The game is an exercise in observing the degradational effects of translation as a particular phrase is passed along from one player to the next, usually in a circle, until the phrase has reached the final player. The game culminates when, after the phrase’s author announces aloud the original phrase, the last player reveals the final version of the phrase, typically resulting in a comedic moment due to the vast discrepancy between the original and final versions of the phrase.
Occasionally, a player might have the impulse to modify the phrase by intentionally altering a word in attempt to further push the resulting phrase from its original iteration; alternatively, a player might be inclined to alter the phrase in an attempt to return the words back to their presumed original form. (Here we may be reminded of Venuti’s invisible/visible translators—the former attempting to translate directly into “domestic” or familiar terms while the latter ensures his/her own textual visibility by inserting textual confusion.)
In most versions of the rules, this aberrant act is not forbidden, nor is it easily indicted, as a player may rely on the claim that it was passed along precisely as it was received; there is no proving otherwise.
In such an exercise, one may observe the inaccuracies and unreliability of human recollection and understanding, as well as concepts of generational loss, transference, and definitions of authenticity.
