Intro
Hi guys, I’ve been playing a game recently called “unpacking”. It’s a game about tidying up a room. There’s no timer, no scores, no competition, but the game gave me an almost meditative decompression experience. The background of the story is that the character unpacks after moving and puts the items in the boxes into the room one by one. Through this process, we can know the personality of the owner of this room, and we can also get spiritual healing by tidying up the room.
Taking inspiration from this game, it occurred to me that I could put together a collection of declutter games. So, let’s get started! Welcome to the world of minimalist games!
Declutter Game 1. Restore
Based on the games I mentioned earlier, I thought of this brand-new minimalist game!
Firstly, you need to ask your friends or family to help you empty your room. For empty, I really mean it, you need to take out everything, the only thing left should be the empty room itself.
Secondly, walk into the room, observe your empty room and name what was originally placed in each location. Make the most of your memory and restore the appearance of the room in your impression as closely as possible.
If the item and its location correspond, the item is considered “restored”! Let’s see, how many items can you restore? Due to the declutter nature of our game, the last remaining items that you don’t think of will have to be donated or discarded.
Be careful, please remember the items you love~
This game will definitely help you realize what you have, and make you understand what you need and value. Those items whose existence is not noticed till the last minute are really not matter if they are really gone.
Declutter Game 2. Empty Table Game
This game is a family game, you can also play it with your roommates, it’s not binding.
I believe everyone has this experience: a table that originally had nothing on it seems to grow as time goes by, becoming so full that nothing can be placed on it! Our clutter is gradually increasing unknowingly.
Here comes our “empty table game”! The duration of the empty table game is up to you, it can be 30 days, it can be a week, as long as it is a complete period. The game adopts a point deduction system, and the total points are 100 points.
The general rule is: if an item appears on the table for more than 1 day (or half a day, you can decide it yourself), corresponding points will be deducted (5 points or 10 points are acceptable, or points can be deducted based on how long the item is kept).
If you don’t set a total game time, you can deduct it until the points are all gone. Winner gets a wish, anything you name it.
Through this game, you can effectively control the number of your items on the table, and you can also conduct summary reviews by recording and analyzing the number of occurrences of the items.
In this way, you will know what items will be fixed on the table, also, the table should only carry these things. Besides, you can create an obvious partition for your table, using a tablecloth with a clear color block, or a storage basket. Then, anything that appears outside the storage basket or color partition is debris that should not appear on the table.
Don’t let clutter stay on your table, get rid of it!
Declutter Game 3. Decluttering Bingo
Classic bingo game! Suitable for friends and family too!
For the specific content bingo cards, you can directly search online and find what you want. As far as I know, many people have shared their decluttering bingo cards online, like in Facebook groups.
Of course, you can also personally design your own decluttering bingo card, which is more customizable. Moreover, you can write rewards, or penalties for your opponent, in each space or on the back of the card!
I found a bingo card, and if you’re too lazy to find or list the items yourself, you can just use this picture:
The content of the bingo card can be time-themed, such as the one shown above: declutter for 15 minutes.
It can also be object-themed. For example: donate a piece of your stationery, or throw something away from your kitchen.
It is best if each line is a series of actions that can connect the actions together to achieve the ultimate goal of decluttering your whole room.
Declutter Game 4. Box Game
I heard about this game from a friend and I thought it was very interesting, so I included it in this collection.
The rule of the game is to put all the things in your room into a box. You can ask your friends or family to do this just like the preparation process for the first game restore. Items can be random, or the entire room can be cleared. In fact, this game seems to be more similar to unpacking, because there is a link to take items out of the box.
The next step is to take the item out of the box while you are blindfolded and use just touch to decide whether to keep, donate, or throw away the item.
Similarly, if you can’t figure out what it is, the value of its existence is questionable, so donation will be the best destination for this thing.
In fact, while I was playing the game myself, I didn’t even recognize the gift a friend brought me back from a trip. It was a small ornament that had been placed in the corner of my bookshelf, and I had even forgotten its existence. Because the functionality of ornaments is simply to look good, no matter how beautiful they are, you will get tired of them sooner or later. Therefore, after negotiating with my friends, I finally gave it to the kid next door. The friend who gave me the gift was also very happy that it could bring happiness to more people.
PS：The follow-up Part 2 of this article has been updated, click here to go to: 9 Excellent Declutter Game 2023: Help Your Minimalist Life (Part 2)
