Waycross Botticelli

Waycross Camp
and Conference
Center
Morgantown IN

I grew up spending part of my summers at a wonderful summer camp in southern Indiana, Waycross Camp and Conference Center. 

One of the special sessions was a chance for entire families to come and spend a week (in later years, a weekend) in a place I would put up against any resort for a place to relax without a care.

Among my fondest memories was playing a game called Botticelli.  There are other versions of the game, such as the one here, but the one we played at Waycross was slightly different.  I'd like to share the rules so that you and your family and friends can give it a try.

One of the best things about the game?  No equipment needed!  Just you and a group of as many friends as you have at hand.  I would however say that the game plays best with at least 6-8 people, but you can play with 20+ of the opportunity presents itself!  Just make sure you're some place comfortable, because the game can run as long as people are interested in playing.

The Rules:

• Game play starts with one person being designated as "it".  For the sake of the rules, we'll say that I am it.
• As the it person, I think of the name of a reasonably famous person.  This person can be living or dead, can be real or fictional.
• I tell you the first letter of the famous person's last name.  I'm thinking of Helen Keller, so I tell you that the first letter of the last name is K.  
• Your job is to earn the chance to ask me a yes/no question about my famous person.
• You earn this chance by stumping me with a trivia question that the answer starts with the letter I've given you. (in this case K...)
• One tricky bit:  If your trivia question has more than one correct answer that starts with the same letter, even if the answer I give you is not the one you were thinking of, the answer is acceptable.  (If you were to ask, "What is a marsupial found in Australia?" and I answered "koala", even though you  were expecting "kangaroo", my answer is still correct.)  
• If I answer your question correctly,  it is the next person's turn to try to stump me.
• If instead you do stump me, you can now ask me a question about my person, but this question can only be answered yes or no.  You might ask, "Is this person a woman?" I would answer yes.  If you asked, "Is this person a man or woman?" I would be unable to answer because this was not a yes/no question.  Play then shifts to the next person.
• The game proceeds this way, revealing details of my person.
• Finally, when you think you know and your next turn comes around, you can say "Is it __________________?"  If you guessed correctly, it is now your turn to be it, and you get to choose the next famous person.  If you guess incorrectly, I am still it and play continues.

There is no technical end to the game, nor is there a final winner.  Its simply a chance to gather, have some fun and relax.  Food should be shared.  Other conversation is encouraged.   Enjoy!