'Colour or Country' is something of a
party game, suitable for any number of people
greater than or equal to 2. The game is
deceptively simple, but allows for many layers of strategy; much of the
complexity is hidden deep beneath the surface.
The rules are as follows:
- Players take turns in order; on your turn, you name a colour or a country.
- If you name a country, you lose.
Despite the apparent
simplicity, the amount of strategy employed by
expert players is truly amazing.
The 2002 Colour or Country
World Championships were held in Colorado Springs,
Colorado, and were hosted by
Mathcamp 2002. The
reigning Colour or Country champion is Cortland Setlow, of the
United States of America.
Some advice on how to play successfully, from one of the better-known professional players:
The key is that if you play to "win"... it'll get boring very quickly. It's especially fun to play late in the morning. To wit:
Cortland: "Caramelized onion caramel."
Player 1: "Caramelized onion onion."
Player 2: "Onion onion."
... (some intervening space)
Player 1: "Onion onion onion."
We don't know what sort of color onion onion onion is... but it most definitely is. As is Peru, and as is Taiwan (which is a sort of light pink - the pink of pink lemonade).
References:
http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~shulman/cgi/view/Journal/ColorOrCountry
http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=staticentropy&itemid=51386
For further information, see:
sarcasm