It’s Called “Not Super Obvious”

A few weekends ago, we developed a game. Actually, it came to fruition organically over the course of three-plus hours of drinking. It’s based on movies and it’s called “Not Super ObviousA game where one person describes a movie in terms of their own personal commentary on the movie. More points are scored the less clues are required. There’s also a time system that hasn’t come into play, yet..”

The premise is simple: the point-manThe person in charge. Takes all blame and receives little-to-no credit. (or emcee, or dungeon master, or whatever you’d like to refer to him/her/it as) describes a movie while the participants attempt to guess said movie. Participants can chime in by buzzer or via round-robinTaking turns like gentlemen. but because we were drinking and in public, we decided the best format was to shout out the answers at the top of our lungs. The loudest to answer, obviously won the round. No score was kept.

So why, “Not Super ObviousA game where one person describes a movie in terms of their own personal commentary on the movie. More points are scored the less clues are required. There’s also a time system that hasn’t come into play, yet.?” Well, not to be obvious but the clues issued were obviously obfuscated. They seldom included character names or actors or any pertinent information that could actually clue you in. The clues, in effect, were clueless. I would give my internal commentary on the movie or describe a scene (that may or may not have actually taken place) or do a (terrible) impersonation. I think there were a couple of times that I performed a modern dance representation of a movie.

Allow me to confer some examples (some required more than one clue):

Guess the movie:

• You look like an idiot with that fucking shit on your face.
• …and those goddamn glasses.

What’s the movie?

Harry Potter

Guess the movie:

• Fucking hookers, man.  Fucking hookers.
• Smelly-ass doodAlternate spelling, based on the pronunciation of “dude.”.

What’s the movie?

Sin City

Guess the movie:

• Fucking hookers, man.  Fucking hookers…
• …with hearts of gold.

What’s the movie?

Pretty Woman

Guess the movie:

• Retard finishes first.

What’s the movie?

Forrest Gump

Guess the movie:

• She’s ONLY 14?!  Maybe 12… She’s ONLY 12?!
• It’s a good movie.

What’s the movie?

Leon the Professional

Guess the movie:

• She’s ONLY 14?!
• You’ve probably never seen this movie.

What’s the movie?

Taxi Driver

Guess the movie:

• KakaneAlternate spelling for “cocaine” but is used as a general term for stimulus. Or cocaine.!
• Cubans, man.  Motherfucking Cubans.

What’s the movie?

Scarface

Guess the movie:

• Finding your way home is difficult
• …especially when you’re retarded
• …and all your family is DEAD.
• Water.

What’s the movie?

Finding Nemo

If I could go back in time and cull the madness, I’d make the following changes to allow the game to be a bit more civilized and game-oriented. There would be a scoring system: something along the lines of an inverse clue-to-score ratio. A time limit would also help. The game is ideally played with several people but in this app-crazed world, I might just develop the game egocentrically. Me versus you. You can have all my points if you’re good enough, smart enough, strong enough, fast enough. It will take tenacity, courage, perseverence, diligence, and of course, the eye of the motherfucking tiger. By this point, I’m rambling so let’s skip the long format and allow me do my best to lay out the system in detail… or bullet point.

• Each round is worth 100 points.
• The time limit is 60 seconds but there will be a 10 second grace to begin each round in order to allow for the clue to be read or displayed.
• The time-based point deduction will incur logarithmically. Sure, it probably is just as effective linearly but math is fun and so is science.
• Maximum five clues per round.
• Twenty point deduction per “next clue.”
• Points off for incorrect guesses.  SPELLING MATTERS!
• You will be granted at least 5 points if you guess the movie correctly, even if the clue and/or time limit have passed. Effectively a participation credit.
• Skipped or forfeited rounds achieve 0 points and loser status. The system will automatically tell all your friends via twitter and bookfacefacebook.

I’m sure the point system will require some tweaks but I already have my team on it. I’d also like to have it to where you can be the point-manThe person in charge. Takes all blame and receives little-to-no credit. and run games of your own. It would be fun to have someone else in charge for once.

Overall, it’s interesting to see how people’s minds work and to see if they are on the same wavelength as you in terms of describing something. I thought some of the clues I gave may have been too esoteric but turned out to be similar enough in thought to warrant a guess. I’m unsure if the game will travel well since there are a lot of shared experiences that could be used for clues but it would be nice to find out.

So until the app is released (ETA: never) feel free to play the game with some part-time friendsThe assholes you spend time with..