Back Window Drive-Thru
Pretend your driver door window is broken and attempt to pay/receive food through one of your other windows. The most absurd window wins. With the prevalence and accessibility of smartphone video cameras, not recording this is not an option. For example:

Full iPod Shuffle
Your chance of success in this game are almost as low as The Million Dollar Game, but it’s still worth playing (kind of like getting a birdie in golf – it only happens once every six months, but keeps you playing until it happens again due to the mental illusion it creates about your golfing ability). Put your iPod on full shuffle and try to guess an artist that will appear in the next 10 songs. Not only will it help burn hours of your road trip, but it will help resurface some songs that you completely forgot you have.

You got any original games we need to know about?

©2012 tylerstanton.com. All Rights Reserved.

The Jason Aldean
About a year and a half ago, I wrote about one of the most random things that has ever happened to me. To this day, I still don’t know if it was real or if someone was screwing with me.

Point is, you’re trying to make your friend think that a famous person texted him by accident. Be as creative as you want, but keep these important things in mind:

+ Make sure the area code matches the celebrity.
+ Start with something subtle, yet grand enough to get the person to bite
+ When the target asks who it is, respond only with the first name, inserted into a casual phrase (Dude, it’s Matt.)
+ If he presses further, reveal the last name, but act kind of bothered that you’re having to do it
+ Try to convince him you’re going to have to change your number now
+ Take a screenshot of the entire conversation and post it for the world to see (send me a link!)

Split and Funnel
I learned this game from Tripp and LV at Disneyland a couple months ago. This game really only works when it’s crowded and there is consistent foot traffic walking in the opposite direction as you (malls, parks, etc).

When it is your turn, one of your other group members quietly calls “split” or “funnel”. If “split”, you have to walk between the approaching group/couple, even if they’re holding hands. If “funnel”, you have to both walk around the outside of the oncoming traffic, even if they’ve decided to funnel themselves and the polite move would be to walk between them. The goal here is to make it seem as natural as possible. Once someone yells at you for being an a-hole (like they did to Tripp), you lose.

Have you made up any games that we need to hear about?

Click here to read more of my Original Games series.
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Post sponsored by Atlanta Personal Injury Attorney, Robert N. Susko

©2012 tylerstanton.com. All Rights Reserved.

Drink Order
Try to ask for as many different drinks as possible that you are certain they don’t have. This can be a one player game (try to beat your previous record) or a multi-player game, just as long as you and your opponent aren’t sitting next to each other. One of the reasons this game is so fun is because no one has ever been more hurried (in the history of humanity) than a stewardess during drink rounds. Here’s an example:

Stewardess: What would you like to drink?
Me: Um, Mellow Yellow please.
Stewardess: I’m sorry, we don’t have that.
Me: Oh, OK. Let’s see…I’ll just go with a black and tan.
Stewardess: No black and tans.
Me: Hmm… Really? Fine, just give me a Fanta grape.
Stewardess: Sir, we don’t– You know what? You get nothing.
Me: OK, OK fine. I’m just messing around. I’ll just take a Monster energy drink.

New Identity
Some might call this lying. I call it an exercise in improvisation. When the stranger next to you inevitably asks what you do for a living, make something up on the spot. Try to keep this ruse going as longs as possible – again, trying to beat your previous time. To increase difficulty, try doing a little research before he asks. Look at what he’s reading and listen in on those last minute phone calls to choose a profession that closely resembles his. This way, his questions will be more pointed and complex. If you are able to exchange contact information and keep this going after the flight, you’re immediately inducted into this game’s Hall of Fame.

Sky Mall
You and your opponent go back and forth trying to find the most ludicrous items in the Sky Mall magazine. This can go back and forth for a few hours. That is, unless someone finds the trump card. I present to you the most ridiculous item – The SkyRest.

Any other airplane/airport games we need to know about?
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©2012 tylerstanton.com. All Rights Reserved.

Accent Game
One of the most embarrassing games you’ll ever take part in is The Accent Game. It’s quite simple. You give someone an accent, a subject to talk about, and 20 seconds. Then, that person must ride it out, as embarrassing as it is.

