Zarban

This is a game in which players team up and try to guess a number between two polar opposites on a spectrum using a clue their teammate gave them.

Setup

Divide the players into two teams. To do this randomly, put two different colors of tokens in a bowl and have each player draw a token without looking. Decide beforehand which token’s team will go first.

For example: for six players, use three red candies and three yellow candies and say the red team will go first.

Play

One player on the starting team becomes the clue-giver. The clue-giver rolls the percentile dice (d100) and reads the entry from the list aloud. Then the clue-giver secretly rolls a d20 and thinks of a clue of no more than three words that he or she thinks describes the number on the scale of 1 to 20 between the two opposites.

The clue-giver’s teammates get 1 minute to discuss and agree on a number to guess. Before the number is revealed, the opposing team gets 30 seconds to discuss and guess whether the real number is above or below the first team’s guess.

For example: if the pair is North Pole – South Pole and the d20 roll is 13, the clue-giver might say “Gulf of Mexico”. The Gulf of Mexico is significantly north of the equator, so the guesses should be above 11.

Scoring

• If the first team’s guess is exactly correct, that team gets 4 points.
• If it is one away, they get 2 points.
• If it is two away, they get 1 point.
• If the opposing team correctly guesses that the real number is above or below the guess, they get 1 point. If the first team guesses exactly, the opposing team can’t nab a point.

For example, if the number is 8, and the team guesses 7 (or 9), they get 2 points. If the opposing team guesses the real number is above 7 (which it is), they nab 1 point.

The clue-giver must not give any other hints verbally or by face or actions and may need to cover their face or turn their back to avoid accusations of cheating.

The clue cannot have a qualifier in it, such as very, extremely, kind of, slightly, etc. (But it can have a descriptor, such as dead, big, happy, etc.) Nor can it be one of the opposites themselves.

For example, if the pair is North Pole – South Pole, and the number rolled is 20, the clue cannot be “North Pole” (or even have “north” or “pole” in it); it must be something like “Santa’s workshop”.

Play proceeds to the other team, then back and forth. Each time a team takes a turn, a different player does the die-rolling and clue-giving.

Winning

After every player has been the clue-giver once and one player on each team has been the clue-giver twice, the team with the higher score wins.

• If there’s a tie, the team with more exact guesses (scores of 4) wins.
• If it’s still a tie, the team with more nabs wins.
• If it is still a tie, then the game remains a tie.

Polar Opposites Table

1d100	Above — Below	1d100	Above — Below
1	1900 — Current day	51	Long and thin — Short and squat
2	Big animal — Small animal	52	Long-lived — Short-lived
3	Brilliant idea — Stupid idea	53	Loved — Hated
4	Can’t afford to lose — Want to lose	54	Mainstream — Niche
5	Okay chores — Chores you’re loath to do	55	Dangerous activity – Safe activity
6	Classy — Trashy	56	Need — Want
7	Clean food — Messy food	57	New hotness — Old & busted
8	Clean place — Dirty place	58	Nice island to live on — Bad island to live on (make it up)
9	Cold — Hot	59	Nice planet to live on — Bad planet to live on (make it up)
10	Comedy — Tragedy	60	Normal thing to own — Weird thing to own
11	Comfortable furniture — Uncomfortable furniture	61	North Pole — South Pole
12	Cool car — Boring car	62	Old film — New film
13	Dangerous job — Safe job	63	Permanent — Temporary
14	Dictatorship — Democracy	64	Popular vegetable — Unpopular vegetable
15	Easy to spell — Hard to spell	65	Populated — Unpopulated
16	Ethical to eat — Unethical to eat	66	Professional — Amateur
17	Expensive — Cheap	67	Quiet place — Loud place
18	Fancy hat — Ordinary hat	68	Requires luck — Requires skill
19	Fascinating topic — Boring topic	69	Romantic movie — Unromantic movie
20	Fast transportation — Slow transportation	70	Rough — Smooth
21	Flexible — Rigid	71	Round — Pointy
22	Food that keeps well — Food that goes bad	72	Shoes you can run in — Shoes you can’t run in
23	Friendly animal — Unfriendly animal	73	Small — Very small
24	Fun activity — Boring activity	74	Smart person — Dumb person
25	Fun emoji — Bad emoji	75	Smells bad — Smells good
26	Furry animal — Non-furry animal	76	Snack — Meal
27	Geek — Dork	77	Soft — Hard
28	Good breakfast cereal — Bad breakfast cereal	78	Sport — Pastime
29	Good dessert — Bad dessert	79	Sturdy — Fragile
30	Good emotion — Bad emotion	80	Superpower — Geeky ability
31	Good pet — Bad pet	81	Tall person — Short person
32	Good school class — Bad school class	82	Things that are black — Things that are white
33	Good superpower — Bad superpower	83	Things that are yellow — Things that are blue
34	Good use of time — Waste of time	84	Too big — Too small
35	Good website — Bad website	85	Traditionally masculine — Traditionally feminine
36	Guilty pleasure — Openly love	86	Underrated actor — Overrated actor
37	Happy person — Sad person	87	Hard to cook — Easy to cook
38	Hard to find — Easy to find	88	Underrated musician/band — Overrated musician/band
39	Underrated alphabet letter — Overrated letter	89	Underrated pre-firearm weapon — Overrated weapon
40	Hard to read — Easy to read	90	Underrated skill — Overrated skill
41	Heavyweight — Lightweight	91	Unpopular — Popular
42	Hero — Villain	92	Unusual footwear — Ordinary footwear
43	High calorie — Low calorie	93	Unusual weather — Ordinary weather
44	High quality — Low quality	94	Useful — Useless
45	Highbrow — Lowbrow	95	Useful invention — Useless invention
46	Historically important — Historically irrelevant	96	Useful tech — Useless tech
47	Hot celebrity — Ugly celebrity	97	Utopia — Dystopia
48	Hot place — Cold place	98	Very big — Big
49	Impressive superhero — Pathetic superhero (make it up)	99	Wet — Dry
50	Light — Dark	100	Whole — Pieces
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