Bring an item: the rules of the squad challenge
· 6 min read
One letter, one item each, no duplicates. It is the simplest squad game there is and it causes more argument than anything else we have seen.
The short answer
In the Bring an item challenge a random letter is drawn and every member of the squad must bring one object beginning with that letter to the next session, with no two people allowed to bring the same thing. Anyone who turns up without an item takes a forfeit, which is usually a fine into the team kitty.
The rules
- Draw one random letter and tell the whole squad what it is.
- Every player brings one item beginning with that letter to the next session.
- No two players can bring the same thing. First to claim it in the group chat owns it.
- The item has to be physically handed over. Photographs do not count.
- Anyone who turns up empty handed takes a forfeit, normally a fine into the kitty.
- Nobody is out. Forget yours and you bring it the week after, with the forfeit standing.
Drawing the letter
Pulling a letter out of someone's head does not work, because whoever picks it gets accused of setting up their own easy item. Draw it in front of everyone instead, which is exactly why we built a free letter wheel for it. Spin it on a phone in the changing room and the argument never starts.
Take Q, X and Z off the wheel unless you actively want carnage. There are only so many quiches, xylophones and zebra print onesies to go round before it stops being funny. Take out any letter you have already used this season too, so you do not land on it twice.
Claiming, and why the group chat matters
The no duplicates rule is the entire game. It turns a gentle bit of fun into a race, because the obvious items go in the first ten minutes and everybody else is left genuinely thinking about it.
Run the claims in the group chat and timestamp them. First message naming an item owns that item. This is the single rule that stops the whole thing descending into four people arriving with a banana.
What counts as a valid item
This is where your squad will spend most of its energy, and arguing about it is half the point. The workable rule is that it must be a physical object you can hand to someone, which rules out the lad who tries to claim his mate Kevin and the one who brings a photograph of a giraffe.
Beyond that, let the squad decide. Some clubs ban anything bought specially on the day, which forces people to actually look round the house. Others ban anything under a pound, which produces a much better pile of items and a much worse mood.
Why it works better than most squad games
It pulls in everyone rather than the usual two or three who join in with things. There is no skill to it, no fitness involved and almost no cost, so the quiet lad at the back is on exactly the same footing as the captain.
It also runs itself. One draw sets up the whole week, the group chat does the rest, and you end up with a story that outlives the season. We have seen a traffic cone, a tuba and a live crab, and the crab is still spoken about.
Keeping track of who brought what
The letter is the easy part. The mess is remembering who claimed what, who turned up with nothing, and what the forfeit was, which is exactly the job the Fine Club app does. It draws the letter, logs every claimed item so duplicates are impossible, and turns anyone who forgot straight into a fine on the leaderboard.
Common questions
What is the Bring an item challenge?
A squad game where a random letter is drawn and every player has to bring one object beginning with that letter to the next session. No two people can bring the same item, and anyone who turns up without one takes a forfeit.
How do you pick the letter?
Draw it at random in front of the squad so nobody can accuse the picker of rigging it. A letter wheel spun on a phone in the changing room is the usual method, with Q, X and Z taken off unless you want it to be brutal.
What happens if two people bring the same item?
Whoever claimed it first in the group chat keeps it and the other one takes the forfeit. Running claims through the chat with timestamps is the rule that makes the whole game work.
Does the item have to be expensive?
No, and most squads ban anything bought specially on the day. The game is far better when people have to go looking round the house rather than round the shops.
How long does the squad get?
Until the next session, usually a week. There is no hard deadline in the game itself, so anyone who forgets brings theirs the following week and keeps the forfeit.
Run your fines in the app, not a notes app
Fine Club keeps your rulebook, the pot and the leaderboard in one place, so nobody has to chase a pound by hand. Free on iOS and Android.