← All Warm-ups
The players stand in a circle. A topic area is chosen or given, e.g. professions. One of the players starts and says a profession to any other player in the circle; they remember both. The one addressed remembers the person who addressed them and says another profession to a further player; they too remember both, and so on. Each person is addressed only once. When the last player of the round is addressed, they turn to the first one and say a profession to them. This results in a closed "pattern" that connects all the players criss-cross with each other. To recognise those already involved, they can place a hand on their head during the first round. In the next and following rounds the same words are used and the order of the first round is repeated. Once the order and the professions are firmly established, the first round is stopped.
Now there is a second round, for which a different topic is set, e.g. names of vegetables or fruit. A different player starts who now also addresses a different person. The one addressed says another vegetable or fruit to a further player, and so on. When the last player of this round is addressed, they turn to the first of the second round and say a fruit or vegetable. With that, this "pattern" too is closed. In the next and following rounds the order of the first fruit/vegetable round is repeated with the same words.
Once the order and the fruit or vegetable have been memorised, this second round is now supplemented with the words and the people order of the first round. That means: AT THE SAME TIME two sequences of words now run in the circle; the two patterns are laid "on top of each other".
Basic rules
The following basic rules are to be observed:
Always exactly the same order is kept that was established during the first run of the respective pattern.
Anyone who wants to pass on their word makes sure that the receiver is attentive and, in particular, will pass on their word! (Eye contact.) If attention cannot be established, the own word has to be repeated until the receiver has heard the word and has passed on theirs.
Everyone pays attention to those who want to send words to them, and turns towards them.
This game requires a high degree of concentration and attention. The brave can add a third round from a third group of words (car brands, first names, place names, etc.).
If a group of words gets lost (which is normal after a while), it is restarted by the first person of the respective round.
Variants
**Haptic pattern:* A ball or similar is thrown from one to another according to the rule described above. This pattern is combined with the word patterns.
**Place change:* As a new pattern, one is established in which the players change places. The first player points at another, says "You!" and walks slowly to that person's place. The one addressed picks another player to point at and walks to that person's place, and so on. Once the pattern is closed, all players change places one after another. If this pattern is combined with others, the additional difficulty arises that the persons to be addressed have to be identified at different locations.
**Room walk:* Once the pattern is established, the circle can be dissolved. The players walk through the room as they please and throw the words to each other.
**Balls:* As a support, small balls can be thrown at the same time as the respective word is said.