Psychiatrist

This game is a blast, though it can take a long time. Be prepared to make it your only game for the night!

Have your group sit in a circle with one person, “the psychiatrist”, questioning them while standing in the middle (it helps if the person playing the psychiatrist has never played before). They are briefed separately on the rules of the game.

The psychiatrist’s goal is to try and diagnose everyone’s problem. He should do this by asking questions and analyzing their answers to discover the true nature of their problem. For the sake of his patient’s confidentiality and anonymity, he is not allowed to ask them their names. Nor may he ask them what their symptoms are. If they knew what was wrong with them, they wouldn’t be coming to him for help! Be sure to let the Psychiatrist know, that the same problem is shared by all the patients and that the problem is NOT a clinical one (i.e.: schizophrenia, kleptomania etc.)

The patients’ goals are to answer questions as truthfully as possible, without revealing the true nature of their problems. Their problem is simple. They believe that they are the person sitting next to them on their left. So when the psychiatrist asks them a question, they must answer as if they were the person on their left. If they answer incorrectly, someone who catches their mistake, must yell “psychiatrist” and then they all must stand up and switch seats with someone else. When this happens they take on the characteristics of the new person they are sitting next to.

To win, the psychiatrist must diagnose that everyone believes that they are the person sitting on their left, and then he must diagnose why they are saying Psychiatrist and switching seats.

Added by Thomas Dauber