Seventeen new designs. Each one leans on something a person at the table can’t do reliably: score surprise, hold a fuzzy rule without drifting, remember every word, or act as a hundred strangers at once.
Calls these games rely on, and how many use each
Say something true that nobody would expect. Bet on whether it counts.
Zebra’s job
Scores each answer's rarity, but the bar for proof rises with rarity. Before the call you can double your stake that it counts.
Scoring
Rarity points times your stake. An answer that doesn't count loses the stake.
The judge secretly likes some things and not others. Figure out why.
Zebra’s job
Draws a hidden rule at the start (say, “things that would be sad if they were alive”), seals it, and marks every answer yes or no without explaining.
Scoring
Naming the rule wins the round. Each wrong guess costs a point.
Explain something hard using only the 1,000 most common words.
Zebra’s job
Buzzes any word outside the list, then plays the listener and tries to guess the concept from your explanation.
Scoring
The fewer words it takes to get a correct guess, the more you score.
Tell a story together while secretly steering it toward your own ending.
Zebra’s job
Checks each new sentence for continuity; a non-sequitur costs points. At the end it rules which secret endings landed, and how naturally.
Scoring
Points for your ending landing, minus continuity penalties.
Get from “pickle” to “Napoleon” in as few steps as possible.
Zebra’s job
Scores each link's strength from 0 to 100. A chain breaks at any link below the line, and the other team can challenge a link.
Scoring
The shortest unbroken chain wins, with a bonus for a surprising link that still holds.
Write one line in a given voice. The judge writes one too.
Zebra’s job
Scores how well each line fits the voice, with a visible confidence, and slips its own line into the pile.
Scoring
Points for fitting the voice, for fooling other players, and for spotting the machine.
Abstract prompts, real objects, one camera.
Zebra’s job
Reads out a prompt (“something secretly expensive,” “the most 2009 object you own”), looks at what each player brings back, and hears a 15-second pitch.
Scoring
Points for fit and for the pitch. First one back gets a speed bonus.
The judge answers as a secret group of people. Guess who.
Zebra’s job
One player draws a crowd card in secret (100 dentists, 100 people in 1970) and the judge answers five survey questions as that crowd.
Scoring
An earlier correct guess scores more. The card holder scores if the crowd stays hidden past the third question.
Find the secret word by temperature alone.
Zebra’s job
Holds a secret word and answers every guess with a temperature from 0 to 100.
Scoring
First team to the word wins the round. Fewer guesses, more points.
Two players try to say the same word at the same moment.
Zebra’s job
Counts down, hears both words, and scores how close they landed. A synonym counts as a match. Shows the midpoint to aim for next.
Scoring
Rounds until a match. Fewer rounds, more points.
Quick debates where bad arguments draw a flag.
Zebra’s job
Listens to 60-second exchanges and throws a flag for named fallacies (straw man, whataboutism, moving the goalposts), quoting the line. Scores whether each speaker actually answered the other.
Scoring
Rubric points for responsiveness and support. Each flag costs a point.
Everyone has secret words they're trying to get someone else to say.
Zebra’s job
Listens to ordinary table talk and awards the point the instant someone says another player's trap word.
Scoring
1 point per catch. Saying your own trap word costs 2.
Improv scenes where the judge flags blocking.
Zebra’s job
Listens to a two-person scene, flags denials (“no, we're not on a boat”), and counts the offers that were accepted and built on.
Scoring
Scene points for accepted offers. Each block costs a point.
A freestyle battle over a beat from the speaker, judged on craft.
Zebra’s job
Scores rhyme density, multisyllable rhymes, and whether you stayed on the topic card. Flags a line reused from an earlier round.
Scoring
Rubric points per verse. A table vote adds a crowd bonus.
Describe a famous movie badly, but accurately.
Zebra’s job
Checks that your description is actually true of the film, using a curated plot deck, then times how long the table takes to guess it.
Scoring
The longer it takes, the more you score, as long as every detail is true. One false detail forfeits.
The judge shows you an answer. Guess the question it was answering.
Zebra’s job
Answers a hidden prompt out loud, then scores each player's guessed prompt by how close it is to the real one.
Scoring
Closeness points. An exact match scores double.
One witness, a secret card, and a judge that remembers everything they've said.
Zebra’s job
The witness answers questions about a secret situation and may lie, but can't contradict themselves. The judge logs every statement and objects the moment a new answer conflicts with an old one.
Scoring
Questioners score for each contradiction and for naming the card. The witness scores for surviving the clock.