Does a fat ... kid love cake? Why do some people ... hate cilantro? My armpits are ... always itchy.
Google Autocomplete is a veritable treasure trove of somewhat questionable -- but frequently hilarious -- answers to life's questions. It's why Toronto-based sisters Nikki Flowerday and Phoebe Stephens developed a board game, called Query, based on Google's predictive-search feature. What began as an in-joke and Autocomplete guessing game via text message, evolved into a board-game concept by the fall of 2012. And so, Query was born.
Following a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised more than $12,000 Canadian (exceeding its original $7,500 goal), the game officially launched in May 2014. Now, Flowerday and Stephens are developing a Query app that they hope to unveil this spring.
Here's how it works: Players place their individual playing pieces at the start line on the board. A dealer must choose one Query card (there are around 600 included in the game), and read aloud the provided query beginning (e.g. "Does a se..." or "When it rains what..."). Each card has four endings that were actually plucked from real-life Google Autocomplete searches. Then the fun begins, as described on Query's Kickstarter page:
Players come up with their own endings, write them down on whiteboards and submit them to the dealer.
Meanwhile, the dealer chooses a real query ending that he thinks nobody will guess from the [chosen] card, and writes it down on a whiteboard. The dealer reads all the endings out loud, including the one he chose. Players then take turns guessing which is the real ending.
For each Query card, the goal is to earn points by writing an ending that other players will choose as the correct answer, and by choosing the real ending from those read aloud by the dealer. The first player to reach the finish line on the board (by earning the most points), wins.
Query is designed for three to six players, ages 14 and up. Each game takes around 45 minutes to an hour to complete. Mashable's hands-on with Query was enjoyable, though we would recommend that the creators organize the Query cards into various categories (e.g. pets, bodily functions), and add more spaces to the board so the game lasts longer.
Both creators grew up playing board games, including Monopoly, Scrabble and Balderdash, and hope Query will contribute to the renaissance of old-school gaming.
"I don't think board games are obsolete," Flowerday told Mashable, adding that she and Stephens "never get tired of playing" Query.
Flowerday said they may create an adult-themed "Query after dark" board game if the original family-friendly Query continues its successful streak, which includes making the official IndieCade 2014 selection in October, and appearing in the Chicago Toy and Game Fair in November.
In the meantime, both creators are focused on developing the Query app, which involves playing in a closed environment; that way, players would not be able to cheat by searching for the real query online. What's more, Flowerday said, "Rather than voting on the accuracy of the autocompletes, users would vote [for] the funniest/dirtiest/creepiest entry."
