You’re so media-savvy you don’t have anything fresh to watch, read or listen to – what do you do? You play a game. From the traditional, to the inadvertent, to the plain weird, here are some games you end up playing on flights.
1. See how long you can last without leaning your seat back
If you’re taking a night flight, then you can’t play this game as you’re expected to hit that seat button as soon as possible. But during the day, everybody’s hand is hovering over the button, just waiting to squeeze.
The moment the person in front of you caves in and uses theirs, you’re forced to hit your button too as otherwise you have a seat touching your nose. The mesmerising Mexican wave created by chairs leaning back one by one is one of the great job-unique views flight attendants rave about.
2. Look out the window without making the person with the window seat uncomfortable
You wanted the aisle seat for the legroom, of course you did, but a glance out the window wouldn’t hurt. The untrustworthy stranger with the window seat doesn’t even appreciate the view and is reading the in-flight magazine.
Your challenge is to look past them very subtly or they’ll notice you in their periphery and assume you want to talk to them. Obviously, if you mindlessly lean over, you’ve lost the game.
3. Order refreshments using another language
You’re flying with a carrier from foreign climes so it’s the perfect opportunity to test that D in French GCSE you got thirty years ago. When the attendant replies in your own language though, that means they’ve won.
4. Visit the tiny bathroom
It doesn’t matter if you have to make use of it or not, just get in there. The game element occurs when you try to time getting up before somebody else.
Sometimes somebody in a row ahead gets up as you’re heading over and pips you to the post, leaving you awkwardly standing outside the locked cubicle, two hundred faces pointed in your direction. That’s when you know you’ve lost the game.
5. I Spy
The genius of I Spy is that the name is a play on words. “I” sounds like “eye”, and you need your eyes to play I Spy. Be warned, if you play I Spy, do try to play it with another person. If you play it alone, it’s just looking at things and you’ve missed the point entirely.
6. Meditation
Relaxation channels are becoming increasingly popular on long-haul flights because that creeping anxiety about existence plagues us even when we’re hurtling through the atmosphere 30,000 feet above ground. If you treat meditation like a game, then it’s probably more fun than sitting around doing nothing sounds.
You could count how many seconds you go without thinking and then try to beat your record. Oh wait, does counting count as thinking? If you don’t think about the counting, then that’s all right, surely… Is that how this works?
7. See how many times you can press the button for an attendant
Flight attendants have an incredible amount of patience and calm, but just how much? Some people like to find out by pressing the call button every ten minutes and are continually impressed.
Nightmare mode: try playing during a night flight when everybody’s asleep. The attendants will think you’re hilarious.
8. Trying not to talk to the stranger sitting next to you
You’re a nervous flyer. It really helps when you can just talk to somebody, anybody really, about anything. It’ll keep you calm. Maybe you can talk to this stranger sitting next to you. Oh dear, they do seem involved in that book, but maybe they’ll be up for a chat if they find out how delightful you are.
You don’t want to look too keen though – the flight hasn’t even taken off! Just try keeping it together, see how long you can go before you start blabbing at them.
9. See how long you can ignore the stranger who wants to talk to you
Oh no, they look like one of those nervous flyers. Just try and look like you’re completely absorbed in this book. If they say something, hold your nerve and ignore them – all external stimuli has been blocked out, such is the depth of your concentration when reading. Hopefully that’ll convince them… At least try and see how long you can hold out.
(Main image by abdallahh)
