Parlor game variants for a baby shower

I've been looking for games that are somewhat baby-themed, so you'd play them at a baby shower, but not really tasteless like the one with plastic babies in ice cubes where you want to be the first whose "water" breaks. Here are some variants on parlor games that I made up and pass my taste test:

Baby Alphabet (based on Traveling Alphabet):
The first player thinks of a baby name. Let's say she says "Jenny." The next player has to think of a verb and a noun that begin with "J" that Jenny, as a baby, might do. In this example she might say "Jenny joins jisaw pieces." Then the same player thinks of a baby name beginning with the next letter of the alphabet, like "Kaleigh." You can play that if a player takes to long to think, then they're out, or you could play noncompetitively.

Infantile Poetry (based on Crambo):
Beforehand, pick a few baby-related nouns and a few childrearing questions. Mix them up, and choose two noun-question pairs for every 3-4 people, who are then assigned to write a rhyming poem that uses the noun and answers the babyraising question. For example, you might pick out "stroller" and "Should you let your baby cry it out?" Players have five minutes to write their poem. The sillier the better!

Blind Conditionals (based on Conditionals):
The first player writes down the beginning of an "if" or "when statement" (preferably having to do with childbirth and childrearing). The first player folds down the paper so her statement is not visible, and the second player completes the statement (in the conditional or future tense) without looking at the first part. This game's success depends somewhat on the absurdity of the remarks, so I'm not sure how it would fare as a baby shower game.

Example:
If you're at home and labor starts
spitup will get everywhere.

Sources:
The Games Bible - for Traveling Alphabet and Crambo (amazon)
A Book of Surrealist Games - for Conditionals (amazon)

Jigsaw Puzzle Design: It's about being able to predict what pieces fit

I recently had the pleasure of putting together a wooden jigsaw puzzle. It was so much more fun than the old cardboard puzzles. I got to thinking about why cardboard puzzles suck and thought I could do a little analysis for you. 

Ravensburger puts out like a million of these

mini Japanese puzzle has even fewer piece types

This is from your typical cardboard puzzle. There are about six major piece types, and some rarer border and corner pieces. Since all the pieces look the same, you are pretty much stuck to looking at the colors on the pieces for figuring out where they go (oh, and the border-first thing). Having fun with this kind of puzzle relies heavily on having a diverse puzzle-picture, and having access to that picture. 

Wentworth puzzle

These pieces are from a puzzle I picked up in England. Since each piece's shape is very different from the others, it's possible to build this kind of puzzle by looking at the shapes alone. There are edge pieces, but some middle pieces also have straight edges. The pieces are wooden and have a satisfying feeling of fitting, unlike cardboard pieces where the cardboard gives a little even when you're putting together pieces that fit. There are still some conventional shapes, for which you can usually guess which way is up. Little "whimsy pieces" are shaped like things and it's easy to tell which pieces fit around them (for instance, you can see the silhouette of the horse-rider's head in one of the pieces here). 

the border is scalloped. This is a corner taken apart.

 This last puzzle I found the most devilishly clever. The pieces are all unique shapes, but they're similar in shape and are completely unpredictable in their orientations. Even the pieces surrounding the whimsy pieces weren't immediately apparent. For this reason I found that I was using all the available clues--shape, color, texture, whatever. It was even more satisfying to look at a piece and know it was exactly the piece I needed, before fitting it in (this rarely happens when I put together cardboard puzzles).

This moment of epiphany, when I could see the solution before enacting it, is crucial to a good puzzle game. It's the same feeling I get when I play falling-block games or things like Portal and Catherine. It's what makes puzzles fun for me. 

piece orientation is unpredictable. Artifact Jigsaw. 

Another aspect of jigsaw puzzles is that I've liked is that they're easily multiplayer. If someone else sees you working on a jigsaw puzzle, they can instantly tell how far you are and what kind of puzzle it is. Piecing together a puzzle isn't timed, and it's cooperative. You can start without having to wait for it to load and play for as short or as long as you like (if you're willing to re-do your puzzle). I haven't really found a puzzle game that's as good at multiplayer as a good old jigsaw puzzle.

Video Games as Performance Art

Many people think of video games as a solitary, anti-social activity.  But 76% of game-playing teenagers play games with other people at least some of the time.  Most of this play is with people in the same room, and this figure does not take into account people playing a game while others are watching.

So, how is playing games with people different from playing alone?  In addition to the obvious social aspect, the game also becomes something of a performance art.  While this is readily apparent in games that already resemble traditional performance arts, such as Rock Band and Dance Dance Revolution, it also holds true for other genres of games as well.

When gamers play a game with a story while others are watching, they participate with the games creators in directing the cinematics of the game.  Recently I played Assassin's Creed 2 while my husband and a friend watched.  Our side comments added what we thought different characters was thinking or would say, something that's not usually possible in a movie without interrupting the flow of the movie.  The same holds true for other types of cinematic games.  Because a video game goes at a slower pace, it lends itself to this kind of commentary. 

"I find this is the best place to check out the local women"

LittleBigPlanet is one of the few games that allows this kind of dramatic improvisation in-character, even when players are not in the same room.  Because players can control their avatar's costume, hand movements, and facial expressions, players can add another dimension of drama and humor as they play the game.  Players might cast themselves as the aloof ninja, fearless cute slayer, or gallant rescuer as they traverse the games platforming levels, telling their own story through how their avatar reactions emotionally, waits for (or taunts) other players, etc.

How do you think video games relate to theatre and other performance arts?  What are some ways video games could make better use of these possibilities?