Games: Family Fortunes

There are many language games that we can create or adapt for our language classroom using Gen. AI. One of my favourite board games for the classroom is Family Fortunes. I own the board game, which I resort to once in a blue moon for a bit of fun. In this blog post I am going to try to share a few ideas on how things could unfold if we use Gen.AI instead.

Family Fortunes is a game where two teams compete to guess the most popular answers to a survey question. The host asks a question, and players try to provide answers based on what they think most people would say.

This game is ideal for low levels, as many of the questions, as we will be seeing in a bit, involve naming things found in a kitchen, popular film genres, or typical Christmas gifts. Apart from being fun, this game also makes sense from a language standpoint for those levels. After toying with different possible prompts, I came up with this one that does the job. I will be using ChatGPT.

Here’s the prompt: We are going to play the game Family Fortunes, based on the popular TV show. You will ask me a question and I will give you three possible answers. Then you will provide the answers you had thought of before I typed mine, based on what most people would probably answer. You should give me 5 answers. When I type ‘ok’, provide a new question. Bear in mind that I am an elementary student of English as a second language. Your questions should mostly deal with content that typically appears in an elementary ESL coursebook. 

Name something you might find in a kitchen.

cupboard, fridge, stove

 

Here are the five most common answers people would likely give:

1. Fridge
2. Stove
3. Cupboard
4. Sink
5. Dishwasher

Next question: Name something you wear in the winter.

 

gloves, jacket, boots

Here are the five most common answers people would likely give:

1. Jacket
2. Gloves
3. Boots
4. Scarf
5. Hat

Next question: Name something you can drink.

water, juice, beer

 

Here are the five most common answers people would likely give:

1. Water
2. Juice
3. Beer
4. Coffee
5. Milk

Next question: Name a piece of furniture you find in a living room.

I came up with my own simplified rules for the game. Students compete in groups of 4-5 and have 30 seconds to agree on three words, writing their answers on a piece of paper (three words as a group answer). The groups then read out their answers. After that, the teacher types any three words on the computer/tablet linked to the whiteboard/IWB/digital panel (or simply types ‘ok’) to reveal ChatGPT’s answers. Groups give themselves one point for each word they wrote that also appears on the screen (no cheating allowed).

Let’s try to tweak this so it’s more suitable and challenging for an intermediate level. Prompt: We are going to play the game the same way again, following the same rules and protocol stated earlier. This time your questions should mostly focus on content that typically appears in an intermediate ESL coursebook.

First question: Name a mode of transportation you would use for long-distance travel.

plane, train, car The answers I had thought of are:

1. Plane
2. Train
3. Bus
4. Car
5. Boat

Next question: Name an activity people do at the gym.

lift weights, run on the treadmill, do push ups The answers I had thought of are:

1. Lift weights
2. Run on the treadmill
3. Use the rowing machine
4. Do yoga
5. Ride the stationary bike

Next question: Name a place where people often go on vacation.

I found the first question to be way below the language level but then things get more challenging with the second question. We can notice some interesting gym-related vocabulary that would be very useful to introduce if the learners don’t know it yet. The third question, while a bit on the easy side, is still fun and relevant.

I tried a third variation for higher levels, but it didn’t work well (at least with the free version of ChatGPT). The questions might be fine too for a bit of competition, but the language payoffs are far from ideal. I also tried other prompts, attempting to tie the types of questions to topics such as free time, work or money, but to no avail. It just became too confusing for ChatGPT for reasons I fail to understand. My final verdict is that this adaptation of Family Fortunes works well for low to intermediate levels.