Playing games by Tracy Darnton

I love games and puzzles. I play board games, do quizzes, sudoku, codewords, word games. My idea of fun is an afternoon in an escape room. My favourite board game shop has opened a branch a mere ten minutes walk away from my house - with a cappuccino machine! I realise this is a wholly irresponsible way to spend my time...


But, in my defence, I think all these games and puzzles keep me sharper and feed into my writing. I write complex plots. I don't write much description. I like the satisfaction of a complex web and clues well-laid. Someone in my crit group spotted a subtle clue early on my WIP the other day which gave me a huge amount of satisfaction. But I'm also convinced that 'playing' aids creativity and we can all benefit from it. One day I shall do a PhD on the link between playing games and writing books. These are the things that work for me as a writer, that keep me fired up to keep writing. And you have to do what works for you. 

An escape room proprietor asked me recently if I'd be interested in being his literary consultant on a Jane Austen themed escape room. One of my kids blurted out before I could kick him in the shins: "Pay her? You don't need to pay her to do that - it's, like, her fantasy dream job!" 


Even now as I write this, my head is whirring with puzzles based around dance cards, harpsichords, smelling salts and the Napoleonic wars - and a touch of Mr Darcy - whether or not the 'job' materialises. I've given up caring whether this is normal behaviour for a woman of my age.


This time of year is peak game season. The clans are gathered back at home, round a warm radiator and a biscuit selection tin. Visitors have to be polite and join in. Here are my suggestions (updated from last year's blog) of literary games for this festive season: 

Quiz! Inspired by being on an author team for the South West heat of #kidslitquiz in November, I've got this little lovely to try: 

The Hidden Books game. 

I had a completely lost morning in November when this year's hidden book titles puzzle was released by National Book Tokens. Luckily, my publisher gave me an extra clue to my two outstanding ones to put me out of my agony and make sure I got back to working on my actual book. Have a go, but be warned they're addictive. Hidden Books Puzzle

The Great Penguin Bookchase – I bought this at the Hay festival many years ago and it’s basically trivial pursuit but much harder and slower with usually at least one visitor disappointed that no actual penguins feature. The kids groan when I get this one out but don’t be deterred because, look, you collect little books for your little bookshelf! How sweet is that!

Story consequences – pen and paper.

First fold – Once upon a time there was a …………..

Second fold - who wanted to ………

Third fold - But ….

Fourth fold - So he/she …..

Fifth fold - And in the end….

Who am I?

We played a version of this on a Sassie winter retreat and it works well for large groups. Split into two teams. Everyone secretly writes down at least five authors or literary characters or any famous people if you want to widen it out, on slips of paper which are folded and placed in a bowl/hat/Christmas stocking.

Each team takes it in turn with one member having one minute to describe as many of the names on the slips as they can without using the actual words written down. They get a point for each correct one and they can pass once. Carry on until all the slips have been used once. 

Now, it gets trickier. All slips go back into the bowl. This time you’re only allowed to use one word to describe the person/character – though remember that everyone will have heard them described in full once. Carry on until all the slips have been guessed. 

The final round has all the names back in the bowl but this time no words are allowed - only actions. The team with the most points across all three rounds wins.

Don’t forget all the classic word games like Pass the bomb! Taboo! Bananagrams, Boggle, Scrabble and Codewords.  And of course no Christmas games session would be complete without Charades! Books only. 

Quick round of Elmer bingo, anyone?

Merry Christmas!

Tracy Darnton is the author of The Truth About Lies. Her next novel, The Rules, is based on her short story in I'll Be Home for Christmas. She wastes way too much time doing games and puzzles.

Literary games for the festive season by Tracy Darnton

Christmas jumper? Check! Tin of Quality Street? Check! Captive audience? Check!

It’s literary games time! I come from a family that plays games. Big time. I could open a board game café with all the ones in the cupboard. And at Christmas time I can make even more people join in because it’s my house and they’re trapped here for the festive season. So here are my suggestions:

Quiz! The papers are full of these as Christmas approaches. I like The Guardian Review Literary Quiz and The Telegraph does a good one too. Previous years are available online so try this Art and Literature quiz for kids from The Telegraph and this Fantasy Teen quiz in The Guardian.

The book tokens hidden clues game. Every Christmas, the book token people produce a picture rammed with references to twenty book titles. Some are obvious - settings like Gilead and Darkest Peru on a signpost for instance - but others require more lateral thinking like 'extremely angry vineyard'. Previous years puzzles are on the site along with a simpler version for kids. Check it out at: Hidden Clues 

The Great Penguin Bookchase

I bought this at the Hay festival many years ago and it’s basically trivial pursuit but much harder and slower with usually at least one visitor disappointed that no actual penguins feature. The kids groan when I get this one out but don’t be deterred because, look, you collect little books for your little bookshelf! How cute is that!

Story consequences – pen and paper.

First fold – Once upon a time there was a ...

Second fold - who wanted to ...

Third fold - But ...

Fourth fold - So he/she ...

Fifth fold - And in the end …

Who am I?

We play this on the Folly Farm winter retreat and it works well for large groups. Split into two teams. Everyone secretly writes down at least four authors, literary characters or any famous people if you want to widen it out, on slips of paper which are folded and placed in a bowl/Christmas stocking.

Each team takes it in turn with one member having one minute to describe as many of the names on the slips as they can without using the actual words written down. They get a point for each correct one and they can pass once. Carry on until all the slips have been used once. Now it gets trickier. All slips go back into the bowl.

This time you're only allowed to use one word to describe the person/character - though remember that everyone will have heard them described in full once. Carry on until all the slips have been guessed. 

The final round has all the names back in the bowl but this time no words are allowed - only actions. The team with the most points across all three rounds wins.

Don’t forget all the classic word games like Pass the bomb! Taboo! Bananagrams, Boggle, Scrabble and Codewords.  And of course no Christmas games session would be complete without Charades! Books only.

Quick round of Elmer bingo, anyone?

Merry Christmas!

You can follow Tracy on Twitter @TracyDarnton