What Can It Be?

“What Can It Be?” is a game designed to stimulate the imagination of the players. For descriptive convenience, imagine that the players are arranged in a circle. One of the players starts the game by imagining an object and naming one characteristic of that object. For example, he (or she) might have in mind an orange, and say “It is spherical.” The next person in line to take his turn, say the person to the left of the original person, must name an object that has the characteristic that was previously named (being spherical, in this example) and name a second characteristic of the object that he (the second person) has in mind. To continue this example, the second person may have in mind a ball, and say “It bounces.” Proceeding clockwise around the circle, each player, in turn, must think of an object having all of the characteristics previously mentioned, and name a characteristic not previously named of the object that he has in mind.

If a player is unable to think of an object having all of the previously named characteristics, he may bluff. However, a player, on his turn, instead of naming a characteristic, may challenge the previous player. If the challenged player is unable to name an object having all of the previously named characteristics, including the one that he added, he drops out; otherwise, the challenger drops out. In either case, play resumes with the person in line to take his turn after the challenger, who begins a new list of characteristics. Play continues until all but one person has dropped out; the remaining person is the winner.

For the convenience of the players, the list of characteristics can be recorded on a display device such as a whiteboard so that it can be viewed by all of the players. If the necessary equipment is available, the list can be keyed into a document on a computer and projected onto a screen for viewing.

As I write this, we are in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, which requires physical distancing and in some cases isolation. “What Can It Be?” does not require any physical interaction between the players, only the exchange of information, so it can be played remotely.