Black Magic (game)

Black Magic is a trick game whose object is to try and guess patterns in sequences of words, numbers or objects. It is most commonly played at people who don't know how to play where the group consists of people who know the pattern, and people who are trying to guess it.

Popular version

The most popular version of Black Magic is played by a group of at least three people. One person leaves the room while the rest of the group agrees on any object in the room that this person will attempt to identify. When the person re-enters the room, he/she successfully pinpoints the pre-selected object.

The secret

Both the person who leaves the room (Person A) and one other member of the group (Person B) must know how the game works.

The pattern will be more difficult to guess if Person B points to a different object each time the game is played.

Variations

Black Magic has many variations that are all based on the original idea of trying to guess a pattern or connection between objects.

Examples

1. Guess the relationship between the following objects:

   There is a tree, but no flowers. There is an egg, but no ham. There is a moon, but no sun. There is an apple, but no orange. There is a book, but no pens.

   (This is also known as Bobby's World or Whats Behind the Green Brass Door? (game))

2. What is the rule that allows me to reach the number four, given Any Number?
   • 10 → 3 → 5 → 4
   • 15 → 7 → 5 → 4
   • 23 → 11 → 6 → 3 → 5 → 4
   • 20 → 6 → 3 → 5 → 4
3. The player slaps their hands 3 times, and asks, "How many flies are there?" In this case, the answer is 5. The player slaps his hands 7 times, and asks, "How about now?" This time the answer is 3. What is the pattern?
4. Tell the following story: "I once went on a camping trip and I brought a cat. After that, I packed an apricot. Following that, I put matches in my bag, then peaches, then ice, then nunchucks, then a gorilla, then a tree, then a rooster, then an ice-cream, then a pony." What is the pattern?

Solutions

1. Solution: There is "one thing" when the word has a double letter, while there is not "another thing" when the word has no double letter.
2. Solution: Count the number of letters in the number. For example, fifteen has 7 letters, so the next number in the sequence will be 7.
3. Solution: The number of flies is independent of how many times the player slaps their hands. It depends on the number of words in the question. For example, if the player asks, "How about now?" the answer is 3. If they ask nothing, it is zero.
4. Solution: Each item in the list should begin with a corresponding letter in the words camping trip. For example, C could correspond with cat or clothing, and A could correspond with apricot or apple. This continues until the all the letters in camping trip have been used.

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