Telephone game is also known to be referred to as "Chinese whispers".
[edit] How to play
As many players as possible line up such that they can whisper to their immediate neighbours but not hear any players further away. The player at the beginning of the line thinks of a phrase, and whispers it as quietly as possible to her/his neighbour. The neighbour then passes on the message to the next player to the best of his or her ability. The passing continues in this fashion until it reaches the player at the end of the line, who calls out the message he or she received.
If the game has been 'successful', the final message will bear little or no resemblance to the original, because of the cumulative effect of mistakes along the line. Often, however, the message does not reach the end of the line, due to someone accidentally speaking too loudly. Deliberately changing the phrase is often considered cheating, but if the starting phrase is poorly chosen, there may be disappointingly little natural change.
One variation known as "operator" allows each listener one chance to ask his or her neighbour for a repetition, as if assistance from the line operator were available by calling that magic word.
The World Record for the largest game of Chinese Whispers was set by entertainer Mac King, January 6, 2004 at Harrah's Las Vegas Casino and involved 614 people.
[edit] Purpose
The game has no objective, and no winner - the entertainment comes from comparing the original and final messages. Even if the line is not completed, the last few people to receive the message can compare this with the original, and some messages will be unrecognizable after only a few steps.
Besides being a fun game, the meaning created by this activity is the important truth about how easily information can become corrupted by indirect communication. The game has been used in schools to simulate the spread of gossip and its harmful effects, and it has implications in many topics, like bureaucracy, politics and academia.
[edit] Examples
A common (likely apocryphal) story in the UK is of a general who sent the message "Send reinforcements, we are going to advance" back to HQ. After passing through many intermediaries it finally arrived as "Send three and fourpence, we are going to a dance".
