of miming Paper, Rock or Scissors, players mime either Wizards, Pixies or Trolls and, depending on which characters each team chooses, the winning team for that round must try to capture as many members of the opposing team as they can.

Characters - How You Mime Them and How They Relate to Each Other

• Wizards - mime this by standing with your hands in the air like you're casting a spell while going 'Mwaaaah!' in a high-pitched voice. Wizards defeat trolls, but are defeated by pixies.

• Trolls - stand with hands at the side of the head, like talons, while going 'Gnarr!' Trolls defeat pixies, but are defeated by wizards.

• Pixies - bend over, with hands in front like a dog begging, and make little 'Mih, mih' noises. Pixies defeat wizards, but are defeated by trolls.

How to Play

The two teams stand at either end of a room at their dens (an agreed safe area that is the same distance from the centre of the room as their opposing team's den) and decide which character they are going to be. So, team A might decide they will be wizards, while team B might pick trolls. Each team then takes turns to take a step towards the centre, with a threatening count. So, one team walks forwards and counts: 'One, two!', then the next team steps forward and counts 'Three, four!' and so on until both teams have reached the centre of the room (best to agree where this is before you start playing, or arguments might follow). At the middle zone, they all chant the next number (so in this example, they would all shout 'Five!') and then quickly adopt the pose of their chosen character.

Once each team has struck their pose, it will be quickly obvious which way each team must run. In this instance, as team A has taken the persona of wizards, this is a stronger character than team B's - the trolls - so team B must flee to their den while team A try to catch as many team B members as they can. Any captured team members now join their captor's team. The teams regroup, decide which character to be and start another round.

The game continues until one team has captured every member from another team.

Safety Concerns

You should also agree before commencing play on how to capture opposing team members. For children or delicate adults, a simple tap on the shoulder might be best. You might prefer to make it a little harder and say that to capture someone, you must place one hand on each shoulder of your captive. For 'extreme' playing, you might want to insist that the captor must wrestle their captive to the ground to capture them - though, as with all contact sports, you should be careful not to be rougher than your captive can cope with.