Eat Poop You Cat

Infobox_Game
subject_name=Eat Poop You Cat
image_link=
image_caption=
players=3 or more
ages=8 and up
setup_time=< 5 minutes
playing_time= 5&ndash;30 minutes
complexity=low
strategy=Low
random_chance=Low
skills=none
footnotes =

Eat Poop You Cat is a party game based on the multiple-contributor exquisite corpse concept, utilizing both written words and sketches; it can be see as a cross between Telephone and Pictionary. It requires a group of players as well as a writing instrument and paper, though no actual skill in writing or drawing is necessary.

The game is also known as "The Sentence Game", "The Paper Game", "Telephone Pictionary", "Pictophone", "Pictodash", "Paper Telephone", "Fax machine", "Descriptionary", "Writesy Drawsy", "Picture Consequences"cite book |title=The Giant Book of Word Games: The Bumper Book of Ingenious and Enjoyable Games for all Occasions |isbn=1863091726 |first=Peter |last=Newby |page=pp.42-43 |publisher=The Book Company |year=1995 ] and "Piccon".

Gameplay

The first player usually begins by writing any sentence or phrase they wish at the top of a strip of paper. Bizarre or surreal offerings often make for interesting games.

The next player attempts to come up with an illustration that represents the sentence. The paper is folded over so that only the picture (and not the original sentence) can be seen. Usually there are some restrictions on what can appear in the illustration — alphanumerics are commonly forbidden — to ensure that the third player cannot easily replicate the original sentence.

The paper is then passed to the next player, who attempts to formulate a caption for the illustration. Once the third player has captioned the illustration, the paper is folded over so that only the caption can be seen, and passed to the next player.

The pattern continues until the game ends. There are a few different options as to when the game should end. One option is to always end on a sentence, not an illustration. Another, not mutually exclusive, option is to end the game when every player has had a turn. Another variant holds that the game ends only when the entire sheet of paper is filled, and that for a longer game, two or more sheets of paper should be taped together at the start of the game.

Alternatively, the game can begin with a picture. The alternating sequence of illustration and description is the essence of the game.

It is possible to play in a circle with multiple strips of paper, such that each player holds one strip at any one time. When all players have finished their turn (either drawing or describing), everyone passes their game to the left (or right). This allows for all players to be occupied in the game.

An odd number of players is often preferred. In games which end when every player has had a turn, this makes the starting and ending sentences/pictures easily comparable. In games which cycle around a circle players get a chance to both illustrate and describe.

Concept

This game is about starting with one idea which is distorted by being passed along a chain of people and evolves into a different idea.

Changes to the idea occur as each person in the chain interprets the previous drawing or description in their own way and adds their own contribution in the style of their description/drawing. Comparisons between the initial and final sentences are often humorous, as well as comparing two consecutive sentences or two consecutive illustrations.

Because this collaborative manipulation is the goal of the game, creativity is a desirable player trait. Even further and more unusual change is made possible by participants with poor artistic skills and/or penmanship. Frequently, verbal clarification is forbidden.

Some ideas, once they enter a game, are very persistent, particularly if they can be conveyed through easily understood representations like symbols. Historical and pop culture references, especially those considered particularly amusing, sexual, or morbid, are the most common memes.

Similar Games

* Chinese whispers, also known as Telephone, is a verbal game involving distortion of a sentence along a chain of people.
* Picture consequences can refer to Eat Poop You Cat, but also refers to a collaborative drawing game conducted with a similar method of paper folding.
* Consequences is another game which uses folded paper in which players blindly add sentences or sentence fragments to a story.

Notes

References

• Games Quarterly #11 (Winter 2006), pg 64.

External links

* BoardGameGeek.com, [http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/30618 "Eat Poop You Cat"]
* [http://www.thesentencegame.com thesentencegame.com] allows users to play online. Also includes a searchable archive of over 8,000 finished games.
* [http://eatpoopucat.com/ eatpoopucat.com] allows users to play online using built-in drawing tools or by uploading pictures created in external tools.
* [http://apps.facebook.com/piccongame/gallery/g Piccon] is a facebook implementation of the game.
* Archived games (note: some of these contain illustrations of sex and violence)
** [http://www.papertelephone.com papertelephone.com]
** [http://students.washington.edu/hilyeric The Drawing Game]
** [http://trichotomy.ca/eatpoopyoucat/ Trichotomy.ca EPYC]
** [http://www.scarybug.org/epyc/ Scarybug's Lair]
** [http://www.chrisboy.com/epyc/ chrisboy dot com]
** [http://pictodash.com/ Pictodash.com]