(Of course, engaging in the following rumpus, depends on the honor of the players. If you have no will power and will just dash off to hunt up the answer on the internet, then you void the pleasure of the exercise.)
How to play: name an object which features strongly in many mystery stories. Any object. Kris Knife. 'Painting with eyes that move'. 'Foghorn'.
My example might be this: 'battery powered flashlight' Someone in the group should then name the year of its invention. (here is where you can cheat, if thats the kind of person you are).
The answer in this case of course, is 1899. Before that, everyone used torches, candles, or lanterns. (Thus, if you ever see Holmes/Watson with a flashlight, you know it is a pastiche and probably not an actual Doyle story)
But the next hurdle is not so easy: someone from the group should then try to identify when that object first appeared in a mystery story.
When did a battery powered flashlight first appear in a mystery yarn? This will be a lot tougher to pin down!
(Of course, engaging in the following rumpus, depends on the honor of the players. If you have no will power and will just dash off to hunt up the answer on the internet, then you void the pleasure of the exercise.)
How to play: name an object which features strongly in many mystery stories. Any object. Kris Knife. 'Painting with eyes that move'. 'Foghorn'.
My example might be this: 'battery powered flashlight'
Someone in the group should then name the year of its invention. (here is where you can cheat, if thats the kind of person you are).
The answer in this case of course, is 1899. Before that, everyone used torches, candles, or lanterns. (Thus, if you ever see Holmes/Watson with a flashlight, you know it is a pastiche and probably not an actual Doyle story)
But the next hurdle is not so easy: someone from the group should then try to identify when that object first appeared in a mystery story.
When did a battery powered flashlight first appear in a mystery yarn? This will be a lot tougher to pin down!
Try your hand. No obligation to play...