Tales From Earth:Where's My Meniscus and other time wasters

There are many well-known games that have been played for hundreds of years on Earth - Backgammon, Chess, Go, Poker, Sorry! and Tennis are the obvious examples. But in Earth's late twentieth and early twentyfirst century, in the magnificent city of London, their lived a group of people who loved games, but tired of the predictability of the currently available batch of games. So they decided they should invent a collection of new games, and play them at all opportunities. This is the first attempt to list and document these games, so that they are available to a wider audience.

The Buzz Game

Whilst the buzz game is not the least derivative game invented by this group of individuals, it has often provided much entertainment.

The Rules

• At least three players are needed.
• The player carrying the fewest number of coins is chosen to be the original buzzmaster
• Each player, apart from the buzzmaster, is given a score of 0
• The buzzmaster asks a question, often about general knowledge or shared knowledge of the group. Examples of questions used are:
  • How many plays by Charles Dickens feature a character called Peter?
  • What is the average length of a Walrus' eyeball?
  • What was Olivia's most recent order at the bar?
• Players may "buzz in" at any time during or after the question by saying the word "buzz".
• The buzzmaster judges who the first player to "buzz in" was, and that player must attempt to answer the question.
  • If the player is correct, his score goes up by one. This is called 'scoring a point'.
  • If the player is incorrect, the buzzmaster continues asking the question, and other players may "buzz in".
• If a player has made an incorrect guess, she is allowed to have another attempt if he wants to, by saying the word "rebuzz". (This practice is called 'rebuzzing in'). It is the buzzmaster's option whether to allow a rebuzz. Rebuzzes are usually rebuffed unless every player has had a chance to answer.
• When a player reaches five points, they win and become the new buzzmaster.

Variants

Imbecile Buzz Game

• A version of the game which is extra challenging because most of the participants are imbeciles, failing to get even the most obvious questions (for example: "What is your name?" or "How do you spell 'I'"), and asking questions which are invalid ("Who wrote the book 'The Clockwork Orange'" or "H

96-97-98

• The buzzmaster is called the Jahrmeister
• Instead of asking a question, he sings a popular song. Examples of songs sung are:
  • Land of Confusion by Genesis
  • The One and Only by Chesney Hawkes
  • Yes by McAlmont and Butler
• Instead of answering questions, players buzz in to guess the year in which the song was released.
• A player who correctly identifies the year gets a point and may claim up to three bonus points for identifying the title, artist and album.
• A player who correctly identifies all four discographical elements is said to have "done the grand slam" and becomes the new Jahrmeister