CURRICULUM VITAE: Sixth Sense

SIXTH SENSE
(Visual Trivia)

Six players are each given a stack of cards and an easel with an identification number. Each easel is positioned such that a card placed on it can be seen by the other five players but not its own player. When prompted by the moderator all players place the top cards of their stacks on the easels. The moderator asks a question; the correct answer is depicted on one of the six cards. Players must determine the answer card; if it the players own unseen card then it must be determined by process of elimination. Players answer by noting number of the easel holding the correct card and entering this number by a signaling device that registers the order of entered answers. A correct answer scores 1 points plus 1 point for every subsequently entered answer. An incorrect answer loses 1 point with an additional deduction of 1 point for every subsequently entered answer. The player whose easel holds the correct card scores double for a correct answer. Players have the option of a “no answer” entry which scores zero. The game comprises a round of twenty questions followed by a second round of twenty questions in which each question has two correct answers, and final bonus question.

Which of these faces can be represented by an emoticon that includes a semicolon?

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When developing Concentration for minicon play, I brainstormed a few matching game systems that determine when a team earned the chance to guess the picture rebus. One idea involved visual multiple-choice quizzes in which a team would find two related images out of a group of six. The idea was rejected for Concentration but it formed the basic game mechanic for Sixth Sense. I started working on Sixth Sense by writing content without a solid idea of the game mechanism. Matt Jones suggested an “Indian Poker” system that worked well in fleshing out a multiple-round structure in which the visual matching pairs content would constitute a second round to follow a round of single-image questions. The final round came from an experimental game I tried at minicon in which players had to answer trivia questions using cross-referenced information in questions posed to their opponents. The signaling system was Split Second board game mechanism made from rubber-band activated answer paddles. The game was presented at the 2006 NPL convention in San Antonio and enjoyed success among both players and spectators. Darren Rigby made his own version of Sixth Sense that debuted at the Ann Arbor convention the following year. He added some clever bonus rounds and much simpler signaling system using modified playing cards.