Metamorphosis Game

One of the benefits of this game is that you can play with huge numbers of people (100+) and it's still fun.  The downside is that you need at least 20 to make it really fun.  

So the way it starts is that everyone starts as an egg and if you are an egg you make the sound "wobble wobble" and walk around crouched down like you are a baseball catcher.  Once you meet another egg you "compete" to move up by playing "rock, paper, scissors" (RPS).  

Now, the winner moves up to be a larva (or caterpillar). They walk around chanting "chomp chomp" with their hands moving up and down as if they were incisors.  The loser stays as an egg as that is the lowest category you can go.  

If the larva sees another larva they play RPS with the loser moving back down to an egg and the winner becoming a pupa (or chrysalis). They hop around all straight and goofy chanting "metamorphosis" (since this is where the big change in body shape occurs).  If they see another pupa they play RPS and the loser goes back to larva but the winner becomes a butterfly.  

They fly around and go "slurp" because they drink nectar from flowers.  If you see a fellow butterfly you play RPS and the loser goes back to the pupa stage and the winner becomes a supreme being and stands off to the side and sings the Supreme Song "Stop in the Name of Love before you break my heart, think it over......" They sing that over and over to the other players.  

Two keys:

1. You can never go lower than an egg
2. You only play RPS with players that are at the same stage as you, hence the need to make the noises and hand motions.

After it plays for a little while, then you can end it with everyone doing one last rendition of the Supreme song so that everyone ends up a winner!

From Paul Grafton's "Ecology of California Butterflies" workshop at the Spring 2006 AEOE Conference in Malibu!