And Then He Said…

I came up with this game as an alternative to He Said, She Said. I liked the way He Said, She Said turns talk into action, but the mechanics of it seemed awkward, with the actions following (and often contradicting) the dialogue,

In And Then He Said, action comes before dialogue. Player A provides a detailed description of the other Player B’s actions, which the Player B acts out as the directions are given. The narrating player ends with the phrase “and then he said…” (or “and then she said…”). Player B then delivers a line of dialogue that follows intuitively from the actions. The roles are now reversed, and Player B provides direction for A.

Lea mimes making photocopies.

LEA: Paul walked into the photocopy room. He looked under a stack of papers. He clenched his fists.

Paul performs these actions as Lea describes them, looking worried.

LEA: He crouched down by the bin and pulled out the papers. And then he said…

PAUL: The cheque! I’ve lost the cheque!

It’s now Paul’s turn to give Lea stage directions.

PAUL: Lea looked up from her photocopying. She smiled.

Lea smiles sweetly.

PAUL: It was an evil, evil smile.

Lea makes her smile more evil.

PAUL: The most evil smile a woman had ever smiled.

Lea exaggerates the smile even more.

PAUL: And then she said…

LEA: I’ve spent it.

It’s always fun to control the actions of another player. Players should treat the game like a verbal Puppets game and do only the activities the other person describes.

Techniques for playing this game are very similar to He Said, She Said. Keep the dialogue brief and to the point. Direction should focused on physical actions, not backstory or thoughts. If a direction leads to a strong reaction, that’s a good point to say “and then he said”.