Wavelength

Wavelength (2019) is a communication guessing game where you try and read your teammate's minds. Unlike other guessing games the answers aren't right or wrong but on a sliding scale that changes each round. There's a clever wheel that secretly deals with the guessing and creates a fun climactic reveal each round.

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Each turn a team chooses a player to be the psychic who places the next Scale card in front of the wheel. The card displays two words that function as each end of the scale: Job/Career, Rough/Smooth, Fantasy/Sci-Fi, Sad Song/Happy Song). The psychic then secretly spins the wheel to randomise the target position on the scale and makes a note of that position. They then pull over the cover to keep it secret.

The stage is set for the psychic to get their teammates to move the dial to the right location on the scale. But they are only allowed to make one statement to do this. If this was a Sad Song/Happy Song and the target was at the sad end of the scale, they may say "Radiohead". Or if the scale was at the happy end they may say "Pharrell Williams".

Their teammates move the dial to their guesses. A nice twist is that the opposing team gets a chance for bonus points by guessing whether the guess is too high or too low. The target is then revealed and you find out who was right. You get more points if your needle is closer to the centre of the target range. The opposing team gets that bonus point if they are right about which side of the target the needle is.

The result is a game that's hard to explain but simple and great fun to play. There's plenty of nuance to the play because of the work that the wheel does for you. As you progress teams become attuned to the sorts of guesses they are making and how they relate to different positions on the scale. It's like a game show without the reliance on trivia or knowledge.

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Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Wavelength 24 months ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 7 weeks ago.