Now, a couple caveats. One, don’t get stuck in the Italian/British/Old Man league. That’s for beginners and leads to minimal embarrassment at best. Instead, try venturing into Russian/Pre-pubescent Scottish/Norwegian/Urkel territory for maximum humiliation. Two, place under-the-table bets with your friends as to what a person will say when it’s his/her turn. For instance, as you might remember from my interview with Bryan Allain, I have a theory that anyone doing an Italian accent will, at some point, throw in the phrase “mamma mia”.

Tweak the Phone Settings
Ask to borrow your friend’s phone to make a call right before he goes into a serious or professional setting (conference, church, meeting, class, etc). Instead of making a call, change your friend’s phone settings to the loudest possible ring volume. And while you’re at it, change the ringtone to your most shameful option possible. It might even be worth downloading a Beyonce or Gwen Stefani song to maximize the outcome. Then, at the appropriate time, call him. The beautiful thing about this is he won’t even know it’s his phone for the first seven seconds. It won’t be until he is both angry at the audacity of the non-phone-silencer and baffled by the ringtone choice that he’ll realize it has been him the entire time.

Now, go play these games (and the others) and let us know what happens in the comments.
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©2012 tylerstanton.com. All Rights Reserved.

Laugh Wind Down
One of the funniest things in life is watching someone wind down from a laugh or a smile. You know, those 4-7 seconds of transition where a person’s face slowly and awkwardly returns to it’s normal state. Often times, the mouth gets normal before the eyes do and you end up with this weird unbent mouth/high eyebrow combo, or vise-versa. See which one of your friends/acquaintances take the longest, and which ones, like me, have acknowledged this phenomenon and try to expedite the wind down with a cough or subtle mouth wipe.

Max Headroom
Much like the book-mailing stunt, you’ll rarely, if ever, see the fruit of this game. If someone asks you to take a picture of them, frame it so their faces line the bottom edge and the rest of the picture is pure, undisturbed headroom (just think about the last picture your aunt took for you). The trick is disguising the upward angle of the camera. I would suggest squatting down a bit to make it appear that the camera’s upward angle is an absolute necessity. If the photo shows up on Facebook, you win. Now go and tag yourself in it.

Catalogs.com
On catalogs.com, it is 100% free to order catalogs. There are literally thousands to choose from. A few months ago, I got a designer walking canes catalog in the mail addressed to “Tyler Stanton, Movie Star”. There was no record anywhere of where it came from or who sent it – just that it came from catalogs.com. Naturally, I had my suspicions about who sent it*, so I immediately sent him one about composting toilet systems. Neither one of us have spoken a word about it (until now). I imagine this could go on indefinitely without ever getting old. Everyone is a winner in this game.

Now, go and play one of these and tell us about it in the comments. Pictures and videos are encouraged.

*I’m beginning to have second thoughts about who mailed this to me.
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©2012 tylerstanton.com. All Rights Reserved.

Grocery Carting
Grocery shoppers are notorious for walking away from their (unguarded) cart to grab a few items throughout their shopping stint. The goal here is to place an item in the unguarded cart without them knowing and see if they check out with it. Obviously, the more absurd the item, the more points you get. Getting them to check out with an extra jar of pickles is one thing, but watching them pay for an 18-pack of Natty Light they didn’t want is a thrill unlike any other.

Reunion
If you’re hanging out with Neil, and Neil sees someone he went to school with (say, Samantha), get Neil to tell you as many details as possible about her (teachers she had, neighborhood she grew up in, etc). Then, you excitedly approach Samantha as though you haven’t seen her in years, reminiscing about those classes you had together, the neighborhood memories, the one slow dance you shared Sophomore year (your favorite dance ever!), followed by an apology for “that mean thing” you said about that haircut she had in middle school. If you get her to say that she remembers you, you win.

