Země Město

Země Město (Country City) is one of many word games that I found in the Czech Republic. This game is perhaps not the most representative of my findings and may not actually originate here, but was the first and only game I was able to record in the video Play On Words at the time.

Any number of players may join the game, but it is most common to play with around 4 people. Each player is armed with a pen and piece of paper. The page is divided into columns with a category title above each one; Name, City, Animal, Plant, Object and Country.

The first player begins to recite the alphabet in his/her mind, the second player shouts STOP!

The first player then calls out the letter of the alphabet that s/he reached when "stop" was called.

At this moment all the players furiously write down words beginning with that letter for each of the categories described above.

The first player to complete all the words beginning with the elected letter in each of the categories shouts STOP to end the progress of the round and all the players must stop writing.

The player who completed all the categories then asks each of the other players if they have any of the same words that s/he has. Players then confirm yes or no for matching words. A player with a word that the others do not have scores 10 points and words that are matched score only 5 points. If a player has the only valid word in a category, another 10 points are scored.

The game continues in this manner until a player reached a predefined score, or an allotted number of rounds have been completed.

The game is educational in that it develops players cognitive reactions to general knowledge through words and alphabetical indices. Expert players will also be able to think fast and deep enough to come up with words in each category that they can count on other players not arriving at so easily, thus increasing their score.

Some players may choose to write down the most obvious words but with greater speed so that other players don't have time to think of more uncommon words. When players know each other very well, these tactics can proove to be a very entertaining appreciation of character.

The Czech language lends itself particularly well to play on words because of its versatility. Many Czech words sound similar to each other, making it very easy to rhyme, make puns and double-edged meanings.

Although there are fewer words in the Czech language than English, more Czech people know more of these words, resulting in a greater general vocabulary and commonality with each other. This commonality makes it very easy for people to invent new words that make sense rather pure gibberish. This invention of words is also facilitated by the frequency of the similarity in beginnings and endings of words using the same letters or sounds.

Czech words are also richer in meaning as each word is more concise, specific and condense in the articulation of its subject. For this reason it is quite difficult to translate meanings of Czech words to English, since the expressions and colloquialisms are so individual. The origins of the Czech language come from a mixture of cultures, creating a modern language that has many unique aspects, which may well be responsible for the diversity that generates such a rich and playful Czech word game culture.

There are many other word games that I found in the Czech Republic. The most noteworthy are described below:

Word Football

In this game a circle of players trade or volley words to each other in quick succession. The first player calls out a word and the next player must call out a word that begins with the last letter of the first word. The following players must continue to extend the exercise without repeating a word that has already been called. If a player is too long in coming up with the next word s/he is dropped from the game. The player who manages to stay in the game long enough to call the last word is the winner.

Papirky (Word Consequences)

The first player writes down a noun on the page and the word is hidden by a fold, the next player must write a joining word, fold and pass it on to the next player who alternates with another noun. This continues until the page is complete. The players then unfold the string of words to see what kind of sentence they have created and are humoured purely for its creative quality, or lack of.

Sentence Consequences

Similar to word consequences, players write sentences and fold the page. The difference here is that the next player is allowed to read the previous line, but not the line before that and so the page is folded accordingly. This is an attractive game because an amusing story can be created very quickly between the players. Again the outcome is enjoyed purely on its artistic merit.

Poetry Consequences

This is much like Sentence Consequences, but this time the players each write 2 lines of poetry and are only allowed to read the lines of the previous player. This game generates a more lyrical and fluid use of the language and can show some great imagination from its players.

Longest Word

This game really tests each player's knowledge of their vocabulary through mathematical addition of letters. The first player must think of a letter beginning with 1 letter. The second player with 2 letters, the 3rd with 3 and so on. As the challenge is passed around it becomes very difficult as players reach words of up to 30 letters long!