3 party games sure to charm new friends

1. What am I? Involves strategic manipulations of the body and guessing. Because if you want to charm the pants off potential friends, you must demonstrate flair. Nothing does this better than this more or less childlike game. As the charmer you must pose the question ‘What am I?’ to your new friends. This is done in the form of quasi-mime, a term I have happily coined. For instance, make your thumb and the finger beside it into a circle. Place this circle in front of your eye and ask ‘What am I?’

You are, of course, a panda. Whether your new friends guess this correctly or must rely on you to supply the answer, they should always respond with sheer delight and enthusiasm. They should applaud your inventiveness and hopefully crow for more. In this way, the game also handily serves as a character test. If these new friends of yours are not charmed by your talents they are clearly not of worth. Move on, panda. Move on.

2. Interjections. This game turns the idea of social and conversation etiquette on its head. What you must do is difficult to understand at first, but entirely worth it once you break into that first conversation and reap the rewards of awkward silence and unadulterated attention directed at your shining, embarrassed face. Essentially, what you must do is really very simple. You must interrupt others’ conversations with what are called ‘interjections’. For example:

a. I got to drive a car when I was ten years old.
b. They serve pancakes in the morning, did you know?
c. I went to work today.

Typically, the interjections should be as arbitrary as they are contrived. A paradox, I know. But that is the game. Following the awkward silence, you should simply smile and wait for someone else to talk. You can then join in the conversation, with people being fully aware of your presence.

A tip: It may be helpful to come up with your interjection prior to your first attempt. For some, however, the most effective interjections will be born in the moment.

3. Steve-Ray-Croc. Yet another quiet subversion, this game is an appropriation of Scissor-Paper-Rock that draws on the mythology of Steve Irwin. Steve is represented by two thumbs up; Ray is represented by two palms touching at the finger tips as though they form an arrow coming out from the chest; and the Croc is represented by the age-old crocodile action. The logic is this: Steve beats croc, croc beats ray, and ray, as we know, beats Steve. This game is suitable for both fans and non-fans of Steve Irwin. Just gauge the attitude of your new friends and act accordingly. Either sympathise or amp up the mockery.