Directions for Odyssey Family Feud

This game is played similarly to the TV game show Family Feud, but with a few modifications. Obviously
no surveys were taken and responses to categories have been arbitrarily selected. Each category has five
responses listed (some categories are broad and could potentially have many “correct” responses, while
there are some that have very few correct answers).The object of the game is to guess the five
responses listed, even though there could be other “correct” answers. A student certainly could, and
often will, give a response that would normally be appropriate, but if it is not on the given list, it is a
“miss”.

The game begins by dividing the class into two teams, or “families”. One member of each team comes
to the front of the class to “square off” against the other student. The teacher asks the pair to name just
one from the particular category of words/names/places, etc. The object here is to be the first student
to name any one member of the group that is listed in the category. When one of the students gives a
correct response, his team has the option of playing or passing the category to the other team. If the
team elects to play, they need to come up with the other members in the list, before getting three
strikes. They need to answer individually, one at a time, with no assistance from their other team
members. If they are able to say all five members of the list before getting three strikes, the team gets
five points. The game then continues, with two new players, one from each team, coming to the front of
the class to “square off” on the next question, and so on. If a team chooses to pass to the other team,
the scenario is the same- the challenged team needs to say all five before getting three strikes.

If a team cannot come up with all five responses before getting three strikes, the other team needs to
correctly state only one of the items that has not yet been guessed. If they can do this successfully, they
get the points (if not all five correct responses have been given, the points are determined by how many
correct responses have been given). If the team cannot come up with at least one answer, the original
team gets the accumulated points.

If, by chance, neither of the two students who are “squaring off” can come up with a proper response,
two new players come forward and the teacher goes on to the next category. The teacher determines
how many of the categories to cover in one class period, depending on time, class interest, etc. This
game tends to be very fun and quite competitive, and it does force the students to think about the
Odyssey in order to come up with proper answers; therefore, it does have educational merit as well as
being enjoyable.

©Bill Curtis 2012