The Letters Swap Game

Letters Swap is an interactive and creative non-traditional name game to start a meeting of a group in formation.

In advance, you’ll need a large bunch of blank index cards. Distribute the cards to each person in your group, supplying as many cards as they have letters in their first name.

Por example, Rachel will need six cards and Mark will need four cards.

Each person writes the letters of their first name on the cards, one letter per card. Encourage letters to be marked as large as possible on the cards, it makes them easier to read.

Combine all of the cards from your group and shuffle them.

Randomly deal as many cards (face-down) to each person as letters in their first name, and ask everyone to not look at them until the game starts. The goal is to be the first person to collect all of the letters which spell their first name.

At this point, you will need to clarify that it is not necessary for Rachel to receive the six letters which he wrote on the cards. He may collect any six cards with the appropriate letters on them, such as the C which Charly wrote and one of the A’s written by Alexander.

Explain the following rules of the game:

• Everyone plays at the same time, ie there are no turns
• All trades must be one for one, with no more than three cards exchanged at a time
• No one is permitted to show or disclose their cards at any time, ie all trades are ‘blind’

Individuals may call out the number of cards they wish to trade to attract another person willing to trade an equal number of cards.

Trading continues until the first person announces that they have collected all of the letters to spell their name. Or, if you wish, allow the game to continue until all or many people can spell their name using the cards they have.

The topics of this publication: integration, interactions, disinhibition, energize, distension