Fourth Meal Call*
Make a pact with three or four of your friends that each of you get one Fourth Meal Call a year. What this means is that at any time, you can call one of the other members of the pact, say “fourth meal”, and they have to meet you at Taco Bell in 15 minutes. It doesn’t matter if they were sleeping, in the middle of a talkument with their spouse, at a concert, or even getting married. They have to stop what they are doing and meet you at the Bell for a gordita and some cinnamon twists. Oh, and try to convince them that them paying was part of the pact too.

In the comments section, either let us know of another original game, or go play one of these and tell us about your experience.

*It is helpful to have a good punishment in place for those who refuse to follow through on the pact. I got the call around 2am one morning and just pretended I didn’t have good enough service to understand what they were saying. North meal? I’m sorry, I don’t know what that means. Goodbye.
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©2012 tylerstanton.com. All Rights Reserved.

2. Sprint Relay – This is an amazing internet service for hearing impaired people that, when abused, can create some memories that will last forever. You get on the website, enter the phone number of the person you want it to call (for instance Tripp’s: 678.978.0222), and whatever you type from that point on, a live operator will say to the recipient. Say it. This is another game that inevitably goes downhill after about 1.5 minutes.

3. Phone Roulette – There is no game on planet earth that stresses me out more than this one. You give your friend your phone. He starts scrolling through your address book until you say stop. He then calls the person you land on, puts the phone to your ear, and you have to talk with this person until you figure out who it is. You can’t ask who it is. You can’t say you’re playing a game. You must converse as though you just really wanted to catch up. Just think about how many random numbers you have in your phone – business contacts, college buddies, pest control services… There are so many awful numbers it could land on. Just yesterday, I played with Tripp and talked to a guy I graduated from high school with ten years ago. My heart is still beating fast.

What original games do we need to know about? Do tell…

©2012 tylerstanton.com. All Rights Reserved.

I found an even bigger box, which, in my opinion, only made it funnier. The mailing process took over 30 minutes. Why, you ask?

PO: What’s in the box?
Me: A book.
PO: [What you talkin bout, Willis? face] A book?
Me: Yeah.
PO: You know they make smaller boxes don’t you?
Me: Yeah. I’m doing it to be funny.
PO: [Unamused] Hmph. I’m going to need to open it up and inspect it.
Me: Wait…what? Why?
PO: Because I don’t believe you.
Me: But I spent so long packing it. Must you?
PO: I must. Some joke, by the way.

The package was inspected. A huge line (or, as I like to think, an audience) formed behind me. They eventually approved it. I paid my money and left with a smile on my face, knowing without a doubt that this was well worth it.

I can’t wait to see this guy’s Amazon review.

©2012 tylerstanton.com. All Rights Reserved.

I’ve been selling books on Amazon, and I’m trying to decide if it is worth an extra $8.25 to mail someone a book in this huge box. I’ll never get to see the reaction. I’ll never know if they got pissed, or confused, or if they ran and told everyone about this hilarious thing that just happened. It really doesn’t matter though. The real question, which guides most of my attempts at humor, is simple: “Does it make me laugh?”

I’m thinking its worth it. What do you think?

[UPDATE: I went through with it. Here's what happened.]

©2012 tylerstanton.com. All Rights Reserved.

There is one game that is better, however. It was invented by my brother Bryan a few years ago. Out of nowhere he said to me, “I’ll give you a million dollars if you can name the person I’m thinking of right now.”
“A million…wait…what?”
“A mil for the person I’m thinking of.”
“I don’t know. Benito Santiago?”
“No. The correct answer is that guy who used to work at the baseball card shop.”
“Oh. Do I at least get something for my guess?”
“No. That’s not how it works. You get nothing.”

And the rest is history. The topic list is endless – movie, year, two word rhyme scheme, element, president, professional athlete, college, food, book, restaurant, time of day, etc. The odds of actually guessing one are around 300 to 1. But man, when you get one right…there’s only like 12 greater feelings on earth.

You can play it anywhere, with anyone. And its great for car rides. It makes a 5 hour drive feel like, I don’t know, 4.5 at the most.

©2012 tylerstanton.com. All Rights Reserved.