Let’s face it, fictional universes just have the coolest games. Have you ever been watching Pokemon or Tron and thought to yourself “God I’d love to own my own Pikachu or murder my friends with a lightcycle”? Well, we can’t make those dreams come true, but here are five awesome fictional games that you can actually play in real life.
1. Quidditch (Harry Potter)
While flying around on broomsticks is impossible (at least for a couple of no-majs like us), that didn’t stop a group of die-hard Harry Potter fans from adapting the game of Quidditch for real life. Dubbed “Muggle Quidditch,” the game is governed by the International Quidditch Association (yes, that’s a real thing).
The game was founded in Middlebury College in Vermont presumably with the help of a lot of weed. Muggle Quidditch is a “full contact” sport and teams are comprised of three chasers, two beaters, one keeper. The best part about Muggle Quidditch? The snitch is played by a person dressed in a gold leotard.
Unfortunately, no amount of quaffles can make up for the fact that you’re not actually flying. However, if you want want to use your imagination and jazz up your Harry Potter fantasy with a little booze, there is a Quidditch themed version of beer pong that you can try.
2. True American (New Girl)
Speaking of drinking, New Girl‘s True American is 50% drinking game, 50% life-sized Candy Land (or as Winston says “90% drinking” with “a loose Candy Land-like structure to it”). While the game doesn’t have any official rules, that didn’t stop eager fans from creating their own set of rules complete with an imaginary molten lava floor.
In the game, players take turns navigating a path of tables, chairs, and cushions through a series of zones. On their turn, players can advance by completing one of three mini-games which include “The Count,” “Complete a Quote,” and “Something in Common.” Confusing enough? Good. There are also additional rules like “Everything that you hear in True American is a lie” and “A player may yell ‘JFK’ at any time at which point everyone must yell ‘FDR’ and finish their beer.”
3. Cyvasse (Game of Thrones)
While the game has yet to appear in the show, it’s incredibly popular in the books and has been played by everyone from Tyrion Lannister to Margaery Tyrell. George R.R. Martin has described Cyvasse as “a bit of chess, a bit of blitzkrieg, a bit of stratego.” While he declined to develop a full set of rules (hopefully because he was busy writing The Winds of Winter), fans have done the leg work for him and outlined a full rulebook.
The rules are pretty straight forward. Each player is given 10 units, ranging from elephants and dragons to crossbowmen and catapults, and the objective is to capture your opponent’s king (or since this is Game of Thrones, you can probably try to kill him with a vagina shadow monster or something). If you want to test your strategery, one Game of Thrones fan has made virtual edition of Cyvasse.
4. Calvinball (Calvin and Hobbes)
According to Hobbes, “No sport is less organized than Calvinball.” Calvin and Hobbes’ Calvinball is the game of ever changing rules, however it does have some permanent rules that fans might not be aware of. First, you cannot play Calvinball the same way twice and second, all players must wear Calvinball masks (no questions asked).
5. Cones of Dunshire (Parks and Recreation)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfXfOCIIFcY
Created by Ben Wyatt, Cones of Dunshire is a bizarre mix of Dungeons and Dragons, the Settlers of Catan, and dozens of other popular board games. Last year, Mayfair Games (the company behind Settlers of Catan) launched a failed Kickstarter to create a real version of the game, but fan made rules can be found online.
The objective of the game is to acquire four cones through trade, purchase, advancement, and scavenging. Eight players are divided into six classes: two wizards, two warriors, a maverick, an arbiter, a corporal, and of course a ledgerman. If you would like to run your own game of Cones of Dunshire, you should check out the rulebook which is 26 pages long and just as complicated as you would imagine.
