Collect the largest empire
INSTRUCTIONS
step 1
Every player chooses a well known character and secretly inputs it into the device. The character can be real life or fictional, famous or infamous, still living or passed away. This is your secret Emperor name so make sure to keep it a SECRET.
step 2
Once all of the players have entered a name. Arrange the room so you are sitting in your favorite rounded shape, facing each other. Designate one of the players to be the READER, to start the game. The reader will then CLEARLY read the names aloud, ONE TIME and ONE TIME only.
The rest of the players must be completely SILENT during the reading of the names. Neither the reader or the other players are allowed to repeat the names, and they are not allowed to ask questions. They must simply LISTEN and try to remember the names that are read. (No taking notes.)
BUILDING your EMPIRE
After the reader is finished a reading, the person to their LEFT goes first. They have one guess that they can use on ANYONE in the circle. They ask one of the players if they are a specific name that was read. The player asked must answer HONESTLY, yes or no. If they guessed the player’s secret identity correctly, that person joins their Empire and they get an additional turn. If they are incorrect, the player that they last asked is up next, and it is their turn to make a guess. As long as a player guesses correctly they are given an additional turn. You can ONLY make a guess when it is your TURN.
EXAMPLE
If Clare was up first she may turn to Taylor across the room: “Taylor, are you William Shakespeare?” Taylor must answer truthfully. If Taylor’s secret character name IS William Shakespeare, he answers yes and then moves to sit by Clare to join her Empire. At this point Clare would whisper to Taylor her secret identity and he becomes her minion. He can no longer win the game as emperor but he can help his Emperor (Clare) win by sharing information (the names he remembers etc.) and helping her guess. Clare and Taylor will now guess another player’s identity together. They work together, but Clare is the mouthpiece and gives the final guess. If they are right they add another player to Clare’s empire, if they are wrong the turn goes to whoever was just incorrectly guessed.
So if they ask Steve if he is Batman, and the answer is NO, then it is Steve’s turn to guess. He may ask Kristi if she is Louisa May Alcott. Once again, if Steve is right, Kristi would join his empire, if he is wrong, it is Kristi’s turn to guess and so on. See diagram below.
FAQ
NO MATTER WHAT.
*If nobody can remember either name after both initials have been given, maybe time to see a doctor or stop drinking.
Don’t choose someone too obscure, and don’t choose somebody that people know you would pick. (Everyone knows Grandma is going to pick the Virgin Mary).
ALSO, you can’t choose somebody who is playing the game with you. The person has to be a FAMOUS person or character, not your high school chemistry teacher and nobody knows, or a character in a novel that you wrote and nobody read.
Obscurity test: ask yourself if at least 50 percent of the players in the game would know exactly who your “person” is. If the answer is no, pick a better known name.
NO making notes or writing anything down. (on your phone or in real life)
NO asking other players what was said. The reader should read clearly and people should LISTEN carefully, if you missed it, tough luck.
NO asking other players who the person is if you don’t recognize the name.
NO re-reading or repeating the names out loud. Keep it in your head.
No taking notes