Title: Llama Llama

Informant info: Informant name: Andy Shea ‘17 Location: Hanover, NH Date: 5/21/16, Dartmouth Student, Male, Class of 2017

Type of lore (verbal, material or customary), Genre, Subgenre: Customary

Language: English

Country of Origin: United States

Social / Cultural Context: This game is played before the actual start of Trips, when people are first meeting their fellow trippees and trip leaders. It is sometimes played at the Lodj, but emphasis is placed on other activities. 

Associated file: 

Source: http://outdoors.dartmouth.edu/firstyear/about_trips.html

Informant’s comments: “The way I remember this game is that they made us stand in a circle and chant “Llama llama llama llama” towards other players while making funny hand and face gestures. The player on the receiving end must repeat the phrase and hand gestures towards a player they haven’t chosen yet. If a player messes up by throwing the circle off sync or picking a player that already went, that player is out. Once two players are left, the players go into what’s called a ‘veggie-off.’ During this phase, one of the players who was eliminated is made a judge and told to think of an adjective-vegetable combination, like charismatic cucumber. Once the judge thinks of the combination, he counts down from 3 and the two remaining players must act out the combination. The player with the funniest or most genuine improvisation wins the game.”

Collector’s comments: “I remember playing multiple variations of this game, including one where we incorporated other icebreaking games into it in order to make it more challenging. At one point the entire circle had to rotate counterclockwise, and a player could make make it rotate in the opposite direction at a moment’s notice.” -Julio

Tags: Llama, icebreaker, game, vegetables, competition