Exquisite Corpse — draw a body nobody planned
Each sheet is folded into three. You draw a head, fold it away so only the neck lines show, and pass it on. The next person draws a body without seeing the head. Unfolded, the creatures belong to everyone and no one.
From Exquisite Corpse, a game of the Surrealist artists.
What it shows a designer
Concealment makes collaboration surprising. It shows how hiding information between players can produce something nobody could have made alone, and a game with no winner that people still want to play again.
Credits
- Made by
- The Surrealists in Paris, around 1925
- This version
- Three bands (head, body, legs) instead of four
- Sources
- www.moma.org/magazine/articles/457
www.nationalgalleries.org/sites/default/files/features/pdfs/Make%20Your%20Own%20Exquisite%20Corpse.pdf
What you need
- a sheet of paper and a pen for each player
How to play
- Fold. Fold each sheet into three equal bands.
- Head. Everyone draws a head in the top band, with two short lines crossing the fold where the neck goes. Fold the head out of sight and pass the sheet left.
- Body. Draw a body joining the neck lines, add lines for the legs, fold it away and pass left again.
- Legs. Draw the legs and feet.
- Reveal. Unfold all the sheets together. There is no winner.
After playing, talk about
- What did you do with the two lines you were given?
- Which creature surprised its makers most?
- Would it be better or worse if you could peek?
Its blocks
Download it as a design (.md)In boardgameBuilder, Open game puts its blocks on the canvas. Changed, the same file can come back here from Propose a game.