Time’s Up! is a charades-based party game for teams of two or more players (and is best with teams of two). Before the game begins, each player looks at several cards featuring famous historical or fictional characters and chooses some of them. Each player’s cards are shuffled to form a deck, and this deck of famous names is used for each of the game’s three rounds.

In each round, team members take turns trying to get their teammates to guess as many names as possible in 30 seconds. In round 1, almost any kind of clue is allowed, and the cluegiver cannot pass on a card. In round 2, no more than one word can be used in each clue (but unlimited sounds and gestures are permitted); the cluegiver can pass on any card he likes, and the teammates can give only a single answer. In round 3, the cluegiver can use no words at all and can pass as often as he likes; again, teammates are allowed only a single guess. Give good physical clues in round 1, and they’ll pay dividends down the road when you need to keep your mouth shut and gesture like a maniac before time’s up!

A strategy card game where sticking it to your opponents is half the fun! Very easy to learn, 3 to 20 players can participate. Play it for a while, and when the cards don’t go your way, you’ll find yourself saying “Oh Hell!”

Some things are better left unsaid. How do you get your team to say “diamond” if you can’t say baseball, ring, carat, jewel, or engagement. Each time your team shouts out the secret word, you get a point, but be careful, your opponents will be looking over your shoulder making sure you don’t say any of the Taboo words.

Five Crowns is rummy with a five-suited deck and a twist. The set collection aspect of rummy is basically the same, with groups of three cards in either runs or denominations making a valid meld. The twist is that in each hand the number of cards required to create a meld increases, from three cards in the first hand to thirteen in the last. The game, therefore, consists of eleven hands.

Jana Bickel will use a PowerPoint presentation to host a team trivia game based on pictures of people, places and things.

A short mystery is stated, and the audience asks questions that the leader can answer either “Yes” or “No” until the mystery is solved. Sample: “The music stopped, the woman died. How?” Once solved, we start another riddle!

As the father of Howard “The Professor” Lederer and Annie Duke, “The Duchess of Poker,” Mensa world poker champion Richard Lederer is the most successful breeder of world-class poker players in history. Dr. Lederer will talk about the great American game of Texas Hold’em and instruct you in its fundamentals. Beginning and intermediate players are warmly welcomed.

Based on the popular television program, the game features two competing teams, who compete to determine the answers to survey questions. The first contestant to buzz in gives an answer; if it is the most popular, their team immediately wins the face-off. Otherwise, the opponent responds and the team member providing the higher-ranked answer wins. Ties are broken in favor of the contestant who buzzes in first. Ed You hosts this challenging and entertaining contest.

The classic Mensa word-association game consisting of movies, music, books, and whatever else the capricious and arbitrary host will allow. More details are found on Wikipedia’s Carnelli page.

By night, werewolves kill off villagers. By day, angry villagers kill off suspected werewolves. (But oops; sometimes they just kill off “innocent villagers.”) “Werewolf” requires observation, some deduction, and a lot of bold-faced lying. Who will prevail: the werewolves or the villagers? Since an average game takes 15-20 minutes, new players can join quickly. (This game is similar to, but better than, “Mafia.”)

Alan will be the host, question displayer, and judge.  Gail will be the scorekeeper.

Each first correct answer scores one point.

Questions are displayed one at a time for about 15 seconds or until a player gets the correct answer.

If there is no correct answer within 15 seconds, I hum the melody.

If there is still no correct answer within 45 seconds, I provide the answer.

Any correct alternative title wins the point.

After all questions are used, Gail will tabulate the points, and I’ll announce the 3 highest scores.

Prizes:

Autographed official Mensa puzzle book for each of 3 highest scorers

Example:

M E H S the G of the C O T L = Battle Hymn of the Republic (Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord)

A traditional parlor game for large or small groups, charades was once so popular as an after-dinner activity that it was known simply as “The Game.” Its recorded history dates back to 16th century France, and the name has become a catchphrase for many different pantomime games. Many boxed versions with suggestions and timers are available, and several TV shows have been made using the basic idea of the game.

In most versions, one player silently acts out a title (book, movie, show, etc.), phrase or person and their team must guess it.

Your team will get an ordinary word, and you’ve got to help them out by thinking of a song that has that word in the lyrics. Any song will do, even old commercial jingles or TV theme songs. Actually, you’ll have to sing at least eight words of the song, but no one cares how badly you sing or if you’re off-key, just sing it!

Right off the top of your head, name a restaurant, fruit, toy, Halloween costume, and weapon. And make sure they all begin with the same letter. If “C” is the letter, you might answer Chinese, Cantaloupe, Cap Gun, Clown, and Catapult. But be unique. If your response is the same as an opponent’s, you score nothing! 144 different categories and 20 letters chosen randomly give lots of possibilities.

Pub Trivia veteran Tim Bentley will offer a series of questions ranging from the challenging to the obscure to close out StaRGazing 2025!