Embedded Files
PREMISE
You are a team of spies who talk on the radio. You need to transmit messages to defuse a bomb. But, the enemy wants to stop you! So you have to communicate with clues in order to avoid interceptions. Can you succeed before the explosion?
👥 4 to 6 players ⏱️ 30 minutes
Game material:
An hourglass/timer (you can use a cell phone)
3 “support” cards
3 “challenge” cards
20 white dry erase cards (to acquire separately)
2+ dry erase marker pens (to acquire separately)
Objective:
The goal of the attackers is to guess the key word, chosen by the defender. Attackers win if they guess the entire word at any time before the timer runs out.
The defender's goal is to prevent attackers from guessing their word by intercepting their messages. The defender wins if the attackers cannot guess his word before time runs out.
Rules
Rules
Attackers must think of a word that starts with the given first letter. Then, they must give each other cues to communicate their guesses.
If another attacker thinks he knows the word being referred to, he should knock on the table and both will say the word at the same time.
Example: The defender chose the word “Tropic”. One of the attackers says “a drink” for a word that begins with the letter “T”. If one of the other attackers guesses the word, both players will bang on the table before saying the word, in this case “Tea”.
If the attackers say the same word, the message is passed and they receive the next letter of the defender's word. (In the example above, the letter “R”)
However, the defender can intercept the hint given by the attackers to each other. If he guesses the word and says it with the attackers after they strike, the message is intercepted and considered invalid. (Attackers will not receive the next letter.)
Example: The given letter is “p”. Félix, an attacker, gives the clue “the largest organ in the body” to his partner Arnaud. After banging on the table, Félix, Arnaud and defender Juliette say “skin” at the same time. Juliette succeeds and Félix and Arnaud must try again to guess the next letter in the sequence.
If the attackers successfully guess the word without the defender intercepting, the defender must give the next letter of the keyword.
After the attackers receive the next letter, they must form clues with the two known letters (not just the new letter) and continue doing so until they guess the keyword or spell the keyword .
Example: Mary, the defender, chose the word “Abolition”. Jacques and Emmanuel are playing attack and have both guessed a word that starts with “A”. Marie, the defender, gives them the next letter in the sequence, “B”. Now new clues must start with “AB”. Jacques gives the clue: “They are the creators of honey”. Emmanuel and Jacques knock on the table at the same time and say: “Bee”. Marie then gives them the third letter, namely “O” and the clues must then start with “ABO”. And so on.
At any time attackers can propose a solution and try to guess the keyword.
If a defender has difficulty intercepting clues between attackers, he can give a challenge card to the opponent. The attackers must now give each other hints in the manner indicated on the challenge card. If the card says “Mime the word”, the attackers must act out their allusions. The card's effects are canceled when attackers guess a clue together. The timer is not paused when challenge cards are given.
If it is difficult to find clues with the sequence of letters they have available, attackers can use a support card. This allows them to choose any letter from those given to quickly form a new clue. After successfully winning a new letter from the defender, play continues normally and the card is discarded. The timer is not paused when support cards are given.
Example: Attackers have difficulty thinking of words that start with "pei", so they use a help card to guess words that start with "e".
Game Setup
Game Setup
One player is designated as defender (the role rotates each turn)
The defender chooses a key word and places on the table as many white cards as there are letters in the word he has chosen.
Example:
The defender chooses the word “cover”, then there will be 10 white cards
Depending on the number of white cards on the table, attackers have a different time limit to guess the defender's word:
8+ white cards, limit is 5 minutes
< 8 white cards, limit is 3 minutes
At the start of the game, the defender starts with 3 challenge cards.
If there are more than 8 white cards, the attackers start with 5 support cards; if there are less than 8, the attackers start with 3 support cards.
No team has the opportunity to gain more cards after the start of the game.
The game begins when the defender writes the first letter of the keyword on the first card.
Description
Description
Décryptage (Deciphering) is a simple yet effective game that encourages players to explore and push the boundaries of their French vocabulary. Both cooperative and competitive, it's a fun time to spend among friends and students.
Pedagogical Guide
Pedagogical Guide
The creation of Décryptage was inspired by the simplicity and effectiveness of games like “Contact” and “Hangman” in the United States. So it's easy to get the materials to recreate the game without the official cards. You can buy dry erase cards and erase markers to make special cards and also white cards. Or, like “Hangman,” students can play with paper and pencils or on the board. Instead of purchasing a specific timer, students can use their cell phones.
The lack of official materials gives the teacher the flexibility to have new versions of Decryption that can help the class with current topics. For example, there is no word bank to follow. But the teacher can teach new vocabulary, which relates to the current lesson, in a very effective and fun way. Additionally, students will learn without teacher intervention, so they develop the ability to learn independently and also teach others.
In general, the game provokes or encourages classroom dialogue in French. It can serve as an icebreaker activity because it forces students to collaborate to get on the same page by earning key letters. The need to be vague with cues forces students to speak descriptively, even if they know normal vocabulary. For example, to describe “a horse,” the student must describe the physical characteristics of the horse even if he or she knows the concept or word “horse.”
These descriptions allow students to practice vocabulary that they do not have the opportunity to use in daily life. Finally, play is important for students to form word associations more quickly, because of the formation of mental patterns in a foreign language around familiar words.
In a more directive way, the teacher can also delimit the lexical field of the game to invite students to use the vocabulary they have studied or to deepen their vocabulary in a particular area.
Creators: Guilia Giampapa, Varshitha Talakola, Cassidy Diamond
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