How to Play My Grandmother's Trunk
My Grandmother's Trunk is a spoken memory game for three to twenty players. Each player in turn extends a cumulative list by one item, then recites the entire list from the beginning before adding their own contribution. The challenge grows with every round as the list lengthens and the pressure to remember mounts.
It needs no equipment whatsoever, travels in your pocket, and works equally well around a kitchen table, on a long car journey, or at a children's party. The game scales naturally: a group of six-year-olds can keep items simple and silly, while adults tend to reach for increasingly elaborate or absurd additions, which is most of the fun.
A little history
The exact origins of My Grandmother's Trunk are unclear. It belongs to a broad family of cumulative memory games that appear across many cultures and languages, and it has been a staple of English parlour and schoolroom entertainment since at least the nineteenth century. Games of this type are traditionally passed on orally rather than through rulebooks, which makes precise documentation difficult. The trunk framing, with grandmother as the absent packer, is the version most widely recorded in British collections of parlour games.
Setting up
- Seat all players so they can hear one another clearly, ideally in a circle.
- Agree on any house rules before starting: whether proper names are allowed, whether themed items only are permitted, and how strictly hesitation will be penalised.
- Choose a starting player by any agreed method, for example the youngest player or whoever most recently packed an actual bag.
- Establish the turn direction (clockwise is standard) and make sure everyone knows it.
How to play
- The first player announces: 'In my grandmother's trunk I packed...' and names one item of their choice, for example 'a red umbrella'.
- The second player repeats the full sentence and the first player's item exactly, then adds a new item of their own: '...a red umbrella and a pair of dancing shoes.'
- Each subsequent player in turn recites the full list in order from the very beginning, then appends one new item at the end.
- A player is eliminated if they: omit any item from the list, state an item out of sequence, add more than one new item, or take so long that the group agrees they have hesitated. Define 'too long' before play begins; five seconds is a common threshold.
- Eliminated players sit out but may watch. The remaining players continue in the same direction, skipping over anyone who is out.
- Play continues, the list growing by one item per surviving player per round, until only one player remains.
Winning and scoring
The last player still able to recite the full list correctly is the winner. There is no standard points system for a single game. For a longer session, run several rounds and award one point per game won; first to three points takes the match. If the final two players both fail on the same turn, the group may declare a draw or call a sudden-death round with a fresh, shorter list.
The fine points
The two disputes that arise most often are hesitation and near-misses. On hesitation, the group must agree the threshold before play begins and apply it consistently. If there is no pre-agreed limit, a common ruling is that the player may not pause for longer than it takes the rest of the group to count silently to five. On near-misses, such as saying 'the red umbrella' instead of 'a red umbrella', the strictest ruling is that any deviation from the exact wording first used counts as an error. A gentler house rule is that changes of article or minor rephrasing are permitted provided the identity of the item is unambiguous. Choose one approach and announce it at the outset.
A recurring edge case is the player who adds an item so similar to an existing one that later players genuinely cannot tell them apart in recitation ('a green hat' and 'a green cap', for instance). The fairest ruling is that the group may object to a new item at the moment it is introduced; if a majority finds it confusingly similar to an existing item, the player must choose something different. Once an item has been accepted, it stands for the rest of the game.
How to win more often
- Choose memorable, distinctive items when it is your turn. A vivid or absurd image sticks better than a plain one, both for you and for everyone else.
- Group items mentally as you listen. Chunking the list into pairs or small clusters ('the umbrella and the shoes, then the hat and the clock') is far more reliable than trying to hold every item as a single long chain.
- Keep your eyes closed or fix your gaze on a neutral point while reciting. Visual distractions are a common cause of mid-list blanks.
- Listen actively on every other player's turn, not just your own. Hearing the list recited repeatedly by others reinforces your own memory of it.
- If you are near the end of a long list and feel uncertain, slow your pace slightly on items you are confident about. The extra half-second gives your memory time to retrieve the next item before you reach it.
Variations
Alphabetical Order
Each item added must begin with the next letter of the alphabet. The first player chooses something beginning with A, the second with B, and so on. This removes the creative free-for-all but gives every player a strong retrieval cue, making the game more accessible for younger children while still providing a solid memory challenge.
Themed Trunk
Before play begins, the group agrees a category: things found at the seaside, items of clothing, foods, animals, and so on. Every item added must fit the theme. Questionable items are put to a quick majority vote. This version works particularly well at themed parties and with mixed age groups, as the constraint sparks more creative and often funnier contributions.
Reverse Order
Players recite the list from the most recently added item back to the first, rather than from first to most recent. This is considerably harder and is best reserved for players who have mastered the standard game. It rewards players who pay close attention to the end of each recitation rather than rehearsing from the beginning.
Team Trunk
Players divide into two equal teams sitting alternately in the circle, so the turn passes from one team to the other throughout. A player who is eliminated is replaced on their team's next turn by a teammate of the team's choosing. A team loses when all its members are eliminated. This format suits larger groups and keeps eliminated players engaged longer, since they can coach remaining teammates between turns.
My Grandmother's Trunk: frequently asked questions
What happens if two players are eliminated on the same turn?
Both are out simultaneously. If they are the last two players remaining, declare a draw or begin a sudden-death round with a fresh list starting from scratch. A sudden-death round typically uses a shorter, faster-paced game with a stricter hesitation rule.
Does the exact wording of each item have to be repeated every time?
By the strictest traditional ruling, yes: the item must be repeated exactly as it was first stated. Many groups allow minor variations in articles or adjective order provided the item is clearly identifiable. Agree your house rule before the first turn and apply it to all players without exception.
Can a player challenge another player's recitation if they are not sure it was wrong?
Yes. Any player may call a challenge immediately after a recitation ends, before the next player begins. The group then decides by majority vote whether the recitation was correct. If the vote is tied, the charitable ruling is to let the recitation stand. Challenges made mid-recitation are generally not permitted.
Is there a maximum number of items before the game ends?
There is no fixed maximum. In practice, a list of fifteen to twenty-five items will eliminate most players in a group of average size. If the game goes unusually long with very experienced players, the group may agree in advance on a cap, such as thirty items, after which remaining players share the win.
How many players do you need at minimum?
Three is the workable minimum. With only two players the game becomes a straight head-to-head with very little group energy. Three players still generates genuine pressure and the list grows quickly enough to challenge all of them within a reasonable time.
Is the game suitable for young children who cannot read?
Yes. The game is entirely spoken and requires no reading or writing at any point. Children aged six and upwards can generally manage a list of six to eight items comfortably. Keep the early items short and concrete, and consider a gentler hesitation limit of ten seconds for younger groups.
Can players add items that are jokes or nonsense words?
They can, provided every other player can repeat the item consistently. Genuinely unpronounceable or incoherent additions are poor form because they make fair recitation impossible. If the group cannot agree on what the item was, the player who added it should be asked to replace it with something clearer.
What stops a player from deliberately adding something extremely difficult to remember?
Nothing in the standard rules prevents it, and creative or outlandish additions are part of the game's appeal. However, if an item is so complex, for example an extremely long phrase, that it gives the adding player an unfair advantage, the group may vote to reject it before it enters the list. Establish this option as a house rule before play begins.