I remember it like it was yesterday. My sister had just come home from a long trip, and my family and I were all playing together as a family. Before my sister came home, we had all decided that we would play a prank on my sister and do a trick on her that we had never played before.
So, we take out the camera, grab the lipstick, and we all try to keep our faces straight. The game was called: “Inchypinchywinchy”. Yes, the name says it all! No skill is required in this game, it is not educational, intellectual, challenging or competitive in any way. You just have to try not to laugh and reveal the ‘secret’ to the victim. To this day, it remains one of the funniest and most memorable games we’ve played as a family. It was just a trick / joke game, but it was a blast. Have fun playing the game, but make sure you play it with someone who doesn’t know what’s going on!
INCHYPINCHYWINCHY
# of players: 4 or more
Required items: Lipstick
Those who play will sit in a circle around the room. The person who has never played before will be called a victim. Next, the person sitting to the right of the victim will need lipstick. In preparation, this person will rub a small amount of lipstick on their finger and then hide the lipstick so that the victim cannot see (or smell) it. Everyone else will keep a straight face and will not laugh, look at the victim, or reveal anything. The game begins by having a person turn to the person to their left and, with their index finger, they will do something random to their neighbor’s face. When doing this, they should say: “inchypinchywinchy”. Some examples of some random movements one could do are: pinch his cheek, rub his nose, squeeze his chin, pull his earlobe, draw a line on his forehead, etc.
The only rule of the game is that the person making the random move and the person receiving it can’t laugh at all (everyone else can when it’s not their turn). The random movement only needs to last for a few seconds, but neither person can laugh. If a player laughs, they receive a strike (3 strikes and one player is out of the game). It is important that the rule is applied so that the victim thinks it is a real game (strange as it may seem). But, obviously, you have to be more lenient with the victim so that they are not eliminated from the game. The game continues around the circle with each person making a random move towards their neighbor on the left. (It can be helpful for others to play dumb and pretend this is a strange game for them too, so it’s not just the victim wondering what’s going on.)
Eventually it will be the turn of the person sitting to the right of the victim. Again, this person will have rubbed some lipstick on their fingers; therefore, while performing your random movement, the lipstick will smear on the victim’s face. (Everyone else can laugh, but the other players don’t want to laugh excessively or give away that something is happening to the victim.) The person rubbing the lipstick on the victim should be very subtle and not let the victim see their lipsticked finger.
Once the victim has taken their turn, play continues around the circle. Players will laugh and receive strikes, and some people may even be eliminated from the game. The game ends when everyone is tired of playing, or everyone leaves, or when it most likely happens: the victim finds out what is happening!
