26 By 5!

Are you bored? Need to take off some steam? Then play 26 By 5! 

As the first ever positive shouting game (for stress relief) in the United States (that I'm aware of), 26 By 5! is sure to delight your neighbors. They will say things like, "Wow, such passion," and "we should build a taller fence." 

Here's the breakdown:

Equipment/ what's needed

• you'll need a pencil to mark down the score
• a piece of paper to keep score
• 2 people to play

How to play

1. Facing off, on the count of 3 each player shows a random # of fingers (using only 1 hand)
   1. If the total # of fingers equals 5, then repeat
   2. If not 5, the first person to shout a word gets a point! Repeat!
2. Shouted words must be in alphabetical order
3. After reaching the end of the alphabet, tally up the points, drink some tea, you're both winners!

An example

So you're facing each other and count off, "1, 2, 3":

Player #1 shows 3 fingers and player #2 shows 2. It equals 5, there's no shouting, no points. 

Count off again, "1, 2, 3":

It's not a 5, player #1 shouts out "Apple!" and scores 1 point.

Count off again, "1, 2, 3":

It's not 5, player #1 shouts out "Bagel!" before player #2 can say anything and scores another point. Player #1 is killing it! 

#2 you gotta catch up!

Once you reach the end of the alphabet (Z - just putting this here, you never know) or if you get tired, tally up the points. It's been a long day, relax a little, eat some pizza. Frozen is better than what people say.

Looking for a challenge? 

• Try using themes:
  • food
  • animals
  • game names

• Try it with drinks, like orange juice
• Try it wearing a costume in the park

Jam theme

The inspiration for this game was the jam theme: harmful resource.

Shouting, while harmful for your throat can be helpful for relieving stress and anxiety, it's a resource that is stigmatized. Back in undergrad we had a hill all the kids (I say this like I'm old...) all the youngins would go and shout to relieve stress. It helps, trust me.

If you don't believe the words of some stranger, which you shouldn't that's just general good advice trust me, check these out:

• https://trulyexperiences.com/blog/why-screaming-good-for-you/
• https://www.popsci.com/story/science/screaming-frustration-anger-tension-feeling...
• https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/doing-this-primal-animal-like-ritual-ma...

So now you can help your health and play a game, that's magic.

Just did some research à la googley and realized this is not the first positive shouting game...But this one is free!

Play it and let me know what you think. Got a theme suggestion? Post it below? Got videos of funny matches? Post it below?

The art was created by: 

• background https://pixabay.com/users/neotam-11291643/
• megaphone https://pixabay.com/users/wallusy-7300500/
• hand sketches https://pixabay.com/users/clker-free-vector-images-3736/