What is the first word game?

Humans are so eager to engage in “play” that it is likely the first humans to develop speech were also the first to make up games with that speech. Think of how often children find delight in making up rhymes or creating games from words that start with the same letter or end with the same letter…that alone tells us that word games of one form or another have probably been around since language itself emerged.

What, though, of more formal and organized word games? If we look at the word “game” itself, we see it emerge in Old English around the year 1200 CE. Meaning anything from joy and fun to glee and amusement, it is thought to have originally been “gamen” and lost the -en sound accidentally when speakers mistook it as a suffix. As one etymological website says, game “is first attested c. 1200 (of athletic contests, chess, backgammon). Especially ‘the sport of hunting, fishing, hawking, or fowling’… thus ‘wild animals caught for sport'”…also become “game”.

By the middle of the 1500s, though, it seems that people were already using it to describe a type of “play” or “sport” and people would play at games. Then, it became “gambling” and soon moved into the concept of games we think of today. Of course, when we think of word games, we might automatically think of crossword puzzles, and perhaps that is one of the earliest, formal types of word games.

Puzzle is a word that appeared around the 1590s and was first used to mean a “perplexing question”. However, by the 1800s, it became a “toy contrived to test one’s ingenuity”.

So, we can see how word games may have easily evolved, becoming challenges that tested someone’s language skills or knowledge. Because games are a form of entertainment, they probably emerged in this manner and then moved on to competitions and educational outlets later.

The word games we play today are probably not that far from their origins, and most experts agree that they are found in only a few formats limited to letter arrangement, letter replacement, or “fill in the blanks” word finder games. Think of anagrams, hangman, and word scramble games. Some combine elements of chance, while others might emphasize a certain knowledge or skill. Crosswords are one such example.

We know that crosswords became popular in the 1800s but only emerged in a recognizable form in the U.S. around 1913. They require general knowledge and good vocabulary and are not limited to chance. Scrabble, on the other hand, emerged as a game of both chance and skill, so a little Scrabble help can go a long way toward improving your score.

As long as we could read, write, and speak, we have played with words, and today there are amazing opportunities to continue enjoying such activities – including multiplayer word games through apps like Words with Friends or traditional and beloved board games like Scrabble.

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Quick Description

In pairs or small groups have the players have a conversation where the last word (or line) said is the first word (or line) of the player responding.

What is the first word game?
Last word, first word

How to Play

This games can be played as a performance game, a teaching activity or a debrief technique.

Have everyone get into pairs. One player begins talking based on the prompt.

The other players must use the last word said by the player as the first word of the thing they say.

  • Player A: I noticed how much I wanted to say something good.
  • Player B: Good answers can drive our behavior and can often pull us out of the moment. I felt the same thing, it was frustrating.
  • Player A: Frustrating yes and effortful.
  • …..and so on…

After working with that constraint for a while, try moving to the next activity: Last Line.

In this version instead of saying the last word the previous speaker said, you repeat the whole last line (or phrase).

Allow yourself the adjust the line or phrase slightly to make more sense.

Notes

  • As a performance game, it can be played with multiple players. Sometimes if the player does not say the last word (or phrase) they have to make an excuse in the scene to leave the stage.
  • As a teaching game, it can highlight how challenging it is to listen to the very end of the person who is speaking.
  • As a debrief activity it can slow down the debrief and surprising richness to the conversation.

Variations

When working on Zoom, WebEx, MS Teams or any other video platform, you can demo the activity in the main room then send pairs of people to breakout rooms to play it on their own.

Last Letter, First Letter: This is just as it seems, the last letter of what a person said must be the first letter in response.

Disclosure: I often play this game when in a business meeting to keep me on my toes. So the next time you and I talk, see if you can tell if I’m doing it.

Origin

I learned this game years and years ago when I first started learning improv games. I probably learned it from Rebecca Stockley.

What this video description from Dr. Barbara Tint

Barbara Tint explains how she uses this activity.

What is the first word game?
Over 350 improv games.

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When was the first word game?

If we look at the word “game” itself, we see it emerge in Old English around the year 1200 CE. Meaning anything from joy and fun to glee and amusement, it is thought to have originally been “gamen” and lost the -en sound accidentally when speakers mistook it as a suffix.

Who invented the word game?

It's one word a day and it's the same word for everybody and we're all trying to figure it out together.” But just who is the game's creator, Josh Wardle? Here is everything you need to know about him.

What is the main Wordle game?

Wordle is an online word game in which the player has to guess a five-letter word in six attempts. Each time the player makes a guess, they are told which of their chosen letters are in the target word and whether they are in the correct place or not.

Where did the word game originate?

From Middle English game, gamen, gammen, from Old English gamen (“sport, joy, mirth, pastime, game, amusement, pleasure”), from Proto-West Germanic *gaman, from Proto-Germanic *gamaną (“amusement, pleasure, game", literally "participation, communion, people together”), from *ga- (collective prefix) + *mann- (“man”); or ...