Google Drinking Game

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My friends and I came up with this drinking game, based on the most wonderful internet search tool in existence -- Google. Here is the original text that got mailed around that I developed these rules from:

Google:  A party game for three or more players.

Pick a player to go first.  The player who goes first picks two words, which
are fed to the Google search page.  After this, play passes to the left, and
each player adds a word.  Words may be misspelled or made up.  If a search
turns up no hits, the player who added the last word is out.  The last player
in the game, or the first player to reach a search with only one result,
wins.  Play resumes with the person on the left of the previous winner. Count
points however you want.

The basic idea is that you have a group of people, who sit in a circle and go around, each adding a word to a Google search string. The game then reduces to Pick Up Sticks. How much players drink depends on how well they can control the number of hits their string results in.

I generally advise that there is a non-drinker to use the computer, if only to reduce the number of insurance claims for broken keyboards, etc...

The Rules

1) Object of The Game
The object of the game is to be the last player standing (i.e. the person who has drunk the smallest amount and may still have the ability to stand).

2) Selecting a Designated-Surfer
Someone should be defined as the non-drinking computer user, and judge (further more known as the Designated-Surfer) In any group, there should be someone who doesn't want to get drunk out of their skull. These people have a use, since they can still spell after a few rounds of the game.
Only the Designated-Surfer can see the results of the search. The text displayed would give players an unfair advantage.

3) Alcohol Type
Any alcohol is appropriate. players should feel free to control how much they drink each time. The game leaves it up to the players' ego to not abuse this freedom -- remember, your friends are watching.
If any drink is to be suggested, I would advise doing a Google search on "The Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster". This should result in recipes that will do everyone in.

4) Starting Play
The first player should be selected randomly. This player comes up with the first string, and the Designated-Surfer types it into Google. If this is not the first game, the first player should rotate after each game.

5) String Acceptability
The strings (i.e. words) given by players should be alphanumeric, with no spaces or punctuation. Strings do not have to be spelled correctly, or even be a word in a natural language. For the geeks out there, think of the regexp "[0-9a-zA-Z]+".

6) Search Process
The Designated-Surfer then:

  1. spells out the new string, to insure that it is as the current player intends.
  2. adds the new string to the end of the Google search, separated from the last added string by a space.
  3. presses the search button.
  4. speaks out the resulting total hits. (Note: when the resulting hits are less than 10, and there is a discrepancy between the total hits and the number of actual links given, the Designated-Surfer should count the number of links on the search result page).

7) Outcome of Search
One of the following outcomes will occur after each search:

  1. If the resulting search produces zero (0) hits, then the current player has lost the game and must take one (1) drink.
  2. If the resulting search only produces one (1) hit, the current player has won the game, and all the other players must take one (1) drink.
  3. If the resulting hits is greater than half (rounding up) of the previous player's turn, the current player must take one (1) drink, and it is the next player's turn.
  4. Otherwise, nothing is drunk and it is the next player's turn.

E-mail me at dschaub@froods.ca.